My story 

As an Irish American, raised as a hillbilly on the east side of Cleveland (Ohio) in a Black, Jewish, and immigrant neighborhood, I interacted with lot of different people in my upbringing.

Benefits: I’m wonderful at code switching, appreciate all kids of food and music, and understand what it’s like to be the only one of “you” in the room.

Downside: The schools I attended and neighborhood places I frequented were woefully underfunded. You don’t know what you don’t know until you do. Looking back, our 30+ kid classrooms, overly re-used and dated textbooks, and expectations to “graduate high school” were not the norm.

When my father lost his job and moved us out of the city, we lived in a modular home near an oil well and 2 sets of train tracks (aka affordable housing) in one of the highest-funded public school systems in the state. My classes went from sewing boxers to webpage design. With well timed irony, my graduation from high school in 2012 corresponded with the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling the public school funding system as unconstitutional. 

I attended and graduated with a degree from Bowling Green State University, as a first-generation college graduate. I’m incredibly proud and thankful for this accomplishment! But, student loans suck.

My passion for addressing and examining inequality in me and in my community has been a lifelong journey. Because I’m the first in my family not to work with their hands, I’ve been searching for what job (aka source of income and healthcare) could best match my passion. I’ve been a K-12 teacher, university professor, urban planner, public policy manager, economic development analyst, community organizer, and non-profit founder (2x).

Guiding and grounding all of is this is my faith. I’ve been influenced by multiple spiritual paths, but I’ve landed today on what Richard Rohr describes as “Jesus and the Universal Christ.” I’m a Jesus follow and proud member of The Parish in Wilsonville.

Finally, I’m a dad (2x), husband, son, big brother, friend, and lover of bakeries, Cleveland sports, and jokes. All hail the great Conan O’Brien.