Introduce yourself! What should the world know about you?
I am excited about life. I went through the worst period of my life so far and came out on the other side and I am happy to learn, connect, and create with people. I am a proud father and my life is being rebuilt. I’m extremely grateful.
What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about creating compelling stories and I want to help foster opportunities for people to leave their “comfortable” space and be challenged by the unfamiliar.
What drives you as a person, a leader, and a storyteller? What or who shapes you?
I’m driven as a father, as an artist, and as a person who has been seeking a sense of freedom, a sense of purpose, discipline, and manifestation. I want to see people free to explore and be themselves. I want to see people claim their space in the natural world and to find peace in the world that has been created for us. I believe in animal rights and want to live in a cruelty-free world. I am driven by the task of preserving our planet for all creatures (not just humans). There is work to do and I feel compelled to use my work to manifest the world that we need.
Why did you apply to the Rethink Outside™ Fellowship? What are you hoping to learn from this experience?
I want to learn how to do things better. I want to learn how to make connections financially to be able to facilitate the opening of physical areas for people. Traveling to foreign spaces is an amazing opportunity to open the mind.
How will the Rethink Outside™ Fellowship experience help you address the systemic barriers for access to, and representation / leadership of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in the movement to connect people and nature?
The barriers that are systematic are so ingrained within our society that it is often difficult to identify them as barriers. I’m hoping that Rethink Outside will help us to identify the barriers that we call “normal” and how our collective work can open up the mind so that we can continue the work to reclaim space.
What is your favorite activity / place which connects you to nature and the outdoors?
Me and my children really enjoy biking through the city and suburban areas. We will do 20 miles at a time and just stop and enjoy the scenery. What we have found is that sometimes the reputation of a place is worse than the reality of a space. So we have been fortunate to venture into areas we are told not to go to and have found incredible jewels in nature and people. If we could be anywhere, we would be on Uva Isla on the coast of Costa Rica. It’s uninhabited and nature has complete reign over the island. largely uninterrupted by us. It’s peaceful. It is beautiful. WE love it.