Gerald was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, and knows not only how important manufacturing jobs can be to America's middle class, but also about the struggles that can arise when those jobs disappear. His own family has a proud tradition of working in the area's steel and automotive industries, a tradition that was challenged in the 1970s and 1980s by widespread deindustrialization, and again more recently with the decline and near collapse of General Motors. Gerald is excited to join AAM as a research fellow, investigating the impact of deindustrialization on communities of color.
Gerald has completed a bachelor's degree at The Ohio State University, a master's degree at Georgia State University, and is currently working on a Ph.D. at Georgetown University, all in Philosophy.