Growing up in Junction City, Wisconsin, I spent most of my time at my family's dairy farm. My parents were lifelong public servants, and my roots came full circle when my now-husband Jason proposed to me on top of my family's silo. 

I received my bachelor’s degree from St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. After graduating, I served as a Sustainable Agriculture volunteer in Senegal for the United States Peace Corps, and later joined AmeriCorps in Nevada, undertaking environmental conservation work as a volunteer. I went on to receive my master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC. 

I channeled that degree into public service; first, as a research assistant in the Agriculture Office of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and then as an International Economist with the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture working in international agricultural trade policy. I also worked for three years with the World Bank as a consultant. Today, I serve as the Policy Director for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.