A Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Eri has since lived across the US, from Washington, DC, where she worked for the Missile Defense Agency, to Chicago, IL as an art curator for an art distributor, before settling in Buffalo, NY, working in finance and administration. Her personal experiences with disparities in care, unequal access, and resource shortages within the Veteran’s Administration healthcare system, her advocacy for veterans’ fertility access, along with her volunteer work at homeless shelters in Buffalo, and as an immigrant transition coordinator, have fueled her passion for championing equitable opportunities for marginalized communities. Eri earned her bachelor’s degree in public relations from Buffalo State University in 2013 and driven by global human rights violations, obtained her Human Rights Consultant Certification in 2024.