Transformative Leadership

Please tell us a little about your life “before CIIS.”

I was born and raised in Haw River, North Carolina. I attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill where I received a BA in Communication Studies. While in college, I was a member of several choirs and performance groups. After leaving UNC I went on to work at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida; Universal Studios; and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. After two years in Tokyo, I moved to New York City where I became an actor. I was an original company member of The Lion King on Broadway and am currently a member of the cast of RENT on Broadway.

Why did you choose the Transformative Leadership program at CIIS? What specifically appealed to you about CIIS’s online MA program?

I decided to be a part of the Transformative Leadership program because it spoke to my need to give back to inner-city youth and to be an advocate for “transformation,” not just change. I use to be all about “change,” but things change all the time and conditions remain the same, so TRANSFORMATION—the idea of a complete change in oneself, helping young people begin to see their lives that way, especially young people who look like me—that is what appealed to me about CIIS’s program in Transformative Leadership. 

What specifically appealed to you about CIIS?

What appealed to me most was the idea of integral studies, taking into account that we are whole and complete human beings, that it’s OK to bring all of who you are into class. It’s not just about reading the texts, or finding out more about who you are and what you can and want to do, or new ways of relating to people, or action in the world—it’s about putting them all together and really embodying transformative leadership.

What has been the most significant and/or exciting aspect of studying in the Transformative Leadership program?

The most exciting aspect of studying in this program has been the encouragement I’ve received to DO something in the world. Most people just talk about what they want to do or what is wrong, and most academic programs just prepare you intellectually. At my first interview with CIIS, I was encouraged to take action. While I’ve been in the program, I’ve started a nonprofit organization called Teen2Teen (www.teentoteen.org). I’ve also worked and volunteered at East Side Community High School, where I will assume a leadership role after graduation. I plan to codesign a program for young men based on Xpand, a mentor program I created that introduces inner- city boys to travel.

Let me tell you, I had an amazing final semester! First I was invited to appear on the Oprah show. The show was a dinner with Sidney Poitier, whom I’ve always admired. But nothing compared to the 10 days that I spent with a group of boys from New York City in China. The Transformative Leadership program requires all students do a Capstone Project in their final semester. For my project, I decided to do something close to my heart. When I was young, I found traveling outside the US was a really eye-opening, transformative experience. I wanted to share that experience with the young men I’m working with. I designed and organized a trip to China, and raised the money for it by putting on fund-raising performances with friends from the entertainment world. I wanted to do a capstone project that would really make a difference in these young men’s lives. I got the opportunity to watch them begin to think differently about their lives and to see what was possible. That was powerful and bigger than any dream I could have imagined for myself. 

What was it about your experience at CIIS that was the most meaningful for you?

Again, being able to design and implement my capstone project, which was to expose inner-city boys to travel and to help them begin to think about their lives differently was the perfect way to conclude my time at CIIS. To be sitting on the beach one day, to have an idea, and then 10 months later to be landing in New York City after spending 10 days in China, the other side of the world, with kids many expect will never leave their blocks, kids who are now talking about learning Chinese and all the other places they want to go—that is the process of transformation, and leadership.

What are you working on now?

I am currently in the process of continuing to develop Teen2Teen, which includes Xpand, my mentor program. We plan to return to China next year as well as other parts of the world. I will be in Port Elizabeth, South Africa this summer working for an organization called Artists Striving To End Poverty (ASTEP) and The Ubuntu Education Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with the people of the Eastern Cape Province to develop quality education and healthy communities in the New South Africa. I will be teaching at an arts camp and doing arts-awareness programs with teens who continue to thrive despite living in a country devastated by HIV/AIDS. I will be in South Africa for two months. It is my hope to be able to get some of the kids that I work with in the United States involved in these South African programs.

Have your studies in Transformative Leadership had an impact on this work? How has it better prepared you to work with youth, for example?

Transformative Leadership has had a huge impact on my leading, learning, and teaching abilities. I’m always aware now that in order for me to lead in the world, I have to BE in the world. That means being grounded in the community that I want to represent; not being out of touch with the reality of inner-city youth; and finding honor, worth, and value in the kids that I work with, especially black boys, who are consistently being bombarded with negative images of what it means to be a black man in this world. I want to help transform that—how is that for a dream? 

What are your plans after you graduate from CIIS? What do you plan to do with your degree from CIIS?

Of course, I will continue to be an actor, returning to RENT in the fall.  I will also be designing a mentor program at East Side Community High School in the East Village of New York City. One of my dreams is to establish an exchange program and school specifically for inner-city youth from poor rural areas (I will ways be a southern boy at heart!).

Transformative Leadership