I am the California Program Manager at the Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley. I work on education workforce housing and equitable school infrastructure.

I am passionate about education: how we fund it, why inequities in education are so entrenched (even naturalized), and what the avenues are for students, parents/guardians, and teachers to create meaningful change in education outcomes and the environments in which our children learn. I was an elected school board member for four years: 2018-2021, the most disruptive period in U.S. education. I am also the parent and aunt of kids in public schools, and have spent a lot of time around near-adults and young adults, as a school volunteer, school board member, and college lecturer. 

My research training is in urban planning: I hold a Masters (UNC-Chapel Hill) and a PhD (UC Berkeley) in planning. My focus areas have been economic development (what can governments do to try to improve the quality of economic opportunity?); workforce development (how can we help people get good jobs and careers?); labor and class structures and processes; and public finance.

I was previously at the UC Berkeley Labor Center where I led our work on the public sector.