A thriving and just society owes equal opportunity to all,
and that cannot be achieved without quality,
inclusive education.
I know this firsthand as a child of immigrants
who came to the United States with literally nothing,
just $500 in their pockets.
From my beginnings as
an "English as a second language" student
whose hearing disability was identified by a teacher,
I received a quality public education
and I'm the first woman in my family to graduate from college.
Public education transformed my life.
I'm a private-sector professional
with over 15 years of experience in finance and operations
and have a Master's in Business Administration
from Harvard Business School.
For more than 25 years, I've had deep civic engagement
with volunteer work and youth programs,
particularly ones in immigrant communities.
Of most importance to me,
I'm a mother of four children, current and future
Seattle Public School students.
In my capacity, serving on
the superintendent's Parent Advisory Council
and as a PTSA president, I've spent many hours
advocating in partnership with other parents and stakeholders
in local and state forums.
And as I attended more and more school-board meetings,
I realized there was an opportunity for me
to better serve our community.
I bring a diverse background,
finance and management expertise,
and a genuine desire to work collaboratively
for greater opportunity and outcomes.
Among my priorities as director
are making real progress on real inclusion,
establishing mental health as an essential service of schools,
supporting working families with transportation,
and committing to good governance and decision-making
through authentic community engagement
and leveraging my financial and operational skills.
I seek to help our community recover
from the pandemic and become stronger than ever.
I'm proud to be endorsed by the 36th District Democrats,
State Senator Reuven Carlyle, former School Board Directors
Eden Mack and Kay Smith-Blum,
and other community and education leaders
in Seattle and Washington State.
I'd be honored to have your support and vote.
Thank you.