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ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Julia

WHERE I COME FROM

I was born in England to British parents who immigrated to the United States when I was young.  After attending university in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Cambridge, England, I worked in London, New York City and San Francisco before moving to Lake County in 2000 to live in Hidden Valley and now Middletown. I have also lived in Mexico and have traveled around the world to gain a better appreciation of other cultures and lifestyles.

MY EDUCATION AND HONORS

After graduating at the top of my high school class as its valedictorian, I attended the University of Michigan and graduated with high distinction and highest honors as the top Honors Chemistry student for which I received the prestigious Merck Index Award. I was also admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and invited to join MENSA. 

I then received a full post-graduate scholarship from the National Science Foundation, and I was one of just ten top science students nationwide to be named a Churchill Scholar. I used those scholarships to study Theoretical Physical Chemistry at Cambridge University in England where I researched and wrote my M.Sc. thesis on the computer simulation of disordered materials. My original scientific research was published in the Journal of Chemical Physics. 

In addition, I studied the first year of law school at Northwestern University School of Law and obtained almost a decade of hands-on civil litigation experience. I also took the necessary coursework to qualify as a real estate broker in California.

MY BUSINESS CAREER

After university, I went to work at Salomon Brothers International Ltd. in London as a business systems analyst within the Sales and Trading division of the major Wall Street-based investment bank. There, I was professionally trained in all aspects of financial markets trading and analysis, as well as in systems analysis and software design.

I was then hired by Manufacturer's Hanover Trust, where I managed the commercial bank's large forex option portfolios and dealt currency derivatives with great success. After then moving to New York City to research and write about financial markets for a financial think-tank called I.D.E.A., I was recruited by Bank of America to become its Vice President in charge of currency option sales at its Manhattan office. When I transferred to San Francisco to oversee the bank's option department there, I boosted my department's annual income from $50,000 to over $5,000,000 in just a few years. As a result, I was honored with the bank's prestigious annual Great Explorer Award for outstanding profitability.


After deciding to take a break from my successful banking career to have a child, I conceptualized and co-founded a land-based community project and moved to Lake County to develop it. As a member of the Middletown Merchants Association, I also opened up and operated a mortgage loan office for the Financial Company of America and a pioneering health food restaurant called Back to the Garden in Middletown. 

When I later spent some time in Mexico, I worked as a real estate agent and in property management overseeing a large portfolio of rental properties. I also used my well-developed computer skills to run an Internet café and a computer technician business, as well as to work remotely as a website developer and freelance writer. After being hired to ghost write several books, I subsequently researched and authored ten published books of my own on topics related to finance, healthy diets, ethics and spiritual living.  


With respect to my non-profit experience, I have served as a board member of several non-profit corporations, including The World Peace Through Technology Organization and the Eleusis Foundation.  My ministry also called me to co-found and serve as President of The Rainbow Church of Living Light, which has been based in Middletown since 2004.

MY MINISTRY

I was raised by Christian Quakers and became awakened to mystical awareness in 1993. I was called to the ministry in 1998, when I was ordained by the Universal Life Church, and I was also subsequently ordained by The Rainbow Church of Living Light in 2004. I have since performed church services and officiated at numerous weddings and funerals as a ceremonial minister. I have also taken vows of harmlessness and relative poverty, and I am continuing my studies into enlightenment and meditation with the Middletown sangha of Tendai Buddhists. I presently sit on the board of directors of three religious non-profits and several secular ones. 

MY FAMILYAND HOBBIES

I am happily married to Carlos Bono and have two sons, Francis and Samuel. Samuel was educated conventionally, although I took it upon myself to homeschool Francis, and I am very proud of them both.  Carlos and I enjoy doing things together like playing music, hiking in nature, making good food, caring for animals, gardening and playing online multiplayer games. 

MISSION STATEMENT

Aiming for the Highest Common Good

My overall goal in running for Lake County's District 1 Supervisor is to responsibly represent, consider and protect the health and economic well-being of the residents of our district and our shared environment while working toward achieving the highest common good for all concerned.

 

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