With an eagle eye for detail and love of all things literature, joyful collaboration is how I help clients thrive.

I'm a native speaker of English, heritage speaker of Spanish, and graduate degree holder in Urban and Regional Planning (master's degree). Citizen by birth of the USA, Mexico, and the Republic of Ireland. My Irish passport is also my ticket to the European Union, to visit or live. Currently, I live in the lush state of Oregon on the west coast of the USA. I've never strayed too far from the Pacific Ocean, having also lived for a time in Guatemala and served in Panama in the U.S. Peace Corps.

One of my future delights is to ride the Amtrak train from northern California the entire length of the USA, possibly arriving in Boston or one of the other history-filled East Coast cities. It would be a real treat to visit the site of Thoreau’s cabin on the shores of Walden Pond. I first read his classic work Walden at the age of 12 or 13; it had quite an emotional impact on me that’s never left. There are few works beside the Bible that grip my spirit as much as Walden. Yes, I do enjoy literature! And languages fascinate me.

A bit about the joys of being bilingual: I once lived in a small city with a thriving Latino community. A small market was just around the corner from my place and I often walked there to buy snacks. The clerks were bilingual Hispanic people but I only spoke to them in Spanish. One day I happened to say a few words in English to another customer in line with me; the clerk standing at the register looked at me in surprise and said (in Spanish) “Oh, do you speak English too?”

People are often confused by me when I let my unusual ethnic heritage be known, since I don’t fit the popular image (stereotype) in the USA of Latino people and I’m entirely fluent in English. Other Hispanics are less confused, however; my accent when I speak Spanish is completely Mexican.