An unconventional path. A life devoted to possibility.

 Early in my career, I worked with Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance and Bank of Islam during a pivotal period of capital-market development, gaining firsthand insight into the opportunities and risks that accompany rapid economic growth. My work also brought me into the ASEAN financial community, including involvement surrounding its first regional derivatives conference, shaping my understanding of how strong financial infrastructure can translate investment into sustainable, long-term prosperity. 

 My teaching journey has taken me from classrooms in Africa and one of southeastern Virginia’s lowest-performing schools to an elite all-boys boarding school, giving me the privilege of teaching students across vastly different cultures, circumstances, and opportunities. From teaching young Chinese students online to engaging emerging scholars at UVA and Harvard, I have come to believe that education, at its best, expands possibility and empowers every learner to see a larger world, and their place within it. 

 My work in global development practice has taken me from African orphanages and South American fair-trade consortiums to engagements involving the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia and PERNAS, and from U.S. Army Special Operations to Merrill Lynch. Across hundreds of organizations, businesses, and government entities, I have worked at the intersection of people, policy, markets, and institutions helping turn ideas into practical solutions with an impact reaching thousands of people. 

 From local and state policy to federal advocacy and the United Nations, I have been privileged to help advance and enact policies that elevate voices too often unheard and protect society’s most marginalized members. I believe effective advocacy begins by listening to those most affected and transforming their lived experiences into policy, action, and lasting systemic change. 

 Through social justice documentary filmmaking, I use storytelling to illuminate lives and issues too often unseen: my first film, focused on homelessness, premiered at the United Nations and went on to receive eight Best Documentary Feature awards and 23 accolades. My latest project examines human trafficking with a particular focus on children; its short-form version has already received awards, and the full-length documentary is now in post-production. 

 I launched my first textile business at 15 years old and have been an entrepreneur ever since—from building a highly rated childcare service serving U.S. Army Special Operations families to helping more than a dozen SIV Afghan refugees with limited English proficiency launch small businesses in textile upcycling and seamstress work. I have since created additional ventures rooted in sustainability and fair trade, but one of my greatest passions remains the same: helping people transform their skills and ideas into opportunities—and experiencing the joy of watching them succeed.