My family moved to Watertown in 2015, and I have two kids (1st and 5th grade) at the JR Lowell Elementary school. I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan where my parents decided to settle after immigrating from India as international students in the late 60s/early 70s. I’m a proud product of the Ann Arbor Public Schools, and I went on to get degrees from Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, two excellent public universities.

What I love about Watertown is what I loved about my community growing up - diversity, activism, and collaboration among various stakeholders who care about making the community safe and inclusive for all. The engaged community members, small businesses, amazing bakeries, farmer’s market, commitment to the environment and sustainability, and local arts and theater offerings are a few of the things that my family benefits from by living here.

Professionally, I have worked at the intersection of public health and higher education for over 17 years, through roles in sexual health education, chronic disease clinical research, campus suicide prevention, and career services at MIT and Harvard over the last decade. I also have a small grief coaching business, as one of the public health issues close to my heart is increasing access to evidence-based grief support and advocating for expanded bereavement leave policies. My husband is a tenured professor of philosophy at Bentley University, which is what originally brought us to Massachusetts.