Describe your role at Perigee Fund.
In my role as Chief Policy Advisor, I collaborate with the Perigee team, partners, and policymakers to advance Perigee’s public policy priorities. I work to build relationships with the goal of changing national and state policy.
What are you passionate about and/or what is the philosophy you bring to the organization?
I am a lifelong child health advocate who has spent more than 22 years working in health care policy in Washington, D.C. There are a lot of powerful lobbies in Washington D.C., and I believe children deserve that powerful voice too. A mentor of mine, pediatrician Dr. Paul Wise, said that pediatricians are the ultimate inheritors of failed social policy. I see this most profoundly in the work I’ve done at the intersection of immigration and health care policy. Each time I visited the U.S.-Southern border to meet with children and families who aspire to live in safety and who carry so much hope for a new life in a new country, I am reminded that immigrant children are children, immigrant parents are parents. It is profoundly important that we center historically marginalized populations in pursuing policy and systems change.
Tell us a little bit about your professional background.
Prior to joining the Perigee team, I spent the last 14.5 years working at the American Academy of Pediatrics in a senior role overseeing federal, state, and global legislative advocacy and regulatory initiatives on issues ranging from Medicaid to mental health to immigration. Before that, I was fortunate enough to have a career as a staffer in the U.S. Senate that spanned nearly ten years, two Senators, the Affordable Care Act and many other laws that benefit mothers and young children. I began my career in politics working on presidential campaigns, doing presidential advance, and scheduling for a Cabinet Secretary.
What excites you about working with Perigee Fund?
Put simply, it’s Perigee’s mission and vision and its incredibly talented team. They bring a wealth of experience and are willing to innovate to make lasting policy and systems change.
What is your favorite way to develop early connections with the babies and young children in your life?
As a mother of twins, I believe in the power of language. Whether it was singing or reading to my girls as babies and into their toddler years or watching them discover the wonder of language for themselves, I loved helping them build these foundations in the early years.