For over 15 years, I have worked in various areas in federal and state government. In 2010, my career began as a U.S. Senate intern. Through hard work and diligence, I rose to the legislative aide position and advised on policies pertaining to commerce, transportation, labor, and general appropriations for former U.S. Senator for South Carolina, Jim DeMint. In 2013, I accepted an opportunity with The Heritage Foundation, one of the top three largest think-tanks in the world, to provide targeted research and improve their congressional programming and promotional activities. During my 4 years at Heritage, I served as a congressional liaison and program manager which entailed establishing new programs, developing congressional and grassroots strategies, and serving as a spokesperson for the widely recognized organization. In 2017, I was appointed to serve as Special Advisory for Legislation and Outreach for K-12 policy in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Legislation and Congressional Affairs. In this role, I cultivated critical congressional relationships on all sides of the political spectrum to advance the Secretary of Education's priorities. Whether on policy, nominations, or budgetary matters, my responsibility was to assist and collaborate with congressional and departmental offices to meet their needs and achieve the goals of the U.S. Department of Education. I later met the love of my life and found my way to her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri where we both reside with our two little ones, Louis (loo-ee) and Dunkin’ (not kids, just kittens). I now serve as the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development’s Special Assistant for External Relations where I oversee both federal and state legislative and budgetary activities, initiative planning, and external relations efforts for the department’s commissioner.