My master’s degrees—in Modern Letters, Religions and the Arts, and Library Science—speak to my unquenchable curiosity and inexhaustible energy for learning and doing. My first professional job, at Cricket Literary Magazine, fed my love of literature and activated my facility for helping writers perfect their work. A subsequent position as writer and editor at Ligature, Inc., honed my leadership skills and ability to write and edit quickly, on demand, with accuracy, interest, and commitment.

I also served for ten years as Editor-in-Chief at the award-winning and profitable Conscious Choice Journal of Ecology and Natural Living. In that role, I developed and nurtured writing talent while advocating for holistic healthcare, clean food, and farming methods that go beyond sustainability to embrace active nurturance of the soil. I continue working toward sustainability through work with Chicago Market and the Chicago Conservation Corps.

After learning the value of ceremony to help people mark transitions, I was certified by the Celebrant Foundation and Institute to begin creating and officiating at ceremonies for milestone events in the lives of organizations and individuals. I also partnered with CF&I to produce an anthology entitled Life-cycle Ceremonies: A Handbook for Your Whole Life.

I have authored more than twenty-two publications available through WorldCat, and my stories and poems have been published in journals throughout the United States and in England. My collection of political poems, entitled Stubborn, was published as a Locofo Chap by Moria Press.

To keep in touch with educational trends, I occasionally teach college-level courses in writing, literature, and wellness. I also present at conferences and other events, including Oakton Community College’s Excellence in Teaching Conference, Chicago Botanical Garden’s Inspiring Nature Play Conference, The Hippocrates Poetry and Medicine Conference, and the University of Iowa Examined Life Conference. I work with Wilmette Public Library to provide youth librarianship, literacy and arts programming, communications, community engagement, and outreach.

A charismatic and experienced performer, I am a longstanding member of the Neo-Futurists and a former member of the TranceSisters multidisciplinary arts collective. I remain an active member of Chicago’s storytelling community and perform personal narratives at schools, churches, libraries, retirement homes, theaters, and storytelling events such as All She Wrote, Cabaret on the Lake, First Person Live, Is This a Thing, The Moth, Side Project, This Much Is True, The Skald, Story Lab, and Story Sessions.

I hold certifications as a mediator, master celebrant, and spiritual director. I’m a member of Heartwood Center for Body, Mind, and Spirit and am co-facilitator of the Illinois Chapter of CF&I. I'm also a board program committee member at Jung Center of Evanston and a member of the Narrative Medicine Group at Advocate Lutheran General. I live with my family in Chicago, where I continue to write, envision, act, and contribute to communities of choice and communities of chance.