As concerns regarding the prevalence of bullying among children and teenagers continue to increase, this month represents an appropriate time to rally together against harassment among young people—including and especially those within the LGBTQ+ community.

As the bringer of every New Year, January is often considered a fresh start, a time for renewal. We definitely need it physically, as the residual effects of our NYE celebrations slowly wear off, but we often need it mentally as well. That’s where the popular tradition of resolutions comes in.

“Is this company successful?”

Like many others now established in the United States, my forebears came from somewhere else. Though I was born here, in Teaneck, New Jersey, both my father and mother were born and raised in various parts of Puerto Rico (PR) before they eventually moved to the mainland United States sometime around the late 1950s. They would eventually move to Florida after I was born, and made sure to keep Puerto Rico close despite having left the island itself.

Every year, millions of people donate to nonprofit organizations with the hope of making a positive impact in their local and greater communities. These statistics speak for themselves:

Our Story Many who know me have also probably met my two-year-old twins, Everly and Porter (a girl and a boy). Over this past year, many others have probably witnessed my kids charging into my office to make several, mostly surprise, appearances during Zoom happy hours and client meetings. But what most do not know, however, are the struggles my wife, Brittany, and I went through on our journey to have them. How we got to this point with two happy, healthy children is not a short story or answer—as anyone affected knows, infertility can create so many hardships for couples, and I hope that this blog and our fundraising campaign detailed below will shed some light on the widespread impact it really can have.

Serving as an important reminder of the fact that the AAPI community helped build this country, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month also celebrates their history and many cultures, as well as those contributions to the United States. Asia is a massive continent that is home to diverse ethnicities and histories, and the innumerable customs of its many countries have intertwined with American society over the years. In fact, according to a Pew Research Center article, “a record 20 million Asian Americans trace their roots to more than 20 countries in East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.” Learning about their fellows’ Asian norms and traditions should only serve to strengthen the bond Americans have with each other, but unfortunately, people tend to fear what they do not understand. With the recent uptick in hate crimes targeting the Asian community, recognizing and supporting Asian Americans is more important than ever before, and AAPI month presents the perfect opportunity. One of the most powerful things Asian Americans can do is to share their stories and experiences, so I decided to write about some of my AAPI family members—I wanted to give them a voice. My hope is that when people read these accounts, they will gain a new perspective or find ways to relate to the experiences.

Back in the spring of 2009, I raised my right hand and swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. At the time, I knew what I was signing up for, just as I knew then that all the challenges I had faced in the past would not compare to those ahead of me. What I did not know is that one of those challenges would actually come after my service and manifest itself throughout my transition back to the civilian workforce.