The person. The presence. The possibility.
Speaker. Coach. Author.
Air Force veteran. Nonprofit founder.
There is a life
behind the message.
INVESTMENT / HUMAN POSSIBILITY
Every budget reflects a choice.
Every choice has the power to change a life.
01 / THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE QUESTION
A young person is more than the hardest chapter of their life.
I know what it feels like to need someone to see more in you. Youth empowerment begins with possibility, caring relationships and the support to take a next step.
Through Inspire To Aspire:
Exposure → Possibility → Hope → Intrinsic Motivation → Action → Trajectory Change.
Across four cohorts of young people surveyed through age 21, approximately one in three reported homelessness at one or more surveyed timepoints.
Four completed NYTD cohorts span collection years 2011 to 2024. Each cohort was surveyed at ages 17, 19 and 21. This is not continuous homelessness or a 13-year individual follow-up.
The national single-night count increased about 15%, from 647,258 people in 2007 to 745,652 in 2025.
All ages, nationwide. The count decreased from 2024 to 2025; this does not mean every year or every population worsened.
In 2023, Black youth were 5.6 times as likely as white youth to be placed in juvenile facilities. Overall youth placements fell 46% over the preceding decade.
The source’s national comparison covers 2013 to 2023 and shows increased racial disparity while overall placements declined. Placement includes detention and commitment.
Joshua Rovner · The Sentencing Project, August 12, 2025 (opens in a new tab)02 / THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE QUESTION
One caring adult can help a young person see a different future.
Educators. Social workers. Foster parents. Mentors. The people who keep showing up need tools, support and room to grow too. A caring relationship matters alongside the systems and resources around a young person.
Talk about caring adults trainingIn a longitudinal study of 14,800 people, strong family and school connectedness in adolescence was associated with lower odds of several adult health risks.
The range varies by outcome. Observational association, not proof that one adult caused the difference.
A long-term follow-up of a randomized mentoring eligibility study found that youth offered earlier program access were more likely to attend college.
A working paper under revision for the Journal of Public Economics, based on a 1991 randomized eligibility study linked to later administrative records. Not a published journal finding, a promise for every mentoring relationship, or a result from Inspire To Aspire.
A research review found that youth mentoring programs can support behavioral, social, emotional and academic development.
Average benefits were modest. Training, implementation and relationship quality matter; long-term persistence was less certain.
03 / THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE QUESTION
The way we lead people shapes what becomes possible.
Communication. Feedback. Emotional regulation. Accountability. The everyday conversations that help people care about their work and take ownership of what happens next.
Explore speaking and leadership trainingHalf of surveyed Gen Z respondents wanted managers to teach and mentor them. Just 36% said this happened in their experience.
Global 2025 survey. This comparison is about Gen Z respondents, not all employees.
Global manager engagement declined from 31% in 2022 to 22% in 2025, according to Gallup.
A nine percentage point decline. Engagement is not the same measure as performance or wellbeing.
DDI found that 71% of leaders reported more stress after entering their current role. Among those reporting increased stress, 40% had considered leaving leadership to improve wellbeing.
A survey finding about reported experience and consideration, not a measured resignation rate.
DIFFERENT PEOPLE. CONNECTED POSSIBILITIES.
Thirteen years. Eighteen years. Ten years.
Different populations. Different systems.
Yet too many of the same troubling outcomes.
Dedicated people are doing difficult work every day. Progress is possible. The invitation is to invest with greater intention, practice what helps, and evaluate what changes.
Let’s talk about your peopleResearch describes different populations and methods. These are not outcomes from Sensei Dave’s programs or guarantees of systemic change. The research measures populations and relationships, not the value of an individual life.
From the man on stage
Keep scrolling. The next chapter changes the frame.
Skip the story and explore speaking ↗ORIGIN / 1974
EARLY LIFE
Foster care. Group homes. Juvenile detention. Long before I stood in front of a room, I was trying to find my place in the world.
BELONGING / LOSS
Gang involvement. Losing my mother while I was in juvenile detention. These experiences became part of my life. They did not have to become the whole of it.
