In work and in life my focus is to connect with and help people in meaningful ways, and to engage in things that nurture my family, my friends and myself. Some of those things are meditation, journaling, dreamwork, animal rescue and environmental advocacy, connecting with nature, volunteering locally, and being active in politics to promote the inclusion, respect and care of all people, especially those most vulnerable among us.
My passion for helping people led me to a degree in Social Work and a career focused on service. As a student at San Jose State, I took the advice Joan Baez gave at my High School Baccalaureate to “get arrested once for something you believe in.” I was part of a group that took over an abandoned house on behalf of the homeless. It was ice cold in the jail’s holding tank – and I decided then that being arrested wasn’t for me. Since then, I’ve worked for a Food Bank, then as a Case manager for homeless families where I also created and managed a Transitional Housing program. Seeing the need these and other nonprofits had for better funding, I became the Manager of Corporate Community Relations for a Silicon Valley tech company and designed their community giving programs. In Minnesota, I helped 26 nonprofits implement successful fundraising practices. Here in Owatonna, I was Executive Director of CONTACT – a crisis line and program which also checked on the safety of vulnerable adults and the elderly. Next, as Deputy District Director for (then) Congressman Walz, I headed constituent services dedicated to remedying constituent problems with federal agencies. Most recently, I served as Parish Administrator for St. Paul’s Episcopal church.
I moved from California to Minnesota in 2001 to slow down and let my soul catch up. I live in Owatonna with my husband, Ross Leuning, a Judge and Retired Naval Officer with whom I have 6 step children and numerous four-legged family members.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
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