[3] She graduated from Abbot Academy in 1972 and Oberlin College in 1977, receiving a bachelor's degree with high honors in psychology, and later attended the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where she earned a master's degree in economics and American foreign policy in 1986.

[4] She worked as a journalist and a guest booker for CNN,[3] and founded a jewelry manufacturing company with her husband in 2001.

[6] She owns Carroll Mill Farm, a feed grain operation in Ellicott City, Maryland.

[7] She won the Democratic primary on June 26, 2018, but was defeated by Kittleman and Miller in the general election on November 6.

[4] In September 2016, Ziegler supported and testified for a proposal to expand solar development on Howard County farmland.