AGE 18
At 18, I was homeless. The next chapter was still unwritten.
24 YEARS / U.S. AIR FORCE
Twenty four years of U.S. Air Force service. New responsibilities. People depending on me. A different way to see what my life could become.
LEADERSHIP
Leading Airmen. Inspector General experience. Learning that leadership asks you to care about the people behind the work.
DISCIPLINE / SENSEI
Martial arts. Teaching. Building three schools. Sensei became more than a name. It became a responsibility to help others grow.
AUTHOR / SPEAKER
After the uniform, I had to find purpose again. Books. Speaking. Coaching. What I had lived became a way to help other people see possibilities of their own.
PAUSE / CANCER
A cancer diagnosis. Hospital. Recovery. After service, leadership, and building a new life, the philosophy had to be lived again.
RECOVERY / PURPOSE
Recovery asked me to return to the ideas I share with others. The work continued: helping people thrive, learn, grow, and take more chances on themselves.
PURPOSE
Ron Barnick, my CASA and GAL, became a mentor to me. Today, Inspire To Aspire carries that belief forward for young people in foster care and juvenile detention.
CURRENT / STILL BECOMING
LEAVE MEASUREMENT BEHIND.
The message I live. The message I bring into your room.
The trajectory / past and present
Scroll to open the room. Drag the handle or use arrow keys to explore either photograph.
Present day / service
Someone helped me see a future.
Now I help other people see theirs.
The life behind the message
Spend a little more time with the person behind the message. A deeper film about lived experience, human connection, and the work that followed.
Your people. Their next chapter.
Every audience brings its own challenges.
Let’s start with what you want to make possible.
CONNECTION BEFORE CONTENT.Keynotes / workshops / Empathic Leadership
Lead with accountability, awareness, communication, and humanity. Create the conditions where people are more likely to take ownership and care about the outcome.
Explore leadership for your team ↗Leadership teams and mid-managers. Educators and caring adults. Young people finding their next step. Choose a topic above to explore the fit.
Keynote speaking and practical workshops. Empathic Leadership: three days onsite, followed by six months of monthly conversations.
Share your audience, event date, location and the conversations your people need to have. We can discuss the right format and focus for your room.
Discuss your event ↗Leadership training / mid management
Managers can ask for compliance. The goal is a team that cares about the outcome.
Lead with accountability, awareness, communication, and humanity.
Create conditions for purpose, room to make decisions, confidence in skills, recognition, ownership, and belonging. Help people see how their contribution connects to the team’s mission.
Three days together, followed by six months of monthly conversations.
Talk about your leaders ↗See Sensei Dave in the room
A short look at the performance, the room, and the people in it.
In print. In conversation.
Appearances and published work, not endorsements.
THE CONNECTION IS PERSONAL
Real voices. Different experiences.
Hear what stayed with them.
Drag to explore. Tap to hear.
Drag or swipe. Use arrow keys to explore. Press Enter to play.
The stories that shaped the stage, on the page
For people finding their way, and the caring adults walking beside them. The books carry the experiences, relationships, and lessons beyond the room.
Discuss books for your event ↗
My Fight For Life
A personal story of adversity, mentorship, and finding a way forward.
The journey, the caring adults, and the possibilities that changed a life.
The work beyond the stage
Young people deserve possibilities they may never have imagined.
Through Inspire To Aspire Youth Empowerment, I work to help young people in foster care and juvenile detention develop confidence, emotional regulation, leadership identity, and hope for their futures.
This is where the story becomes service.
Meet Inspire To Aspire ↗The ongoing conversation
Speaking. Coaching. Honest conversations about growing as people.
This part is about you
Get clear on what you want, recognize what is getting in the way, and build the accountability to move. You bring the decisions. We do the work together.
Your goals. Your next chapter.
Personalized work around growth, decisions, purpose, leadership, relationships, accountability, and your next chapter.
Shared perspective. Personal growth.
Perspective, practical tools, accountability, and shared growth with others doing the work.
Let’s make the next chapter matter
Tell me who is in the room, what they are facing, and what you hope they will carry with them.
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