ABOUT ME

"An infinite amount of value can be added to any service."
- Dr. George Tiller, MD
Welcome!
I'm the managing editor of The Homepage community newspaper, which serves Pittsburgh's Greater Hazelwood neighborhood and the surrounding communities of Greenfield, Four Mile Run, New Homestead and Lincoln Place. I have close to 20 years of experience writing on health, science, and parenting topics. I cover infrastructure, transit, food security, the arts and more for The Homepage. 

I received the 2022 Golden Quill award for Excellence in Written Journalism for my contribution to a series on pandemic education for PublicSource. I have published articles in Britannica for Parents and Green Entrepreneur, among others. I live in Pittsburgh with my husband, a drummer and university administrator; my deaf, autistic, K-pop-loving young adult; and my teenager, who loves gaming, baking, Roblox and snuggles.
I was born in southern Africa and raised in the southwestern United States, Guatemala and Mexico. I've lived in Pittsburgh since 2016 after spending my adult life in Chicago, where I first moved for college.

During my years in Chicago, I worked as a women's health educator and adult literacy teacher before earning a bachelor's degree in biology from University of Illinois. I worked at the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, and in an ecology lab at University of Chicago, then decided to get my master's in journalism at Northwestern's Medill College. Since then I have served a broad array of clients and audiences through writing, editing and translating. I am fluent in English and Spanish, and conversant in American Sign Language. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to recognize:
  • My parents and teachers for guiding me in life and as a writer
  • My husband of 20+ years for his unflagging support, love and friendship
  • My writing teachers in elementary, college and grad school
  • My editors for generously sharing their skill, knowledge and feedback
  • My colleagues who have encouraged me, collaborated with me and referred clients to me
  • The Osage and Shawnee nations, as well as other indigenous communities who have lived on and cared for, and continue to reside in the place where I live now, Diondega. My deep thanks also extends to the Basotho, Ute, K'iche, Poqomam, Garifuna, Q'eqchi', Otomi, Kickapoo, Peoria, Kaskasia, Potawatomi and Myaamia nations, on whose land I have lived, grown, been nourished and learned. Thank you.