My life experiences, education, and global career have given me the skills needed to support the Concord Public School mission statement as a member of the Concord School Committee: lifelong learning and consensus-building, responsible leadership, and caring citizenship in service to the community. 

As a lifelong learner, I built on knowledge I gained in academia to help further the cause of healthcare excellence, first in Japan, then across Europe, and in the USA. In my 19-year career with Merck, I loved the challenges of learning new health systems and cultures and building strategic plans that balanced the needs of each system with the overall mission of the company. Understanding that I have more to learn can be daunting, but also opens so many doors to true progress. As a member of the Concord School Committee, I would endeavor to use the skills and knowledge I have gained to carry out the goals of the committee in keeping with community desires as we all work to meet the challenges of our schools today.

Once one embraces lifelong learning, it is an important step to be a good listener and find creative ways to engage and integrate different ideas. Working with CCHS students on their college application essays, I am learning so much about this generation's life experiences. I am listening to understand how and what they want to express about themselves and weave in the knowledge of essay writing in a way that supports their goals. As a member of the Concord School Committee, I would continue to listen, to our school administration, to citizens and our students.

I think that responsible contribution to society, work, and family requires us to foster leadership in others. I worked with women, especially in Japan, to move beyond gendered roles in society and to recognize that their skills and education are needed in society and the workplace. Together, we built a cross-industry women’s support organization so that women could mentor and learn from one another, encouraging personal and professional growth. While it can be hard to assert ourselves, diverse voices must be heard and we have the opportunity to encourage our students to be active contributors in our increasingly diverse, global society.

I am ready, willing, and able to contribute, as a caring citizen of Concord, to the mission of the Concord School system