I grew up in a small town in rural Oregon, the youngest of three kids, My two older brothers and I were raised by a single dad who struggled to make ends meet. I learned early how to grit my teeth, laugh through the hard stuff, and to never back down from a challenge. Today, I am a civil rights lawyer for employees, a recovering politician, and mom to two wildly cool kids. I “relax” by coaching girl basketball, weightlifting, and belting out every note of “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks into a karaoke mic.

I'm a senior humanitarian-sector professional with 10+ years building immigrant and refugee integration systems across state policy, federal contracting, and multi-state implementation. I now run an AI-forward independent consulting practice serving humanitarian-services firms, nonprofit leadership, and legal-services teams.

My signature work spans policy and large-scale program implementation. I architected Oregon's HB 2508, the landmark refugee services statute that established one of the nation's first dedicated state funding streams for refugee case management, employment services, and legal support. I led coalition campaigns that secured $25M+ in recurring state investments across multiple legislative sessions. On the federal-contracting side, I directed a $33M ORR-funded program serving more than 15,000 recently arrived Afghans across five Texas metro areas, mobilizing a 400+ person multi-disciplinary workforce within six weeks. I also designed a national workforce access model through the USCIS Afghan Support Centers network, reaching 35,000+ Afghans nationally.

What differentiates my consulting practice is applied AI fluency in a sector where most professionals are still AI-skeptical or unsure how to adopt responsibly. I've built a three-tier data classification system and a client-facing AI Use Statement that govern how I apply Claude and other AI tools to engagements involving sensitive client and beneficiary data. I hold current Anthropic Education certifications and continue building applied fluency through ongoing study, but I apply that fluency in real client work rather than treating it as a theoretical credential.

Current advisory engagements span federal contracting strategy for humanitarian-services firms, AI adoption and implementation for nonprofit leadership, and applied Claude training for legal-services teams. If you're navigating refugee resettlement, federal contracting, immigrant integration policy, or AI adoption in a sensitive-data sector, I'd welcome a conversation.

I grew up in Birmingham, MI. I am the youngest of eight children and attended an all-boys catholic school my whole life until I went to college at the University of Michigan. I went to night school at Detroit College of Law. My dad, my uncle, two of my brothers, and sister were lawyers. My first job was cutting lawns at age 10. I started working for my brother as a house painter at age 12. When I was 16 I started my own painting business and continued throughout high school, college, and law school, and a few years after until I was 32. I practiced criminal defense for eighteen years in Michigan until ten years ago when my roommate from the Trial Lawyers College, Nick Rowley, encouraged me to move to LA to become a PI lawyer. The California Bar took me four tries. I moved to Las Vegas this past March. I have recently taken up pickle ball, skiing and golf. I also think I'm competitive at connect four, backgammon, chess, and ping pong.