I was born in May 1960 in 29 Palms, CA. As the son of a lifetime member of the Marine Corps, I moved around California until my father retired from the Corps in 1968, after giving over 30 years of service. I moved to Portland, OR, where I grew up and went to school. Growing up, I learned the lessons of hard work, humility, and to always strive for excellence.

As a career, I have chosen to serve those in need. I have been a nurse for over 25 years, with a special love for caring for the elderly. I've worn many hats in my career, from clinician, to administrator, and now to professor. I have earned my Bachelor's degree in Speech Communications, and two PhD degrees: one in Health Administration and one in Nursing. I am also an aromatherapist. Starting in 2012, my husband, Doug, and I will be launching a new business that will offer therapeutic personal care products formulated for men. I currently live in Portland, OR with my beloved husband and our cat.

In terms of community service, I first became involved with the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court (Portland, OR) in 1982. Under the name of Jennifer Desire, I became Debutante XII and later, Princess XVII. In 1992, after finishing graduate school, I felt I needed a change. I quit my job, hung up my dress, chased an affair of the hear, and moved to Washington, DC. The affair didn't quite work out, but I liked Maryland and opened up a nurse consulting business. I also donned chaps and boots and became active in the Leather community. In 1995, I served as Mr. Baltimore Eagle. The next year, I served as President of my Leather/ Levi club, the Defenders. I managed the fundraising activities of my club that year, bringing in thousands of dollars for local charities. I returned to Portland and the Rose Court in 2005, this time as a male titleholder. I became Mr. Gay Oregon XXXVIII in 2007, Imperial Prince Royale XXXIV in 2008, and Rose Emperor XXXVII in 2010.

Community service has always been important to me. My hands-on volunteer work started at shortly after AIDS swept into Portland. In 1985, I volunteered as a Personal Active Listener (PAL) with Cascade AIDS project. As a PAL, I visited terminal clients to provide emotional support and companionship. Since then, I have contributed my time, money, and sweat to numerous charities serving the LGBTQ community as well as the community at large. Most recently, as Mr. Oregon, I volunteered at Our House (a residential facility for persons with AIDS). Since they could not let me volunteer as a registered nurse, I got around the restrictions by accepting a part-time job as a nurse then donating my wages back to the organization. During my year as Imperial Prince, I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, bringing Court volunteers with me for three weekends.

During my year as Prince, the economic recession was hitting hard. The Court was seeing attendance at events starting to drop. A number of Court members expressed sadness that they wanted to contribute to the fundraisers, but couldn't afford to donate their money. I realized that there were many of us contributing significantly, not with money, but with our time instead. I ran for Emperor the following year on a theme of "Power of Service". I reminded the Court how powerful and heartwarming it was to roll up your sleeves and provide real hands-on service. Although we always need to have fundraisers, it is so much more meaningful to actually meet the people you serve, face-to-face, instead of simply buying a ticket at the door of a function. I experienced this joy when giving a patient his medication when he was having much pain, and when shaking the hand of the immigrant father whose house I was helping to build. In this spirit, I launched the "1000-Hour Embrace" program as Emperor. This program was designed to recognize the many hours of service Court members were already providing, and to encourage members to give more hours---especially if they couldn't support those charities with their dollars. I set a goal of 1000 hours of volunteer service from Court members to complete during my reign. I was ecstatic that the reign ended with over double those hours!

I was greatly honored that this program caught the attention of our Queen Mother. Through her efforts, this program was launched nationwide as the Noble Hours Program. The overwhelming number of volunteer hours given by Court System members across the country has benefited countless individuals. I am confident that many members have been touched by gratitude and encouragement to continue to volunteer into the years ahead.

I am greatly honored that the Queen Mother has invited me to serve as an Heir Apparent. I will do whatever I can to serve with excellence, compassion, and humility.