Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I spent my late teens and twenties crisscrossing the United States mainland from north to south and east to west. During this time, I attended Bucks County Community College and the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in English. I also taught in traditional, non-traditional and experimental settings and led and participated in outdoor, environmental education and wilderness excursions. In 1998, I learned to surf in the cold Pacific ocean waters of Santa Cruz, California. My love of surfing and a desire to continue to seek and pursue justice led me to Hawaii in 2000 to study at the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law, from which I earned my Juris Doctor degree in 2003.
I first felt the call to be a mediator in 2006, received initial mediation training at The Mediation Center of the Pacific on Oahu, where I volunteered until moving to the Big Island in 2007 to start a family and create a sustainable homestead in Puna with my partner. In 2015, my interest in mediation reignited and I began volunteering at the Ku`ikahi Mediation Center, where I continue to volunteer, attend trainings, mentor others and hone my skills. During the COVID pandemic, as many activities began to be conducted online, I envisioned starting a private mediation business on the Big Island that would also offer services throughout the State. Realizing that my vision was possible, I began taking more trainings and certificate courses, including at the prestigious Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law. In 2021, Ku’ikahi Mediation Center awarded me a contract to mediate for the Landlord-Tenant Eviction Mediation Program, established after the passage of House Bill 1376, now Act 57, in response to the expiration of the pandemic-enacted eviction moratorium.
I believe in life-long learning, creating more understanding to bridge differences and striving to live fully with joy, equanimity, mindfulness and loving kindness.
