Human Rights Activist (focusing on the Syrian Crisis, and Afghan interpreters left behind), Connector, Refugee Advocate and Advisor, Educator, Media/Public Relations Consultant, Writer, Choreographer.

Human rights and the welfare and treatment of my fellow human beings is my passion and life focus now (my path in life was changed due to illness). "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." As my late mentor Senator Paul Wellstone used to say: "We all do better when we all do better." No exclusions.

I am a former professional ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. I have worked with dancers and elite competitive figure skaters/ice dancers. I have done extensive community outreach through dance. I have been Founder/Artistic Director of an Ice Theatre company (Artists on the Edge Ice Theatre Company), and an Artistic Education company (The Skater's Consortium) for elite figure skaters/ice dancers.

I have danced in NYC, and have lived and danced in Paris, France. I have worked in politics (my mentor was the late Senator Paul Wellstone), in advocacy/education, and worked on national-level congressional, senate and presidential campaigns. I have a (useless) degree in Clinical Pathology, obtained when I was out on 'injury' (it was actually MS) and tried to pursue my medical school dreams of getting my MD and doing humanitarian medical work in conflict areas and third world countries. I learned two important things: I couldn't stay out of the studio (mostly due to a sense of obligation to my teacher and mentor who had invested so much in me, and I loved teaching), and my math skills were, to put it mildly, weak. The SPMS was diagnosed then. Dream over.

I wage a love-hate battle with Secondary-Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. I danced with MS for years, as it went undiagnosed for a long time after first onset. It was frustrating and ultimately forced me to leave the field I had spent over twenty-five years in and was my identity. While I would not have chosen this path, it has taught me many lessons...lessons I no doubt needed to learn. It forced me to reinvent myself and do a lot of introspection. It has given me the 'gift' of the fierce urgency of now, which drives me to work tirelessly for justice.

Personal Statement: We are all one, members of the human race. We were falsely divided by religion, borders, socio-economic status, and biases that were developed. We must stay connected to our shared humanity.