(Except from the Voter Directed Democracy book.

About the Author

Again, this political theory will never be about me or about any individual. The political theory of Voter Directed Democracy is solely focused on equally empowering all eligible voters and implementing this innovative political philosophy at all levels of government. That said, I’m a man and I live in La Crosse, Wisconsin of the United States of America. I believe the most credible scientific and spiritual frameworks humanity should follow all essentially confirm the same truths and promote the same messages about human existence. They are all calling on humanity to make loving, compassion-based decisions through the building of inclusive and collaboration-based communities in order to achieve the best social, political, and economic outcomes for the greatest number of people.

The relationships and identities that are most important to me at this time are being a father, son, friend, and founder. Nothing is more important to me personally at this time than being a father. It is my greatest responsibility and privilege to fill my kids’ lives with many types of kindness, love, fun, adventure, resources, structure, and healthy boundaries. There is nothing better than sharing with them everything about our world that I find to be important, interesting, fascinating, intriguing, and fun while also teaching them about the parts of our world that cause pain and suffering and might also hurt them. Being the best parent I can be every day is by far the hardest and most rewarding part of my life. I also believe the most important relationships any adult human being has are those that are focused on helping and supporting and improving our world for younger generations. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, family friend, teacher, coach, or mentor of any kind- those are your most important relationships on a cosmic scale. The only way society progresses forward and improves over time is if older generations invest considerable amounts of time, energy, and other resources into younger generations. Billions of humans from all around our world have instinctually and intentionally done this for millennia. The majority of humans today also devote huge portions of their personal and professional lives to ensuring that society improves for the next generations. None of this time, energy, or other resources are ever wasted. Our personal and collective futures deserve our best effort, each and every day.     

I also deeply value my identity as a son. I have been blessed with two wonderful, hardworking, intelligent, and loving parents. The majority of everything I am today is a direct or indirect result of who my parents raised me to be. My father is a man of kindness, justice, and integrity. He is a true gentle giant that has a deep respect for everyone’s inherent human dignity and has pursued and promoted justice for others in many different ways throughout his life. My mother is a woman of compassion, care, and love. She has devoted a huge portion of her life to alleviating the suffering of others and cares so deeply and so passionately for so many people. Please also know that all of us are of course flawed in various ways, have made many mistakes, and have struggled deeply physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually like all human beings are destined to do. Also, the strong relationship I have with both of my parents was not always great, ebbs and flows, and has developed over time as all three of us have explored the world, grown, and learned. Nevertheless, I aspire every day to grow into the man they raised me to be and the example they set for me.

I also deeply value my identity as a friend. Friendship is what makes our world go round. It is the thread that connects the strongest parts of our social fabric. All of my most rewarding relationships have a foundation of or, at minimum, include friendship. I have been so lucky to have found friendship throughout my life from a variety of sources. I have found friendship in my wife, neighbors, peers, members of my community, coworkers, relatives, older humans, younger humans, and so many others who I have shared interests, hobbies, and experiences with. I am thankful for all of the friendship I have experienced from life-long friends to humans that I only had one moment of friendship with and everyone in between. Friends have brought fun, adventure, laughter, mutual support, community, celebration, knowledge, and so many other wonderful things to my life. Few things in this world are better or more healing than sharing time and laughs with friends. Friends are such an essential part of human existence and I am truly grateful for all of the moments of friendship I have experienced.   

I am also just beginning to grow into and fully understand my identity as the founder of Voter Directed Network. It is a sincere privilege to be a part of this collective journey to improve, modernize, and evolve democracy. I also find this work to be so hopeful and I deeply desire to bring a sense of hope to this work every day. There are many challenges and obstacles ahead of us on this journey but I will do my absolute best to build this company and do this work with integrity, transparency, accountability, and collaboration at the forefront of all that we do.      

Lastly, I have a Bachelor of Science degree in social work from Viterbo University and a master’s degree from what is now the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at University of Chicago. When I have time, my main hobbies include doing theatre, hiking, camping, and spending time with people and dogs that I think are talented, funny, interesting, kind, and intellectually stimulating. Currently, much of my time away from work is spent raising my children with my wife and I would not have it any other way. I also find the immense diversities and complexities of art, sports, science, spirituality, and labor to be infinitely interesting and incredibly dynamic. I feel like I could have endless, wonderful conversations about all types of art, sports, science, spirituality, and labor. Similarly, in relation to the things we consume and enjoy in this life- music, tv, movies, sports, games, food, drinks etc.- I always have the same approach: I am inherently curious and value diversity, and I am open to a lot of different experiences. There are so many interesting, uplifting, and positive things in this world to experience. Currently the types of music I listen to most frequently are: all types of rock, folk, musicals, hip hop, pop, soul, and country. So much great, interesting, and diverse music began and/or evolved in the United States. I think our innumerable contributions to music is one of my country’s best cultural contributions to humanity. I also love movies and TV shows. The types of movies and TV shows I watch the most are: science fiction, fantasy, action/adventure, thriller, and comedy (stand up and sketch primarily but there are some good comedy TV shows and movies). Lastly, I also follow a bunch of sports. I love the diversity of competition and strategy in sports, I love how sports can bring such diverse groups of people together, and I love watching human beings push their bodies to the limits and specialize in such specific, beautiful athletic movements. I find watching sports to be very relaxing and incredibly entertaining. There is also a long, undeniable, and powerful relationship between political ideas and sports and other forms of entertainment. You simply cannot accurately explain the success of any recent large-scale political idea without discussing the impact that sports and other forms of entertainment had on the promotion of the idea. The sports and the leagues that I follow the most currently are: the Summer and Winter Olympics, the NBA, the NFL, football from UEFA and FIFA, the majors of tennis and golf, the UFC, the NHL, MLB, and NCAA everything.

Thank you again for reading this book, believing in this theory, being active on Voter Directed Network, and all your efforts to promote Voter Directed Democracy and help modernize and evolve our democratic republics.

Sincerely,

AVK