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Mentoring Moment: The Art of Animating

11/3/2014

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A recent mentoring conversation with a beginner in the art of facilitation prompted this post of things that I think about when I facilitate.   I love the expression that my French friends use "to animate".  A facilitator's role can range from being more of a mediator working invisibly to being more of an animator applying one's unique, dynamic energy to create a container for participants to discover their role as heroes of the unfolding experience.  An effective facilitator of a meeting- keeping focus/time, moderating participation and achieving objectives - falls somewhere in the middle.  

Each person brings uniqueness to the role; each situation invites different ways of being. Building capacity for facilitation is a practice.  The art is knowing what is optimal for the context and having the flexibility to improvise across the spectrum in the moment!
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1. A Learner's Mindset

Facilitation is a skill. Skills are best practiced over time with a learning approach.  I like to identify the one or two skills that I want to focus on in an event that I am facilitating.  Knowing what I want to practice heightens my attention, then I practice it and solicit feedback on that specific task as well as generally so that I develop deeper awareness of both strengths and weaknesses.  Culturally, some people focus too much on strengths and others too much on weaknesses.  

True self awareness sees both as they are.  Hone your strengths and grow your skills around your weaknesses.  Even as you become more experienced, seek feedback as if you were beginner.  Meng's book on Google's program for emotional intelligence development, Search Inside Yourself, provides useful tools to cultivate these skills.  


2. The Prep/Setup

Attending to the physical space is one of those invisible acts that yields great benefits. Here are prompts: 
  • how will the physical space support the intended flow of the event?
  • what will people be looking at (your back/peoples' backs or everyone's faces)
  • how does the space support or inhibit engagement/participation?
  • how will people feel in the space? 
  • what is the shape of the table (e.g. in mediation, we prefer round whenever possible to get over the "idea" of sides), how are the chairs arranged (e.g. if no round table, we seat "opposing parties" on the same side of the table to physically remove an adversarial stance).  

Preparing the flow of an event is crucial.  When I create an experience for people, I consider: 
  • how will people engage with convener, facilitator and each other? 
  • what will be everyone's first shared experience?
  • how does the agenda fit with and/or respond to the people in the room? 
  • what support will people need to fully engage (trust building, food, bio breaks, reflection time, social interaction to enhance/solidify content, scaffolded experience)? 
  • how flexible is the schedule to accommodate the unpredictable?
  • how can we design the flow to yield the desired participant experience?
  • what design of processes/methods will yield the desired outcomes for the event?

Designing what methods/processes to apply is an art and craft that benefits from experimentation, success, failure, spontaneous adaptation, curiosity and flexibility.  

For discussion on these topics, I suggest browsing the Changemaker Bootcamp Watercooler: "space physics", "group physics" and "designing engagement." 


3. The Start

Creating a container that begins with a clear start and a conscious close is powerful. The start creates our first shared experience, it sets the tone and supports shared understanding about our goals (Outcomes), what we'll do to get there (Agenda) and how we would like to engage with each other (what people often refer to as group agreements/ground rules, though I call party favors, see below.)  

I like to ask people as they introduce themselves to answer the question: "what do you hope to get out of today?" and record responses on a flip chart.  This participant generated list sets shared expectations from the outset, serves as a guide for me. and provides a reference to check at the close.  

The Ariel Group proposes a 4 question check in that asks: How are you feeling? What percentage are you present? What is keeping you from being 100% present? What do you hope to get out of ____? and closing with a round of "Aha Moments".   


How are you feeling?  
What percent are you present? 
What's keeping you from being 100% present?  
What do you hope to get out of ______?
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Eugene Eric Kim offers excellent insights on The Art of the Start when creating containers for collaboration and provides more in depth resources for building capacity to facilitate collaboration at Faster Than 20.


4. The Container 

I follow these key points from Angeles Arrien to create a container whether it is a design/product workshop for creative problem solving or a mediation to resolve a conflict. 

A) What will people need to maintain sufficiency?

What do people need to be fully present and engaged?  Attending to this means orienting people to the space (logistically, e.g. bathrooms, fire exits, etc), to the day (e.g. bio breaks, etc) and to the content (e.g. schedule, etc).  It necessitates understanding what "safety" people need to participate fully; often called group agreements (or ground rules), I prefer to call these "Party Favors." I share my basic list then invite people to add any others that they need to participate fully in the experience. 

My basic list includes: 
  • cultivate curiosity (ask questions, allow emergence, think different)
  • radical respect (courage to speak, humility to listen)
  • build on the ideas of others (encourage WILD ideas, have fun)
  
B) What can be used to facilitate shared understanding?

When I address shared understanding, I think about it both as something verbal and something visual. Having someone who can be a "scribe" to record notes, or better yet, a visual notetaker, who can make beautiful picture-filled notes, helps participants know that they have been heard. 

The main areas that I attend to for shared understanding that include a visual component: 
  1. Why we are here: Goals/Outcomes  
  2. Where we are going: Agenda
  3. Perspectives: document what people say, ideas shared, draw pictures to create shared meaning
  4. Artifacts: If one does a good job of taking notes during an event, then these become artifacts for future conversations. 

C) Host Different Points of View

We are increasingly in environments of preference-philia- a homogeneity that diminishes our capacity to host different points of view.  Here are a couple of tips/tools for supporting the expression of diverse views. 

  1. Conversational Justice: when developing an exercise, time structured segments that require each person to participate and that afford each person the same amount of time to participate can provide conversational justice.  This forces participation by quieter people and limits the time of people who might tend to dominate a discussion.
      
  2. Participatory Engagement: engaging people who might be reluctant to speak in a larger group can be done by breaking into smaller groups that enable more participation. Alternatively, an activity in silence ensures that everyone participates or providing everyone with sticky notes and asking questions of a large group but each person has to answer on a sticky note.

