Originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania, Kendra moved to Newport at age 20 and quickly became an active member of the community. Deeply involved in Newport Public Schools, she has served as President of both the Pell and Thompson PTOs and is a member of the School Building Committee, where she has helped oversee the eight-classroom expansion at Pell and the construction of the new Rogers High School.

Her commitment to education includes a term on the Newport School Committee, as well as board service with the Newport Public Education Foundation and ReNewport. She also contributes as a parent advisor to Learn365 Newport.

Professionally, she is the Office Manager and Director of Sales, Clients, and Dealer Operations for J/Boats Inc., an international sailboat design and marketing company headquartered in Newport.

She resides in Newport with her husband, Mark, their daughter, Grace—a junior at Rogers who has attended Newport Public Schools since kindergarten—and their dog, Bear, and cat, Romeo. When not working or engaged in civic matters, she enjoys spending time on the tennis court or working on hand embroidery projects.

Elise is a native Newporter and immigration lawyer. She grew up on Aquidneck Island, experiencing and loving the many kinds of community and people that are drawn to this beautiful place. Elise graduated from the City University of New York law school and Brown University. She volunteers with organizations around the state in addition to practicing immigration law with a focus on deportation defense. Elise is on the boards of Conexion Latina and the RI ACLU. During her 'time away', Elise lived in Arizona, Vermont, California, Mexico and New York.