* TALKS + BOOKS

* BIO + CORE TEAM

* EMAIL AL GREEN

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SCOPE OF SERVICES

* RESEARCH

* OUTREACH

* PLANNING

* DESIGN

* COMMUNICATION

* FUNDRAISING

* VOLUNTEERISM

* CONSTRUCTION

* RESTORATION

* EDUCATION

* FACILITATION

* ORGANIZATION


Each event has a gateway experience, where people greet each other (or not). The gateway experience affects whether we will enter the arcade of events that lie ahead, which we can't fully know at the gateway. To proceed into the arcade, trust is what draws us forward, or not.

Among the tribes of northern Natal in South Africa, the most common greeting, equivalent to 'hello' in English, is the expression: 'Sawu bona,' which means, 'I see you.'

If you are a member of the tribe, you might reply by saying 'Sikhona,' (meaning 'I am here.') implicit in the language is that 'a person is a person because of other people.' (Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline)

To assure that eveyone is heard without interuption or argumentation, Native Americans have used a "talking stick" as a means for people to air their concerns, fully. While holding it, the speaker shares their perspective while every-one listens.

The effect is profound for undoing pent up tensions. When done, each speaker passes the stick to another one who wishes to be heard, free from from coercion or imposed control.

CHANGE

Positive change depends on developing the collective self-confidence in our capacity to overcome the messages that would have us believe we are powerless.
F.M. Lappe

ATTITUDE

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist see opportunity in every difficulty.
W. Churchill

IMAGINATION

In the expert's mind there are few possibilities, in the beginner's mind there are many.
Lao Tsu

ORDER

When...everything is done by the book or the computer, people call out in desparation for the intervention of a reasonable human being.
A. Watts

INNOVATION

Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries...from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created....from connections that weren't there before.
M. J. Wheatley