My story
Since I was young, I've had a fascination with storytelling. Growing up in metro Detroit, I was surrounded by stories: the heady days of Motown's great past, the promise of a bright technological future, and the swirling rich present of a young secular Jewish community steeped in tradition and bursting out with song and dance and tales.
The first language I developed to share those stories was music: my siblings and cousins and I co-founded the Kidz Klezmer Band of Michigan, led by the late, great Cantor Stephen Dubov. We performed at Carnegie Hall in 2003. I went on to perform classical and jazz piano, accordion, and hand drums around the country and internationally – leading (and managing) several successful bands through college, including the precursor to the now-famous American funk group Vulfpeck.
The Many Languages of Storytelling
I graduated class valedictorian from high school and with dual degrees in Physics and Linguistics, with Honors, from the University of Michigan in 2008 – a duality that perfectly-satisfied my competing left-brain and right-brain passions for exploring the world's stories through basic science and the humanities.
The journey of life next took me to New York City, where I took a teaching fellow in a public high school while pursuing a Masters in Adolescent Education. Of course, with a generous side of music and activism and artistic exploration. My activism led me to help cofound Occupy Wall Street in 2011, a movement for economic justice in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and serve as a spokesperson appearing on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and The Colbert Report. After parting ways with the movement and NYC in 2016, I returned to my hometown to establish the Detroit Water Brigade, a nonprofit direct aid and advocacy group for low-income families facing extreme austerity measures during the city's record-breaking municipal bankruptcy. In partnership with community groups, I presented before the United Nations and helped to bring about Detroit's income-based water affordability program — today called the Lifeline Plan.
From Storyteller to Media Entrepreneur
I learned through my work in the classroom, on the airwaves, and behind a computer coding that how we tell stories is the essence of what we communicate. In the words of Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan, 'The medium is the message.' I set out to build new media for real, human storytelling.
In 2015 I founded The Liberati Group, a strategic digital communications firm. With offices in NYC and Detroit, we lifted the voices of promising startups, community non-profits, and political candidates and causes through adept guerrilla marketing and traditional, tried-and-true PR and media strategy. In 2019, we merged with Flow Video, a creative video agency in Detroit. This married our strategic acumen with potent filmmaking expertise to create a full-service marketing and production powerhouse.
Today, I'm writing the next chapter of my story. Still steeped in rich history and traditions and grasping for – even better, building! – a future we can all believe in, a song we can all dance to. In the words of the great Stevie Wonder, 'You can feel it all over…'
Notable Recognitions
- Shalom Hartman Young Leaders Summit (2024)
- Telly Award – Best Branded Content (2020)
- Board of Dir – Bethel Community Transformation Center (2018)
- Google-Certified – Analytics, Ads (2017)
- Harvard Kennedy School of Government Guest Presenter (2016)
- U.N. Humanitarian Peacekeeping Award (2013)
- Labor Communicator of Year (Metro NY Labor Communications Council, 2012)
- Shorty Award – Best Social Media Content Campaign (2012)
- B.S. with Honors, Physics & Linguistics, U of Michigan (2008)
- Berkley High School Class Valedictorian (2004)
- MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award (2003)
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