Member Bio

I am originally from New York and grew up outside of NYC. I moved out to New Mexico for the first time in 1971 having transferred from Syracuse University. It was the kind of decision that you make when you are 19 and it is 1971. I came out here with a boyfriend and other friends and had never been west of the Mississippi River. Best decision I ever made and finished my degree at UNM. Moved back to NY for graduate school and spent the next 38 years living in a variety of eastern cities: NYC, Miami, Albany NY, and Washington DC for 17 years. I began my career as a Clinical Social Worker but quickly realized that I was more interested in the policy side of service delivery. I spent 15 years working in NYS Government in a variety of public policy roles in both mental health and health care. The highlight was working for the Mario Cuomo Administration heading up a health reform group. The next half of my career was spent in the private sector working for several Medicaid Managed Care Companies doing business development for State Medicaid Contracts throughout the country. My husband and I moved to Santa Fe full time in 2013 when he retired. While I continued to work for a couple of years after the move, I retired in 2015. Richard and I have been married for 43 years. We have two kids - our daughter and her husband and 2 little girls live in Denver; our son lives in Oakland California. Both of them were shocked when we moved to Santa Fe full time (we had a small house here for 5 years before) but within 8 months both of them had also moved west. Since retirement I have gotten very involved in a number of community activities: Chair of Social Justice for Temple Beth Shalom, Tutoring for Citizenship through Literacy Volunteers, and SOS. I became a master gardener when I moved and was on the board of Master Gardeners and active until the past year. I love to garden, play pickleball, and my husband and I love to travel.