Issues
High-Performing Schools in Every Ward
EDUCATION
Our greatest economic engine is our students — our next generation.
As a teacher, principal, nonprofit leader, and father of four sons, I have spent my life working to create opportunities for young people across Washington, DC. I know what is possible when schools are properly resourced, families are engaged, and students are surrounded by adults who believe in their potential.
But I also know the reality too many families face today. Access to high-performing schools is still uneven across our city. Too many students lose connection to school during middle school because we fail to provide enough opportunities for them to explore their gifts, build relationships, and connect learning to their future.
Every child in Washington, DC deserves access to a high-performing school — regardless of their zip code.
Expand Career and Workforce Pathways
My Priorities
Expand Career and Workforce Pathways
DC already has powerful structures in place through academies and career pathways within our high schools. We should strengthen and modernize these opportunities so students can graduate with certifications, internships, leadership experience, and real-world skills connected to careers in healthcare, law, technology, education, media, athletics, skilled trades, and public service.
Invest in Programming, especially in Middle School
Middle school is one of the most important and overlooked periods in a child’s development. We need stronger arts, athletics, STEM, leadership, debate, mentoring, and afterschool programming that keeps students engaged, inspired, and connected to their school communities.
Strengthen Family and Community Partnerships
Schools cannot do this work alone. Strong schools require strong partnerships between families, educators, nonprofits, businesses, faith communities, and government agencies.
Support and Retain Great Educators
Teachers are the foundation of strong schools. We must recruit, support, retain, and create affordable housing opportunities for educators so they can build long-term relationships within the communities they serve.
Build Safe and Supportive School Communities
Students thrive when they feel seen, heard, challenged, and supported. We must continue investing in mental health supports, restorative practices, mentorship, and positive school culture.
Our goal should not simply be to improve test scores. Our goal should be to develop confident, skilled, compassionate young people who are prepared to lead successful and meaningful lives.
Preserving Community Through Opportunity
AFFORDABILITY
The people who serve our neighborhoods should be able to live in them.
Growing up in Washington, DC, many of the adults who shaped my life lived in or near the communities they served. Teachers, police officers, coaches, and community leaders were present and connected to the neighborhood. My grandparents knew my teachers. Adults looked out for neighborhood children. Communities felt connected because people shared space, relationships, and experiences.
Today, too many working families, educators, first responders, nonprofit workers, young professionals, and seniors are being priced out of the city they love.
Affordability is not simply an economic issue. It is a community issue.
Building a Future-Ready DC
My Priorities
Expand Workforce Housing
We need more mixed-income housing opportunities across every ward — especially in high-opportunity neighborhoods that have historically lacked affordable and workforce housing options.
Protect Longtime Residents
As neighborhoods grow and evolve, we must ensure longtime residents and seniors are not displaced by rising housing costs and property taxes.
Support Thoughtful Development
Washington, DC can create more housing opportunities while still preserving neighborhood character, green space, walkability, and quality of life.
Build Housing Near Transit and Opportunity
Thoughtful housing development near schools, transportation, retail corridors, and employment centers helps create stronger and more sustainable communities.
Create Authentic Community
Housing alone does not automatically create community. We must intentionally invest in parks, recreation, civic engagement, and neighborhood events that help residents build relationships across backgrounds and experiences. Washington, DC should be a city where working families can build a future — not a city where only the wealthy can afford to stay.
A Government That Actually Works
ACCESSIBILITY
Government should not feel impossible to navigate.
Too many Washingtonians experience frustration when trying to access basic city services. Whether it is housing assistance, workforce programs, public benefits, transportation services, school supports, or mental health resources, residents often encounter bureaucracy, poor communication, long wait times, and systems that feel disconnected from the people they are supposed to serve.
Accessibility means more than physical access. Accessibility means government systems are responsive, understandable, efficient, and designed to serve people with dignity.
As a principal, I managed complex systems every day. I balanced budgets, supported families, solved problems, led teams, and worked to ensure accountability. Leadership is not simply about creating programs. It is about making systems actually work for people.
Preserving Community Through Opportunity
My Priorities
Improve Customer Service Across Government
Residents deserve timely responses, clear communication, and respectful service from every city agency.
Reduce Bureaucratic Barriers
We must identify outdated policies and unnecessary red tape that prevent residents from accessing opportunities and services.
Strengthen Accountability
City agencies should be measured by outcomes, responsiveness, and effectiveness — not simply by process.
Increase Transparency
Washingtonians deserve clear communication about how decisions are made, how resources are spent, and how programs are performing.
Ensure Equity Across All Wards
Every ward deserves high-quality city services, infrastructure, and investment. Access to opportunity should not depend on where someone lives.
Government works best when people trust that the system sees them, values them, and responds to their needs.
Self-Government Is a Civil Right
STATEHOOD
Washingtonians deserve the right to govern Washington.
Residents of Washington, DC pay federal taxes, serve in the military, contribute to the national economy, and fulfill every responsibility of citizenship — yet we still lack full representation and self-governance.
That is unacceptable.
For too long, Congress has interfered in local DC affairs, overturning laws passed by locally elected officials and threatening our ability to govern ourselves. Decisions about our schools, budgets, public safety, and communities should be made by the people who actually live here.
Preserving Community Through Opportunity
My Priorities
Protect Home Rule
Washingtonians should have the authority to govern our own city without political interference from Congress.
Defend Budget Autonomy
DC must have the ability to develop and implement its own budget based on the needs of its residents — not the political agendas of federal lawmakers.
Support an Independent Attorney General
An independent Attorney General is essential to protecting the rule of law and defending the District against federal overreach.
Fight for Full Representation
DC residents deserve voting representation in Congress and equal participation in our democracy.
Build National Coalitions for Statehood
The fight for DC Statehood is not only a local issue — it is a national civil rights and democracy issue.
The people of Washington, DC deserve the same rights, dignity, and self-determination afforded to every other American citizen.