  3. Lateral Decision Making: adopting approaches to differing views that allow everyone to look in the same direction at the same time can be powerful.  Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats introduces this model that works effectively and efficiently for inclusive, participatory discussions.  See under "Read More" for a version of this method that I adapted and applied for clinical decisions.

  4. Scaffold the Experience: easing people into sharing their views through a staged process can help people to feel comfortable when an issue may be threatening. One effective model that I have used starts with:
  • me (silent/my perspective) 
  • me with you (silent/I look at what you wrote)
  • me (silent/reflect on my perspective informed by seeing yours)
  • you with me (silent/I look at what your wrote and ask/build on it)
  • us (engage in dialogue openly)

D) Hold the Creative Tension 

In addition to hosting different views, one needs to be able to sit with the views in opposition- to lean into the uncertain space.  In a world that rushes to solutions, the facilitator's role is to allow a solution to elude long enough for great ideas to emerge.  This may mean: Sit in the Messiness.  Change the Frame.  Go for a Walk in Nature.  Visit a Toy Store.  Think Different. Most of all, cultivate the capacity for uncertainty. 

At the 2008 World Forum on Facing Violence: Justice, Ethics & Conflict Resolution, Mark Gerzon promised to "Keep it warm, but not too hot;" his book, Leading through Conflict is a favorite resource on building this capacity to hold the creative tension.  

Another favorite is John O'Neil's Leadership Aikido. Building this capacity takes practice.  Each person's journey is unique. I shared insights from my learnings building this capacity for mediation in Passive Participation in Conflict and a chapter on clinical ethics mediation. 



5. The Close

Whether it is a check out, sharing "aha moments" or "jazz hands" moments, or making commitments to action, the act of consciously closing the container strengthens the power of the space created.  



6. The Learning Loop

For the facilitator, the end comes after the learning loop.  At the beginning, we set out our learning goals.  At the end, we need to get feedback on our practice. 

I prefer to do a learning loop by:
  • learner shares what went well
  • learner shares what could be done differently next time 
  • peers:  external people can share their perspectives, ideally in a feedback sandwich:
    positive - growth opportunity - positive.  Feedback needs to include concrete examples fand specific explanations of why it was positive and/or a growth opportunity. 
  • participant group (probably via email): provide feedback
  • learner integrates self-assessment and feedback into a refined understanding of his/her abilities
  • learner identifies new skills for revised learning goals at next experience

Facilitation requires practice of skills as well as the process.  By evaluating participants' feedback and achieved outcomes, a facilitator can assess whether the methods selected were appropriate for the participant's experience and if the process yielded the desired outcomes.  (double learning loop)


On a learning loop note, I would love to hear from you about whether this post is helpful.  Comments, questions and additional resources welcome!  
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Integrity by Design for Appropriate Health Care Technology: TEDxBarcelonaChange

1/5/2013

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Let's harness the power of 21st Century technology 
to assure the quality, reliability and safety of 
health care devices for everyone, everywhere...



On April 3, 2013, I gave my first TEDx: Integrity by Design at TEDxBarcelonaChange: Positive Disruption in Global Health
part of TEDxChange sponsored by the Gates Foundation

Join us as we build integrity by design to positively disrupt global health: http://www.integritybydesign.org

It was a humbling and brilliant experience. I am grateful to the #TEDxBarcelona team who hosted an outstanding, fun event and to my fellow TEDx speakers who inspired everyone! (Full speaker line up here: http://ow.ly/kAldv )

Thanks to our outstanding organizers Aurelie Salvaire Perrine Musset Johanna, rockstar coach Florian Mueck & the #TEDxBarcelonaChange team!  Very special thanks for ubuntu from my community whose contributions were invaluable. 
Let's positively disrupt the status quo! 
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A Visual Resume v0.0

17/2/2013

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An experiment, of course.  Here is a prototype version of a visual cv.  I welcome feedback! 

What do you like? What don't you like?
What impression does it give? 
What could be more clear? 
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Macroscope Mastermind: The Macroscope Labs Playhouse

13/8/2012

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One of my favorite prototypes from the Macroscope Labs was a tool to organize all of the "activities" one engages in the workplace of the future.  Play. Projects. Ideas. Prototypes. Work. Creative.  The distinctions blur. 
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Macroscope Labs Playhouse
~ producing the future, one play at a time ~


We tossed around the idea that Macroscope Labs would be a theatrical playhouse.  In our mL playhouse,  ideas and projects that we incubated would come to life similar to a play.  Each play has a particular stage of development (from open mike to post production).  Much like a summerstock playhouse, our role might vary on each play, from scriptwriter to actor to set designer to costumer to producer- depending upon what was needed to get the job done or to grow our learning edge.  Each activity requires something different and invites an unique blend of creative collaborators. 

Open Mike

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Idea in incubation: 

you talk about the idea to see whether it gains traction, whether you still like it after a few pitches, what responses you get.  it may be an idea you want to hand off 

Staged Reading

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Idea in exploration:

you find someone else who wants to build with you and you want to see whether its viable.  you delve in to explore what next

Off Off Broadway

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Idea in pilot:

you decide to give it a quick prototype- rough and dirty. You want learning and feedback. Test to decide whether to investment more time and money

Main Stage

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Full steam

you've got money in it and you want a tony. get the best cast/crew, rehearse and execute. everyday is a new day on the stage. 

Post production

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 Wind down:

Close elegantly & move on. Review, learn, celebrate. This may mean the show goes on tour, hand off to new team or document conclusion. Alls well that ends well. 

