Matt’s passion for education began as an undergraduate and continued through his career with the Marine Corps, first training young men and women to become moral and effective naval officers at the University of Rochester, and as a military professor at the U.S. Naval War College. In addition to teaching, Matt had the honor of leading Marines at home and overseas, including stability operations in Iraq and multinational humanitarian relief efforts following Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Matt firmly believes that impactful public preK-12 education is essential to ensure our children are afforded the opportunity to achieve economic prosperity and actively contribute to our democracy. However, Matt saw time and again while mentoring young Marines and their families that quality education too often correlates with privilege and that systemic change is required to ensure every child, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, has access to quality public education.