FORT BELVOIR, Virginia –
Describe your job: I am a Certified Professional Contracts Manager serving as a contract specialist on the DLA Energy Bulk Petroleum Products Domestics West team.
What makes you proud about your job? I am proud that working at DLA Energy means directly supporting the needs of our Warfighters.
What was your most recent professional success story? I believe there is always a mountain to climb to challenge myself personally and/or professionally. In that regard, continuing my education is really important to me. I am proud of becoming a Certified Professional Contracts Manager from the National Contract Management Association and earning my Defense Acquisition Workforce Investment Act Level III in Contracting certification. My personal success story is completing my master’s degree in Liberal Arts and beginning my doctoral program in Humanities.
How do you honor your past? I value the concept of Sankofa (a word in the Twi language of Ghana) – which is Andinkra (a symbol associated with the Sankofa proverb which translates as: “it is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten”). It means that to move forward, one has to remember one’s past. I honor my past by striving for excellence and by giving love and respect to my church, to my professional community, and to my family.
How do you make a difference? Community service is an important to me and is one of the pillars of my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Previously, in California, I served as a member of a citizen’s review board for the San Diego Police Department. I was appointed by the mayor and served to fill a need in my community. I also served as chairman of Nubia Leadership Academy charter school in San Diego. Since 2019, I have served as a member of the DLA Energy Special Emphasis Program committee, which raises awareness of the importance of diversity in the workplace.
Do you have any family members that were pioneers in the civil rights movement? My father-in-law participated in voter registration drives throughout the South and primarily in Mississippi. He marched with John Lewis and was arrested with Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture) of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. My wife’s cousin is John Carlos, who is famous for the iconic 1968 Olympics “Black Power” salute.