Meet Andrew.
I am a coach, facilitator, and barber. A bridge-builder by nature and conflict mediator by training, my work centers on helping leaders close the gap between what they know and what they do.
I grew up as a white Polish American man in a multiracial, working-class family in Detroit and its suburbsโoften feeling in-between communities. That experience shaped how I move through the world and showed me how being in community requires collaborating across difference. And how much the systems we're in impact the conditions for connection.
My drive to influence these systems led me to community organizing. From countless one-on-ones in coffee shops to weekly meetings in church basements, I learned that critical connections can outweigh critical mass, and that lasting change happens when the people most affected are the ones driving it. What we practice on a small scale creates larger patterns.
From there, I deepened my understanding of how we engage with one another inside these systems. I facilitated intergroup dialogues at the University of Maryland, studied leadership and human development at Harvard, and consulted with organizations across the country working to build teams where people can expect to feel heard when they say the quiet part out loud. Along the way, I came to see how knowing better doesn't always mean doing better and focus my coaching and facilitation on closing this gap. I help people lean into curiosity, so they can lead with integrity. In other words, I help people do hard things. Together.
Today, I facilitate OB 374: Interpersonal Dynamics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, helping students develop self-awareness and practical interpersonal skills to cultivate trust and connection, and coach leaders in GSB programs including MSx and Executive Leadership Development. I also coach MBA teams at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and partner with organizations on leadership and culture work. And I cut hair at Dax Lee's Barber & Apothecary in Oakland. Turns out a good haircut and a good conversation are both building blocks of connection.
I hold a B.A. in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago and an Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I was an Equity & Inclusion Fellow. I'm a certified conflict mediator and earned my Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential with the International Coaching Federation in 2022. I'm based in Oakland, CA with my partner, Nimah.
