From sewing circuits into wearables in rural Nebraska to building the first VR outreach program in a global education network. I find the gaps, design the thing, fund the thing, and deliver the thing. Two countries, three sectors, a dozen grant cycles. Now I'm looking for people who want to make more of it happen.
I started teaching 3rd graders in Omaha. I ran afterschool STEM at the Henry Doorly Zoo. At Nebraska 4-H, I built a wearable technology curriculum that got girls sewing circuits into wearables, and the research showed it worked. That curriculum went national.
But Armenia came first. I went there in 2005 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Shinuhayr, a village in Syunik. I came back in 2008 to teach in Yerevan. Then Nebraska for grad school, research, makerspaces. And then in 2019, Armenia called again. As Country Director for American Councils, I grew the operation from $150K to nearly $500K and built a portfolio spanning digital literacy, entrepreneurship, VR, alumni networks, and teacher training across every region of the country.
Now I'm partnering with an education center in Syunik to bring everything I've learned (curriculum design, grant strategy, innovative programming, community development) to the place where it all started. I'm not looking for a job. I'm looking for partners who want to make things happen.
Every one of these started the same way: a gap nobody was filling, an idea, and a grant proposal. I designed them, funded them, built the teams, and delivered results. Nebraska to Armenia, this is what I do.
Girls were 30% of STEM participants. I designed a 4-unit wearable technology curriculum that used textiles as a trojan horse for electrical engineering and coding. Kids sewed LEDs, programmed microcontrollers, and designed their own projects. The research showed statistically significant knowledge gains.
Built the first VR-based educational outreach in the entire EducationUSA global network. Three virtual environments. Trained students to run the events. Created a replicable model now shared worldwide.
Trained 23 Teacher-Trainers across Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia who mentored 366 English teachers. Built the cross-border digital collaboration infrastructure. Navigated programming through a literal war without losing momentum.
Took Nebraska 4-H's ESI curriculum (a program I helped build) and brought it to Armenia. Trained alumni as trainers who delivered it to rural middle schoolers. Launched Armenia's first National Week of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Developed a 9-module digital literacy curriculum in Armenian. Trained 70 Digital Citizen Ambassadors who delivered it to rural youth across the country. Culminated in a national Media and Digital Literacy Conference.
Built the most ambitious alumni engagement programming in-country. Three Advisory Committees, a PD Summit with a 90% NPS score, the first-ever USG Alumni Awards Ceremony, and alumni-led grants that trained 70 educators.
First VR-based EducationUSA outreach globally. First COIL virtual exchange in Armenia and Georgia. First National Week of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Armenia. I don't wait for someone else to go first.
Peer-reviewed publication on e-textiles in STEM learning. WearTec curriculum published nationally through 4-H. I don't just build programs. I generate evidence that they work.
I built the 4-H entrepreneurship curriculum in Nebraska, then exported it to Armenia. WearTec went from a rural Nebraska classroom to national publication. I know how to move ideas across borders.
Every grant I've run has met or exceeded targets. Budget grew from $150K to $477K. Embassy-funded programming grew 250-fold. I know how to write them, win them, and deliver on them.
COVID-19. The Armenia-Azerbaijan war. The Nagorno-Karabakh crisis and refugee influx. I kept programs running through all of it, pivoting delivery without losing integrity or momentum.
Same 104-square-meter office. Budget tripled. Contractors grew from 14 to 103. Transactions doubled. I grow impact, not overhead. That's the kind of efficiency funders want to see.
I don't brainstorm on whiteboards. I build the program, put it in kids' hands, and publish the research. WearTec. VRmenia. COIL. Every innovation comes with evidence. That's the difference between an idea and an intervention.
I first came here in 2005 as a Peace Corps volunteer. I came back to teach. I came back again to run a country operation. I speak fluent Armenian. Your resources don't fund a learning curve. They fund someone who already knows the terrain.
Rural Nebraska girls who weren't in STEM. Armenian youth in border regions who weren't in the room. My instinct is always the same: who's missing, and how do we change that?
A curriculum that went national. An office budget that tripled. Embassy funding that grew 250×. I don't maintain. I multiply. Give me a dollar and I'll show you what it can become.
I'm partnering with an education center in Syunik, southern Armenia, where I first served as a Peace Corps volunteer twenty years ago. The goal: STEAM programming, entrepreneurship training, teacher development, and community-driven innovation in a region that needs it. I'm not asking you to fund me. I'm asking you to fund the work, and to trust someone who's spent two decades proving he delivers.