She received a BA degree with Magna Cum Laude honors at William Woods University with a double major in political science and history.

While serving in the Missouri House in 1994, Ridgeway was selected as a delegate to the American Council Of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL).

The purpose of the delegation was to open further dialogue between political leaders in the U.S. and countries formerly a part of the recently dismantled Soviet Union.

In 2012, Ridgeway was elected to a four-year term as the Eastern District Commissioner of Clay County, Missouri with 63.49% of the vote.

In 2016, Ridgeway was re-elected to a four-year term as the Eastern District Commissioner of Clay County, Missouri with 61.7% of the vote.

In 2020, Ridgeway announced she would not run for re-election as Commissioner and entered into what she happily referred to as “self-imposed term limits”.