CURRENT MISSION

to grow a sustainable tomorrow

ABOUT ME

My name is Jesse.

I am the creative director at a fashion company in New York city. All of our products are created with ethical ethical labor standards and are eco-friendly. We are bridging the gap of trendy fashion with responsible consumption. #sustainability

I am an American who has lived all over the world, previously stationed in the Middle East working in new media (photojournalism in conflict zones and developing markets). I have lived in Cairo, Beirut, New Orleans, Atlanta, Jerusalem, and New York.

PHILOSOPHY

True Peace

"There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for the peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest.

The king chose the second picture as the winner. “Because,” explained the King, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”
-anonymous (Shadows of War by Carolyn Nordstrom)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have surfed a few times and have hosted in Jerusalem and attended various couchsurfing events in the cities I have lived.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfed in the Netherlands, New York + Ramallah.

Interests

I am definitely interested in learning whatever you have to offer, including personal anecdotes from whatever corner of the globe. Specifically I am interested in learning a political/social history of places and peoples. At university i studied history and politics of the Middle East and Africa, so i definitely enjoy speaking about those topics as well. I can also give you some trend forecasting information :P

Apart from conversation, I am passionate about biking (currently missing it a lot), figuring out how to grow things, creating something new with whatever is around.

• design
• graphic design
• fashion
• politics
• painting
• cycling
• muslim
• business
• communications
• history
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochchild
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Have been surrounded by a stampede of hundreds of wildebeest forging a river from Kenya into Tanzania during the "Great Migration"

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you:
... about Islam & the Middle East
... graphic design
... how to start a business
... how to use a MAC (overcoming fear for many)

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahrain, Belgium, Costa Rica, France, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Netherlands, Palestine, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Egypt, Lebanon, United States