I am a 77 year-old straight white male, married with 28 year-old boy/girl twins.  I was privileged to grow up in a middle-class family outside Cleveland Ohio.  I went to public schools, then Duke and Antioch.  I served in the army, started out in banking, then drove cabs and worked as a security guard in NYC, worked with ex-cons and then in a big youth center – and then went to grad school (psychology) and was dean of a private high school.  I spent 10 years in the mental health field and then 30+ as a business consultant specializing in leading large scale change. 

My motivation for championing True American Greatness is simply because I believe in the American experience and appreciate the courage, commitment, and perseverance it takes to maintain it.  Being an effective citizen of a healthy democracy is not an easy task.  It is tough to carry the responsibility vs. abdicating to an authoritarian figure. 

It is also tough to take on the big tough issues we face where there are no easy answers or guaranteed future success –  issues that are beyond us as individuals, but require individual engagement and effort – issues that require finding shared interests that are worth getting past the natural differences – differences and solidarity.

So, my personal challenge as a world-class introvert is to get off the sidelines and act even if I can’t see how that will make a big difference.