Helping First Responders Flourish in Service, Retirement, and Beyond
The mission doesn’t end when the career does
In August 2026, I earned a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After a 20-year career with the FBI, I focused my capstone work on a question that is both professional and deeply personal:
How can we better prepare first responders not simply to retire from a career of service, but to flourish in the life that follows?
First responders spend their careers operating in environments characterized by repeated exposure to stress, trauma, responsibility, and human suffering. Yet many of the same qualities that make these careers demanding also make them deeply meaningful.
Service provides identity, purpose, camaraderie, belonging, structure, and a sense of contribution to something larger than oneself. These resources can help sustain first responders throughout demanding careers.
Building a Second Mission
From Research to Practice
I am working to translate these ideas beyond an academic capstone and into practical tools that can reach the first responder community.The GUIDE App
I have partnered with The GUIDE App to make elements of this work accessible to current and former first responders.
The goal is to transform evidence-informed concepts around well-being, reflection, connection, purpose, and transition into practical programming that people can engage with throughout their careers—long before the day they retire.
Read the Capstone
My MAPP capstone provides the research foundation for this work and explores the challenges and opportunities associated with the transition from first responder service into retirement.
It also proposes a framework for approaching that transition intentionally—helping first responders process their careers, preserve important sources of connection and identity, and cultivate renewed meaning and purpose in the years ahead.
Service Learning Project & the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
