ARCHITECT | ATTORNEY | ENTREPRENEUR
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ABOUT ME
In 2023, I joined several nonprofit leaders across the country for an executive leadership program at Northwestern University. During a lecture dedicated to focusing the leader’s mind, we were each asked this simple yet provocative question: Why are you here? Nobody had ever asked me this question—nor had I asked it of myself—and, without thought, these words spilled from my pen: I am here to forge social change through beauty & connection. This clarity liberated me. And it, too, anchored me as a north star, of sorts; something I can turn to time and again as I move through the next chapters of my life.
Beauty & Connection.
A Quest for Inclusion.
My whole life has been defined by a quest for inclusion. In examining the origins of this quest, I’ve recently uncovered that it started when I was young, maybe six or seven? At this time, a quiet yet insidious fear hung in my chest: If people ever knew I liked women, would I be excluded? Dropped? Erased? Though I hadn’t actually experienced being, or feeling, excluded until my 40s, the fear of exclusion is something that has haunted me since childhood. As I continue to channel my commitments to a world that welcomes us all, it has been important for me to understand, and heal, my deeply-routed fear of exclusion.
Roots.
Speaking of my roots, I grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota, a town, a community, that I hold so dearly. After graduating high school in 2002, I dwelled in so many cities across the world: Syracuse (New York). Atlanta (Georgia). New Orleans (Louisiana). Florence (Italy). Benin City (Nigeria). Vienna (Austria). The contrast between these vastly different landscapes and cultures continues to feed, and fuel, my social footprint.
Prairie Silence.
In 2013, my mom gave me the book Prairie Silence for my 30th birthday. This book, in the most unexpected fashion, rerouted my entire life. Namely because I fell in love with the author (smiling) and moved to Minnesota, my current home. My wife and I have a son, Henry, who continues to give his Old Moms a run for their money. :)
I am a civil rights attorney with a background in architecture, law, and public policy.
Professional Background.