Nate's Blog

I'm beyond excited to let you all in on a bit of personal news: I've officially started the online Executive Certificate Program in Innovation Strategy at Cornell! This journey is something I've been eyeing for a while now, and I've finally taken the plunge. My fascination with tech innovation – think Uber, Tesla, OpenAI, Amazon, Zoom, and Airbnb – has always been more than just using these services. It's about the minds and processes that bring such groundbreaking ideas to life. In the dynamic sectors of non-profits and social impact, I find success embedded in change and innovation. That's exactly why I've decided to tackle this course series at Cornell. The focus? To develop a plan for innovation that aligns with an organization's objectives and maximizes ROI, be it social or financial. This program isn't just about learning; it's about doing. I'm thrilled about the hands-on approach, where I'll apply concepts like lean startup, maker ...

  Photo by Dazzmin Murray Let me preface by saying that my expertise in wine is limited. However, after attending multiple Flyght Black educational programs — a company dedicated to celebrating Black-owned wineries brilliantly orchestrated by Kara Wilkins — I’ve realized the wine industry is far more intricate than I initially thought.

I will never forget the day President Trump invited me to the White House. Not once, but twice. I attended a conference in Washington D.C., the Presidential Sites Summit in 2018. I made it pretty public that I got to tour the White House, but I didn't share with many that a few days later, I met President Trump, the First Lady  (and Betsy Devos, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Steven Mnuchin, and Kellyanne Conway). Many did not accept the invitation to attend, but I am so glad I did.

This past week brought announcements of expansions and renovations for three major landmarks in Little Rock: the Clinton Presidential Center, the new venue for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and the historic Boyle Building. These updates spurred me to reflect on the city’s robust developmental blueprint (investments, projections, and vision), conservatively valued at a billion dollars.

DPS Mathura Road, New Delhi, India, 2011 There's a part of my life that I've held close to my chest, a transformative and deeply personal story. I'm a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, a title I've often hesitated to share openly, not out of shame but a complex blend of modesty, reverence for the experience, and irrational fear. But today, as I'm heading to Bowdoin College for a returning fellows conference, I feel encouraged to share more about this chapter of my life. If you’re interested in knowing the details, you're in the right place

The marketing blitz for the Barbie Movie was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. Every platform seemed to pulse with the allure of Barbie. Impeccably timed cameos, soundtracks, social media plugs, red carpets, and news junkets worked their charm, luring many of us, myself included, back to the theater in the post-COVID era.

Last week I saw an ad that said The Chicks were coming to Simmons Arena. I will not be the first or last Black American with a bad relationship with Country music, but I was intrigued and got tickets to the show. If I ever had the tenacity to sing karaoke, you would hear me sing every single word of "Landslide" by heart. But most importantly,

I won’t lie; I had a blast on the 4th of July this year. It was the first time I forgot about COVID, the insurrection, Donald Trump, Kaepernick, Trayvon Martin, Women’s Rights, mass shootings, and the recent disinformation tweet from our Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. 

Today I attended a special reception in honor of the newly appointed president of Hendrix College at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA). As I entered the room, I had the honor to talk with Linda Pondexter Chesterfield, Hendrix's first black graduate (1965, just 58 years ago), I found myself grappling with the question: How can we genuinely advance diversity and inclusivity if we disregard an individual's racial background? The gravity of the supreme court's decision was starting to set in.

After an enriching journey of 11 years in the Educational Programs Department at the Clinton Presidential Center, I am transitioning into a new role. I have accepted the position of the Deputy Director of Impact and Design at the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U).

I've witnessed a steady rise in the sharing economy, with platforms like Airbnb pioneering a revolution in how we think about travel and accommodation. Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, has seen an increasing influx of travelers seeking the comforts of home combined with the novel experience of short-term rentals. In fact, recent data shows 1,060 Active Rentals in Little Rock...

I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted a position on the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) South Central Regional Board. This is a significant step forward in my commitment to serving my community, advocating for justice, and combating hate and antisemitism in all its forms. The South Central Regional Board is instrumental in supporting the ADL's South Central Regional Director, Dr. Caroline Good, in implementing programming and strategic priorities. As a new board member, I will further our mission through active engagement and leadership. I will be serving on the education committee where I will be supporting anti-bias education programming, utilizing No Place for Hate and other ADL resources, and collaborating on a scalable model structure involving educational programming while focusing on local civil rights agendas. This new journey with the ADL South Central Regional Board is both an honor and a responsibility, and I am excited to leverage my ideas and community to ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a futuristic concept anymore. It's woven into every facet of our lives, revolutionizing sectors from finance to healthcare to entertainment. It's making our lives easier, our jobs more efficient, and even our entertainment more immersive. But with all its remarkable capabilities, one pressing question remains: Could AI be used for good? That's the central theme we'll explore today, taking our cues from popular media, specifically the TV series Westworld, and real-world applications. Westworld, a captivating portrayal of an AI-driven world, anchors its plotline on two advanced AI systems: Solomon and Rehoboam. Solomon, the first iteration, was an ambitious attempt to mirror the unpredictable nature of human thinking. While it demonstrated a form of artificial intelligence that was remarkable in its scope, it also underscored the potential instability of AI systems that try to mimic human thought too closely. Rehoboam is a more ref...

In our contemporary society, escaping the pulsing rhythm of technology's heartbeat is nearly impossible. One could even venture to say that we live in a world shaped and defined by our digital inventions. Standing at the forefront of these is Artificial Intelligence (AI), a paradigm-shifting technology that can redefine what we thought we knew about intelligence, consciousness, and our interaction with machines. AI isn't a newcomer on the technology stage, not by any means. However, its star has risen sharply in the past decade, and it seems destined to shine even brighter in the years to come. But what is it exactly about AI that has us all buzzing with curiosity, intrigue, and perhaps a healthy dose of fear? AI is about creating machines that can perform tasks requiring human intelligence. These tasks range from understanding natural language to recognizing patterns, problem-solving, learning from experience, and much more. AI is a captivating field of study and development ...