Charlotte City Council At-Large Appointment — My Remarks:

Madam Mayor, members of council, city staff, my fellow applicants, and the people of Charlotte —

My mission is to build support and coalitions focused on connecting every member of our community to opportunity.

For me, service begins with EMPATHY. It’s meant the world to me to work with people from nearly every corner of this city. It’s their stories that define my hope to do my part and move Charlotte forward.

Given how quickly our city is growing, it can feel to many like we’re all along for the ride. I believe we can ensure a collective VISION for the future guides our decisions and priorities. From classrooms to job centers, and from grocery stores to kitchen tables, before we can realize our potential — we have to effectively understand our interconnectedness as a community.

For over 13 years I’ve worked across Charlotte as a small business advocate, a lead regional campaign staffer for Barack Obama, Anthony Foxx’s mayoral campaign manager, and for the past 5 years — I’ve led Charlotte’s digital equity efforts.

In this most recent role, I’ve led an alliance of partners to bridge the digital divide aiming to make Charlotte the most digitally equitable city in America. Core to that work has been the development of community based workshops for over a thousand families across 50 schools and dozens of nonprofits throughout Charlotte.

We can work together in Charlotte to build an economic and empowerment strategy that ensures everyone can thrive. Several key items on the agenda this year will move us in that direction, including the Charlotte Moves Task Force, Charlotte 2040 plan and the unified development ordinance. I’m ready to help drive these initiatives over the finish line in 2021, and to put as many plans in place to make sure a sustainable progressive agenda can start now — and continue helping people for years to come.

If we learned anything about the people of Charlotte over the past year, it’s that our RESILIENCE as individuals, families and a community may have no bounds. The strength of the human spirit is on display every day in our community, and we need nothing less to navigate the historic challenges that surround us, and whatever may come next.

You can count on me to be prepared for the role, to be a collaborative colleague, to remain focused on the will of the community, to protect the integrity of our local government, and to deliver tangible wins for my fellow Charlotte citizens.

Thank you.