I don’t know another location where you are one person, one degree of separation, away from any need. When we look outside of our windows we see the backdrop of the companies that we serve most. When I look to the left, I see JP Morgan Chase and Capital One building that helps support our HBCU program, HBCU CSC, who also support our high school students. It is really helpful that the decision makers from these companies are actually located in Delaware.”

What makes Delaware great “is its [small] size and access. You can have an impact here in transforming the way we think about education. Charter schools can be controversial, but they started as an opportunity for communities to innovate. That’s what BASSE is doing. We’re not trying to be big. We’re trying to build a community-based partnership and co-create what education looks like.”

In Delaware, we all talk across genres. In a given day, I can run into a painter, a spoken-word poet, a jazz musician, and a classical musician and we’re all bouncing ideas off each other. People here aren’t creating art for art’s sake; they’re creating it to improve Wilmington and tell the story of the people who live here.”

It’s home, first and foremost. It’s accessible — you can find yourself at a red light next to the governor. I love that it’s a small state and that it’s the first state. I love that it’s a community, small enough that we can know each other.”

I love the quality of life I get living and working here in Delaware. We can be at the beaches or the mountains in about an hour. I do a little bit of traveling for shoots, but most of my work is here in Delaware.”