I Grow Ideas.

An Idea: The first rays of morning sunlight illuminating a spectral rainbow in a lone drop of morning dew on the bright green leaf of a struggling seedling. Ideas are the human equivalent of nature's young seedling; their fresh energy and abundant potential for growth waiting for the right conditions to thrive.

It is incumbent upon us to accept the challenge when we are blessed with the seed of inspiration and to recognize the possible growth from a seemingly worthless speck of dirt. Just as the seedling needs water and sunlight so does the idea need introspection and exploration.

I Learned To Grow.

I spent most of my childhood under the care of my great-grandmother, a woman who spent her life cultivating acres of farm land in southeastern Virginia. In her old age she had no farm to share with me, but continued to cultivate very respectable sized garden plots well into her mid 90's. As a child I spent these formative years with dirt on my hands and crawling around at eye level with terraces of bright red tomatoes, giant green cucumbers and the big leafy vines of watermelon plants. In the very small world of a 6 year old the concept of planting a seed and getting a watermelon struck a chord. It was my assumption that if a watermelon could come from a seed, so too must cassette tapes and the many other fascinating tech of the late 1980's. As I soon figured out not everything in the world comes from the seeds of plants, but many years later I realized that the seeds of inspiration enabled the creation of the technologies that fascinated me.

Growing The World I Want To Live In.

A seed will not sprout without water and sunlight. Through years of study, practice and trial & error I've mastered a collection of technologies and concepts that enables me to create effective online systems for communicating ideas. Like selecting an ideal location for a seedling in a garden a person must determine the most beneficial place for the fruits of one's labors. I planted my skillset where I could yield the biggest, brightest fruits for the world: the enterprise of online progressive campaigns. At NGP Software I help progressive candidates and their allies effectively deliver their message through online content management systems. Pairing my year's of experience with interactive design and the organic open source Drupal CMS I have created dozens of winning online campaigns for Democratic candidates across the United States.

Cultivating A Community.

A plant will thrive and generously bear fruit when nurtured and cared for. As a child with gobs of dirt under my fingernails and grass stains on my pants I learned how to work a plot of land with my hands and turn a seedling into a bountiful and thriving plant.

I live in a beautiful older neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia known for its iconic Boulevard. Much like cultivating a plant an urban community needs extra attention on the positive neighborhood developments, sunlight on all its beauty and weeding of the negative elements such as crime, blight and public safety hazards. With this spirit of community cultivation I contribute to the hyper local news blog Boulevardizen.com.