How it All Began ...

When I was six years old, my mother, Shirley Mae Cain, passed away. She was a single mother raising four boys on her own. Strong, exhausted, and doing everything she could to keep us afloat. I was born and raised on public assistance. Section 8 housing kept a roof over our heads. Medicaid kept us healthy. Food stamps kept us fed. I am also a direct product of public education, from Chicago Public Schools to Denver Public Schools to the Dubuque Community School District. These systems did not fail me. They raised me. They protected me. They made my survival possible.

The same systems some politicians dismiss or attempt to dismantle are the reason I am standing here today. I do not talk about policy from theory. I talk about it from lived experience.

After my mother died, life became unstable fast. I moved from family member to family member, house to house, city to city. I learned what it meant to constantly start over before I ever learned what stability felt like. Friendships ended before they could fully form. Schools changed. Communities changed. But instead of breaking me, that instability forged something in me early. I learned how to adapt. I learned how to connect quickly. I learned how to lead in unfamiliar spaces. I learned that home is not just where you sleep. It is who you fight for.

Most importantly, I learned that decisions made in government buildings determine whether families like mine survive or slip through the cracks. That lesson never left me.

Where the Spark Grew ...

I was born on the South Side of Chicago (79th and Escanaba to be exact). That taught me toughness, awareness, and how to stand my ground. But in 2014, I moved to Dubuque, Iowa, and that is where my leadership took shape.

I attended Jefferson Middle School and Hempstead High School, where I began organizing, speaking up, and showing up for others. Dubuque taught me that leadership is not about waiting your turn or holding a title. Leadership is about being present, being prepared, and being willing to step into uncomfortable conversations when others stay silent.

Chicago gave me my fire. Dubuque gave me direction. Iowa gave me purpose.

What Fuels My Spark ...

Education has always been my way forward, not because it was easy or guaranteed, but because it was necessary. As a first generation college graduate, I learned early that opportunity does not just appear. It is built through hard work, protected through persistence, and expanded when we choose to invest in people. That belief is at the heart of why I am running and why SPARK guides my work.

I earned my Master of Public Administration in Healthcare from the Helms School of Government because I wanted to understand how systems actually work and who they leave behind when we are not paying attention. My thesis, Young, Black, and Defining Leadership: The Lived Experiences of Black Americans and Local Elected Officials in Politically Divisive Times, focused on how elected leaders across Dubuque County, from city councils to the county board of supervisors, view their responsibility to engage young Black voters and strengthen civic participation. That work shaped how I think about strengthening education, expanding access, and making sure people feel seen, heard, and invited into our democratic process.

Before that, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management from the University of Dubuque with minors in African American Studies and Health, Wellness and Sport. While at UD, I was a Dean’s List Scholar, served three years as Vice President of the Student Government Association, and received the University Leadership Award, the highest honor a student can earn. I was also selected as the first Drum Major of the University of Dubuque Marching Spartans Band, stepping into a role that did not exist before I claimed it. I learned then that leadership often means creating space where none existed and making sure others can step into it after you.

I am also a three time author. My books are not side projects. They are reflections on leadership, healing, and responsibility rooted in lived experience. Me Before We is a guided journal centered on self accountability and growth. Ain’t Givin’ In speaks to survival, resilience, and what it means to keep showing up as a Black man in America. O Persist, Black Boy connects my life experiences to the Eight Limbs of Yoga, showing how discipline, grounding, compassion, and truth telling shape how I lead. Together, these works reflect the same values behind SPARK. Strengthening our communities, protecting stability, addressing health and well being, reinforcing care and connection, and keeping people rooted here by making Iowa a place where they can truly thrive.

How the Spark Serves Community, Health and Public Leadership ...

My leadership lives where systems meet people. It exists at the intersection of public health, civil rights, education, culture, and community trust, because real leadership cannot be confined to a single lane. I have spent my career working where policy stops being theoretical and starts determining whether someone receives care, keeps their housing, is protected from discrimination, or is pushed further to the margins. This work has required not just compassion, but structure, compliance, investigation, and accountability. That is what prepares someone to govern.

At the local level, my leadership began on the front lines of both health and civil rights. I started my career at the Dubuque Visiting Nurses Association as a Case Manager and Field Benefits Specialist in the federally funded Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, where I translated federal funding into real outcomes for people living with HIV. I ensured uninterrupted access to lifesaving medications, enrolled clients into insurance coverage, coordinated transportation, stabilized housing, and intervened during crises that threatened retention in care. This work required navigating federal eligibility standards, confidentiality laws, compliance reporting, and benefits coordination, while centering the dignity of people navigating stigma, poverty, and complex systems. My local public health experience deepened at Crescent Community Health Center, Dubuque’s Federally Qualified Health Center, where I worked within Medicaid and Medicare systems from both patient and provider perspectives. There, I saw firsthand how prior authorizations delay care, how reimbursement rates affect staffing and access, and how housing instability, transportation barriers, and income inequity shape health outcomes long before a patient reaches an exam room.

