About Me
Getting to know me starts with recognizing that my two kids are more important to me than anything else in the world. My kiddos both attend Saint Paul Public Schools. My kids are my primary advisors, and it is through them that I try to envision a better future.*
Before joining the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General earlier this year, I spent over five years in the Forfeiture Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. My work centered on returning criminal proceeds to victims. But, the other big part of my job was permanently getting firearms out of the hands of the criminals using them. I found that firearms often seemed to get more rights than people—a feeling that has intensified as civil liberties have eroded for citizens and immigrants alike. It was a sisyphean task to get these illegal firearms off the streets.
On June 14, 2025, a man carried out political assassinations with a personal arsenal of firearms. Before news broke of these murders, my family was planning to attend a peaceful protest at the Capitol. The man was still at large on the day of the protest and my family had to weigh the risks of going to the Capitol. We decided it was important to go—and we did go—but of course we found the event became less joyful and more tense. We had to have a painful talk with our kids about what to do in the worst-case scenario. Then, on August 27, 2025, another murderer terrorized Annunciation Catholic Church and parochial school, killing two children and injuring another 28 people.
Since then I have joined Moms Demand Action, Faith in Minnesota, and InterFaith Action. I’ve written my representatives and senators. And I’ve been thinking long and hard about how to respond to the clear signs that our firearm culture is broken. My first response was mnfirearmlegislation.com. My second was commentary published in the StarTribune.
This campaign is about writing and carrying legislation to the regular session. We have got to break the logjam and pass meaningful legislation.
* In this charged political environment, I have decided not to display pictures of my kiddos and family.
My Story
My first career out of college was political organizing. I worked on local and statewide campaigns. And then, I joined the nascent Obama Campaign in Chicago, starting in 2007.
The Obama campaign ethos has seeped into my bones. Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Obama would say, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” He would then add, “but it doesn’t bend on its own—it bends because We pull it in the direction of justice.”
I served the Obama Campaign through the transition to the administration, in the Education Policy Workgroup. But, I did not join the administration. I had fallen in love and needed to return to Chicago to “see about a girl.” I had also received advice from a mentor that becoming an attorney could help my efforts to make a meaningful difference in my chosen communities. So, I went to law school the following fall.
Three years later, I again chased my love. I arrived in St. Paul in Summer 2012, and soon after, Sarah and I got married. Sarah had gotten a job as an exhibit designer at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I got a clerkship with a U.S. District Court judge. I served for two years. I then spent four years as a private attorney, paying off my student debt. But the work wasn’t very satisfying on its own. I took pro bono cases in Family Court and Immigration Court. I also steeped myself in community. I have served on the Summit Hill Association District Council, when I lived on Grand Ave., and then on the MacGroveland Community Council when we moved to our current house on Hamline Ave. S.
In 2015, the calling I had felt to serve my country ever since 9/11 finally overwhelmed me. I signed up to serve as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve. I attained the rank of Captain and served six years in the Active Reserve for the 214th Legal Operations Detachment and the 372nd Engineers Brigade.
In the last five years, I have served as a Ramsey County Conciliation Court Referee, a member of the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library Advocacy Committee, and in many capacities with my faith community. I was appointed by Governor Walz to the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy and was appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court to the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board.
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