After moving around a bit as a kid, my family landed in Selah in 1999. I graduated from Selah High School in 2001 and, after a few years of figuring things out, I attended Perry Technical Institute from 2005 to 2006. That eventually led me to a career in telecommunications and IT, and I’m now an IT specialist at a public health clinic.

Outside of work, I’m into cooking, gaming, film, reading, art, history, and whatever else I happen to be obsessed with that month. I’m an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and a descendant of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Connecting with Native culture and community is really important to me—I spent several years as a pow wow dancer and hope to get back to it soon.

I wish I could say I’m an avid hiker because people always include that in bios, but honestly? I think we’re all lying to ourselves about how fun hiking is. I mean, really. Let’s be real.

Anyway—where was I?

I’m deeply committed to my family, my friends, and my community. I want to see people happy, healthy, and laughing as hard as they can. I have two incredible kids who are the best thing I’ve ever done, and I want to help build a better world for them to grow up in.

I was raised to believe in peace and justice—and you can’t have one without the other. That belief has guided me through years of activism and organizing. When protests for Black lives were happening across the country, I heard that organizers in Selah were being harassed and silenced. I was asked to lend my experience to a small but determined local effort that was pushing back against that injustice. What started as a grassroots coalition quickly evolved into a formal group. After winning a settlement against the people who tried to stop us, we became a nonprofit focused on equity, justice, and support for marginalized voices in our hometown.

SAFE is a continuation of that fight—and of the love I have for the people who live here.