About
My journey has always been rooted in one simple belief: when you have the opportunity to serve your community, you have a responsibility to step up.
I grew up understanding the power that education and a strong community can have on a young person's life.
As a child, I remember being dropped off at school by my mother and facing the challenges of adapting to a new environment and language. The teachers who took the time to support me made a lasting impact on my life. Their belief in me helped shape the person I would become and ultimately shaped my belief that every child deserves someone in their corner.
That belief led me to serve my country as a United States Marine. The Marines taught me discipline, accountability, leadership, and what it means to put service before yourself. Those lessons continued into my career in law enforcement, where I serve as a Chicago Police Department detective. Every day, I have the responsibility of working with people from different backgrounds, listening to their concerns, solving problems, and helping protect the community I call home.
My commitment to my community has never been limited to my career.
As a small business owner, I opened Dreamcatcher Café in Back of the Yards as more than a coffee shop. I wanted to create a place where neighbors could gather, families could connect, and community could happen. Through my business and other community investments, I've seen firsthand what can happen when people decide not to wait for someone else to fix a problem but instead choose to be part of the solution.
I am also a parent, and becoming a parent changed the way I look at our schools and our community. The decisions we make today will shape the opportunities available to our children tomorrow. I want my child, and every child in District 8B, to have access to schools that challenge them, support them, keep them safe, and prepare them to succeed.
That is what brings me to this campaign.
I am running for the Chicago Board of Education because I believe our community deserves a voice that understands service from the ground up. As Chicago moves to a fully elected Board of Education, we have an important opportunity to build a school system that is accountable to families and communities.
I want to give the board the values that have guided my life; service, discipline, accountability, hard work, and community.
I believe we can set high expectations for our students while giving them the support to meet those expectations. We can be responsible with the resources entrusted to our schools. We can make safety a priority. We can strengthen parent involvement and give communities a meaningful voice. And we can make sure our students graduate with the knowledge, confidence, and opportunities to determine their own future. This campaign is not simply the next step in my life. It is another opportunity to serve.
I have spent my life being part of this community. Now, I am asking for the opportunity to serve it in a new way, by helping build stronger schools and a brighter future for the students and families of District 8B.
I believe that starts with listening to the people who know our schools best. Throughout this campaign, I have been walking our neighborhoods, collecting signatures, speaking with parents, educators, community members, and students, and hearing firsthand what is working and what is not. Those conversations have reinforced my belief that every school is different and deserves an approach that reflects its own students and community.
I have also spent significant time researching schools across District 8B, looking at what successful schools are doing differently and where others are struggling. I want to bring that same commitment to informed, evidence-based decision-making to the Board, learning from what works and leading by example rather than making decisions based on assumptions.
Most importantly, I want to strengthen the connection between students, parents, educators, and their schools. Parents should feel welcomed and empowered to participate. Teachers should have a meaningful voice in the decisions affecting their classrooms. Students should be listened to, not simply spoken for, and every child who needs additional support should have access to it.
While collecting signatures throughout our neighborhoods, I have had countless conversations that have stayed with me. I have heard parents share their concerns, educators describe the challenges they face, and even students tell me that they do not feel challenged enough in the classroom.
Those conversations are exactly why I believe our schools need leadership that is willing to listen first, learn continuously, and act with purpose.
This campaign belongs to the community. Together, we can educate our future, strengthen our schools, and leave every person, school, and community better than we found it.
