My plans for 2017: Join me if you can, I could use the help
At the end of 2016, I went through the bittersweet ending of another chapter in my life by leaving Mercedes/moovel/RideScout. However, it leaves me as excited for the future as anytime since I started RideScout and retired from the Army in 2013. The possibilities are endless and I wanted to share what I’m working on in the hope you will join me.
There is no better week than Trump’s inauguration to remind us that life is sometimes complicated. The social, economic, and political environment in which we all operate is changing faster than ever, and the pace of change is accelerating. Robotics, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, renewables, 3D printing, and other emerging technologies are colliding with socioeconomic forces such as urbanization, wealth concentration, aging populations, and widespread workforce displacement. At the same time, socio-economic segregation is on the rise in the U.S. and our educational system needs serious changes to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
For me, 2017 represents a chance to take what I have learned and apply it both in the private sector (to help pay for my daughters’ college tuition and future weddings) but also in nonprofit sector as a volunteer to help pay forward much of what I have benefited from over the years.
The first big news is that my colleague, Bret Boyd, and I have created Grayline to bring together experts, data, and solutions to help leaders understand and manage the challenges we face today. Together, we bring complementary skills and perspectives from our experiences as entrepreneurs, executives, strategists, investors, educators, problem solvers, and combat veterans. I know we can build smarter cities that better serve more of the community.
Contact me if you want me to come speak at your next event and I’ll share my experiences of what I see happening and what we could do about it.
But just as exciting, I will have more time to help with the causes and pursuits that I think move us forward as a community. In a volunteer capacity, I plan to continue working in education, veteran entrepreneurship, defense energy, smart cities and community building in the spirit of what I learned in Our Kids by Robert Putnam.
In education, I will not only continue to work to support Girls STEM education through GirlStart, but I will be announcing a much larger education effort at the end of this month. We have to set the conditions now to prepare our society for the workforce of the 21st Century. In 1973, 28% of all jobs required Post Secondary education/skills. By 2020, 65% of all new jobs will require Post Secondary educations/skills. Currently, barely 40% of Texans aged 25–34 have a certificate, associate degree or higher. We need to work on education and training in Texas. I intend to help in as big a way as I can.
In the military veteran space, I intend become involved even more with Bunker Labs Austin where we work to empower other military veterans as leaders in innovation. As they say on their website, “We work to inspire, educate, and connect veterans with the right people and the right resources to be successful as entrepreneurs and as innovators.” In addition, statewide in Texas, I plan to work with the Vetted Foundation. Like the Bunker, Vetted is helping veterans but specifically it identifies military talent for transition preparation and planning, Texas-based executive education, and industry placement in the private sector. I’m passionate about all of our work because Veterans spent their time in service defending the dream of capitalism and free enterprise.
In the world of defense energy, I remained committed to providing the best materiel and equipment for the warfighter. Since co-founding the DITAC and NSTXL almost four years ago, we continue to seek new ways for improve the government procurement system to help our warfighters deployed overseas and training here at home.
I’m also joining boards and organizations that are working hard to implement real change to combat some of our biggest challenges. At the local level, I have joined the Austin Chamber of Commerce to make sure we think through the compromises needed for future growth, jobs and opportunity for all in our city. At the state level, I’m joining the Texas Lyceum to lend my voice to a statewide discussion of the major challenges and opportunities before us. In addition, I will joining the Public Transportation Advisory Committee as an appointee for Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. My goal there is to make sure mobility and opportunity is provided for all Texans. Also at the state level, I continue to work for smart business policy as a member of the Texas Association of Business (our state Chamber of Commerce). Lastly, at the national level, I will join the Truman National Security Project to focus my efforts on thoughtful policy in the arena of our national security and energy policy to make sure we are being safe about how act domestically and engage globally.
So there you have it. Simply put, the American Dream has been a very real experience for me and my family. Prior to 2017, I kind of made a name in the ground mobility space, now I want to work in the upward mobility space — helping others on their path along their way to their own version of the American Dream. I hope you will join me.
