Associate Board

Born: St. Louis, MO

College and major: The University of Iowa, communications studies with a minor in journalism

Position: Associate director at Starcom Worldwide

“Starcom is a media agency, and I’m part of a team that’s responsible for the strategic planning and execution of advertising campaigns for our clients – implementing our clients’ ads across tv, digital, social media, radio, etc.”

Passions outside of work:

“I’d say my biggest hobby is running – I absolutely love to run. I actually ran the Chicago Marathon as a Mercy Home Hero three years in a row – so that’s how I got involved with the Associate Board. And then just spending time with my husband; we have a Golden Doodle dog, so it takes up a lot of time walking him and hanging out with him.”

Favorite travel destination:

“Probably Maui – I’ve been there twice now and it’s my ideal vacation. It’s the perfect mix of relaxing on the beach or at the pool and then having hiking or snorkeling to be able to break up just laying in the sun. It’s kind of the best of both worlds, and seafood is my favorite type of food.”

Most influential person growing up:

“It’s definitely my parents. I just think they’re truly the most hardworking and kind-hearted individuals. I’m very proud of my strong work ethic and also my philanthropic spirit, and my parents definitely instilled that in me. I never saw them take a day off of work, and they’re who introduced me to Mercy Home by getting me to volunteer when I was younger.

Favorite part about Mercy Home’s mission:

“I just really believe that Mercy Home is unlike any other children’s charity organization. I just strongly believe in their model of providing care to Chicago youth who are in less fortunate situations. They really help people whether it’s through mentoring, tutoring – obviously giving some of the kids a place to live. I just feel like it’s an organization that is truly 100 percent all about the kids. And then another thing I think really resonates with me is that Mercy Home doesn’t just take care of the kids through high school – they get that kind of post-high school graduate support, and I feel like that is something that not any other organization really continues to do for the kids that were entrusted in their care.”

Proudest accomplishment:

“Probably running the marathon four years ago and kind of always exceeding my fundraising goal for Mercy Home. It was something that had been on my bucket list – to do one, it was definitely not to run four. I trained three times prior to 2014 and had gotten injured every single time and was starting to think, ‘this is not going to happen.’ And so I can definitely say that I have never been more proud of myself than when I actually finished it, plus raised additional fundraising dollars for Mercy Home.”