My conversations with CIA leadership revealed a shared interest in advancing digital media, interactive storytelling, and extended reality (XR). I proposed something broader — the CIA Interactive Media Lab (IML): a hybrid academic/industry initiative combining game design education with a content incubator for XR and AI. I shared detailed planning materials and flew back to Cleveland to pitch the IML concept at the CIA and across Northeast Ohio’s academic and industry circles. In 2022, the CIA publicly announced the Interactive Media Lab, with media interest accelerating in advance of the Fall 2025 opening. While my involvement has concluded, I take a Moses-like pride in having proposed the IML concept and contributed to its realization.