Can you tell us about the office you are running for/your current elected position? I sit on a 5 person County Council in Delaware County PA, a western suburb of Philadelphia. My district has a little over 565,000 residents.           

What made you decide to run for office? My first elected office was as a school board director, I ran to contribute more to my community and assist my children’s district. While I was a member of the school board I ran into several issues of inequitable and inefficient distribution of county resources along with a general lack of resources in specific areas of the county.  This made it more difficult to effectively make change on certain issues as a school board director. The more I researched into the County the more issues I uncovered such as a lack of a County Health Department and the only private for profit prison in the state of Pennsylvania. My research into the county ultimately lead me to wanting to tackle these issues head on, so I decided to run for County Council.

What is the most important issue you are focusing on in your campaign? My most important issue to tackle as a Council member is building a County Health Department. The problems that come with a lack of a health department have been even more exacerbated with the pandemic. We’ve had several issues with food insecurity, homelessness, and a disproportionate impact of the virus on our communities of color all of which a county health department would play a major role in addressing.

Why is the leadership of Black women needed right now? Historically the voices of black women have not been at the table we’ve been and still are under represented at every level of government. Representation matters and black women bring a different perspective and voice to the table addressing issues from voting rights to increased maternal mortality rates in women of color.

What advice would you give other women who want to get involved in their community or who want to run for office? Get involved in your community as much as you can and if you’re thinking about running for office, Go for it!