I split my time between Berkeley, California, where I was born at Alta Bates hospital, and Galiano Island, British Columbia, where my husband, John, and I have a house. I love to travel and have also lived many other places. I have two grown children, my daughter, Kelsey, who is a surgical resident in Portland, OR, and my son, Fraser, who is a data engineering manager in San Francisco. Kelsey is married to Garet and Fraser is partnered to and lives with Jae. All of them are dog people!
Professionally, I am partly retired and still do some negotiations coaching, primarily for women. Negotiations was my favorite class at Stanford Business School and the one I enjoyed teaching the most as an adjunct professor at Mills College MBA program until 2010. Mills recently become “Mills College at Northeastern University,” much to the consternation of most of its students and alumni.
In 2012, I went to Africa and volunteered for two projects, one with a girls’ boarding school for vulnerable girls in Tanzania, where I lived for 6 months, and one teaching negotiations to girls in Zambia in the hopes of reducing their incidence of HIV infection by helping them negotiate sex with men and boys and keeping them in school longer by negotiating with their parents. These were rewarding and interesting experiences for me
Recreationally, I spend a lot of time when I’m not traveling participating in several sports and trying to stay in shape. I recently joined a dragon boat team, the Oakland Renegades, which has been a fun way to meet a whole new group of people. I also play pickleball using the hand-eye coordination I gained from my childhood playing tennis. I love to walk and hike. When I am away from home in a place where I don’t have many connections, I spend a lot of time each day going on long walks. Luckily, our home on Galiano is surrounded by excellent hiking.
I love to read and am on Goodreads in order to keep track of my reading. My 2023 “Reading Challenge” for myself is 40 books. I also listen to podcasts (Ezra Klein is my fave) and read the SF Chronicle in paper form every morning when in Berkeley. John and I are also big consumers of urban and cultural delights including live music, performing and visual art, and food. Even when I’m away from Berkeley, I keep track of the restaurant openings and closings. In my next life, I plan to be a food critic, an interior designer, or both.