I'm so glad you're here.
A Yooper by birth and a Midwesterner by upbringing, there's no place I'd rather call home than West Michigan. While we're surrounded by the best freshwater in the world, with access to the amenities of a growing city and plenty of outlets for recreation and creativity, it's our friends and neighbors that truly make our home special.
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Yet we know that not everyone has the same access to, or the same experience of welcome and comfort in, our community. Many of us are struggling to make ends meet and establish a sense of security in our futures. Too many of the policies and systems that govern our everyday lives do not provide the outcomes that we expect and that we need to thrive.
I'm running for State Senate because I know we can change this. We can build a system that works for people. Ambitious change requires vision, determination and courage - and together, we've got more than enough.
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We can build a Michigan that stands strong in protecting our people and our democracy while we nurture healthy and thriving communities; ensure an excellent public education for all children; supply adequate and affordable homes where folks want to live; and center the needs and rights of workers in our economy. ​
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I'm so glad that we're in this together.
Meet Abbie
Abbie has over twenty years of experience in public sector service, including
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Elected office
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Classroom teaching at elementary, secondary and college levels
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Public school and district leadership
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Policy leadership at the Michigan Department of Education
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Nonprofit program management
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Community organizing
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Board leadership for various organizations
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Mentoring, coaching and community volunteering
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She is a graduate of
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East Kentwood High School
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Indiana University (Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science)
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Harvard University (Masters in Administration, Planning and Social Policy)
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Grand Rapids Community College, Secchia Institute for Culinary Education (Certificate in Craft Brewing)​
​Abbie is a courageous leader who works hard to keep constituents informed and engaged on issues that impact them. She is forthright and candid, guided by the belief that governing is a collective effort. With a background in both community organizing and government systems, Abbie knows firsthand how essential both roles are to creating the most good for the most people - and how to create effective working relationships between them.
As a City Commissioner in East Grand Rapids, she has helped residents organize a group to advocate for safer streets and sidewalks that has resulted in the addition of bike lanes throughout the city as well as changes to city policies to further improve the safety of vulnerable road users. She consistently advocates for greater transparency in procedure and policy implementation and has been a strong voice in protecting the democratic rights of community members.​
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Abbie lives with her husband, Robert (an IT strategy consultant); daughter, Ellison (a high school senior); and doggo, Queso (a tolerator of the occasional snoot boop) . She is a semi-retired runner and triathlete with three Ironman races and dozens of marathons under her belt, a skilled baker and an enthusiastic (if middling) gardener. She currently serves as a Third Ward City Commissioner in East Grand Rapids and teaches brewing science at Grand Rapids Community College.
