For more than 7 years, I served as executive director of a start-up nonprofit, Central Valley Justice Coalition, in Fresno, CA. In 2022, I relocated to the greater Sacramento area, where I work as a writer and editor for the State of California.
I grew up overseas, often witnessing extreme poverty up close in cities and villages around the world. I returned to California when I was 16. I gradually became aware that injustice and poverty were routinely met with indifference from the general public. This realization fueled a lifelong mission to fight for the poor, leading to advocacy work with organizations such as World Vision, The ONE Campaign, CASA, Freedom From Hunger, and No More Slumlords. In all, I've accumulated over 20 years of leadership experience in nonprofit work.
I graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and earned a master’s degree in ministry, leadership, and culture from Fresno Pacific University. While at CSUF, I served as a staff writer, assistant news editor, and managing editor for the Daily Titan newspaper. After graduation, I interned at Warner Music Group and continued working for the company as a music critic for Rhino Magazine.
Currently, I'm honored to be a board member for Empower Fitness, a low-cost gym for at-risk youth in El Dorado County, and serve on the advisory board for the Women in Leadership Executive Program at the University of California Riverside Extension alongside executives from Fortune 500 companies such as Disney, SpaceX, and Amazon.
My wife, Rebekah Townsend, is a teaching pastor at Green Valley Community Church and together, we have three children. In 2021, my band, the overdubs, signed a deal with London-based Animal Farm Music and organized a series of shows to benefit Central Valley Justice Coalition. Other interests include watching too many movies, not smiling in photographs, graphic design, riding my bike, and semi-obsessively rooting for a number of cursed sports franchises. I also dabbled in stand-up comedy because I am a glutton for punishment.
