A man who grew up splitting time between his grandfather's dairy farm and schools in Phoenix, Arizona. Who was mentored by a Buddhist monk and ordained through Rose Ministries. Who spent three decades in enterprise technology and now turns all of it toward the only work that ever mattered.
Leo's childhood was defined by two worlds. The first was his grandfather's dairy farm — Virginia soil, manual labor, the rhythms of seasons and cattle, and the Master Cattleman tradition that would later earn him certification through Virginia Tech. The second was Phoenix, Arizona — desert heat, public school, and the kind of education system that still believed in civics, structure, and the pledge of allegiance.
These two educations — agrarian discipline and urban analytical training — produced a mind that thinks in systems but feels in seasons. The farm taught patience. Phoenix taught persistence. Both taught that the work doesn't care about your feelings; it cares about whether you show up.
Grandfather's dairy farm in Virginia. Master Cattleman certification through Virginia Tech. The rhythm of land, livestock, and honest labor. The first classroom — before any school.
B.A. Psychology, Arizona State University, 2006. The formal academic foundation. The study of human cognition, developmental psychology, and the systems that shape behavior.
30+ years in technology. GoDaddy. Enterprise QA. Security research. 526+ documented competencies. The professional discipline that taught systems thinking at scale.
Ordained through Rose Ministries. Mentored by a Buddhist monk. A cross-tradition contemplative perspective that applies analytical rigor to questions of faith, meaning, and service.
Leo's faith is not conventional and he doesn't pretend it is. Ordained as a minister through Rose Ministries, mentored by a Buddhist monk — his contemplative practice draws from both Christian and Buddhist traditions, not as syncretism but as complementary lenses on the same fundamental questions: What is suffering? What is service? What does it mean to be present with someone else's pain without trying to fix it?
"And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."Micah 6:8 (NIV)
The Christian tradition provides the ethical framework: justice, mercy, humility, and the radical love that Jesus modeled. The Buddhist practice provides the operational discipline: mindfulness, non-attachment to outcome, and the willingness to sit with discomfort long enough to understand what it's teaching you.
Leo identifies as INFJ — the rarest personality type, the "Advocate." It's the type most likely to feel everything in the room, most likely to carry other people's unprocessed pain, and most likely to burn out trying to save everyone. The Lion's Roar is the answer to that pattern: not saving everyone, but speaking the truth loudly enough that the right people hear it.
This is not a ministry that tells you what to believe. It is a ministry that asks you to be honest about what you already know. The lion does not roar to frighten. The lion roars because silence is no longer an option.
The standing behind The Lion's Roar is documented, verifiable, and centuries deep. This is not a ministry built on charisma. It is built on lineage, competence, and the specific kind of credibility that comes from doing the research, filing the paperwork, and refusing to cut corners.
Maternal line. 760 years at Sizergh Castle. Banner-bearer at Agincourt. Norman descent through the de Vaux family of Falaise. Arms confirmed 1615.
Paternal line. "Of the woodland." Anglo-Dutch merchant family. Abram Silvester, Virginia, 1634. Nine centuries of the name in English records.
Formal academic training in human cognition. The analytical foundation for ministry that understands how minds work, how trauma propagates, and how healing actually happens.
30+ years. 526+ competencies. GoldHat™ methodology. The discipline of building systems that work under pressure — now applied to building a ministry that does the same.
Full documentation of the bloodline, heraldic standing, and professional credentials is available at the Standing page and through the Sylvester Longitudinal Study.
Every credential, every filing, every line of code, every hour on the farm, every session with the monk — all of it was preparation for this. The Lion's Roar is what happens when a man who was told to be quiet for forty years finally decides to speak.