7 steps:

     1.  Inventory ALL of your projects 
                  - one idea/project per post it
                  - sub-projects for one job = separate post-its
                  - suggestion: color code by theme or by paid/unpaid

     2. Organize the post-its according to the stage of development
                  - follow the stages noted above, I sometimes include an off broadway (between off-off and main stage)


     3. Notice where there is a high concentration of post-its 
                    - the distribution will help you see where you are spending time and energy 
                    - is this distribution congruent with your current needs or are you currently stressed
                    - if self-employed on project work, do you have an appropriate distribution of paid idea/projects
                    - if you have a lead role in more than 2-3 projects on the main stage, you might need a cardio stress test  

     4. Identify what is your role on the projects
                  - is it your idea? are you rallying the team?  are you a first follower? are you the broadcaster? 
                  - does the role play to your strengths? are you on your learning edge?
                  - how does the team on this project feel for you?

     5. Notice your roles
                  - are they always the same? do you feel more energized in some than others?
                  - are you building your craft/skills in each of the different roles?
                  - who do you want to be your mentor for each role?  

    6. Identify all of your current collaborators (cast & crew)
                  - put each by the respective project and identify their role on the project                 
                  - are all of the roles that need to be filled to complete the project full?
                  - is the team well aligned to deliver based on their skill strengths?
                  - what skills do you need to complement your role/skills to get this project to fly?
                  - where can you find people who are smarter than you are at this? do you know them already? 

     7. Fail often, early. Learn. Dive in or move ON!
                  - what is the next action step?  Put that onto whatever project software you use. i like wunderlist and asana*
                  - identify an end point for each stage, so that you know... when to stop and assess? 
                  - check out my 5*5 method posts for a systematic approach to move from idea incubation to explore/pilot 

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Attract the Best Cast & Crew .... and enable excellence in their performance

  • Hire people who are smarter than you are
  • Communicate the vision 
               - on stage, that is a script & blocking,** what does your idea need?
  • Allow the vision to live in dialogue with the creative genius of the team
  • Trust the team to do their magic (you hired people who are smarter than you are)

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IN ACTION: how it looks on the wall.  

You can create your own paper version for your wall.  A digital version,as below, is available for download as well.  You can play with this digital version in powerpoint: import the .png, create text boxes for each of your projects, lasso/copy the people and group each person with a name and move it around until it works for you.  If you have photoshop, it'll be even easier. 

Most of all, have fun! 

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macroscope-playhouse-share.png
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*these are two services that i have used and liked. i have no financial, professional or personal connection to either company. people are very particular about their project management software, enjoy whatever one works best for you to get things done!

** Ingmar Bergman and Creative Leadership by Bo Gyllenpalm, the most influential book I read in 2011. (apologies, I know that it is out of print and have asked Bo to consider republishing it as I find it more relevant than ever).

Dedicated to all those on the journey to be the change through creative lifestyle design, particularly the lovely Joep Kuijper,  Seb Paquet on a 100 day journey into creative economy and Jean Russell, life explorer of creative engagement.  May your project management always allow room for passionate play, creative inspiration and hacking!  

Thought Contributors: Idea developed in collaboration with the enchanting creative  Eddie Harran at a time when I was fascinated by Bo Gyllenpalm's book on the stage leadership of creative director, Ingmar Bergman: what better role model than someone who pulled career best performances from cast/crew night after night for years and imagine, he never returned to the theater after the curtain went up on opening night.).  The creative innovator and the person who turned me onto the power of Mastermind ever-inspiring Do More Great Work guru Michael Bungay Stanier of Box of Crayons.  Digital to wall/post-its thanks to the effervescent creative Loretta Rae. 

Mash it up. Hack it. Please share your hacks! 

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5*5: A Systematic Approach to Pilots/Prototype Projects

11/8/2012

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This series of posts introduce a 5*5 systematic approach to pilot/prototype projects.  

From Idea to Pilot: A 5x5 Approach

From Pilot to Reflection: A 5=5 Method

From Reflection to Report: A 5<5 Report


 Keep an eye out for the 5*5 icon to find posts on pilot/prototype projects on this blog.

a snapshot...

From Idea to Pilot: A 5x5 Approach

Pilot/Prototype 

1) What do I want to test? 
2) What is the headline if it is a success?
3) What is the best method for this pilot/prototype?
4) Will the method lead to the headline identified? 
5) What is the milestone/time frame to evaluate?


From Pilot to Reflection: A 5=5 Method

1) Brainstorm 5 successes & 5 failures
2) What surprised me?
3) What touched me?
4) How is my understanding different?
5) Based on this experience, what question will I ask myself next time?

Personal-Professional Development

1) What do I want to learn?
2) What is my role? What part reflects a learning edge?
3) Who are the smart people that I want to learn from/with? 
4) How can I assess my learning? 
5) Does this approach allow the learning I want? 

   

1) Brainstorm 5 successes & 5 failures
2) What surprised me?
3) What touched me?
4) How is my understanding different?
5) Based on this experience, what question will I ask myself next time?


From Reflection to Report: A 5<5 Report

Checklist of 5 things that I wish someone had told me before I started in <5% of the time spent on the project.

Attribution: this approach reflects a mashup from brilliant mentoring, modeling, discussions with many people... including Bruce Ettinger, Nancy Dubler, E. Nathaniel Gates, David Karshmer, Rachel Remen, Edward Harran, Andrew Lyon, Ian Page, and many more.
How do you approach pilots and prototyping?  What have you discovered that works?
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From Pilot Reflection to Report: A 5<5 Report [3 of 3]

10/8/2012

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Snapshot: Systematic Approach to Pilots
 From Idea to Pilot: A 5x5 Approach [1 of 3]
 From Pilot to Reflection: A 5=5 Method [2 of 3]

I like to "do,"  which generally takes an action learning form described previously, From Idea to Pilot. By the time I learn through a pilot, it grows into something, pivots or gets abandoned under the ethos of fail often, early.  Whichever direction, I stop for reflective learning as described, From Pilot to Reflection, but rarely stop to write up what I learned because a new opportunity for learning already beckons. 

