Elizabeth Kucinich

Elizabeth Kucinich
Born Elizabeth Jane Harper
22 October 1977 (1977-10-22) (age 34)
North Ockendon, England, UK
Occupation Director of public affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Spouse Dennis Kucinich (m. 2005–present) «start: (2005)»"Marriage: Dennis Kucinich to Elizabeth Kucinich" Location: (linkback:http://localhost../../../../articles/e/l/i/Elizabeth_Kucinich_9ec4.html)

Elizabeth Kucinich (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.[1]

Contents

Early life and education

Born Elizabeth Jane Harper, she was brought up in North Ockendon in Havering. 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."[2] After leaving school she went to Agra, India to volunteer at one of Mother Teresa's homes for India's poorest children.[3]

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".[4]

Career

After university she spent 16 months in a rural Tanzanian village and worked as an advocate for regional development.[3][5] 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.[3]

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.[3][5][6]

Kucinich is currently the director of public affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.[1][7]

Personal life

In the course of her work with Zarlenga, she met Dennis Kucinich, who proposed to her during their second meeting[8] and they married in 2005 in his native Cleveland, Ohio.[6]

The Sunday Times noted that one of her heroines is Diana, Princess of Wales, partly for her bringing "compassion back into public life".[5]

Harper has her tongue pierced with a silver stud.[9] Like her husband she is a vegan.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "Michelle Obama Gets Backup From Scarlett Johansson on Healthful Eating". US News and World Report. 16 March 2010. http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2010/03/16/michelle-obama-gets-backup-from-scarlett-johansson-on-healthful-eating.html. Retrieved 23 March 2010. "'We're trying to drive healthy eating', says Kucinich, who's married to Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the one-time Democratic presidential candidate. She represents the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which is whipping up support for Rep. George Miller's Healthy School Meals Act of 2010." 
  2. ^ The Essex girl with a silver tongue stud who has her eyes on the White House
  3. ^ a b c d Theiss, Evelyn (30 October 2005). "How Kucinich Found Love". The Plain Dealer. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1030-04.htm. Retrieved 21 May 2007. 
  4. ^ "Meet Elizabeth". elizabeth.kucinich.us. http://elizabeth.kucinich.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=1. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
  5. ^ a b c Baxter, Sarah (20 May 2007). "Essex girl fills White House race with lurve". Times Online (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1813550.ece. Retrieved 23 March 2010. "Kucinich met her husband-to-be two years ago when she visited his office in the House of Representatives with her boss as a volunteer worker for the American Monetary Institute, an offbeat group dedicated to reforming the 'unjust monetary system'. ... she studied religion and theology at Kent University and spent time in India and Tanzania, where she worked for Voluntary Service Overseas." 
  6. ^ a b "After seeking wife and White House, Kucinich gets the girl". Associated Press. 23 August 2005. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-08-23-kucinich_x.htm. Retrieved 23 March 2010. "Kucinich and Elizabeth Harper, who works for a monetary-policy think tank in Chicago, were married Sunday before some 250 guests outside City Hall, where he once served as mayor." 
  7. ^ a b "Mrs. K wants to give the big apes a break". Washington Post. 29 October 2009. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2009/10/rs-kucinich29.html. Retrieved 23 March 2010. "Now she's back in the spotlight, this time as the new director of public affairs for the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Her whole family went vegan after her mother learned she had Crohn's disease, the inflammatory bowel condition, and managed it by cutting out meat and dairy products." 
  8. ^ "Meet Democrat Dennis Kucinich's Wife: She's a New Age, Tongue-Pierced Brit". foxnews.com. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274035,00.html#ixzz17agHfyjR. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
  9. ^ "The Essex girl with a silver tongue stud who has her eyes on the White House". Daily Mail. 24 November 2007. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=496213&in_page_id=1770. Retrieved 23 March 2010. 

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