I was born in Detroit, the oldest of five children, and attended public primary school in the City. I graduated with honors from the University of Detroit High School and then received a B.A. in philosophy from Georgetown University in 1986. After pursuing a career in association management, I’m currently manager of product development and marketing for IEEE-USA, a professional society of engineers headquartered in Washington.

I married Susie Powell in October 1997 and at the same time moved to Hyattsville, renovating a 1906 Victorian house. Although my wife and I were the first members of my family to live in Hyattsville, there are now 14 members across three generations of my extended family who call this community home. Susie and I have a daughter born in 1998, Catie, and a son born in 2001, Peter. We are expecting our third child in December 2004.

I became active in the Hyattsville Organization for a Positive Environment (HOPE) and the Hyattsville Preservation Association soon after moving to the City, and have remained engaged in local environmental and historic preservationist causes ever since. In 1999, I ran for and won my first term on the Hyattsville City Council. I was re-elected as a Ward 1 representative in 2003 after running unopposed.

My civic involvement has included the establishment of several volunteer committees and task forces on which I have also served, including Hyattsville’s Planning Committee, Marketing Task Force, WSSC Building Committee, Legacy Trail Task Force, and Residential Parking Task Force. I also helped found The Hyattsville Life & Times, the City's all-volunteer newspaper.

My family belongs to St. Jerome’s Church in Hyattsville. In addition to local involvements, I have been a board member for more than a decade with the Northwest Center Maternity Home, the only transitional housing program in D.C. for homeless pregnant and mothering women.