If you have seen previous efforts to document learnings... something akin to tomes turned blah-blah posts, it may be clear why I resist the report stage.  That said, I have experimented with an iterative design in hacking life and on the off chance, that might accelerate someone else's journey, it seems worthwhile.  So this month, I challenge myself to a new report format.  Simple. Short. Sweet. and whenever possible visual.    

The "report" formula will be a 5<5*:  
5 things that I wish someone had told me before I started. 
Reports completed in <5% of the time spent on the project.

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Keep an eye out for the 5*5 icon to find pilot/prototype posts. 





*Thanks to Ian Page for the idea for the 5<5 report format. 


Do you have a format for reporting on pilots & prototypes?  Please share!

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From Idea to Pilot/Prototype: A 5x5 Approach  [1 of 3]

8/8/2012

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Snapshot: Systematic Approach to Pilots
From Pilot to Reflection: A 5=5 Method [2 of 3]
From Reflection to Report: A 5<5 Report [3 of 3] 

A pilot design needs to match the project.  Each project is unique. When prototyping ideas in small projects is that there is no common design structure to report what was tried, whether it worked, learnings from failures, how a next step was tinkered and final learnings.  We do, observe, reflect, iterate, do... and it turns into something concrete or we move on. 

Here is a 5x5 approach to move from idea to pilot/prototype:

5 Questions: Pilot/Prototype Development 

1) What do I want to learn from the pilot/prototype? 

2) What is the headline if it is a success?

3) What is the best method/approach to learn from this pilot/prototype? What is the smallest thing that I can do and test whether to pursue further, pivot or abandon? How will I gather information?  

4) Will the method lead to the headline identified? 

5) What is the milestone/time frame to quickly evaluate whether to pursue this idea further?

X

5 Questions: Personal-Professional Development

1) Why am I doing this? What do I want to learn?

2) What is my role? What part pushes my learning edge?

3) Who are the smart people that I want to learn from/with on this pilot? 

4) How can I assess my learning and/or skill development? 

5) Does this approach enable the learning that I want?  

Attribution: this approach reflects a mashup from brilliant mentoring, modeling, discussions with many people... including Bruce Ettinger, Nancy Dubler, E. Nathaniel Gates, David Karshmer, Rachel Remen, Edward Harran, Andrew Lyon, Ian Page, and many more.



Do you have a method for taking an idea to pilot? Please share your approach.  
If you experiment with this approach, let us know how it went.

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8-i SF for InSTEDD

30/4/2012

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On March 30, 2012... in cities around the world, designers and creatives met in teams to donate 8 hours overtime for a good cause as part of 8-i, a self-organizing event kickstarted by New Guard designers in the NLs in 2004... learn more about 8-i

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We joined teams of creatives all over the world (Netherlands, Berlin, London, Vienna, New York, Rio) ... in an 8 hour sprint to solve a communications challenge.  San Francisco participated for the first time. Live from Studio 305 in the Best Foods Building, a team of creatives solved a communications challenge for the non-profit, InSTEDD (innovative support technologies for emergencies, disease and disaster). Learn more about InSTEDD's amazing tool suite at instedd.org


This short video shares our design process and the storyboard that we created for InSTEDD- enjoy! 

  

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Thanks to rockstar SF Creative Team!

Betty Chen
Lina Constantinovici
Kinnari Desai
Brooke Estin (InSTEDD)
Kate Ettinger
Taema Mahinui
Benjamin Packard (Retainer Media)
Aviva Raskin (Bloxes)

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Learning Journey Tools Requested {idea post}

1/3/2012

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As I begin a series of posts that "report" from an 18 month learning journey, I wonder: are there tools for structuring the output from a learning journey?

Each learning journey seems tailored to the participant(s) and designed for specific purposes.  Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a commons toolbox for designing learning journeyers.  With templates of designs previously used for various purposes that could be recycled, reused and repurposed depending upon one's journey objectives.  This template DIY approach enables an emergent curriculum while integrating robust design that would confer credibility on the learning journey. 

As traditional education is challenged to address a rapidly changing landscape of skills and competencies for 21st Century living and as we see an increasing need to learn and hone new skills/abilities at a rapid pace, the learning journey and alternative curricular approaches are increasing.  I have two friends who are currently fundraising for learning journeys.  Weezie Yancey-Siegel of The Eduventurist Project is fundraising on IndiGoGo and knowmad Edward Harran for Please Help Me Get to San Francisco Pretty Please.  They are both inspiring, passionate social entrepreneurs. 

Here are my experiences with alternative learning and some of the approaches that I took to share my learnings.  

In 2005, I also endeavored on an independent study to deepen my foundation in ethics, conflict resolution and sustainable leadership.  The learning was self-defined, and many of the skills learned were life skills for communication, conflict resolution and leadership yet the tools to assess the learning, competence, fluency with these vital skills was absent.  In 2008, I wrote three papers to accompany talks on the findings and ideas that emerged from that inquiry.  The paper have depth but I did not pursue publishing them in any traditional manner. They are available on my blog: Passive Participation in Conflict, Mind the Gaps and Capacity Building for Inclusive Problem Solving: I + U HALT injustice.

For my recent learning journey, I will write blog posts with the hope that smaller digestible concepts will invite more interaction around the insights and ideas. I may eventually merge the posts together into short topic briefing papers. I have seen others approach independent learning by posting their research proposal, promising to share their reflections and experiences as blog posts along the way, and asking their community to serve as the "dissertation" review board of their blog posts. I opted for offering a reflective, synthesized view of the learnings, but in the moment posts might have yielded more of the discussion and refining of ideas that I have sought.  Perhaps, next time, I'll use a hybrid approach. 

{Idea} Designing a basic toolkit for the self-directed learner could be an invaluable resource.  Design it with corporate HR people who approve the product as credible for a new hire and whose companies would use it for existing employees' professional development for a sustainable revenue source to support a commons toolbox of DIY resources.  

