Yes, but not for the reasons people usually expect.
I've spent years in rooms where systems were being built, fixed, or held together with duct tape and goodwill. Schools, operations, and teams were navigating mergers that no one had asked for. And through it all, the thing that kept me going wasn't the strategy deck or the data dashboard. It was the people. The ones who showed up anyway. The ones who knew what the work actually cost.
This summer, I'm a fellow with Education Pioneers. And alongside that, I'm running something I'm calling At the Core — an independent interview series about the human stories behind systems change.
Every week, I'll be talking with builders, founders, and leaders doing meaningful work across social impact, environmental stewardship, entrepreneurship, mental health, arts education, affordable housing, and more. A real conversation and then a reflection on what I actually heard.
We talk a lot about transformation and not enough about the people at its center. Especially right now, when so much of the conversation about the future is about what AI can and will do, I want to document what humans are doing. What it took. What does it cost? What keeps them in it?
I'm not doing this to build a brand. I'm doing it to build clarity about where I fit, what I believe, and what kind of work I want to spend my life on.
If your work falls within these spaces, I'd love to hear your story. Thirty minutes. A real conversation. That's it.
The future isn't just intelligent. It's human.
The speech below was shared with MA/MBA cohort members, their families, my family, and Johns Hopkins and MICA staff on MA/MBA showcase day, following our MICA graduation.
Recently, I had one of the most impactful leadership conversations in the backseat of an Uber. This is not abnormal to me. I love random conversations that are about more than the weather. The types of conversations that you reference back to. I shared with the driver that I was excited about a new opportunity but hesitant because I didn't...
"No matter how bad your day was, when you put your head on your pillow, remember you survived the day and the sun will rise again tomorrow."
"Don't worry honey, I want to get home too! We will get to Atlanta tonight." - Southwest Flight Attendant