Aaron is father of an amazing six year old daughter, a veteran of the United States Army- serving his country through two deployments to Afghanistan, and a school board member of Phoenix Union school district. Aaron also founded a veteran led mobilization and voter outreach organization, Vets Forward. From his time deployed, Aaron understands the burdens placed upon military families and the sacrifices they make. Day in and day out, the challenges of deployment and being separated from family persist. Often overlooked is the toll of deployment on military spouses and family members, only to be made worse without access to paid family and medical leave. 

As an officer, Aaron saw firsthand how the weight of preparing for a deployment, managing during, and reintegration after a can take on military spouses. When a veteran was wounded in combat, the toughest burdens of the recovery process always fell to their families. To Aaron, passing comprehensive paid family and medical leave is one way we can honor our military families. When Aaron started Vets Forward, it was to lift up the voices of veterans and use their natural skills as communicators to engage voters in meaningful conversations about the values they fought for. Aaron believes giving military families the ability to care for their injured, spend time with their spouse before deployments, and ensuring no military family suffers for putting their needs first are a part of those values.

“Thinking back on the sacrifices my family made; the stress, the uncertainty, and the fear they and so many other military families felt, paid family and medical leave would have been an immense relief while deployed. This policy could be a real difference maker in the lives of our men and women who serve, I know it would have been for my family. Providing paid medical and family leave for military families would be a powerful way to honor those who served.”