TOGETHER

WE CAN

member voice. advocacy. experience.

MEMBER VOICE

As a member led organization, the voice of our members is the heart of all we do. By listening and amplifying that voice we make change. As a trusted leader in our organization I have used my voice to amplify both student and member voice for over a decade.

Your voice matters. I’ll be coming to a town near you on my listening tour where I’ll have the opportunity to connect with you in person and hear what matters most to you.

SIGN UP FOR MY LISTENING TOUR

ADVOCACY

Being of service to our collective. I have marched, picketed, spoken out, attended board meetings and demonstrations in support of our locals and members. In each instance, whether it was locally or around the state, I have listened to members who know exactly what they need, how to do their job, and what’s best to support students. Our collective ability to create change for our members, and especially for our students, over my time in our association has proven to be one of the most joyful aspects of my life.

So many narratives in our society right now are working to divide us in a number of ways. But we are a union. We have shared values and concerns. Together we have raised the minimum wage, increased benefits for education support professionals, secured additional physical education minutes for our students and increased mental health supports, just to name a few.

EXPERIENCE

Being an officer means managing the organization on different levels. My managerial experience and leadership within the organization are a great fit for what the role of secretary treasurer entails. I have had years of experience working with directors of operations and finance but more specifically, our IEA Secretary Treasurer works closely with the Director of Business Services in many areas. My financial fluency lends itself well to reviewing year on year financial statements to be sure we are maximizing the effectiveness of operations.

As an elected member of the NEA Budget committee for four years we crafted, in partnership with our staff leads, the budget for each of our areas as well as spent time monitoring and reviewing the entire budget. During my tenure we implemented a deeper process of connecting with members beyond the annual representative assembly open hearing. We partnered with each of the constituency groups to hold member input sessions and used the information gained in those sessions to ensure that our budget reflected what members said they wanted to see.

I did similar work on the IEA Budget Committee for the 2 years I was on it. Currently I am part of the team that is drafting our first Strategic Plan and Budget for IEA.

Training leaders and others in how to be effective fiduciaries is work that I have done both in and out of the union. While managing various departments in corporate I trained team members into leadership positions and supported their ongoing development into management positions. One of my greatest memories is of one of my staff who was not sure she was “leadership material”. I spent many weeks showing her all of the attributes of leadership she already possessed and finally she agreed to be a manager in training. She went on to lead other areas of the organization.

As an IEA Executive Committee member I worked closely with regions as they developed their annual budgets. Sometimes meeting multiple times to ensure that they not only understood the process but that their budget reflected the values of our organization and included opportunities for members to attend trainings and supported the recruitment of educators of color into leadership. As local leader in various roles I have worked to train local members on how to manage the finances of the local as well. With a high commitment to transparency and ensuring member voice our local budget is a true reflection of our work. As your secretary treasurer I would be offering trainings in all of the region offices and would like to expand that to locals who request that type of training as well.

Other areas in the association where I have served include the IEA Strategic Financial Planning Committee and as a Professional Staff 401k Trustee since 2017. As a trustee we are responsible for the monitoring of the staff 401K investments. We have made decisions over the year on the direction, which options are most viable and will produce the longest term benefit as well as shifts in the investments overall.

Having been in management for 25 years I have a deep understanding of how to move an organization forward through organized efforts. As a school board member, I have learned the ins and outs of school finance taking my experience into the district that I serve. But also learning from the experience of reviewing our district budget and expenses on a monthly basis as well as the oversight of our major construction projects we have been working on for all four of my years. Being on the school board has also given me insight into how budgets work in schools which will lend itself well to supporting locals as they look at their own districts finances.

Experience matters in our current climate and I am a leader who has led in multiple areas. All that I have done and learned over my years will be put to service for our members and our students.