Who is Alex Berry? 

Coming out of school with an interdisciplinary background, I’ve worked in Big Chemical, Big Pharma, Big Paper, and Big Semiconductor. My longest and most interesting gig has been with Intel’s Global Supply Chain, learning to lead as a Technical Program Manager (i.e. master translator). Community of color empowerment and STEAM advocacy are my niches, so you’ll see me supporting nonprofits and mentoring within those areas. Outside of that you’ll find me supporting local theatre, playing soccer, watching anime, pretending how to cook, and drinking chocolate milk. 

• Stories about how I struggled as an introvert to find my leadership style
• Stories of mentoring 50+ individuals of every race, religion, academic background, and gender
• Stories of taking my strategic thinking theories and implementing them in the real world
• Stories of traveling, studying, working, and failing around the world

And finally, I’d tell you about my journey as a social entrepreneur and founding CMD…

Chocolate Milk Diplomacy?

Originally, Chocolate Milk Diplomacy was an effort to find an intersection, a framework, that could tie a multitude of mentoring insights, nonprofit volunteering, and corporate methodologies into a framework for societal impact. Mentoring taught me about relationships; nonprofits provided an equity mindset; and the private sector contributed foundational business acumen.

 …but where did the name come from?

Short Answer: I love Chocolate Milk.

Long Answer: For myself, and many of my team, “Chocolate Milk” represents so much more than a drink. It’s that nostalgic feeling that connects our past & present, childhood to adulthood. It’s a memory that offers stability in these times of change. As for “Diplomacy,” I see the alignment between your self care, your goals, your career, and your community as a constant negotiation – and one best had through a series of conversations.

Nostalgia + Conversations = Storytelling

   (Chocolate Milk)                         (Diplomacy)                         (Chocolate Milk Diplomacy)

Our name represents our brand: A personal story pivoting to a professional world, similarly to the stories we’ve experienced during this global pandemic.

why Now?

Many people ask why we founded a business during a pandemic. However, CMD has been around since 2018. An initial brand came together in 2019. Even with 3 years of career navigation and community workshops, the covid-19 global pandemic changed everything. We transitioned to online workshops, digitized our brand, created a website, and strove to support the millions of covid-affected career seekers where they were. I felt the underserved individuals and untapped communities deserved a chance to tell their story.

A New Kind of Story?

When dreaming up CMD, I thought long and hard about the type of stories we wanted to help tell. We wanted our stories to be human-centered, and not numbers centered. I wanted CMD to be people driven, not profit-driven. I wanted a story about a small team making a big impact. And I wanted CMD to be a vehicle for reframing failure and helping people find their own career resilience. The CMD storytelling framework was derived from these ambitions as well as the desire to become social entrepreneurs. In simple terms, this means CMD is supporting people with million $$$ stories, but not a million dollars. We primarily serve those with nontraditional backgrounds making difficult transitions through crucial conversations. We are a business, but one that aims to change the way individuals & communities think about their careers. 

With your help, we hope to equitably and sustainably bring career development resources to communities that have been untapped, underserved, and marginalized. With your help, we will tell stories, empower communities, and change systems. And we will do it all…

…One Story At A Time

Thanks for listening to my story. Spend some time learning more about CMD, Chester, and the ragtag crew of storytellers that make up Team CMD. Please feel free to reach out to me directly (for personal, professional, or organizational reasons). In a post-pandemic world, the Chocolate Milk is on me!

ALEX BERRY, PMP (裴维良)

He / Him / His

Founder, Career Coach, Community Facilitator

If you’ve made it to this page, you probably have few questions… 

I hope to answer all of those questions while sharing a part of my story with all of you. 

Who is Alex Berry? 

Coming out of school with an interdisciplinary background, I’ve worked in Big Chemical, Big Pharma, Big Paper, and Big Semiconductor. My longest and most interesting gig has been with Intel’s Global Supply Chain, learning to lead as a Technical Program Manager (i.e. master translator). Community of color empowerment and STEAM advocacy are my niches, so you’ll see me supporting nonprofits and mentoring within those areas. Outside of that you’ll find me supporting local theatre, playing soccer, watching anime, pretending how to cook, and drinking chocolate milk. 

If you wanted to go one level deeper, and really know who I am, I’d have to tell you a few stories:

• Stories about how I struggled as an introvert to find my leadership style
• Stories of mentoring 50+ individuals of every race, religion, academic background, and gender
• Stories of taking my strategic thinking theories and implementing them in the real world
• Stories of traveling, studying, working, and failing around the world

And finally, I’d tell you about my journey as a social entrepreneur and founding CMD…

Chocolate Milk Diplomacy?

Originally, Chocolate Milk Diplomacy was an effort to find an intersection, a framework, that could tie a multitude of mentoring insights, nonprofit volunteering, and corporate methodologies into a framework for societal impact. Mentoring taught me about relationships; nonprofits provided an equity mindset; and the private sector contributed foundational business acumen.

 …but where did the name come from?

Short Answer: I love Chocolate Milk.

Long Answer: For myself, and many of my team, “Chocolate Milk” represents so much more than a drink. It’s that nostalgic feeling that connects our past & present, childhood to adulthood. It’s a memory that offers stability in these times of change. As for “Diplomacy,” I see the alignment between your self care, your goals, your career, and your community as a constant negotiation – and one best had through a series of conversations.

Nostalgia +

(Chocolate Milk)

Conversations =

(Diplomacy)

Storytelling

(Chocolate Milk Diplomacy)

Our name represents our brand: A personal story pivoting to a professional world, similarly to the stories we’ve experienced during this global pandemic.

why Now?

Many people ask why we founded a business during a pandemic. However, CMD has been around since 2018. An initial brand came together in 2019. Even with 3 years of career navigation and community workshops, the covid-19 global pandemic changed everything. We transitioned to online workshops, digitized our brand, created a website, and strove to support the millions of covid-affected career seekers where they were. I felt the underserved individuals and untapped communities deserved a chance to tell their story.

A New Kind of Story?

When dreaming up CMD, I thought long and hard about the type of stories we wanted to help tell. We wanted our stories to be human-centered, and not numbers centered. I wanted CMD to be people driven, not profit-driven. I wanted a story about a small team making a big impact. And I wanted CMD to be a vehicle for reframing failure and helping people find their own career resilience. The CMD storytelling framework was derived from these ambitions as well as the desire to become social entrepreneurs. In simple terms, this means CMD is supporting people with million $$$ stories, but not a million dollars. We primarily serve those with nontraditional backgrounds making difficult transitions through crucial conversations. We are a business, but one that aims to change the way individuals & communities think about their careers. 

With your help, we hope to equitably and sustainably bring career development resources to communities that have been untapped, underserved, and marginalized. With your help, we will tell stories, empower communities, and change systems. And we will do it all…

…One Story At A Time

Thanks for listening to my story. Spend some time learning more about CMD, Chester, and the ragtag crew of storytellers that make up Team CMD. Please feel free to reach out to me directly (for personal, professional, or organizational reasons). In a post-pandemic world, the Chocolate Milk is on me!

ALEX BERRY, PMP (裴维良)

He / Him / His

Founder, Career Coach, Community Facilitator

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