The ideal learning journey toolbox would allow for:
  • self directed curriculum
  • emergent serendipity
  • accountability 
  • credibility/review  
What else would you want to see in it?  What have you used for your learning journeys?  

If you know about resources, please tell me.  I would very much like to have a more rigorous approach to emergent learning!  I have a hunch that I will be taking a deep dive into new subjects every couple of years as a life learner.
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Macroscope Labs 5<5

15/1/2012

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This post is one in a series of posts that document pilot/prototype projects with the format 5 things that I wish someone had told me before I started in <5% of the time spent on the project.  This post also provides some context around the project, since it was a cornerstone project for me in the second half of 2011. 


In June 2011, Edward Harran and I embarkeded on a 6 month experiment. A deep dive collaboration across the Pacific Ocean. Eddie in Queensland. Kate in San Francisco.  Part mastermind for our personal projects and consulting gigs, part virtual praxis of a future of work digital innovation lab for a globally distributed team and part incubator of ideas. We set off to explore. 

Macroscope, coined by Eddie, reflects the "big picture" - multi/inter-disciplinary, systems perspective that we endeavored to sensemake in our lab.  Mindful. Playful. Creative. Engaged. Curious.  The aim was to make complex simple.  To bring big together with narrow in the sacred space of creative possibility between.  To transform the experience of chaos and mess into something sublime. Ultimately, we wanted to build a place to play with our creative potential and to hold a space that would allow the value of the spaces in between to emerge, unfold, expand...  with a macroscope perspective to unleash the potential for social impact.... and we wanted to live mindfully and productively working in a digitally-mediated global context.

In 6 months, we cogenerated amazing ideas that continue to live in us- expressed from time to time in posts and projects.  We honed a vision for Macroscope Labs* (mL) from future of work ideas, such as the world's first Center for the Emerging _____  and a research proposal to pilot and analyze the innovation value of an Ecosystem Diplomatic Corps (Ecosystem Diplomats explained)... to systems issues that we frame-worked* such as Macroscope Playhouse and Macroscope Compass... to finding a home base for our shared personal narratives as "context chameleons"* and knowmads.  

Eddie brought the knowmads idea fully to life from concept to a brilliant presentation delivered at TEDxBrisbane.  It was an epic achievement and an ideal culmination of our journey together in the Macroscope Labs experiment.


5 Things it Might Help to Know Before You Launch an Experiment About the Future of Work

  • No one will understand what you are doing.  (They'll think you are nuts.) You may not understand what you are doing. (You may wonder if you are crazy)  When it's over, no one, including yourself, will understand what you did or why it mattered. And yet, it is most important that you do it.  Experiments are our learning way into the future. You will learn and the people you work/play with will learn. However, don't expect anyone in the current world of work to understand and/or to value your skills from an experiment about the future of work- now that is nuts!  
          Take home: Don't let the present judge the future.  Let the future judge the past. 

  • While the future is full of possibility, we still live in the present. A lot can happen with alternative, complementary and gift currencies/economies, yet one needs money to live in the present.  TimeBank, for example, still needs about 30% of the value they generate in dollars in order to fund their own operations.  Think about yourself as the TimeBank, make sure that you have enough to cover your basic survival needs in the present before embarking on the future.  Future-focused projects take time to build traction and attract the kind of funding that they need to sustain themselves on an ongoing basis.  Long enough for the present to catch up with that future horizon on which you are operating.  As with any new business, there is a period of time until you have a steady cash flow; likely wise, with a new technology, one has to be adequately prepared to "cross the chasm," the period of time between when an small pocket of early adopters discover and endorse the product until it grows to a steady early market of mainstream users. Think of future-focused projects as both a new business and a new technology and prepare accordingly. Bring extra reserves to cross the chasm between you and the Oasis, it may be like crossing the Sahara.... and that's fun as long as you are prepared!
          Take home: Feet in the present, eye on the future... and mind the Chasm!
  • If you know that you want to leave signposts for others, be sure to have a documentation strategy.  If you want to make things beautiful, be sure to have a designer on your team.  If you want to do things quick and dirty, know how to explain the vision simply and to scaffold the context accessibly, because people may not 'get' the messy version.  If the goals that you have don't align with the skills that you have on the team, then shift the goals to play to the strengths of your team or get the skills. Alignment on this is mission critical. My hunch: skill set for the future worker will be radically different; people will need to know how to communicate simply and effectively in writing, code and drawing. 
          Take home: Know your audience and get the right team- diverse skills sets with varying pockets of depth, 
           what you don't know, you learn rapidly, and eager to do what needs to be done for the project's success. 
 
  • Before you start and along the way, identify a means for you to demonstrate what you learned, what skills you developed, what learning you gained.  When a job/role does not fit in the present, it is hard for people in the present to understand how to interpret what was undertaken.  Some ideas on how to approach that are outlined in a 5*5 Systematic Approach to move from Idea to Pilot and from 5 years ago, I posted a seed {idea post} for the BeWell, WorkWell tool for soft skills development. More recently, a seed {idea post} for a learning journey tool, which would enable people to identify and demonstrate soft skill learning under emergent conditions. 
          Take home: Prepare to document what you are learning at the outset.  Remember to do it along the way! 

  • On the journey to the future, other people will emerge around you who seem to be doing the same thing.  Celebrate that! Celebrate them!  Team up. When possible an open knowledge framework enables you to engage more people and grow more rapidly.  Share your learnings. If they don't want to play, then let it go and celebrate them anyway!  It will take many people trying, many times in order for one team to break through the wall of the present.  Be happy that you are one of those pushing the wall, and be confident that whether you are that one or not, your initiative contributes to launching a new direction.  Those who rise quickly, do so by standing on the shoulders of those who came before.  There are always those who came before.  Find them and learn from them.   Most 'lauded' inventors didn't actually invent what they are known for, they made an vital improvement that took the invention to a new level of market accessibility.  
          Take home: Celebrate others! Open source everything possible. Seek out those who preceded and learn from them.

