InterAction

I am originally from Simsbury, Connecticut.  I attended Simsbury High School and then Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, NY.  I graduated from Skidmore College in 2001, with a B.A. in government.  An interest in public service and a desire to become immersed in another culture overseas led me to apply to the Peace Corps following my undergraduate work. 

I became a Peace Corps Nepal Volunteer in February 2002, and served for two years as an English teacher in a tiny, mountain village on the Nepal-China border called Dhunche.  My Peace Corps service sparked a lifelong interest in international development.  I relished the opportunity, as a Peace Corps Volunteer,  to live at the grassroots level, become immersed in the local culture and day-to-day affairs of a foreign community, and work with local counterparts to initiate development projects.  Over the course of two years in Nepal, aside from my regular teaching duties, I worked with community members to build a library and toilets at the local primary school -- an incredibly rewarding and challenging experience. 

Following my Peace Corps service, and filled with a continuing desire to live and work overseas, my future wife (a fellow volunteer) and I moved to Chile and sought work as English teachers.  We lived for a year in Valparaiso, and worked both as freelance teachers and with local language institutes.  The challenge of moving to a new country, seeking work, and making our own way professionally and socially made this experience particularly fulfilling.

In 2005, my wife and I returned to the United States after over three years of living abroad.  Professionally, I wanted to explore my past interest in U.S. politics (which I had studied at Skidmore), which led us to relocate to Washington DC.  For the next two years, I worked as a legislative correspondent for Senator Robert C. Byrd.  This was an important experience because it provided me with an understanding of the legislative process, and the importance of the Congress in both international affairs and development.  More importantly, that experience helped me realize more clearly my professional objectives.  Working on Capitol Hill, I missed the international development work I had been performing before returning to the states.  I also realized that an excellent intersection of my interests in development and politics was a career in governance and political development. 

That realization compelled me to seek a Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) at Georgetown University, specifically focusing on governance and political development.  At Georgetown I gained the skills, knowledge, and training that I needed as a foundation to my past professional experiences, including coursework in development theory, democracy, and governance, and workshops in project management, budgeting, program design, and proposal writing.  Moreover, I had the opportunity and honor of working as the Research Assistant to Professor Andrew Natsios, former USAID Administrator.  During my studies at Georgetown, Mr. Natsios was working on a book on Sudan and another one on foreign assistance, in general.  I provided a variety of services for Mr. Natsios, including research and editing for both books. 

In May 2010 I graduated from Georgetown with a M.S. in Foreign Service.  I live in Washington DC with my wife, who works in global health, and am pursuing a career in democracy and governance.