Alongside this work, I serve on the City of Dubuque Equity and Human Rights Commission, where I help carry out the city’s responsibility to protect residents from discrimination and promote fairness across the community. The Commission has the authority to hold hearings, compel the production of evidence, and determine the merits of complaints alleging unfair or discriminatory practices in housing, employment, education, credit, and places of public accommodation. We investigate and study the existence, causes, and extent of discrimination, work to eliminate it through public education, and take action to promote civil and respectful behavior across the city. This includes addressing discrimination based on age, race, creed, color, sex, national origin, religion, ancestry, disability, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Serving in this role has strengthened my understanding of due process, local enforcement authority, investigatory responsibility, and the real weight of public trust. It is governance at the municipal level, and it demands clarity, fairness, and courage.

My local leadership also extends into education, wellness, and community building. I serve as a board member of Mindful Minutes for Schools, supporting the integration of mindfulness and social emotional learning in classrooms to help students manage stress, build focus, and develop emotional resilience. I am the owner of Eternau Wellness Co., a business rooted in equitable and holistic care, and the founder of Table for Us, a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying Black voices through mindfulness, art, and intentional community dialogue. These roles reflect my belief that healthy communities are built not only through policy, but through care, connection, and cultural affirmation.

Music and the arts are another way I remain grounded and accountable to community. I am a member of the Dubuque Chorale, a volunteer community chorus that brings people together across backgrounds and generations. I have performed with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra during its Holiday Pops Concert and am also a member of the Tri-State Wind Symphony. These ensembles require discipline, collaboration, listening, and shared responsibility. Everyone shows up prepared, respects the collective, and understands their role in something larger than themselves. Those are not hobbies. Those are leadership skills, and they are the same skills required to serve a diverse district effectively.

At the state level, my work expanded from implementation into systems planning and policy advising. I serve on two statewide advisory bodies within the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services: the HIV and Hepatitis Community Planning Group and the Benefits and Drug Assistance Program Advisory Committee. The HIV and Hepatitis Community Planning Group is composed of people living with HIV or viral hepatitis, healthcare providers, case managers, prevention professionals, educators, and representatives of communities

disproportionately impacted by these conditions. The group advises the Bureau of HIV, STI, and Hepatitis and ensures Iowa maintains an inclusive, participatory, and data informed planning process for prevention and care services. In this role, I help assess statewide needs, identify service gaps, and shape priorities that directly influence how prevention and care resources are allocated. My work on the Benefits and Drug Assistance Program Advisory Committee focuses on access and affordability for people living with HIV. BDAP ensures eligible individuals can access insurance coverage and medications by paying premiums, copays, and coinsurance and vetting plans based on individual needs. I advocate for policies that keep people connected to care and prevent cost or bureaucracy from becoming barriers to survival.

At the national level, I serve on GLAAD’s Community HIV Stigma Advisory Committee. GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is the nation’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization. Through this role, I contribute to national conversations on HIV stigma, prevention messaging, public education, and representation in media and policy spaces. I work to ensure that Black communities, rural states, and Midwestern voices like Iowa’s are not erased from national HIV narratives and that stigma reduction remains central to prevention and care strategies. I also regularly serve as a guest lecturer at universities, speaking to students across nursing, chemistry, biology, public health, and pre-health programs, teaching future professionals about HIV prevention, testing, treatment, stigma, and health equity.

Taken together, my work across local healthcare delivery, civil rights enforcement, education, nonprofit leadership, business ownership, community arts, state advisory bodies, and national advocacy is not accidental. It is preparation. It is experience earned through service, accountability, and results. This is what leadership looks like before holding office, and it is the foundation I will bring with me into the Iowa House.

Why the Spark Matters ...

When I ran for School Board, I did not walk away empty handed. I earned 5,046 votes. That means 5,046 people in this community saw themselves in my vision and trusted me to lead. That kind of support does not disappear because an election does not break your way. It becomes responsibility. It becomes proof. It becomes momentum. That experience did not end my story. It clarified it. It reminded me that leadership is not granted by a title but affirmed by the people who keep showing up with you when it would be easier to walk away.

After that race, the message I heard from mentors, family members, and community supporters was consistent and unmistakable. Do not stop. Do not shrink. Do not step back. Losing one race did not mean the work was done. It meant the work needed a bigger platform. Iowa House District 71 is that platform. It is the next chapter of the spark that was lit long before I ever considered running for office.

I am running because Iowa deserves leadership that listens first, shows up consistently, and puts people before politics every single time. This campaign is not about a resume or a title. It is about transformation. It is about building a future where every person in House District 71, from the North End to the South Hill, knows that their voice matters and that their lived experience has value in the decisions that shape our state.

The spark that drives me began with my mother, Shirley Mae Cain. Her strength, sacrifice, and love continue to guide every step I take. She taught me that even in loss, there is light, and that resilience is not about pretending things do not hurt but about choosing to move forward anyway. That lesson became my fire. It is the fire I carry into classrooms, community meetings, policy conversations, and every door I knock on during this campaign.

If elected, I would make history as the first Gen Z and the first Black man to represent Iowa House District 71. That matters not because of me, but because it signals what is possible. It tells young people, people of color, and working families across this district that leadership is not reserved for a select few. It belongs to those willing to do the work, tell the truth, and stay rooted in community.

I am running to help build the Iowa my mother believed in. An Iowa where compassion shapes policy, community drives progress, and no one is left behind. Long before I ever ran for office, my mother sparked something in me. Now, I am ready to carry that spark into the Iowa House and turn it into action.