I'm a morning person. I like to get up early and get stuff done. I like strong coffee and good beer. I consume a lot of news and information, love music, like to cook and I used to wear bow ties before COVID (but am happy with hoodies now.) I love podcasts and started my own podcast, Granite State Golfers.

Ok, a bit more . . . 

I was born and raised in Goffstown, NH. My family has been in NH since 1700. I am related to Revolutionary War General John Stark who coined the state's motto 'Live Free or Die' (which has been hijacked by politicians unfortunately.) I am a product of public education and am passionate about public schools K > higher ed. I went to the University of New Hampshire where I had a great experience/education and met my now wife; from there I attended Michigan State for grad school and studied political philosophy and returned home to NH. I helped build civic engagement and deliberative democracy efforts. For over 14 years I worked at UNH - most of that time advocating for UNH and directing its public affairs and strategic communications.

I now work at Brodeur Partners, a strategic communications company that helps organizations become and remain relevant in a complicated world.

My talented wife owns Talking Elephants. We have two boys. Parenting is hard work and when it goes well, the most rewarding work. The days are long but the years are fast ('how do I have a 17 year old already?'). We love to swim and jump off things: bridges, rocks, cliffs, etc and we love finding remote swimming holes in the Granite State woods. We also love to ski.

Beyond work and family, golf is my passion. I love early morning golf with a buddy or playing solo. I love the solitude of the morning on the course and it allows me to play fast (#DewSweeper, #DawnPatrol.) If you like golf, check out my twitter golf list and my new podcast, Granite State Golfers. I also help coach my son’s babe ruth baseball team.

I serve on the board of directors of Leadership NH, a wonderful civic organization of which I am a proud alum, class of 2012. I recently finished serving six years on the board of directors of the NH Women's Foundation (and was one of the first three men to serve on that board) and I also just completed six years on the community advisory board for NH Public Radio.

A few other things: we love dogs. Seven years ago we rescued our third dog, Pepper. We have zero chickens (I say 'we' but really that is just me as I am the only one who tends to her; we used to have more but they got old and died.) My great grandfather, Fred Stark, had a 40,000 chicken farm in Goffstown, N.H. so I was working to keep the chicken farmer tradition alive in the family. We might get more this spring. Finally, I put grass-fed butter in my coffee - it's my breakfast for 10 years.

(The header photo for this page is from a golf trip with some good friends to Streamsong. What a trip. What a place. LOVED the Red Course.)