I connect deeply with Metro Parks’ mission to create vibrant public spaces that bring people closer to nature and each other. After reviewing the 2024-2030 System and Strategic Plan, I’m especially excited by the Pathways and Places priorities. Both play a critical role in supporting People. 

From my global work and travels, I’ve seen how environmental stewardship can strengthen community care. For example:

• Mexico City's greenways offer safe, shaded paths for walking and cycling while boosting tree canopies

• Bogotá's CareBlocks co-locate recreational programs with social services in underserved neighborhoods

• Barcelona's SuperBlocks reclaim roads for relationships, providing spaces for young and old to rest and play. 

• Atlanta's Beltline is creating new mobility networks that connect people through parks

Each time I return home, I ask: Why not here? Why can’t we co-create a future like this in Tacoma? With its recent plan, MPT is well-positioned to chart the way toward vision like this. I’m stepping up to help.

As a young millennial, I offer a unique blend of experience and fresh ideas. I bring over a decade of civic work experience, on top of leadership roles in local youth advocacy spaces. My work in city innovation has taught me that we design better when we dream together. Everyone - young and old - must play an active role in that dreaming. With my experience in participatory design, I can support MPT to keep leading that charge. 

To create the parks we need for our future, MPT must sustain and scale its community engagement to build backing for more public Places. From my work with Mexico City and Bogotá, I know that our chance to do this is coming with the capital improvement plan and related bond. In this process, Metro Parks must prove to the public how parks can help solve big challenges to grow support amid competing priorities. I take inspiration from Denver, a city that’s clear-eyed about the need to create supportive places of belonging to reduce violence. Along these lines, upcoming work to better connect seniors can lessen loneliness across ages. But to make things like this happen, we have to tell this story of how investing in vibrant public Places will enhance safety.

MPT also needs to lead on climate resilience by uniting partners to create tree-canopied Pathways. With severe climate impacts now inevitable, every Tacoman should be able to access a park via a 10-minute shaded walk. Expanding Community Schoolyards, parklets, and greenways are now must-haves for public health. Residents should see MPT as a chief orchestrator of these initiatives. 

In short, Metro Parks’ leadership is needed now more than ever to grow green social infrastructure that improves our community's resilience. I’m ready to help make this happen. 

Tacoma has some of the most incredible waterfront, urban forests, and community events. I love grabbing my camera and driving to Dune Peninsula or Wright Park. There I'll take pictures of sunsets, fall colors, and the aurora. Every summer I pick blueberries in Charlotte's Blueberry Park. Wapato Park is another of my favorites for a relaxing walk. And I am a proud last-place winner of the annual Slug Race at NorthWest Trek (it's WAY harder than it looks, okay!).

But on a more serious note, we still have a ways to go to become a 'City in a Park', where everyone can access public spaces like these within a 10-minute walk. As a resident of the South End neighborhood, I have to drive to access most parks and community centers. My closest park is Gas Station Park, a 12 minute walk from my house. While this play park is an incredible asset for families in my neighborhood, it's too small to walk in. My next closest green spaces are Lincoln Park and Stewart Heights Park, each a 20-30 min walk away. This is unsustainable from a social, climate, and public health lens.

I have deep empathy for the many Tacoma residents who face similar or worse barriers to access parks. Each summer we're facing more extreme heat events (made worse by heat islands) we are not yet prepared for. From the South End to the Eastside, and across South and Central Tacoma, there's an urgent need for more gathering spaces and denser tree canopies. The 2024-2030 System & Strategic Plan is a solid foundation for this work. Within this framework, we need to keep innovating to co-create green, social infrastructure for all.

I lead through deep listening, creative problem solving, and building strong collaborative relationships. Here's how these qualities show up in my everyday work:

Deep Listener:
I listen to people for a living. As a user experience researcher, I create spaces for people to share their stories and drive change. I'm adept at systematically analyzing thousands of stories to uncover insights. As a Commissioner, I’ll use these skills to understand what Tacoma residents need from their parks and work with staff to make it happen.

Creative Problem Solver: During the pandemic, I worked for an anti-poverty organization. In 6 months, we went from distributing cash grants to ~4k families to 200,000+ individuals. That experience taught me how to solve problems under pressure. Amid limited resources, I learned to start with small solutions and improve them over time. In my next job, I worked with the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services to unify internal data systems. There I built support for change by navigating complex and entrenched organizational dynamics. I'll bring these skillsets to Metro Parks, introducing ideas to reach more residents and grow partnerships even under funding constraints and bureaucratic red tape.

Collaborative Relationship Builder: Relationships are at the heart of my guiding values. I know from my research that cultivating connection requires intentional design. I’ll use this expertise to drive park design that strengthens community bonds. My organizing efforts for local progressive causes show my relational commitments in action. I've been an active volunteer helping grow young people's civic engagement and elect more BIPOC and women candidates to office. As a result, I've built strong relationships with local officials across Pierce County. These are a firm foundation for the work of a Commissioner. If appointed, I'll work to deepen Metro Parks' collaborations with the City, transit agencies, the school district, and the County's health and human services departments.

My education, work, and advocacy experiences have given me strong skills for policy, planning, and budgeting:

• Policy: I have a master's in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford. This gave me extensive knowledge of global, evidence-based policies that enhance community wellbeing. I've also led policy analysis to assess housing and labor rights legislation. As a student government representative, I served on many internal university policy committees. My superpower is diving into long, complex documents and quickly spotting ambiguities and gaps. No small inconsistency gets past me.

• Planning: My work with innovative civic designers in Mexico City and Bogotá has given me a big imagination for what's possible in Tacoma. My research on relational design highlights the value of urban planning that connects people. I also specialize in participatory methods that include underrepresented communities in decisions. As a leader of Tacoma's guaranteed income Learning Team, I design story-based evaluation methods with program participants. From experience, I know planning succeeds only when it meaningfully involves affected communities. I'll bring this collaborative approach to park planning, ensuring all voices are heard.

• Budgeting: I studied accounting for a year at community college to understand basic budgeting principles. This knowledge came in handy when I was a student government representative at UW Tacoma. There, I served on a university budget committee allocating $2M+ in student fees. As Director of Finance, I also crafted budget proposals that secured more funding. More recently, I've managed research budgets in the range of $50-200k. I also serve as Treasurer for Pierce County Young Democrats. Though the scale is greater, I'll apply the same principles of stewardship and sustainability to oversee MPT's budget.