  • Never underestimate the power of in person

*We had all of these domain names.  My registrations glitched on the renew, and so they are released- all available. Go do something interesting and build on our ideas.  Give us a shout out when you do so that we can amplify your work! 

Thought contributors:  With immense gratitude to and for Eddie Harran,  my brilliant collaborator, awesome ideas instigator, cherished friend, mindful mate and hapatwin.  Thanks to David Hood and the Gathering '11 energy for pulling Eddie and me to Melbourne where we sealed the deal on mL. Never underestimate the power of in person. 
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For Our Children to Thrive: Designing Education for Tomorrow's World

28/9/2010

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Our current education system is designed to teach things you need to know, "just in case."  I watch my 13 year old neighbor's eyes dull from studying algebra in summer school just to prepare for the school year.  This is not the spark of enthusiasm or the hunger of curiosity that she exhibits when we talk about ice cream or facebook. Now, one month in with a "tough" teacher, the joy of summer has gone permanently.  The problem sets have no bearing on anything practical. "When will I ever need this?" She asks me pleadingly.  The kids g-chat to complete their assignments (though I introduced them to googleWave and they like that better).  So much missed opportunity, I wonder when will education embrace the future and prepare students with the life skills to manage information just in time?

This paradox reminds me that I took an HTML programming course in Cupertino about 15 years ago.  We sat through a week long course, learning all of the codes to design web pages.  It made one's eyes dull and head hurt, but, I was able to build first generation websites for small businesses- an early web designer.  Fast forward 15 years, the languages have evolved to HTML 5, and what was C has developed onto C++ or CSS, Java has come (and largely gone as I understand it) and Flash, well, it's future is uncertain with portable apple devices unable to read it.  That is to say, a lot has changed. HTML coding is readily accessible on the internet.  So, would I starting now take a class in HTML 1.0 today?  Of course not, that knowledge wouldn't serve me in any practical way.  So, why aren't we upgrading our education system with the same insights to keep up with the times from the bottom up?  

Google is rapidly paving the way to a future in which everyone will have access to the same knowledge and information.  Google is the ultimate leveler of the playing field.  Success and excellence will be redefined.  The meritocracy will be global.  Excellence will be marked by those with the skills to navigate information effectively.   Success will come to those who have the skills to use the information persuasively.  Opportunities will unfold for those with the skills to use information innovatively.  Capacity to communicate and collaborate across geography, language, culture, discipline will be essential.  Social intelligences will exceed knowledge intelligences in value.  The skill of survival will be the ability to access information 'just in time,' manage it effectively, present it persuasively and to work effectively in a collaborative setting.  

How does the current education system prepare our young people for this reality? 

I was thrilled to see a NY Times article on video games in the classroom for middle school children.  Teaching young people skills for the future includes being able to self-assess, set goals, meet goals, adapt...  To thrive in an environment that is not scripted, but rather where you create the opportunities for yourself. 

A few years ago I posted an idea for the UK's first Social Innovation Camp weekend.  The Be Well, Work Well Credentialing Tool was to create a personal development tool using a 360 framework for trainings in soft skills (ethics, communication, negotiation, mediation, leadership).  I added it onto another idea targeted for at-risk young people. We both wanted to build better tools for capturing and improving valuable skills - communication, collaboration, initiative, tenacity- the ones that matter most in life and workplace success.  We wanted to create a system that would allow people to set goals, work at them, evaluate their progress, get feedback, adapt and meet their goals.  (see Health Month a great app that is doing this for healthy living) While performance portfolios are a staple in the work place (Salesforce a dominant player), these tools to support the learning, developing and honing of these vital skills over time have not been adopted into the pipeline.  Imagine a student graduating from college with a portfolio that reflects their soft skills/social intelligence based upon course-work and club activity since high school.  An employer would be able to assess a person's adaptability and capacity to grow. Until tools to meaningfully evaluate soft skills/social intelligences exist, they will be poorly valued.  As access to knowledge gap flattens, these social intelligence skills will rise in value.  Developing better systems to build, hone, and cultivate excellence in them is essential.

How would you design education to allow today's children to thrive tomorrow?
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Interdisciplinary Studies: Structuring Higher Education for the Future

26/9/2010

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Does our education systems need to transform to graduate students who are ready for tomorrow? 

Over the past couple of months, I have heard bright leaders of interdisciplinary centers/programs at top Universities advocate fiercely that what leaders today (and thus, their students) need for success is interdisciplinary education.  This reasonable idea requires "advocates" because it threatens the status quo of traditional academic structures.  A department budget is often based upon the number of students that major in the department. The success of a department may be evaluated by the number of students who go on to get an advanced degree in that discipline.  Interdisciplinary programs make accounting under the traditional system a challenge, and potential casualties of any disruption might include tenure, funding/salaries, departmental size and department status.

Universities have an opportunity to adapt to the rapidly changing world by developing new educational modalities, implementing new approaches to learning, and supporting new programs that will prepare students to lead, excel and thrive.  The public entrusts universities with the task of educating our young people to meet the demands of tomorrow.  Universities have an obligation to look critically at their efforts and to identify structural barriers to empowering students with relevant, applicable knowledge and skills to navigate our complex, dynamic world.   

