Thanks for checking out my website!
I currently live in Cambridge, MA with my wife and two kids. My wife is an aspiring children’s book author and a blogger on home DIY projects and parenthood (HeartEyes). My kids are twins who love to ride bikes, play with Legos, and make funny noises.
I am a Christian who has a deep empathy for human suffering and a supreme hope in God. Much of my time is spent serving and strengthening my church community. I did that full-time for 6 years and those were some of the most meaningful years of my life.
I had the privilege of learning human-centered design from the Institute of Design at IIT—a journey that started with this video capturing my imagination. During my 3 years there, I developed a conviction towards using design for social good, specifically in government. This was conveyed in my graduation commencement speech, titled, “Good Design Isn’t Good Enough.” From that point, I resolved to use design methods to support government agencies and the people they serve.
My Values
Lived experience is expertise.
Every person has lived experience that is valuable and worthy of respect. The people who have firsthand experience are the experts. In many cases, it isn’t me.
Build ownership in others.
Often, my involvement is temporary. I am not the one who has to live with the changes that have been made. As such, I endeavor to involve those who will be impacted throughout the process to foster their ownership over the change and its ramifications.
Be a shepherd.
Because I am often not the one with relevant lived experience, my role is to shepherd others through a structured process to help them articulate their experiences, collaborate effectively, and achieve a shared goal.
Attack processes and systems.
While problematic behavior is what we see, it’s often the processes and systems behind the behavior that are the culprits. By understanding and changing processes and systems, our work is more impactful and sustainable.
Make to learn.
Many questions are answered simply by creating quick prototypes and letting people interact with them. This allows us to test our assumptions about what people need, how they’ll behave, and how they’ll be impacted by our work. Then we iterate again and again.
Topics of Interest
Streamlining and humanizing processes
How might processes be adjusted and improved to be more efficient, effective, and human?
Parents, children, and families
How might we better support parents (mentally, practically, socially, societally, etc.) in raising their children such that both they and their children thrive?
Civic engagement
How might governments foster productive discourse and collaboration between residents and their government?
Let’s talk!
If you’d like to know more about me or are interested in working together, please reach out below!