I have mixed feelings about #ClimateWeek, unfolding in NYC this week to coincide with proceedings at the United Nations General Assembly. It’s a little like the “patient safety” department in a hospital. A department? Isn’t patient safety the first responsibility of everyone?! A week? Isn’t preserving a stable climate everyone’s responsibility every day?
In Minneapolis for a convening to help build “an Intersectional Philanthropic Approach: Climate Change, Agriculture, and Healthy Rural Communities”, I am reflecting on a film we made in 2009. Hope in a Changing Climate premiered at Agriculture and Rural Development Day at COP 15, the goals of which are described below in the report from the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
I cannot continue to fly the Israeli flag.
With apologies to The Grateful Dead, ‘what a long, strange trip’ it has been since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. That is when I hoisted the Ukrainian flag in front of my house and put 200 little Ukrainian flags on my lawn with a note inviting neighbors to please take one if they wanted to show opposition to a ground war in Europe in the 21st century. Although they have faded now, they were all taken and planted around my neighborhood in Maryland.
In a world that seems increasingly fractured, what connects us – as people, as teams and as communities? How well we understand the complexity of connection may hold the key to unlocking success.
My experience this week at Heathrow is a small but telling example of the global risk many businesses face: multiple systems failing simultaneously.
We needed an outside perspective on working with leading corporations and turned to Jonathan to assess our approach, refine our strategy, facilitate internal roll-out and help us execute. He helped us to think big, see new opportunities, reshape our communications and engage internal stakeholders. His counsel and ongoing support has been constructively provocative. Jonathan’s strategic thinking is keen and his facilitation skills are superior; he drills quickly to the underlying issues with a deft combination of determination and diplomacy.
