Meet Marjorie
I was born and raised in the southern California desert, where you see Joshua Trees for miles and can watch the shuttle land at Edwards Air Force Base. Growing up in a big, blue-collar family laid the foundation for me as a collaborator, and it taught me that all hands were needed to pitch in. I had just finished my undergraduate degree at the University of California, San Diego when the 9/11 attacks happened. There was no question in my mind that I needed to help and chose to serve my country in uniform.
I am what the military refers to as a Mustang, a prior enlisted soldier who became an officer after my first combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I went on to serve as an Intelligence Commander in Afghanistan during the rough surge years, which is detailed in my book, The Frontline Generation: How We Served Post 9/11.
The best part of my story is the double blessing of becoming a Mom to my awesome son Henk, who also beat cancer as an infant. That crucible in life fortified my faith, which has always been a consistent undercurrent to my identity and how I walk in the world (“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31)
Upon the completion of my family’s military service and my husband’s time as an Army Aviator, it’s an understatement to say we were deliberate in choosing our forever home. After living all across the country and being deployed around the world - and after an extensive weighted and scaled decision matrix – it was undeniable that Cary, North Carolina was the winner! (Plus, our years stationed at Ft. Bragg gave us invaluable insight into how much we loved it here.)
Over the past three years, I have had the honor of being selected to serve the Town of Cary as a citizen member of the Economic Development Committee. This stemmed from my “day job” of advising small businesses on growth and scaling, following the completion of my MBA from Vanderbilt University in 2012. I currently serve on the Vanderbilt Business School Alumni Board and lead business development at a biotech company.
My passion for the outdoors and conservation extends well beyond my years in the military, sleeping in tents. On weekends or after work, I’m on the greenways or outside in general (usually with our two shelter rescue dogs, Peanut and Hailey Bailey). I launched the garden club for my neighborhood, and I love being at the baseball field cheering for my son, as well as volunteering with his Boy Scout Troop.
As your next At-Large Council Member, I will not forget why we all chose to live in Cary!
Sign up here to volunteer alongside Marjorie!
Early Voting: October 25 - November 1, 2025
Election Day: November 4, 2025
Early Voting: October 25 - November 1, 2025 Election Day: November 4, 2025
Marjorie’s Extended Biography:
Marjorie earned her bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. As an undergraduate, she was competitively selected as a White House Intern and also studied abroad at the University College London, School for Slavonic and East European Studies. She attended the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, where she earned her master’s degree in International Security, with concentrations in Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Human Rights. During her graduate studies, she was one of 56 students selected nationally for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Honors Internship Program. She also has an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.
Marjorie served as a United States Army intelligence officer and commander. Her ten years of post 9/11 military service include two combat deployments, one in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the other in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. She started out enlisted and received the rare honor of being awarded a direct commission within her first two years of service. Her final duty was to command over one hundred soldiers in Afghanistan to successfully fulfill their mission, and safely return home. She was ranked the #1 Military Intelligence company commander in Eastern Afghanistan for the deployment cycle of 2009-2010, awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service as a combat commander and received the Combat Action Badge.
Marjorie is the award-winning author of the 2017 National Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) for, The Frontline Generation: How We Served Post 9/11. The book began as a personal memoir for her son and became the first to define post 9/11 service and leadership. It was a featured title for Hudson Booksellers in airports across the U.S. (2016-2017) and is on the recommended reading list for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Center of Excellence library and museum.
Marjorie is a sought-after keynote speaker, panelist, and contributing writer. She has been described as a veteran thought leader in PBS's Veterans Coming Home initiative. In 2018, Marjorie was selected as one of the nation's Top 25 Influencers Supporting the Military Community, known as Mighty 25. The Junior Chamber International (JCI) USA named Marjorie as a recipient of the 2019 Ten Outstanding Young Americans Award. The TOYA is one of the oldest and most prestigious programs in America, recognizing only ten individuals nationwide who exemplify the best attributes of the nation’s young people. Previous honorees include the likes of John F. Kennedy (1946), Chuck Yeager (1954), Elvis Presley (1970), and George Stephanopoulos (1993).
Her professional path includes 25 years of perspective and experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. She currently serves on the Alumni Board for Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, is a Citizen Board Member for the Town of Cary Economic Development Committee, and volunteers with her son's Boy Scout Troop and neighborhood garden club.
