| Where I Come From

I was raised in Portland, Oregon, by my grandmother, who was born in South Carolina in 1930. She told me stories about her father driving Black voters to the polls in 1948, taking backroads to avoid those who wanted to stop them from casting their votes.

Her stories, combined with my family's long history of military service, taught me that courage isn't just about what you're willing to say, it's about what you're willing to do.

My family has lived through Jim Crow, the 2008 recession that nearly broke us, and the everyday indignities, including racial violence, that come with being Black, Korean, and multiracial in America.

As I've grown older, many of those I love have faced complex struggles, including my loving partner, who was once undocumented and knows what it's like to live in the shadows of a broken immigration system.

Her mother escaped the Civil War in El Salvador for a better life, but now they face prosecution. My parents lived before the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and remember what it took to win the rights we have today—and they know how quickly they can be taken away.

| Finding Purpose Through Struggle

In 2019, after a drug problem and a near-death moment, I've been on a personal mission of being the role model I needed as a kid. Since 2024, I've been deeply involved at Zion Community House of Prayer (ZUHOP), attending monthly community conversations about race, helping plan fundraisers and food drives, participating in church cleanups, and co-facilitating a free college-level political education class for our community members.

The class came out of a simple observation: too many people don't understand how our government works, and that's by design. Political illiteracy keeps people powerless. I'm working to change that, one classroom at a time.

| Building Systems That Work for People

I've spent my career building programs from the ground up. I graduated cum laude with a degree in political science and a minor in sociology from Washington State University.

I've worked in education, workforce development, and nonprofit leadership because I believe in meeting people where they are and building systems that actually work for them.

I have extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, where I've created the Government Affairs & Advocacy division at iUrban Teen and expanded youth programs across four states.

In the Seattle area, I directed programs supporting over 250 people experiencing homelessness and poverty, fighting for their dignity and their voice in policy conversations.

| Why I'm Running

I'm not running because I have all the answers. I'm running because I know how to listen, show up, and fight for people like my fiancée who are endangered by ICE. Our district is full of experts—teachers who know what our schools need, doctors who show unwavering compassion to our community members, neighbors who understand our housing crisis, and organizers who've been doing this work for years.

Real change happens when we build together, not when politicians pretend they have all the solutions.

District 37 deserves a representative who understands that housing is infrastructure, that education should be funded fairly regardless of ZIP code, that economic security creates safety, and that working families, not landowners, should benefit when we invest in transit and development.

I'm ready to fight for The Fourth Way: systemic change that fixes the rules of the economy, not just the symptoms. Let's build a district where everyone has a stake in our shared prosperity.