"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--Of cabbages--and kings--" This is my final opportunity to write to you as Ecotrust Canada’s President. I have had the good fortune to be held in the organization’s sound embrace for 14 years. It has been a wonderful, wonderful ride. Ecotrust Canada's mission – to design and demonstrate economic alternatives that benefit people in place – is important to the 21st century.
It has been a privilege to be both a witness and a guide to the power of thinking outside the box. For 20 years, this feisty little charity has worked hard with communities and industry sectors to provide living proof of ways to: (a) make good money; (b) build adjacent communities into the equation so they can thrive; (c) protect critical habitats; AND (d) implement the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent with Canada’s indigenous peoples. Ecotrust Canada’s work has demonstrated,
without a shadow of a doubt, that when we actively apply the intention of getting triple-bottom-line results from our economy, it can indeed be done.
It doesn’t get much better than that! Under the direction of a profoundly talented Board of Directors, Ian Gill, as Ecotrust Canada’s founding President, spent his term, connections and skills to build and refine the organization’s vision, mandate and public profile. In his unwavering footsteps I was able to deploy my community development experience to deepen our practice and make the demonstrations and innovations ‘sticky’ in real time and place. Jean Pogge will now bring a lens of social finance and business acumen to the work to help these proofs-of-possibility, and Ecotrust Canada’s reputation as an innovator, to grow. The decision to leave my position as Ecotrust Canada’s President at this time therefore comes with incredibly mixed emotions. I am sad to be stepping aside from the daily love and support of such a remarkable team of change-makers, who recognize not only the importance of deep connection to our work but also to each other. I am excited knowing that this important body of work will scale and expand. I am thankful for the many opportunities, friends, colleagues, mentors and life-lessons that are my good fortune. And as with all fine adventures, I recognize that sweet sorrow that inevitably accompanies packing away my suitcase, but then climbing into my own comfy bed. It has been such a privilege. I promise that while I’m out hunting down magic in the world, I will advise if I come across any ‘pigs with wings’. It’s something that you all really ought to know! It just might prove the start of a new social innovation…. Hmmmm.
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