I am an interfaith spiritual care provider and chaplain, ordained through the Order of Universal Interfaith. Raised in a largely secular context, I carried from an early age a deep curiosity about suffering, identity, and the nature of reality. A period of deep introspection and profound inner transformation expanded my understanding of self and world, leading me into contemplative practice, including time in retreat at a Soto Zen monastery.

While I have been deeply formed by specific traditions, I have never felt confined to one. My greatest transformation has unfolded in the space between perspectives — where difference invites humility, deeper listening, and a recognition that truth is often larger than any one language can hold. This orientation shapes how I accompany others: with steadiness, openness, and respect for each person’s lived experience.

I hold a Master of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry and engaged in clinical chaplaincy training through the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education at John Muir Health. I have offered spiritual care in congregations, hospitals, intensive outpatient mental health programs, Marin County Jail, street-based settings with unhoused communities, and group spaces for adults with disabilities through Alegria Community Living. These contexts have shaped my commitment to trauma-informed, inclusive, and compassionate care, and have prepared me to sit with people across difference, crisis, grief, and transformation.

I am also shaped by Unitarian Universalist community, including service with JUUstice Washington and connection with Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, as well as three years of residential Soto Zen monastic practice at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Zen practice deeply informs the way I listen — with calm steadiness, curiosity, and respect for what unfolds.

I live and work in Oakland, on the unceded territory of the Lisjan Ohlone people. Outside of work, I feel most at home sharing tea with my wife and friends, reading something that widens my heart, dancing to good music, or sitting quietly among the trees. Forests, especially, remind me of what I seek to practice each day: distinct beings, rooted in their own integrity, sustained by connection.

If you want to know a bit more about me, feel free to check out this video of me speaking about some topics that deeply matter to me at Mt. Diablo UU Church.

Or feel free to check out this video in which I am speaking about making faith (or radical trust) more accessible.