In 1992, I founded StreetWise, a newspaper for the homeless people, because I knew how hard it was for these individuals to get work. The organization has helped over 12,500 homeless individuals get instant jobs. I am currently an emeritus board member. In 2013, I represented a student from Congo who was attending Mooseheart and was being discriminated against. I successfully sued the Illinois High School Association. With my law, business, and real estate background I ran for Aurora alderman for Ward 10 because I felt that I could make a difference, and was elected to a four-year term.
I am a past president of the Aurora Rotary Club and am currently a member of the Aurora Sunrise Rotary Club. I have served on many other non-profit boards including the Kennedy Institute in Washington, D.C., the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce, Aurora Downtown, and RITA’s Ministry to help transition prison inmates into society.
I have received numerous awards for my volunteer work including the Lerner Newspaper Citizen of the Year Award and Citizen of the Month, the Martin Luther King Keeper of the Dream Award, and the Compassion Foundation Community Service Award.
I earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Michigan. I then attended Pepperdine University School of Law, where I received a J.D. and studied abroad in London for one semester. I interned for a Wall Street law firm in Paris. I also received an advanced law degree, an LLM, from American University in Washington D.C. in international business.
As a self-employed lawyer, my law practice concentrates on real estate, estate planning, and business law. I am also a commercial real estate broker and developer focusing on land and shopping center development. I speak fluent French and conversational Spanish.