She has also organized tax-cut initiative ballot measures in Massachusetts and worked for the Libertarian National Committee.
[1] Howell attended Bethany College in West Virginia for mathematics and computer science, and after graduating, became a systems engineer at Westinghouse Electric.
[1] After a decade of engineering work, she then became a consultant in the Boston area for the high-tech and health care industry.
[1] In 1998, she ran for Massachusetts State Auditor on the Libertarian Party ticket,[1] and was endorsed by the Boston Herald.
[7][1][10][11] In 2001, while reporting on the Massachusetts Libertarian Party convention, Rick Klein of the Boston Globe wrote the 2000 election "made Howell the state party's standard-bearer - and something of a hero to Bay State Libertarians" and reported she received standing ovations before and after her speech to the attendees.
[23] In 2002, she sponsored 2002 Statewide Ballot Question 1, an initiative petition to end the income tax in Massachusetts.
In 2010, Howell filed four petitions to create ballot measures to reduce sales taxes, and Republican Christy Mihos, who was running for Massachusetts governor at the time, also sponsored the initiatives.