Ten things that make me feel human.

My philosophy of engagement as it pertains to my work with the Global Social Impact Fellowship

Doing WITH, not TO people!

I am an educator and life-long learner with over 26 years of experience working with schools and nonprofits. I have served as a teacher and administrator of youth and family services for nonprofits in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York.  Although my educational credentials have afforded me influential and privileged professional roles, my philosophy for engagement has been guided by values that were taught by my family and upbringing, not necessarily the formal educational systems that academically prepared me for those positions.  These values have helped form and develop my philosophy on how to engage with children and families that I serve via formal (and informal) roles.  My personal upbringing and work experience have helped crystallize the most central concept to my philosophy of engagement – “Do WITH not TO people!”.

I am fortunate and blessed to be in rooms and/or sitting at tables where critical funding, program, policy, and educational decisions are made that impact thousands of children and families.  Additionally, I am privileged to lend my voice to large scale efforts aimed at improving the common good for people in my immediate and larger community.  These special and often limited opportunities create the impetus for engaging.  It is a moral imperative for me to embrace these reserved spaces that create impact in the lives of children and families.  The Global Social Impact Fellowship (GSIF) is one of these special opportunities for me to learn, serve, and help make an impact in a project that will directly improve the educational experience for many children and the common good for thousands of others in their community.  GSIF/Save Tuba is a privileged platform not afforded to many that I wholeheartedly embrace.

Another central concept to my philosophy is the importance of building a culture of excellence and delivering a high-quality service to children and families.  This guides the projects that I choose to be involved in, such as the Save Tuba project with GSIF.  The collective effort to use a game app as a mode to deliver sustainable education aligns with my mission of making an impact with a young person’s educational experience and additionally, having a long-term impact in the livability of the world they live in.

I am often the individual that will answer the call to “help” others defined to be in need.  I have learned that most often those “in need” are defined by what they do not have – a deficit approach that is contrary to how I view people.  One of my first steps when engaging in a project is to learn from “them” what they see as their strengths, assets, and resources to address the identified need.  Additionally, I also prioritize confirming from the individuals being helped that the defined issue/problem is what they see as the issue/problem to be address.  Taking these steps better ensures approaching the project – more importantly the people impacted – in a respectful way.  Again, my way of ensuring that a project is doing with, not to people.

It is my hope that my epitaph reads, “he was someone who spent his life helping give voice to those often not heard, leveraging his access to resources to serve the most vulnerable, and championed to provide services and educational programs to improve the quality of life for children and families.”