About Me:
I’m a self-taught drummer who has played professionally for over a decade, including auditioning for Diddy’s Making the Band reality TV show in 2009 — earning a skip-the-line pass for the New York auditions after being the only drummer from Philly to make the cut. I’m an excellent cook, avid reader, and a mixologist that specializes in craft whiskey cocktails. My favorite types of podcasts center on either professional wrestling or business strategy.
What is your role and how long have you been in this position?
My job is Strategic Adviser to the CEO and I’ve been in this role for six months.
What does your job entail?
Firstly, I serve as a thought-partner to our CEO Sandy Clark, helping to shape institutional strategy and drive alignment across the organization. I also oversee strategy for One Small Step: I’m currently focused on developing strategies for scale, which includes fostering community adoption and building deep, meaningful partnerships and community.
What are the rewards of your job?
I love meeting so many people who share the same values as me around pluralism and the importance of civic dialogue. I also like the idea of contributing to something bigger than us—like One Small Step—it allows me to reflect and think deeply about myself in the process.
What are the challenges of your job?
Because One Small Step is bigger than all of us, we also have to be responsive to a range of stakeholders and balance a heavy meeting schedule, while being thoughtful and getting the work done.
Why should everyone record a story with StoryCorps?
Everyone should record their story because there’s tremendous value in having this archive of contemporary American voices. StoryCorps’ methodology works and it’s not an accident that over 645,000 people have recorded a conversation with us. The value of these conversations for future generations, say 100 years from now, is that they will have a holistic view of modern humanity. I think the StoryCorps archive is a great human accomplishment.
What is your favorite StoryCorps story?
My favorite story is Double Major. It works as a piece of narrative change content, serving as a counter to the deficit–framed narrative that Black men as fathers are not present or responsible.