My parents are Salvadoran immigrants who came to Montgomery County in the late 1980s and early 1990s in search of the American Dream. Like many immigrant families, they worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. My mother has spent her life working in the food industry. My father worked as a handyman on a college campus in Washington, D.C., before starting his own small business, which he still runs today. When my parents learned they were expecting me, my father purchased our family home in Connecticut Avenue Estates, where my family still lives. I come from a large family, with seven siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins who also reside in Montgomery County. Growing up, our life was not always financially stable, but my parents instilled in me a deep sense of responsibility to give back. From a young age, I was taught that community matters and that we have a duty to show up for one another.

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​I attended Weller Road Elementary School, Parkland Middle School, A. Mario Loiederman Middle School, and both Wheaton High School & Thomas Edison High School of Technology. From there, I earned my bachelors in Biology and minor in Biochemistry, from Trinity Washington University  in Washington, D.C.

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My commitment to service shaped everything I did growing up. In high school, I earned multiple awards for community service (including a Certificate of Meritorious Service for completing more than 160 SSL hours), represented the state in service competitions, and helped organize efforts that provided food to more than 200 families in the 20906 zip code.

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I also stepped into leadership roles. In high school, I served in the Student Government Association at Thomas Edison High School of Technology, where I helped advocate for students and organize community-focused initiatives. I served as co-captain of my field hockey junior- varsity team. During my junior year at Trinity Washington University, I co-founded the Ladies F.I.R.S.T. (Fierece In Research, Stem & Technology) STEM Club and served as its Vice President, creating space for women in science and leadership. In my senior year, I served as Vice President of my senior class and President of the Ladies F.I.R.S.T. STEM Club. In these roles, I partnered with cancer organizations, participated in volunteer efforts, and raised awareness around cancer prevention and public health, work that further solidified my commitment to service, science, and community engagement. After college, I moved to Houston, Texas for post-baccalaureate training in cancer research.

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But Montgomery County has always been home. I returned to live with my parents in Connecticut Avenue Estates and earned my Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine with a concentration in cancer biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and I brought my education, experience, and commitment back to the community that raised me.

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After graduate school, I served as a federal contractor as a program manager and later became a federal employee as a program analyst at the National Cancer Institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda.

 

In 2025, I was one of thousands of federal employees in Montgomery County who were terminated during mass workforce actions affecting probationary federal employees.

 

That experience, and the broader treatment of federal workers, was deeply personal and profoundly changed how I view the role of government, accountability, and public service.