1) Maximizing the value of an interdisciplinary education
While appreciation for the value of interdisciplinary studies is new, they are not novel. I was an interdisciplinary studies major (Humanistic Area Studies), yes, four quartets ago. Ironically, I would say unequivocally that the process of making my interdisciplinary major happen was the most valuable part of my college education. I learned how to negotiate in the face of a Goliath of unknowns, politics, bureaucracy and resistance.  It was an early success and remains a constant reminder that I can make the seemingly impossible- happen. I apply those skills everyday in my life work as an entrepreneurial social change agent. The lessons of practical experience are invaluable and must be better integrated into whatever new interdisciplinary structure emerges.  Beyond the substance of interdisciplinary problem solving, students need to learn how to apply these ideas in context so that they can concurrently develop the skills to lead and flourish as an interdisciplinary agents of change. (Great example from U of Calgary featured in Tools of Engagement on innovating experiential learning)  The MDG and CGI have galvanized terrific momentum in the SE ecosystem, and we will still have work to do! Our global economy and society will benefit from students having more access to interdisciplinary studies, so yes, let's have more of that, please! 

2) Creating change requires humility and depth
Interdisciplinary programs allow synergistic ideas to emerge and unleash the possibility that stems from bringing multiple views together to create new perspectives.  Yet, interdisciplinary programs need to provide students with depth.  The green MBA and Skoll Scholarships for Social Entrepreneurship MBA  provide students with necessary MBA skills while adding focus, connections, resources to apply these in a novel domain.  Likewise, having a law degree with my Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution grounds my negotiation and mediation skills in a concrete actionable framework.  The Certificate in Bioethics & Medical Humanities program that I completed was designed for working clinicians.  Today, many people are graduating with advanced degrees in Bioethics but with no clinical background and they have difficulty getting a job.  In practice environments where the goal is to make and lead change, one needs concrete skills to contribute to the effort.  Stand alone programs run the risk of providing students with great ideas and new perspectives, but without the depth of concrete skills (MBA, JD, MD, Design, Engineering, IT, Art) necessary to catalyze change.  Changing the paradigm of the traditional degree is essential and preparing students with a foundation that affords humility and depth that adds value in at least one arena is critical.   

3) Allowing the dynamic vision of interdisciplinary perspectives to flourish
Interdisciplinary centers bring people from different disciplines together to facilitate dialogue and problem solving.  Open minded people meet, projects emerge and collaborations begin.  Supporting students to find interdisciplinary links is an important opportunity for degree programs.  In the absence of interdisciplinary programs, I had the opportunity to envision my own linkages in the rich, vast sea of humanities. I combined Classical Studies with Latin American Studies- not one that comes to mind on first review, but my thesis was a comparative study of ancient Greek and ancient Mayan mythological views of the underworld and its impact on their world view and approach to living.  Unlike the traditional comparative literature focus of contrasting, I was most interested in the commonalities.  Part of the opportunity of absence of an interdisciplinary program was that it allowed the envisioning of a new perspective- an innovative view.  When the faculty are already there and the interdisciplinary seeds are planted by the courses, I wonder will the opportunities for dynamic vision be accelerated, better channeled, or lost?  

What do you think tomorrow's leaders need? 

This is the first in a series of posts about structure and change in the social enterprise ecosystem.  These are my musings and reflect my views following conversations with people who work in both undergraduate and graduate environments at universities around the world. 
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"My Favorite Things" Couture Store for Social Good {idea post}

24/9/2010

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I wonder if in the future, people will curate their own Couture stores of favorite things.  Imagine if each person created a "couture" store of stuff they like... It might work like this:

Sasha, a busy mom of 2, has just discovered an instant organic Vietnamese brown rice noodle soup that is a life-saver when she needs a quick dinner after a busy day; it's healthy and the kids love the noodles.  In the past, she would tell friends that she runs into, but now she can take her superfan evangelism for
Happy Pho to a new level and places it in the food section of her Couture store, where she also features her favorite baby shower gift- a baby blanket set from Ambajam.  Much like the easy "do-it-yourself" features of Weebly (this is a weebly site), Sasha creates a stylized design for the Couture store of favorite things a bit like ebay, except Sasha doesn't have to fulfill any of the orders.  Orders are fulfilled via the business directly.  In this case, Ambajam (a web-based business located in Denver) fulfills its own orders and Happy Pho (available in Whole Foods in person, or online via Amazon) would be fulfilled by Amazon. 

Sasha might be looking to upgrade the kitchen and knows that Suki, an interior decorator friend, has great taste and a gorgeous kitchen. Sasha starts by going to Suki's Couture shop to see what Suki recommended in home furnishings. When Sasha makes a purchase, Suki gets credited with superfan evangelist points for the referral. Sasha benefits from Suki's advice without interrupting Suki's work flow and by generating referral credit for Suki, Sasha honors the value of Suki's expertise. 
Referrers receive credit points for a referral and a referral into sale.

And when Frank goes to his Couture interface to find a baby shower gift for an office worker, he searches baby shower gifts and Sasha's Ambajam recommendation pops up because Sasha and two other people in his extended network recommended it. When he clicks on the link, Sasha and the others get credited with the referral.  The search returns items prioritized by the frequency of recommendations within Frank's extended community and collective referrers receive credit.  

Benefits for Everyone
This Couture model allows businesses that benefit from superfan evangelists to identify and engage with their superfans.  Most superfans evangelize from passion, not for monetary gain, but the companies receiving referrals benefit from this marketing.  Most of the "shopping for good" sites sign on big businesses, but this system would be design to make it easy for smaller businesses to access and engage in the referral marketplace.  Businesses could develop relationships with their superfans with previews, discounts, and love for spreading the love.  (Fascinating blog post on how Zynga does iterative design testing with superfans)  The Couture system charges a small fee to the business for access to the referral platform (like Open table for restaurants) and the Couture system passes a % of its profit back to the superfan as points for charitable donation (Credo model). 

Ecosystem Purchasing
The ranking of recommendations is based upon collective referrals. While actual dollars paid for referrals would penalize the referrers of great business by diluting their percentage and/or costing the most recommended businesses a lot of money. This model gives everyone who successfully refers a credit.  The business donates a percentage (33%) of its profit to charitable ventures that get distributed based upon the ranking of its referrer community. (Credo Model) 

A key factor of this platform which distinguishes it from past platforms builds on our knowledge that people are more likely to change a behavior when other around them are adopting the behavior; this includes purchasing what others in their social circle are purchasing.  So, this platform builds on an individual's existing social network as an ecosystem that support purchasing, then takes the profit from that purchase and reinvests/distributes it back to the collective community.  It's a different angle on the Groupon and leverages access to referral markets for small business whether they are local or remote. 

