I’m a dad. I’m a runner. I’m a cook. I’m a traveler.

And for more than 25 years, I’ve been a humanities educator helping students and teachers think more clearly, listen more deeply, and engage complex ideas with confidence and precision.

I’ve worked with over a thousand students—from 5th graders to adult learners—and I bring a strong developmental awareness of my students to my work as a speaker and private writing coach. Whether I’m leading a faculty workshop or working one-on-one with a student, my focus is the same: helping people do better thinking, better reading, and better writing.

I am the author of 16 books from three publishers, including the award-winning novel The Weaver’s Scar: For Our Rwanda and the former Amazon category bestseller Culture Smart! Rwanda. My work as a writer informs everything I do as an educator: I care deeply about language, structure, and the power of well-shaped ideas. And just as my editors conference with me to help me polish my writing, so too do I conference with my students to help them find their voice.

I began my academic journey studying French and German at the University of Georgia, including a year in Lyon, France, focused on literature, language, and translation. I later earned a dual M.A. in French Literature and Modern German Culture from Indiana University, where I also taught as an Associate Instructor. My graduate thesis explored how literature grapples with difficult histories—an interest that continues to shape my teaching and speaking today.

Since 2003, I have taught in middle and high schools in the Seattle-Tacoma area, while also designing and leading international programs for students in countries including Rwanda, Vietnam, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Czech Republic. These experiences continue to inform my belief that meaningful learning happens when students are challenged to see both the world—and themselves—more clearly and without bias.

When I’m not teaching or writing, you’ll find me with my two sons, out on a run, or in the kitchen.

Are you looking for a speaker who combines deep experience with practical, classroom-tested insight?

Or a tutor who can help your student become a more confident, capable thinker and writer?

If so, I’d love to connect.