About the Author

Enjoying Reno, NV (December 2014)

I was born and raised in northern California, and graduated from San Diego State University in 2001 with a bachelor of liberal arts and sciences in psychology. I am an alumna of Kappa Delta Sorority, Beta Rho chapter where I was elected vice president of standards my senior year.

I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Macedonia between 2002 and 2004 in the environmental education and management sector. I earned a master of international relations from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia in 2006.

Afterwards, I relocated to Washington, DC and worked for the Congressional Youth Leadership Council as a logistics officer. From 2006 to 2010 I worked at the Voice of America (VOA), first as a program assistant and later as executive assistant to the VOA director. I co-coordinated VOA broadcasts from the 2008 Republican and Democratic National Conventions as deputy logistics and credentialing officer.

From 2010 to 2014 I worked at the Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Headquarters, first as special assistant to the regional director for Europe, Mediterranean and Asia, and later as special assistant to the associate director for the Office of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection. I also completed the Leadership Development Academy, Peace Corps’ prestigious 18-month professional development program the agency targets towards future senior leadership.

In the summer of 2014, my dream of becoming an American diplomat came true. I received my invitation to join the United States Foreign Service, and my first diplomatic assignment as vice consul at U.S. Embassy Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In preparation, I completed nine months of Russian language and consular tradecraft, and received my consular commission.

I served my second tour as political officer and vice consul at U.S. Embassy Canberra, Commonwealth of Australia, and my third tour as deputy American Citizens Services chief at U.S. Consulate General Ciudad Juárez, México. My current, fourth tour is a domestic assignment to Washington, DC, where I work on international parental child abduction cases in the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Office of Children’s Issues, which functions as the U.S. Central Authority for The Hague Abduction Convention.

I am married and have two adult stepdaughters. I love science fiction, film, hiking, the outdoors, long road trips, and travel, and am a proud Gen-Xer. As of April 2023, I have still only visited 29 countries and around 43 U.S. states…so there’s a whole world to see! If the Foreign Service or joining the Peace Corps is your dream, never give up.