When I was around 9 or 10 years old, I had a t-shirt commemorating the heritage of railroads. It had a quote about railroads preserving their past while making sure they can serve the future, which has always stuck with me. I’m motivated by the fact that I’m helping ICA do the same.

That in my mind is the purpose of ICA, to appreciate and integrate the many ways in which communities have approached their own development around the world, and moreover to create a unifying language to pass on those lessons to other communities.

Learning the history of ICA and its origins has been a meaningful process for me as a new board member. I look forward to exploring how to highlight our history and continue to bring it into our current reality and anticipated future.

I believe that there is a spiritual component of the work of ICA that values the heart of people and the soul of communities, in any form. This is what resonates the most to me.

"My solo performance project, Fifth City revisited, explores the ways that the Fifth City demonstration project exists as a historical example in alignment with much of the coalition building and neighborhood focused planning happening today all across the city, and especially on the South and West Sides. I am interested in those resonances across and making them come alive in interesting ways through performance."

I’m motivated by being part of an organization that has a social impact within its community. I believe that GreenRise and the organizations housed here are a beacon for so many people, a place where people can go to get the services they need here on the North Side.

"There is not a corner of our planet, not a system, not an individual that does not need ICA methods... We are standing at a tipping point and need to make a decision for ourselves about how to help our planet, our communities, our fellow humans. We need to come together, stand in our wisdom and contribute to a better way. The ICA methods are the engine that helps us do just that."

In 2015, a group of ICA colleagues in the Denver area began working to organize Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action, inspired by the accelerate77 program ICA was doing in Chicago... There are now 22 action plans across 8 of Denver’s 79 neighborhoods.

​I am most looking forward to learning from my fellow board members and the incredibly talented staff at ICA. ​I am most looking forward to learning from my fellow board members and the incredibly talented staff at ICA. The wealth of knowledge and lived experience present in the room at any given time is astounding.