Background
I grew up in Westwood, starting kindergarten at the Sheehan School and graduating from Westwood High in 1991.
After WHS, I graduated from Bowdoin College ('95) and moved to New York, where I worked as a paralegal in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for two years. I then moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University School of Law, graduating in 2000. I began my career at Hill & Barlow LP in Boston and moved to Saul Ewing LLP (f/k/a Dionne & Gass LLP) in 2003. Since then, I have served as Citizen Bank’s first in-house real estate attorney, in the Office of the General Counsel at MIT, and as the principal and founder of MKP Law, LLC before taking my current position of Managing Counsel at Wayfair.
I moved back to Westwood with my husband in 2006, right before my oldest son was born. Malek is now a senior at Westwood High School, heading off to Skidmore College in Fall 2024. My daughter, Sena, is in 10th grade at Westwood High, and my youngest son, Zaid, is in 6th grade at Thurston Middle School.
Community Service
Since moving back to Westwood, I have been active in the community, first serving as a Board Member of the Westwood Land Trust for two years. I also served as Treasurer of the Martha Jones PTO for four years, and I have been on the Board of the Westwood Food Pantry since 2010, having previously served as its President. I am also on the Board of Directors for Creating Friendships for Peace, Inc., an international organization that promotes peaceful interactions and understanding in conflicted areas of the world.
Focus Areas
If I am re-elected to the School Committee, I will continue to focus on the following areas:
Use my legal and commercial real estate background to support the School District's long-term strategy, particularly with respect to our capital facility study and ongoing capital projects;
Work with educators and families to review current programming and explore new programming to support the social and emotional learning of our kids, focusing on disaffected and/or isolated students; and
Increase community engagement with the School Committee at all school levels.