Biography
About Me
Our family moved to Rhode Island in 2004 when my husband, who was a naval officer at the time, received orders to work at the Naval War College in Newport. We decided to live in North Kingstown because of the school system reputation. Within a week of our arrival, I took and passed the RI Bar exam for attorneys.
I became active in my sons' school PTO at Fishing Cove Elementary, and in 2006, I successfully ran for the NK School Committee. I served on the school committee for eight years. I chaired the school committee from 2011-2014.
In 2016, I earned a doctorate in Higher Education from Johnson & Wales University. My dissertation addressed negotiating with adjunct faculty unions.
I have a small law practice in will, trusts, and probate law, and I help people in starting new businesses. I am a full-time Assistant Professor in the College of Business at the University of Rhode Island, and I teach in the MBA program at Pfizer, and the doctoral program for Elizabethtown College. I am President of the Board of Directors for the North Kingstown Food Pantry. I sit on the board of trustees at the North Kingstown United Methodist Church. I was a part-time mediator for the Center for Mediation and Collaboration Rhode Island, thus I sit in all the negotiations the Town of North Kingstown does with its three labor contracts, Police, Fire, and the local union.
Our Family: My husband, Pete Pellegrino, works as a war game designed and head of adjudication at the Naval War College. My son Graham, graduated from North Kingstown High School, where he played soccer and ran track. He graduated from Penn State University in 2019, and works as a business consultant for a major firm in Washington DC, but he is moving to Alabama in the summer as his fiancé will be a resident at Alburn University Vet clinic.
Our Family: My oldest son Tyler also graduated from North Kingstown High School where he was a peer partner for the Unified Basketball team. Tyler graduated from New England Institute of Technology with a degree in Digital Media Production in 2019. He works for RI PBS as an audio engineer.