I spent about a year and a half after law school working for a workforce development board as a Regulatory Administrator in El Paso.  I helped develop programs to get under-employed and unemployed people back into the workforce, and I ensured those programs as delivered complied with the law.  I uncovered fraud, waste, and abuse, implemented changes to prevent that going forward, and saved the board from recurring negative audit findings.  We became one of the top ranked boards in Texas. My family and I moved to San Jose, California where I began working as a Labor Relations Representative for the California School Employees Association, a union representing 260,000 public school employees across the state.  I helped workers organize, form unions, and negotiate contracts.  I defended their contracts through grievances, mobilizing workers, and unfair labor practice charges.  I represented workers facing discipline, including terminations.  After just over a year in this position, I was promoted to Executive Manger.  In this role, I oversaw the day-to-day operations of the association.  I developed policy and procedure, engaged in conflict resolution, and led change management efforts.  I advised the board of directors on critical matters of interest and developed strategies to mitigate against the loss of our ability to collect service fees from non-members.  While serving as Executive Manager, I was tapped to concurrently serve as interim Director of Communications to rebuild a struggling team of communications professionals after most of their leadership had left the organization.  Within three months, the team was performing at a very high level, morale was restored, and productivity had substantially increased.  I served as Executive Manager for six years. We then moved to Iowa City after my wife got a tenure track position at the University of Iowa.  I began working as a Labor Educator for the UI Law School's Labor Center.  In this role, I taught workers across the country about various worker rights including those under the National Labor Relations Act, The Fair Labor Standards Act, Workers' Compensation, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Family and Medical Leave Act.  I also taught skills related to negotiations, grievance handling, strategic planning, public speaking, organizing, communications, advancing DEI efforts, combating discrimination and harassment, conducting internal audits, and running effective meetings.  After three years, I left the Labor Center to work for Johnson County. I served as the Executive Director of the Board Office for eighteen months.  During that time, I worked with an incredible Board Office team and the most progressive members of the Board to establish and launch the Trans Advisory Committee.  The TAC is tasked with developing recommendations for how to protect members of the trans community in our county.  I worked to help ensure every last federal American Rescue Plan Act dollar is spent to help advance affordable housing, make childcare more accessible and affordable, and promote small businesses among underestimated communities.  I also revised internal policies to make the practices of the county more transparent to employees and residents.  I even developed an onboarding program for new supervisors so they can hit the ground running once they take office.