Leading Design

From Design Ops to Leading Design

Leading through Transitions & Crisis

Building & Maturing a Design Organization

Nonprofit Leadership and Military Service

Creating a “Promise Neighborhood” in the Mission District of San Francisco

At the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), I was a board member, evaluator, then the Director of the Mission Promise Neighborhood. I helped develop the federal grant application and the implementation plan that launched a 5-year, $30 million community initiative to alleviate poverty and improve educational outcomes modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone. At MEDA, I:

  • Served on the Executive Team during a period in which it doubled in size to 60 staff and a $10 million budget.

  • Hired and supervised a team of 10 and managed 30+ collaborative relationships with nonprofits, SFUSD, city agencies and Stanford University.

  • Led the strategy and implementation of a six-figure investment in an innovative, multi-organizational Salesforce solution.

Local news article about the grant award and launch of the initiative.

Closing the Racial Wealth Gap

At the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, I was part of a small team that worked on a Ford Foundation funded initiative that:

  • Built a diverse, national coalition of over 150 experts and leaders who developed and advocated for policies to create economic opportunity and racial equity.

  • Developed and implemented a national research, media and policy strategy that engaged with the Congress, the White House, and garnered coverage from the mainstream media.

  • Managed the design and editorial process for national research reports, policy papers, and developed and implemented the initiative’s first social media strategy and Salesforce use.

I helped edit, design, publish and distribute this report. Read it here.

Providing medical support to Sailors and Marines

Fresh out of High School, I joined the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman (aka medic). After my emergency and combat medicine training and graduating near the top of my class, I completed a year-long program in laboratory medicine and earned an Associate’s in Applied Science Degree and passed the Association for Clinical Pathology Board Certification for Medical Laboratory Technology.

After completing my training, I worked at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton’s laboratory across all departments and deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom with the Marines as part of a surgical company (like in the show M*A*S*H, but maybe less fun) that provided medical support to our Sailors, Marines, and civilians.

While on active duty, I was also in school full time and upon leaving the Navy in 2005, I transferred to UC Berkeley to finish my undergraduate degree.

Cool stache bro!