Middleground1

About Middleground1

Narrative

Born in Illinois and raised in Massachusetts. A high school internship in my sophomore year for a post as a constituent correspondent for then-Senator Joe Biden turned into full employment in the Senate. A year into that, another Biden staffer and I were offered positions as special assistants in the EEOC for the newly-appointed Chair, Clarence Thomas. I served as one of two speechwriters while I was attending high school as a 1980s version of a "virtual student" -- so that I could earn credits to graduate. In 1983, I left the EEOC to attend Columbia University, where I majored in anthropology. In my senior year, I started a side business with a few friends, and it turned into an unexpectedly large corporation with 80 employees in the legal and medical staffing industry. Remaining at Columbia would mean defaulting on the company's weekly payroll and probably facing a class action. Ten years later, I sold my interest in the company and didn't look back, although I do take some pride in knowing that it is still operating almost 40 years later.

After a brief hiatus, I returned to writing via an opportunity to work on advertising and industrial films. It taught me all phases of film/video production. That led to a position at The Shooting Gallery, an independent film production house known best for producing Sling Blade. That, in turn, led to various opportunities in development of film and television projects at Focus Features, NBC/Universal, New Line and gig work at others.

Throughout the 2000s, I worked as a business coach and assisted several hundred entrepreneurs in organization, strategy, growth and capital funding. Simultaneously, and with a co-writer, I assisted in the development of television and film for Crossroads Films, New Line Cinema, NBC Universal, CAA and others. Also, with a co-writer, I wrote a weekly satire article for Huffington Post for more than ten years and was an invited opinion piece author for CNN. I have been a featured guest on various radio and television segments.

I also survived numerous health conditions, hence an interest in hospital systems, medical science and diseases. Currently, I serve on the board of several nonprofits that focus on health, environmental sustainability, and food insecurity in low-income areas of New York City.

Former everything, including:

Speechwriter
Film and Television exec.
Serial Entrepreneur
Caretaker
Cancer Survivor
Nonprofit board member
NYC housing and development planning
Liaison between Ukrainian refugees and support organizations, and helped raise $250,000 in aid for Ukraine in the summer of 2022

With longstanding interest in:

Page creations

Alfred K. Stern -- Philanthropist and early proponent of cable television
Finco Services Inc -- NYC-based fintech / virtual bank
John Puskas -- Surgeon and inventor
John Theurer Cancer Center -- Hackensack-based cancer center
Valery Martinov -- Soviet double agent for United States
ZanaAfrica foundation (in draft review)
Deepak L. Bhatt -- Interventional Cardiologist
Filip Swirski -- scientist
Henry Brem -- neurologist

Semi-significant page edits

Just for me

Tools and links

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