She is the managing editor of Cuba Trade Magazine and a contributing writer for Global Nation. She has a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from Western Washington University, a master’s in journalism from Spain's El País Escuela de Periodismo at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and a bachelor's in peace studies from Whitworth University. During the 1990s, she investigated youth subcultures and gang rehabilitation in post-war El Salvador with comparative research on youth and arts in Cuba. This year, she is reporting on youth at risk for gangs as part of a larger project by academic Sonja Wolf, author of the 2016 book "Mano Dura: The Politics of Gang Control in El Salvador."