Our Story

I’m Frank Shines, the co-author (along with my brother Granison) of the book, Let in But Left Out. Despite my humble beginnings growing up in the ghetto streets of Oakland, California, I now have the opportunity to travel the world helping people and organizations adapt to global competition, tech change and pandemics. I am a former Air Force officer and IBM executive that now works at the intersection of AI tech, process improvement and organizational change.

My story is the American story. And America is at an historic inflection point akin to that faced by our founding fathers and my French Canadian, Irish and African ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Our generation has inherited the heavy burden of surviving a global coronavirus pandemic and converting democracy and free market capitalism designed for the physical world only, into one that serves both our digital and physical realities today.

An historical perspective gives us insights on how we might govern ourselves in a manner that protects our nation and its resources, preserves our values and institutions and encourages upward mobility and the opportunity to achieve the American Dream in the age of AI, pandemics and fake news.

Rather than taking this historic journey in the traditional manner, we do so through the eyes of my ancestors, some of whom were already inhabiting this land, others who arrived willingly to escape the tyranny of British rule and finally another group who did not come of their own free will.

I hope you take this opportunity to read the excerpt from Let In But Left Out. The kindle book launch is set for June 15th.