My wife Katherine and I didn’t grow up here. We chose Brighton.

In 2004, before we even had kids, we looked at communities between Livonia and Ann Arbor trying to find the right place to put down roots. Brighton stood out for one reason above all others: its schools. Twenty-two years later I can tell you that decision shaped everything about our lives in ways we never anticipated.

What we found here was more than good schools. We found community.

Brighton Built Us

When Katherine and I arrived we were two people with long commutes and no local connections. We did what a lot of young couples do: worked too much and kept mostly to ourselves. Brighton was where we lived. It wasn’t yet home.

That changed when our kids entered Brighton Area Schools.

Tyler and Bailey grew up inside this district. Not just in Hilton Elementary classrooms but on ball fields at Hawkins and Maltby, on the stage at the BCPA, and in the hallways of nearly every building in the district. Through those experiences our family stopped being a household and became part of something real.

The friendships our kids made and that we made are still the center of our lives today. When Tyler graduated last year we had over 150 people at his party. That community was built one practice, one rehearsal, one scout meeting, one game at a time.

Brighton Area Schools didn’t just educate our children. They built our family’s world.

Over a Decade of Showing Up

I am not a candidate who discovered schools during an election cycle. I have been in these buildings, on these fields, and behind these stages for over a decade.

As Cub Master of Hilton Pack 342 I oversaw a strategic growth of our scout pack nearing disbandment of four kids to nearly forty in three years.

As an assistant youth sports coach I spent countless hours on Brighton’s ball fields helping young people find confidence through competition.

As Choir Booster President I have worked alongside the students, parents, and staff that make Brighton’s music programs extraordinary.

As a set construction volunteer and co-leader for Brighton’s Musical and Dramatic Arts productions I have worked side by side with students learning to build, create, and solve problems under pressure.

I also served on the board of Hartland Players community theater, deepening a commitment to the performing arts that extends beyond Brighton’s borders.

This is not a résumé. It is just what our family does. It is how Brighton became home.

What I Do Professionally

By day I am a Director of Revenue Management in the hotel industry. My work centers on data, budgets, forecasting, creative problem solving and making smart decisions with limited resources under real pressure.

I bring that same discipline to the school board. Every dollar our community invests in Brighton Area Schools should be traceable to a real outcome. I will ask hard questions, expect honest answers, and work collaboratively with fellow board members to find the best path forward.

Responsible stewardship and genuine advocacy are not opposites. You can fight hard for students and still demand accountability for how resources are used. That balance is what I am committed to.

A Local Heart with a National Perspective

There is something I bring to this race that most candidates can’t: a national vantage point on what makes a great education possible, paired with twenty-two years of local roots.

My career in the hotel industry has largely been built in university anchored cities. Ann Arbor and East Lansing here in Michigan, and college towns across the country and beyond, including Madison, State College, Bloomington, Lincoln, Cincinnati, Nashville, Iowa City, Knoxville, Chapel Hill, and now Eugene, Oregon. Being among great university towns has shown me what’s possible with a great education, and it has reminded me of something important. Those journeys all start somewhere. They start in districts like Brighton, with students who dared to dream outside their comfort zone.

That outside perspective doesn’t compete with my commitment to Brighton. It sharpens it. While my roots are firmly planted here, watching what excellent universities and the communities around them have built gives me a broader frame of reference than many candidates bring to a local race. Brighton’s schools are not only preparing individual students for their futures. They are planting the seeds of where those students’ futures might lead.

Why I Am Running

Brighton’s schools are excellent. I want them to stay that way and to get better in the places where there is still work to do.

I am running because every student deserves access to high-quality academics, taught with rigor and supported by real intervention when needed.

I am running because every student deserves to belong here. Our high achievers are guided on a clear path to academic success, but every kid who walks through these doors deserves the same attention, guidance and opportunities to find their passion and path into their future. 

I am running because arts and trades education have not kept pace with Brighton’s growth, and I have watched firsthand what those programs do for students who might otherwise slip through the cracks.

I am running because fiscal responsibility is not in conflict with ambition for our schools. It’s what makes ambition sustainable.

I am running because community partnership is what makes all of this possible. Brighton is only as strong as its schools, and our schools are only as strong as the community behind them.

And I am running because preparing students for the future means more than a diploma. It means every Brighton student should be able to discover their strengths, find their people, and confidently envision a future, whatever that future looks like for them.

My daughter Bailey will graduate before some of the work I hope to do is complete. That is fine. This was never just about our kids. It is about every family that chooses Brighton the way we did, and every student who deserves what this community made possible for ours.