EARLY YEARS
I grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. It was mostly a community of scientists and engineers at the time. My father was a research chemist with Phillips Petroleum Company. There were over 8,000 employees then at the R&D plant, which made it the largest employer in the state. The town was only about 35,000, so it was also a company town.
Petroleum dominated. Seven lots down the hill from the house into which I moved when I was three, there was a pumpjack. I remember being fascinated by the smell of oil and how it was being pulled out of the ground. I passed it when I walked to elementary school. One day it stopped. Later it was removed and the well was capped. Still later a house was built and a family moved in. The girl who lived there was my age.
EMPLOYMENT
I have been Executive Director of United Way of Lewis County (Centralia, WA), Executive Director of United Way of Chaves County (Roswell, NM), President & CEO of United Way of Portage County (Ravenna, OH), Executive Director of the Solar Living Institute (Hopland, CA), Executive Director of Community GroundWorks (Madison, WI), Development Director of United Way of Larimer County (Fort Collins, CO), and am currently Executive Director of GRID Alternatives North Valley (Chico/Sacramento, CA). Along with my wife, I owned Wild Goats Coffee & Cafe in Kent, OH from 1998-2003.
EDUCATION
I have a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Business Administration and Philosophy) from Furman University; 54 hours of graduate work in public administration at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA; and a MBA, Entrepreneurship from Walden University.