Home: Lake Ridge, VA. Age: Fifty-something, but young at heart. Birthplace: Virginia. Profession: Executive-level attorney. Alma mater: Cornell University; Columbia University; Fordham University School of Law.
Latest contribution to others: Leading the Chapter Engagement Working Group for an important initiative. What’s been your big (or biggest leap)? Relocating to southeastern Georgia to serve as a full-time field office volunteer staffer and as a credentialed attorney voter protection poll monitor. Hobbies: Traveling, visiting destination spas, hiking, and watching travel and sports documentaries. Recent travel or adventure: Traveling to Egypt from Cairo to Abu Simbel, including cruising along the Nile River. Recently viewed and recommended: Somebody Feed Phil, Get Out of Town, Bare Feet, and True South are a few travel documentary series that I really enjoy. Recent unique acquisition: An Azza Fahmy ring. Fahmy was the first woman to apprentice with goldsmiths in Cairo’s historic Khan El Khalili jewelry quarter.
Personality profile: Analytical, open-minded, curious, trustworthy, decisive, strategic. What one word would your closest friend use to describe you? Thoughtful. Moral compass: Micah 6:8. How do you define a perfect friendship? As this stage in life, quality, depth and trust are the most important aspects to a fulfilling friendship. What is your guilty pleasure? Rollercoasters. What is your favorite place (or way) to spend money? I enjoy taking cooking, wine tasting and craftmaking courses, especially when I travel. How do you relieve stress? Hiking with friends, walking my dog, taking a scenic drive or spending a few hours at a spa. What ingredient is essential to your perfect vacation? Easy-going travel companions.
What was your favorite college course? A mathematics course focused on the art of M.C. Escher. What’s prominently featured on your home or office wall? A handwoven tapestry from a nonprofit women’s traditional weaving cooperative. What’s the best advice you received growing up? Start the way you want to finish. What’s the best advice you received in your career? Facts presented without accuracy and context are often weaponized to obscure the truth. What modern technology innovation do you most appreciate? The iPhone. What is your go-to source of creative inspiration? A balcony view of the ocean. What world event has had the greatest influence on your life? 9/11.
What change would you like to see in the world?
More people who refuse to push others down to elevate themselves.
What message do you want to send out into the world? Matthew 7:12: do to others what you would have them do to you. What widely held belief do you reject? Believe everything you see. I believe there is always more than meets the eye. What mega-trend most concerns you? Self-driving automobiles.
Who would you like to spend an evening with, in heaven? My grandmothers. As a kid, what did you first want to be when you grew up? A neurosurgeon. After your loved ones, what object would you first save from your burning home? Photographs of family and friends. How would you choose to spend tomorrow, if you knew it was your last day on earth? At a beach house with my parents, close family and friends, and my dog, laughing, reminiscing and enjoying a sunset beachside cookout. What advice would you give your younger self? Be loving, gentle, kind and patient with yourself. What period in your life would you do differently, if you could? My twenties.
Favorite quote: “The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in” (James Baldwin). Desired epitaph: “I pray I have done my work so, that when I have gone from here — and all the turmoil, through the wreckage and rubble, and through whatever — when someone finds themselves digging through the ruins, I pray, that somewhere in that wreckage they’ll find me; that somewhere in that wreckage that they can use something that I left behind. And if I have done that, then I’ve accomplished something in life. (James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket).
