Career services manager at Project for Pride in Living, focused on increasing access to opportunities for lower-income residents and communities of color in the Twin Cities
His Duke experience: Duke Chapel gave me opportunities to work, live, play and serve in Durham beyond the Duke bubble. I learned principles for purposeful global citizenship, spiritual discipline and how to slow down. I’m still working on this one. I recall wrestling in many intentional communities, being taught, over and over, what it takes to be in community, the global challenges of connecting cross-culturally, the need for thoughtful reflection, and faith-based ethics that prioritize right relationships with others. A particularly impactful experience was a house course – a half-credit experiential learning class co-taught by fellow Duke students called ‘How We Do Mission: Ethics of Short Term Mission Trips.’ The course had a mission trip to Costa Rica, where we learned about the region, built a parish seemingly from scratch, prayed and more. It challenged saviorism and honed my sense of service as a way of being in the world. It helped me understand non-extractive principles of building and living in a community. I’m still wrestling with and learning from this experience today in Minnesota where I see (and have a ton of ideas about how to solve) the inequities and turmoil galore, yet understand that my job isn’t to ride in on a horse freshly from Washington, D.C. to save the city but to be as human as possible, listening intently, consciously seeing how I might create pockets of connection and awareness that breed longer transformative change for myself and all whom I encounter.”
Success means: “It feels a lot like accepting what I can’t control and still choosing to be ambitious. Success is knowing and loving my family and friends deeply. It’s coming out of crisis or moments of intense change with renewed energy.”
Fun facts: “I’m a dedicated middle child visiting my family whenever I can. I walk, run, lift, jump, hike and fly, exploring the Twin Cities and beyond with my friends. I also spend my time volunteering with Minnesota Duke Alumni Leadership and local nonprofits.”