Flinn Scholar Class of 1999
Arizona State University
Q: Will you share a little about your current role and what excites you most about your work?
Until July 1, I was serving as a senior advisor for policy and acting chief of staff to the coordinator of Prosper Africa, a U.S. Presidential-level initiative to increase trade and investment between the United States and African countries. Since mid-2022 I have been based in South Africa. The U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) hosted an Executive Secretariat to coordinate efforts for the initiative among 17 participating U.S. departments and agencies. With the dismantling of USAID, effective July 1, 2025, the Prosper Africa initiative, my position, and the jobs of thousands of USAID colleagues were unfortunately terminated. In my case, this closed a period of 17 years of service to the U.S. government, which took me to Thailand, Afghanistan (twice), Uganda, Vietnam, South Africa, and Washington, D.C. I feel great pride in the work I was involved in and tremendous gratitude for the incredible opportunities that I have had serving the United States overseas, which more often than not, have aligned with the interests of partner countries and advanced mutual prosperity and security. My wife, who also worked for USAID, and our two kids were repatriated back to the United States just prior to July 1, but we plan to return to South Africa to seek new professional opportunities that continue the work we were doing on the continent. One door has closed, but I’m optimistic other doors will open.
Q: How did being a Flinn Scholar shape your academic and/or career path?
There is no doubt that being a Flinn Scholar started me on my career path. It was transformative, illuminating, and fun. Even after 25 years, I am still friends with other ’99 Scholars. They are all wonderful human beings. We take pride in and respect each others’ personal and professional paths and accomplishments. The Flinn Scholarship opened many new doors for me – from study abroad experiences (National Security Education Program Scholar in Kazakhstan) to other fellowships (Truman Scholar ’03), and it provided the training and mindset to enter a top public policy graduate program at Princeton University. The Flinn Scholarship shaped who I am and what I have done in my career.
Q: Is there a project, achievement, or experience you’re especially proud of?
For two years, I was the State Department’s field representative to a U.S. Special Forces Mission in Central Africa to counter the violence of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The story of the LRA in Uganda, DRC, and the Central African Republic is one about child soldiers abducted from their homes and forced to commit terrible acts, and at the time was Africa’s longest running conflict. Roughly 100 U.S. Special Forces, and one deployed civilian (myself, from 2012-2014), supported an African Union-led mission on the ground to stop Joseph Kony, encourage LRA soldiers to leave the bush, and allow displaced populations to resume normal lives. In addition to the Special Forces, I worked closely with tribal and religious leaders from local communities, as well as NGO workers and UN missions who were on the ground, to build partnerships and consensus around a common plan to reduce the impact of the LRA. For the successive Special Forces teams, and for the wider community of people and nations working on this conflict, there was great unity of vision and purpose, and together we reduced civilian deaths from the LRA by 90% over a three-year period, removing four of the five top LRA commanders, and reintegrating hundreds of former child soldiers. This work earned me an invitation to become the Director for Central Africa at the National Security Council during the Obama Administration, which itself was an unparalleled professional experience, but my work on the counter-LRA mission remains a career highlight.
Q: Looking back, what’s one lesson from your time as a Flinn Scholar that has stayed with you?
There are many. Seek out people who challenge you intellectually. Take your education seriously but not yourself too seriously. Remember you are a whole person with many interests and different ways to develop. Work hard for your goals but don’t be afraid to find creative ways to get there. Travel the world and learn constantly about new ideas and ways of thinking.
Q: If you had to describe your career path using only a movie title, what would it be?
Around the World in 80 Days
Q: What book, podcast, or piece of media has changed how you think in the last year?Two years ago, I began reading historical fiction novels by James Michener, who wrote his best work between 1950-1990. I’ve read over 10 of his novels, many of which are over a thousand pages, and I can’t stop. Check out Alaska, Hawaii, the Covenant (about South Africa), the Source (about Israel), Texas, Mexico, Space, among others. The long arcs of his multi-generational stories reinforce the notion that one must find an animating purpose around which the rest of life becomes organized, and that one’s internal principles make all the difference. And along the way I’ve learned a lot about the history of different places and peoples.