He is a Fellow of the Pahara Fellowship – Class 5 and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. We caught up with him at the 2025 Resnick Aspen Action Forum to learn more about his leadership journey and why his approach intentionally focuses on his eventual absence.

Answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Describe your leadership journey. What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned so far? 

What I really love about my leadership journey is finding people in their own communities and not leading the work, but coaching it. I teach them things like how to start their own 501c3, how to raise money, how to create a board, and ultimately, how to get policies passed. So, regardless of whether I’m there or not, the work continues to grow. It’s like snowflakes. It starts with one leader, and that leader starts to develop other parents and community members, and pretty soon, we have the snowball effect. I never want to do anything for someone they can do for themselves. I’d rather teach them and collaborate with them so we can really grow the movement.

What is one thing you wish more people knew about leadership?

What I really wish [people knew] is that we would go slow so we can go fast, making sure they learn the necessary skills that they need.

As I talk about this snowflake approach, not only are we building their skills, but they can also teach other people. And the more we do that, it’s not about me trying to lead a movement. It’s about the community leading the movement. You don’t know the John or the David or the Sarah — you know the movement that they stand for, whether it’s literacy, criminal justice, housing…THAT is the movement. And it’s not predicated on one or two people.

What is one problem that you’re committed to solving, and what’s the specific action that you’ve taken? 

One of the largest problems that I’ve been committed to solving is the lack of literacy in our Black, brown, and even poor white communities. If you cannot read, it is hard to make it in America and this world. Right now, only 23% of kids can read at grade level in our schools. So one of the things that I focus on — and will continue to focus on — is making sure every kid can read by the time they leave elementary school and hopefully by the time they graduate from high school.

Sadly, today, not only in America but across the world, that is not the case.

There is a lot of uncertainty leading in today’s context, especially when trying to drive positive change. What are the values that you hold close in times of uncertainty?

Transparency above all else. And when you have a transparent person who is also coachable, they’re going to be able to name any issues they’re dealing with and listen to a fellow team member or coach to help them see the deficiencies and grow. So if you are coachable, we can talk. If you are transparent enough to be able to say you can’t read. If you can’t at least say that, we can’t solve the problem. And that’s the amazing thing that has happened on my journey. When we start communicating with parents, and then we ask at the end, “Can you read, or is that an issue?” A lot of parents raise their hands and say, “I can’t read.” That’s the start of the process because now they’re free from the chains, and they have a mission to make sure others feel comfortable talking about deficiencies. And we just grow from there.

How have the Pahara Fellowship and being involved in the Aspen Global Leadership Network impacted your leadership journey?

I started Pahara in 2015 and never would have thought in a million years how much of a difference it would make in my life — a difference in feeling valued, filling the leadership role that I’m in. But also in having not just a network, but a tribe. People who are willing to get in the trenches with you. And Pahara is education-based, so we all focus on different things, but we all support one another.

At the Resnick Aspen Action Forum, seeing Fellows not only from the United States but also from Africa, India, China, and Central America…you look at these folks and think that we’re different. But you listen and realize we have these same issues because we are all human. When we take that energy on a global level and unite it, it becomes unstoppable. Action is a strong word. After you come [to the Action Forum] and you’re inspired, it’s time to take this inspiration back to our cities, to our towns, to our countries, and continue to build movements around things that need to be fixed in our world.

If you could write a letter to your younger self about your leadership journey, knowing where you are now, what would it say?

Go hard or go home. We have no time to play small, young man! When you see the issues before you, continue to be humble, continue to be motivated, but continue to be ferocious in attacking the issues that plague our communities in the United States and across the world.

About the Aspen Global Leadership Network

The Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) is a dynamic, worldwide community of nearly 4,000 entrepreneurial leaders from over 60 countries. Spanning business, government, and the nonprofit sector, these leaders share a commitment to enlightened leadership and the drive to tackle the most pressing challenges of our times. Through transformative Fellowship programs and  gatherings like the Resnick Aspen Action Forum, AGLN Fellows have the unique opportunity to connect, collaborate, and challenge each other to grow and commit to a lifelong journey of impact.

More from 2025 Resnick Aspen Action Forum

In July 2025, over 500 leaders across the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) community gathered for our largest Action Forum to date. Joined by nearly 100 young leaders, AGLN Fellows from more than 30 countries returned to the enduring questions first posed at at the founding of the Aspen Institute 75 years go: What does it mean to lead with purpose in times of profound uncertainty?

Explore more inspiring content on leadership and change-making from the 2025 Action Forum here.