I am a proud son of the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia). I spent most of my early childhood growing up in East Falls Church neighborhood (EFC) of Arlington. My parents both worked for the federal government--My dad worked for the State Department and my mom put herself through night school learning database and information security management so she could eventually launch a very successful career at DARPA. My grandmother, a retired public-school teacher, lived nearby. As they say, it takes a village and I certainly exemplified this.

After my parents divorced, I spent half my time in EFC and half my time in the Potomac Avenue neighborhood of SE Washington, DC. While this was a hard adjustment, it ended up giving me a valuable perspective on race, class, and the privileges/burdens of being born in certain zip codes. This was especially true in the late 1990s and early 2000s (my high school and undergrad years). The DMV was changing as the internet revolution transformed the economy. But this growth was uneven, and I saw the rich-poor divide widen--especially as Potomac Avenue gentrified before my eyes. The failure of this rising tide to lift all boats, and losing good friends in the process, would eventually provide intense motivation for my research.   

On St. Croix, I realized even with the resources of a successful local business at my disposal, my ability to affect change on my own was limited. A lot was changing in 2006 and I felt I could no longer be on the sidelines in paradise. My subsequent journey took me from campaign volunteer to campaign staffer, to congressional aide, to policy professional. It is an understatement to call my experience here transformative. Registering new voters, mobilizing first-time activists, and delivering results on election day made me realize the power of being a part of something much greater. When the opportunity presented itself, I left for Capitol Hill to be directly involved in the policy process.

If there is one thing I could tell my then-self (or anyone who wants to get involved in public policy) is that nothing is every simple as it seems from the outside. Governing (and public policy in general) is a lot like repairing a car while it is driving, and without a clear diagnosis of what is wrong. I became a convert to consensus-building and the art of the possible. I came to realize that ideas meant little compared to the dynamics of implementation. I also started to wonder if there was another approach-- a rigorous, dispassionate scientific approach. And then almost on cue, I learned about the existence of policy sciences in an information session. I was convinced grad school and non-partisan policy research was where I belonged.