Meet Joe
Personal Life
Hi 👋 I’m Joe! My family and I live in Plymouth Township and my daughter is a proud kindergartener in the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools district.
P-CCS played a huge role in our move to the area in 2021. We left Chicago to be closer to family and we are so happy that we landed in such a wonderful community.
Rounding out our household are our furry friends Arlo, an impressively 15-year old rescue mix, and Brigitte - our calico cat who recently moved in from the Huron Valley Humane Society after a persuasive adoption campaign by my daughter.
You can often find me at local community meetings, cheering on my daughter at her soccer games in Plymouth, gymnastics in Canton, at a Detroit City FC game, tending to my many plants both indoors and out, or trying my best at bar trivia with friends.
Professional Life
After spending 3 years in early childhood education leading play, art, and music programming for littles, I found my passion for helping connect young people in marginalized communities with support, meaningful training, and experiential learning opportunities to better prepare and connect them with sustaining wages.
I spent the next 11 years supporting high school juniors and seniors in Chicago Public Schools through a CTE partnership non-profit. What began as an opportunity to work directly with students providing coaching and training support quickly turned into a massive opportunity for impact and by the time I left as Program Director & Director of Corporate Partnerships we had placed over 1,130 high school seniors into paid, corporate work-study internships and had paid out over $11.8 Million dollars in student wages - supporting learning, futures, and families.
I have continued my career in youth workforce development as the Senior Director of Workforce Partnerships at a national workforce development non-profit since 2022. My organization offers a new way for young adults to move quickly to a job that gives them a sustaining and stable career in healthcare by removing the barriers many young people face, while also helping healthcare systems modernize their talent strategies to better support this newest generation of healthcare professionals.
Local Impact
On top of my professional work in non-profit youth workforce development, I have been a Court Appointed Special Advocate for the past 6 years, most recently with Wayne County CASA, advocating for children in foster care who have been victims of abuse and neglect.
In January of 2025 I co-founded Plymouth Community Collective with other parents in the district, a grassroots organizing group seeking to bring together a new generation of engaged neighbors through monthly gatherings, community service, and opportunities for busy people to advocate for their communities.
In our first year we kept our group updated on what is going on at P-CCS and around their community, and helped feed 1,688 weekly families at local food banks, spent many hours supporting local foster closets highlighted by supporting 119 children in foster care with back-to-school supplies, and are on-track to double our volunteer hours in 2026.
Joe’s Commitments
I WILL ADVOCATE FOR ALL KIDSEvery child that enrolls at Plymouth-Canton Community Schools deserves safety, dignity, and respect at school, as well as equitable access to a free, quality public education. Our kids are our future neighbors, co-workers, and caregivers, and every investment made at school pays an enormous return to our communities. Also, it’s the law.
I WILL SHOW UPI have a proven track record of showing up to advocate for communities in need. I’ve dedicated my professional career to closing opportunity gaps for youth in marginalized communities. In my personal life, I’m both an all-in dad and husband and a passionate organizer in my community.
With the substantial financial and political pressure that our district faces, we need leaders who will show up and do the work to be good stewards of district finances, policy, and reputation.
I WILL ENSURE P-CCS REMAINS A DESTINATIONP-CCS’s strong reputation played a key role in my family’s move to the area. I am committed to not just ensuring that P-CCS remains a destination district, but will also advocate for the district to continue to innovate and adopt best practices to close achievement gaps and achieve the district’s strategic goals.
