Hello, my name is Nathan Butters. Feel free to call me “Nathan” or “Butters” as you see fit. Historically, ~50% of everyone I meet calls me “Butters” and I am happy to let you pick what works best for you.

I believe we need to acknowledge our place within the world upfront so that others can interact with the rest of what we offer with awareness of our limitations. So, I focus this page around a statement of positionality (see below). It may work, it may not.

“Positionality is the notion that personal values, views, and location in time and space influence how one understands the world. In this context, gender, race, class, and other aspects of identities are indicators of social and spatial positions and are not fixed, given qualities. Positions act on the knowledge a person has about things, both material and abstract. Consequently, knowledge is the product of a specific position that reflects particular places and spaces.” - Luis Sánchez, accessed on the Anti-Racist Teaching Collective

In general, I try to make a little space to acknowledge who I am during conversations, even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable, because it brings into the open implicit power dynamics at play. I’ve never written anything down for public consumption so this stands as a first. Any feedback on it is appreciated.

What are my known biases (and privileges)?

I am a cis-gender, straight, white man from a middle class family in the United States of America. I was raised Catholic. I attended a public charter high school, Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA), and private colleges for my undergraduate degree, Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), and my Master’s, Yale Divinity School (YDS). I have worked for tech giants for the last 5+ years: AWS and Tableau—now part of Salesforce.

I point these things out because they highlight how privileged I am by birth and the choices I’ve made throughout my life. These things have formed who I am and I cannot change them as they are now the historical “facts” of my life. Others may judge me in particular ways based on this information and I will not say they are wrong to do so.

My interests, personality, and values drive me to differentiate myself from many of the attributes described above through self-reflection and interdisciplinary studies. This may seem presumptious to many and I see it as something I will work on the rest of my life. When, or if, I feel I have the words to expand on this I will.

Know that I am open to new ways of thinking and seek out those who provide honest feedback and critiques of my ideas and ways of thinking.

What do I value?

Over the years I have been asked to define my values again and again. For work, for school, for volunteering, for therapy. Each time a few elements keep coming up. I’ve listed them here because I believe they are fundamental to who I am and what I hold true.

  • Courage
  • Competence
  • Compassion
  • Community

Non-negotiables for my career

As part of my reflections during the pandemic I realized that I need to operate from a core set of non-negotiables for work so that I know when it’s time to toss in the towel and move on. This came about when I realized that the quote I’d been living by was failing to help me make peace with where I was at:

“Do what you love or make sure what you do supports what you love.” An old man on a beach in Florida in December 2006

It’s a good piece of advice, flexible and affirming, and most of the time I think it can help you make good decisions about your career. However, when it comes down to it sometimes you need something more concrete to help you know if you’re in the right place. So, I defined these non-negotiables as a way to gauge opportunities that present themselves to me. They are open-ended as well, and demand that I use them in the form of a question to find answers.

  • Do fulfilling work
  • Do good for the world
  • Support my family

Topics & Issues I care about

I am passionate about many things, too many to list on a page without it becoming a joke. So, I’ve ruthlessly trimmed down to the ones I am most passionate about right now. Some of these have always been true, some have become passions due to life events, some are a product of my biases and positionality. All of them are things I will be happy to discuss for hours with almost anyone.

  • Indigenous Sovereignty
  • Data & AI Ethics
  • Decision Rights
  • Storytelling
  • Systems of Power
  • Human Belief Systems

My personal leadership philosophy

Support one another with courage and compassion; prioritize the shared good to achieve great success.

Quotes that speak to the core of who I am

“Work smarter, not harder; do not balk at hard work.” - Nathan Butters 1

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” ~Arthur Ashe 2

“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.” ~George S. Patton 3

“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” ~Patrick Rothfuss, Name of the Wind 4

On credibility, reliability, competence, and positive descriptors

Ultimately, I don’t like trying to convince people who I am. There’s not much people can say to me that makes me think, “Oh yeah, they are totally reliable… or I can trust they’re competent because they say they are.” If I thought that would work I probably wouldn’t put the energy into creating a space for people to look at my work and discover who I am or how I operate. Instead, I hope that you’ll take the time to get to know me and judge for yourself what descriptors I merit.

Footnotes

  1. Some additional context: I am aware people misuse the first half of this phrase all the time. Sometimes you’re working as efficiently as possible. Sometimes you don’t have control over your work and the only way to get the job done is to work harder. That’s why both sides of the quote are so important. ↩

  2. Here’s the Wikipedia Article on Arthur Ashe ↩

  3. Here’s the Wikipedia Article on Patton I recognize the person as being problematic, more as I’ve gotten older, yet the quote remains powerful to me as a cornerstone. ↩

  4. Here’s the Wikipedia Article on the book ↩