The people, places, choices, and unexpected turns that brought me here.
My earliest memories are of a refugee camp in the Philippines, a place defined by waiting and uncertainty. I remember the fences and being curious about the world beyond them. Long before I understood what it meant to be a refugee, I understood what it meant to hope for something beyond the circumstances in front of me. In many ways, every chapter that followed began there.
After a four-year journey in search of a place to call home, our family of twelve finally arrived in the United States. People we had never met helped put clothes on our backs, opened doors for my family, and eventually became lifelong friends. New England gave me nearly every first that mattered and, more than anywhere else, taught me what home feels like. I remain a wicked proud New Englander.
Somehow, a factory worker’s son in a thrift-shop suit ended up on a Wall Street trading desk in the middle of the financial crisis. Those six years became foundational to both my career and character. They taught me to prepare relentlessly, question conventional wisdom, recognize value where others might not yet see it, trust my judgment, and, above all, invest in genuine relationships. I’ve carried those lessons with me ever since.
The two-month road trip that eventually took me to Los Angeles began with a conversation with my mother. Mom told me she had few choices in the chapters of her own story, but I did. Giving me that choice was her life’s work. So after six years on Wall Street, I chose to embrace the unknown and start writing the next chapter of mine. I knew I wanted to build something. I just didn’t know what yet.
My tech chapter began by backing other entrepreneurs before eventually taking the founder leap myself. Building a startup was exhilarating, exhausting, and occasionally terrifying, but never lonely. I’m forever grateful that my co-founder became my best friend, our team became family, and we learned from one another along the way. I’ve been chasing that kind of team ever since.
After five years in Los Angeles, another unexpected turn brought me back East, where I joined a White House fellowship advising the administration on innovation and entrepreneurship. What I thought would be a one-year career break became something much more lasting, along with a deep appreciation for the people who quietly keep government moving every day.
Soon after arriving in Washington, we welcomed our first child, Ruprecht, into the family. We remain forever grateful that he chose to adopt us. Since then, I’ve become exactly the person I once dreaded: the guy who brings up his dog at every opportunity and assumes everyone wants to see another photo.
What does a former ibanker and tech entrepreneur do for a third career act? International development, of course! These days, much of my work happens in emerging economies alongside governments, entrepreneurs, and technologists leveraging digital for economic development. The work has taken me places I never imagined, made me more conscious of my own privilege, and continually humbled me by the ingenuity of people building in some of the most resource-constrained environments. I still can’t believe someone pays me to do this.
Because it is that important!
The timeline is still being written.