Elizabeth Kucinich

Elizabeth Jane Kucinich née Harper (born 22 October 1977) is director of public affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and wife of the U.S. Congressman and former Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.
==Early life and education==
Born Elizabeth Jane Harper, she was brought up in North Ockendon in Havering, Great Britain. She attended Coopers' Company and Coborn School in Cranham from 1989-96. According to her mother, as a girl Harper "was always into human rights and the environment and delivered a petition on animal rights to Parliament when she was just 14."The Essex girl with a silver tongue stud who has her eyes on the White House After leaving school she went to Agra, India to volunteer at one of Mother Teresa's homes for India's poorest children. 
On her return to the UK she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and Theology and Master of Arts degree in International Conflict Analysis (both from the University of Kent at Canterbury). The subject of her MA thesis was "Conflict Resolution in World Politics".
==Career==
After university she spent 16 months in a rural Tanzanian village and worked as an advocate for regional development. After leaving Tanzania, she volunteered with a British Red Cross refugee unit, earned a certificate in Peace Studies from Coventry University and was employed as a fund-raiser for a seafarer's charity in London. Her volunteer work often brought her to the Forum for Stable Currencies at the House of Lords. 
At that time, she heard financial analyst Stephen Zarlenga speak about monetary reform. She was impressed and was soon hired to become Zarlenga's assistant at the Chicago-based American Monetary Institute.
Kucinich is currently the director of public affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
==Personal life==
In the course of her work with Zarlenga, she met Dennis Kucinich, who proposed to her during their second meeting and they married in 2005 in his native Cleveland, Ohio. 
The Sunday Times noted that one of her heroines is Diana, Princess of Wales, partly for her bringing "compassion back into public life".
Harper has her tongue pierced with a silver stud. Like her husband she is a vegan.
==References==
==External links==
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Category:1977 births
Category:Living people
Category:Alumni of Coventry University
Category:Alumni of the University of Kent
Category:English expatriates in the United States
Category:Dennis Kucinich
Category:English humanitarians
Category:English vegans
Category:People from North Ockendon
Category:Spouses of members of the United States House of Representatives
Category:Spouses of Ohio politicians
Category:1977 births
Category:Living people
Category:Alumni of Coventry University
Category:Alumni of the University of Kent
Category:English expatriates in the United States
Category:Dennis Kucinich
Category:English humanitarians
Category:English vegans
Category:People from North Ockendon
Category:Spouses of members of the United States House of Representatives
Category:Spouses of Ohio politicians