I have the mind of a philosopher, heart of a poet, and spirit of a starship captain. In all that I do, curiosity is my true North Star. I’m a former healthcare trial lawyer (and former history teacher at a royal naval school in rural England) turned serial entrepreneur. For over 15 years, I’ve worked tirelessly to elevate the LGBTQ+ community. I employed LGBTQ+ youth at my former coffee shop, transformed my former restaurant into a LGBTQ+ meeting place and created Richmond, Virginia’s LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce. I provided LGBTQ+ individuals a place to share their stories through my former media, marketing, and events company, Q Media (I hosted Virginia’s first same-sex wedding show in Richmond BEFORE marriage equality was legal). I worked with local and state tourism officials to make the City of Richmond and the Commonwealth of Virginia inclusive travel destinations. I helped the Richmond Police Department create a LGBTQ+ liaison officer position. I transformed the National Civil War Museum in Richmond into a same-sex wedding venue. I created a multi-pronged LGBTQ+ anti-smoking campaign for the Virginia Department of Health. I’ve won several awards for my service to the LGBTQ+ community including: Arlington, Virginia Gay & Lesbian Equality Award; Honorary LGBTQ+ “Hero” for the State of Florida; Top 100 People to Meet in Virginia; and, Top 40 Under 40 LGBTQ+ Leaders in North America. This June (2024) alone: 1) I won a pitch competition at Capital One’s HQ in McLean, VA as a participant in their Catapult program. 2) I was named a Top 25 LGBTQ+ entrepreneur by Founders First CDC. 3) PitchBook named me 1 of the 34 most influential LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in the nation!! As I mentioned, I’m a former healthcare trial lawyer turned healthtech entrepreneur. Lawyers aren’t just counselors at law, we’re really counselor at life. Throughout my life, countless LGBTQ+ people have asked me if I could help them find a doctor who made them feel safe. This question deeply resonated with me as I was denied care by a dermatologist a few years ago because—after I came out to him as gay—he said he couldn’t complete the physical exam because he didn’t feel comfortable touching my skin. The pandemic exposed glaring and systemic healthcare inequities that have plagued underserved communities for generations. I started equalityMD to build a truly inclusive LGBTQ+ telehealth platform that bridged healthcare inequities by giving patients a newfound sense of agency, dignity, and respect while my team and I worked to restore humanity to the healthcare experience. My team and I have gone through 4 international accelerators and 4 prestigious fellowships. I will always consider myself both a student and a teacher.