As we roll into the month of June, we champion ALL voices. Celebrating Pride and commemorating historic holidays like Juneteenth. Here at Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada, we are committed to championing diversity, equity, and inclusion, fostering an organization that is accessible and welcoming. Constantly aware that uniting communities helps make more wishes possible for our children with critical illnesses.
I know that representation matters, as I’ve seen and experienced it firsthand. When I came to Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada five years ago, one person spoke Spanish on our staff, and I was the first man hired by the chapter. We relied on volunteers to work with our Spanish-speaking families. Now, we have five members of our eighteen-member staff that speak Spanish and have “Bilingual” in their title to let our families, volunteers, and donors know we’re working on it; we’re focusing on it to better serve our community. There are three men here now too! Will we ever represent everyone in our population? The honest answer is, I don’t know, but I also know I will try as I know what a difference it makes in our families’ lives.
Before I became CEO, my husband (now together for 34 years) and I had several discussions about the role and how we wanted to take on this new responsibility. Once the Board (and National Team) vetted me, my husband and I decided to do what we’ve always done: be ourselves, not shy away or hide who we were; I became President and CEO, and Michael became The First Gentleman of Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada. (We love it when my staff or volunteers ask if the First Gentleman will be at an event or get-together.)
I was at Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. before coming to Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada. I was the Director of Service Operations for the business’s real money online gaming side. This included customer support, risk/fraud, and responsible gaming; you name it, my hand was in it. I kept telling Michael I wanted to do something that made me feel good at the end of my day. Out of the blue, Michael (an actor, singer, dancer, and Pilates instructor) was misdiagnosed for a year and a half and then was diagnosed with renal failure in 2016. (They believe it was undiagnosed high blood pressure, so please, get yours checked.) Michael traveled with his dialysis machine to keep performing, and when home, I would sterilize our room each night, set up the machine and hook him up for his treatment which started at four and a half hours each night and eventually grew to twelve hours a night.
I started here as the Director of Mission Delivery in February 2018. On October 4, 2018, we received a call from the Mayo Clinic that they had a kidney for Michael. We spent the next month in Arizona at Mayo as we became accustomed to this new life. Contrary to what people believe, you don’t go “back to normal.” Michael always says he’s been reanimated.
Without knowing it, that’s one of the things that makes me right for this job. I know what it’s like to fight with doctors, insurance companies, and pharmacies to get someone you love what they need to get better. So, when I go into a room where a family has started the Discovery process (to decide on a wish), and they say their child is waiting for a kidney, I ask, “Peritoneal” or “Hemodialysis?” I see their face get calm because they know I know a small fraction of what they’re going through. Regardless of the life-threatening illness, I know a little about it because my husband had/has one.
Dr. Beth Creel, a psychologist at our local children’s heart facility, does lunch and learns once a quarter with our team to assist with compassion fatigue. The second month I was here, she did a session and remarked something like, “Many people get into the nonprofit sector because there’s something in their personal life they can’t fix, but they can fix a societal problem.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn’t a match to give Michael a kidney, but I knew I could get kids wishes. The journey Michael and I were and are on drives me daily and allows me a small window into our families’ journeys. We’re not different; just dealing with different circumstances, hoping for a positive outcome and support along the way. I’m committed to doing my best to provide this for our team and families.
I’ve discovered that representation is more than being a gay interracial, interfaith couple. It’s also being able to show up daily, unabashedly invested in everyone who walks through the door and those who have desks in our building, and embracing them for who they are and aspire to be. As stated earlier, we’re always going to be a work-in-progress as humans and ensuring our staff mirrors all the populations we serve, but we’re working on it. Somedays that doesn’t feel like enough, but I’m proud of our work toward this goal.
Many believe Pride Month is about being out loud and proud as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. To me, it’s always been more aspirational than that. It’s about living my life every day, being authentically who I am. Representing myself, my family, and this organization not just as a gay man but as someone who can proudly get the job done. So, allow me to be proud of our team, our Board, our wish families, donors, and volunteers who see me as a gay man but, more importantly, see my passion, energy, and desire to provide the prescription of hope to our families…a wish.