I believe that you don't have to wait to make a difference. I am a fifth-generation Texan, and I've been engaged in my community for nearly all my life, beginning as a board member for a small nonprofit theatre focused on bringing the arts to disadvantaged youth in Collin County. I was blessed to be able to repay my community by assisting nonprofits all throughout McKinney as the Vice-Chairman of the McKinney Arts Commission. I have also served as a Precinct Chair for the Collin County GOP, where I represented my neighbors at executive committee meetings and the Texas Republican State Convention.
I graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a B.S. in Business Administration, earning multiple places on the Dean's List and Summa Cum Laude honors for my academic achievement. At UTD, I was able to have my research on business ethics & culture presented at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. I was also recruited as the sole conservative columnist at the UTD Mercury, the school's newspaper. Before attending UTD, I attended Collin College where I served as the Resolutions Committee Chairman for their Student Government Association.
As I first entered the workforce, I gained my initial experience as a ranch hand in Northern McKinney. This formative experience instilled a strong work ethic and a sense of honesty that has stayed with me throughout my career. Subsequently, I have had the privilege of working in various business fields, ultimately finding a home in the field of sales and marketing with a special focus on digital marketing. This experience has allowed me to develop the business skills I have today.
I have been blessed to be able to serve my community for most of my life, and I am eager to continue serving my community for many years to come.
As the Vice-Chairman of the McKinney Arts Commission, I evaluated seasonal, project, and outreach grant applications from local nonprofits and distributed $220,000 in grant funding.
The McKinney Arts Commission also provided matching funds to public art projects throughout the city. I served on the sub-committees for the Monarchs of McKinney and W.O.W. Mural public art projects, where I reviewed designs for from numerous local artists and secured funding from private and individual donors. In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, I and other commissioners organized the packaging and donation of 1550 art kits to low income students at McKinney schools.
As a Precinct Chair for the Collin County Republican Party, I was elected to represent my neighbors in GOP Executive Committee. I led and assisted campaign efforts to get Republican candidates elected within my precinct, as well as recruited my neighbors to become Republican volunteers. I also chaired the semi-annual precinct convention, where I presided over a meeting of my neighbors where we proposed, debated, and voted on resolutions to send to the senate-district and state GOP conventions, where the party's platforms, rules, and legislative priorities are finalized.
I was a member of the Legislative Priorities committee, where we drafted a grading rubric for our Texas legislators from Collin County based on the party's legislative priorities.
I serve as the lone Conservative Opinion Columnist at the UT Dallas student-run newspaper. Being a Conservative on a liberal college campus may seem hard enough on its own, but I chose not to let the academic left keep me from spreading my message of LIBERTY for everyone! My articles were distributed both in print and online.
I was appointed by the McKinney City Council to serve as a community member on the City of McKinney Bond Committee. I was delegated to the Transportation Subcommittee, where we evaluated over twenty unfunded transportation projects. The evaluation period included presentations from staff and professional engineers, and I personally visited the site of every project location so I could see the demand for those projects myself.
After advocating for a 30% decrease to the initial debt request, I was successful in reducing the final bond debt by 12% after negotiating with other committee members, limiting the city to using debt for only the most vital transportation infrastructure projects. Our committee recommended $100 million in bond funding for transportation projects, which was approved by Council and by 79% of McKinney voters.
As the President of the Young Actors Guild, my biggest accomplishment was co-authoring a complete overhaul of our non-profit's bylaws. I succeeded in merging two sets of conflicting bylaws into one succinct document, as well as further defining the responsibilities of different roles within our organization.
Other achievements that I am proud of include leading multiple fundraising campaigns alongside the Head of Fundraising, resulting in a 43% increase in private donations and an 84% increase in corporate donations, and expanding social media outreach on Facebook and Instagram, increasing membership by 16%. Finally, I made annual presentations to the McKinney Arts Commission requesting grant funding, receiving the full contribution amount requested both times.