Who are you?

I work as a professional storyteller. In my spare time I volunteer on a variety of community initiatives like Portland FC, a soccer team based in the Downtown Eastside.

What do you do for fun?

I like to cook, cycle, read, chillax, eat French and Japanese food, play with my friends, shoot the breeze with my mom, dad and sisters, explore new and interesting communities, sip the Bump and Grind’s delicious Clover brew, and spend time with my lovely red headed partner Theo.

What’s your favorite community and why?

Right now my favorite community is the Drive. It’s hip, happening and varied, hosting people as diverse as a Deloitte consultant (you know who you are…) to a stick twirling, homemade-leather-clothed dude known as “Cloud Man”.

What is your superpower?

My strong sense of direction on the road…of life.

How does your power help you build community?

You need direction to build community. Without it, you’de just meander about aimlessly in your own head space. Great things seldom come from lack of direction.

My Three Favourite Things About Kurt Are…

1. He’s from the 1950s. Not really. But sometimes he talks like he is. For example, he says things like “Golly” and “Gee Whiz” and “that McCarthy character is not to be trusted” – okay, so maybe he doesn’t say the last thing too often. Kurt’s sense of honour and stoicism can probably be traced back to this time period as well – he’s not afraid of nuances, and he knows his morals and values and will always stick to ’em.

2. Positivity in Everyone and Everything. Kurt’s trans-partisanship is impressive stuff. He has formed meaningful relationships with so many people from so many places around the world and across the political spectrum – Kurt can see the good in many different people, places and things. This makes him an exceptional cross-cultural and inter-generational communicator as well as a masterful and experienced communicator.

3. You Want This Guy in Your Car on a Road Trip. I’ve traveled to Toronto and back (and many places in between) with Kurt Heinrich, and he is an absolute gentleman and a scholar in the car. As I’ve written about on this blog before, I have a severe blood disorder to ultra-violet light x-men superpowers that make driving across Minnesota in the middle of July kinda hard. When times were tough and I said to Kurt “this whole thing was a terrible idea” he didn’t give up or freak out or leave me by the roadside. Not even close. He devised a plan to “outflank the Sun” (totally his amazing words) and was absolutely the reason that we made it to Toronto on time for a wedding with a best man who was only cinged, not extra crispy. Long story short, Kurt Heinrich is one of the most dedicated, kind, friendly, and creative people I know. And, whether it’s in a car or on a soccer field or in an office, he’s a guy that you want on your team.