Captain with the Raleigh (NC) Fire Department. Previously, she was a police officer in North Carolina for five years. She is a founding member of the Carolina Brotherhood and founder and director of North Carolina Peer Support. She has a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke; her research focused on firefighter suicide. She has an undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University. She teaches a class on suicide prevention at FDIC International.