This is a personal look back at the people, projects, and moments that shaped my professional journey — and the lifelong connections that continue to inspire me. It’s my way of celebrating United Way NEXT’s 35th anniversary.

When the doctor mentioned the words bipolar 2 disorder, ADHD, anxiety, and PTSD, all at once the floor crumbled underneath me.

Getting a Mental Health Diagnosis can often bring clarity. What happens when it forces you to reframe long-held beliefs, or contradicts an earlier diagnosis?

Google Gemini made the fewest errors. Most of them were typos, as opposed to hallucinations. ChatGPT made the most errors, with a combination of typos and hallucinations. Most of Perplexity’s errors were egregious hallucinations.

My dad passed away 16 years ago on October 1, 2009 six months after a heart transplant. His last stay in the hospital lasted two and a half weeks. One of the ways I honored his memory was by remembering Paris Thomas, a security guard at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Grief can take many forms. The most familiar is when we are faced with the loss of a loved one. There are rituals of mourning, familiar ways of providing comfort and an accepted and understood common language that we use to show our support. What about when we grieve the loss of an Identity? Or the loss of a Relationship? A Job? A Dream? Although the emotions might be similar, there are often no rituals, no common language.

A man tried to burn down his mosque in one of many post-9/11 hate crimes. Issa Qandeel confronted him, was shot at and chased him. The FBI wanted to make an example out of him, but Issa argued for a lesser sentence, citing the importance of forgiveness in Islam. I had the honor of interviewing him and telling his story in Colors NW Magazine on the one-year anniversary of the attacks of September 11.

I’m telling this story because I want you all to understand that when I say I get it, I really mean it. I’m committed to doing everything I can to make sure our national office provides world-class support to all its Alliance members. Because that’s where we’re improving and even saving lives—on the ground, in communities, one person at a time.

Paige Goble, a 17-year-old senior at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia will be our guest.