I see this as a mashup that includes the Couture store with a 3D interface of Second Life, an application for small businesses that like Open Table allows easy access to customers and the referral system, the community/network access, the insight of LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter with the unique trackback & stat capabilities of Hootsuite and the community good distribution model of CREDOMobile.  No one said, creating the architecture that facilitates doing some good would be simple or easy, but it sure could be a lot of fun to make it easy for people to do more good! 

This idea sprang from a series of articles that I stumbled across in the last week couple of weeks- including Beth Kanter's graphic on how non-profits can leverage social media (the Superfan Evangelist concept) + a Slate article on the Death of the Salesman (the internet as the disintermediator of the "salesman" in the US) + a report on a recent MIT study about social media and public health behavior change that could be applied to purchasing behavior. 

If you know someone in this space already, do tell!  What do you think?

*These are not paid advertisements, but I am a superfan evangelist of these products- enjoy!
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Reflections on Buddhist Contributions to Social Justice 

12/5/2008

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Picture

In May 2008, UNESCO hosted a conference to celebrate Buddhism's contributions to social change in Hanoi, Vietnam.  These papers were prepared in anticipation of that event.  As such, they are written for an international audience of people with diverse backgrounds. I am not religious; however, I have found the practices of Buddhism helpful in my work as a mediator, interaction designer and capacity building for social change.  

 While none of the papers were presented, I have found that the themes continue to emerge in conversations with people engaged in social change, social enterprise and social innovation. For easier blog reading, the papers are broken down into manageable "posts."  For each paper, a personal introduction post is under construction, not included in the original papers available here as PDFs.

Passive Participation in Conflict (whole embedded document)
submit to War, Reconciliation and Healing


Personal Reflection 

1.   Passive Participation in Conflict: A Framework for Reclaiming Wholeness  
2.   Background: Why consider Passive Participants in a Conflict?
3.   Framework to Identify Passive Participants in Conflict (PPiC)
4.   PPiC Framework Applied
5.   Strategies for Healing and Transforming Experience: Self-Hate
6.   Strategies for Healing and Transforming Experience: Shame
7.   Strategies for Healing and Transforming Experience: Guilt
8.   Strategies for Healing and Transforming Experience: Paralysis
9.   Strategies for Healing and Transforming Experience: Fear
10. Strategies for Healing and Transforming Experience: Hurt
11. Strategies for Healing and Transforming Experience: Despair
12. Using the PPiC Framework

ppic.pdf
File Size: 439 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Mind the Gaps (whole embedded document)
submit to Buddhist Contribution to Building a Just, Democratic and Civil Society

Personal Reflection 

1. Engaging Change
2. Gaps of Culture
3. Gaps of Geo-Political-Socio-Economics (GPSE)     
4. Gaps of Systems
5. Gaps of Power Perspective
6. Mind the Gaps: Applied to Individual
7. Mind the Gaps: Applied to Institutional/Systems Issue
8. Mind the Gaps: Conclusion

mindthegaps.pdf
File Size: 167 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Building Capacity for I + U Halt Injustice (whole embedded document)
submit to Buddhist Contribution to Building a Just, Democratic and Civil Society 


Personal Reflection

1.    Building Capacity for Collaborative, Inclusive Problem Solving
2.    Becoming Social Architects: Together, I + U HALT Injustice 
3.    Cultivating Integrity
4.    Cultivating Understanding 
5.    Cultivating Humility  
6.    Cultivating Awareness
7.    Cultivating Legitimacy 
8.    Cultivating Trustworthiness  
9.    Conclusion 

building_capacity_i__u_halt_disparities.pdf
File Size: 235 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

I share these papers with the hope that a message within them might benefit someone who stumbles upon them.  


Comments and reflections are welcome. 

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Becoming Social Architects: Together, I + U HALT Injustice [3 of 10]

3/4/2008

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Reflections on Buddhist Contributions to Social Justice  [Main Post with PDF]
Building Capacity for Collaborative, Inclusive Problem Solving [2 of10]
Cultivating Integrity [4 of 10] 
A.  Becoming Social Architects: Together, I + U HALT Injustice

As social architects, we create spaces that invite dialogue necessary to tackle difficult social issues, to heal legacies of injustice, to solve disparities, and to build together an inclusive future.  Much like an architect trains to understand principles of design, materials, physics to build a new structure, we, as social architects, must train our capacity to facilitate the social change we envision. To hold a space that allows for diverse perspectives and promotes collaborative, inclusive problem solving takes effort. Demonstrating our determination to participate in collaborative, inclusive problem solving, we prepare diligently by cultivating our capacity, so that I+U HALT injustice.

Building capacity is not a destination; it is an ongoing process of intending, cultivating, deepening, and expanding how we are. The “I+U HALT” injustice framework[1] outlines six building blocks of capacity that support sharing our power.  The list is not intended to be exhaustive, nor exclusive, rather it offers a starting point to build one’s capacity for inclusive problem solving.  I+U HALT is an acronym for the qualities we need to cultivate: Integrity, Understanding, Humility, Awareness, Legitimacy, and Trustworthiness.


[1] This tool integrates insights and teachings of many.  Primary influencing resources: Thich Nhat Hanh, Interbeing, Parallax Press; Joseph Schaeffer, The Stone People: Living Together in a Different World; bell hooks, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope; and the inclusive role models and mentors: E. Nathaniel Gates, Nancy Nevelhoff Dubler, Hon. Maria-Elena James.

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