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Please describe your background, and what led you to EA:
I recently joined the team at EA to facilitate the ongoing development of systems used to manage the human service programs that EA provides.
My background in enterprise healthcare platforms, specifically patient and population management, so closely parallel the systems used at EA that I was confident in joining the team and being able to provide a positive impact. My interactions with staff and administration while becoming familiar with EA heavily influenced my decision to come aboard. Their friendly nature and passion for the work made the EA culture an environment that I definitely wanted to be a part of.

What experiences early in life contributed to your success with EA?
Any success I have achieved can easily be attributed to the people who supported and mentored me in my early life. I cannot imagine my life without the foundations and values that family and teachers helped to nurture in me. I have been extremely fortunate to have parents and grandparents to learn from and equally fortunate in the numerous educators who greatly impacted the trajectory of my life. I think the educators who had the greatest positive influence on me with appreciation often.

What advice would you give to someone interested in working with youth in foster care?
Focus on building positive relationships and remember that dependability is one of the greatest virtues you can have. In my life positive relationships are the common factor in everything good that has happened. When my role in a relationship is to be supportive I find that even if I have nothing else to offer just being there and being dependable really resonates with people.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?
When I am not working I spend time with my wife and son. Often that time is spent working. We always have a project going ranging from home remodels, landscaping, gardening, woodworking, or tinkering with electronics and software. I find it hard to be idle and love to build stuff and be productive. I take pleasure in trying to pass my passion for understanding how all things work to my son, something I inherited from my father.

What's a hidden talent you have, or something about yourself that would surprise most people?
I knew from a very early age that I wanted to work developing software and computer systems, so many people may be surprised to find that I spent almost a decade of my life installing high end landscaping. It was incredibly gratifying to turn arid flat land into a beautiful oasis with waterfalls and walkways in the shade. Also, at one point in my life I was a fairly competitive long distance runner.

Anything else you'd like to add?
When I lived in Chico I volunteered for an organization called Girls Who Code. We taught 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls to write software, solder electrical components, program micro controllers, etc. It was two hours in the afternoon every Wednesday. My wife, who I have been with for going on 15 years, has said that I have never come home from work happier than I did those Wednesday afternoons.