In 2015, a group of ICA colleagues in the Denver area began working to organize Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action, inspired by the accelerate77 program ICA was doing in Chicago... There are now 22 action plans across 8 of Denver’s 79 neighborhoods.

​I am most looking forward to learning from my fellow board members and the incredibly talented staff at ICA. ​I am most looking forward to learning from my fellow board members and the incredibly talented staff at ICA. The wealth of knowledge and lived experience present in the room at any given time is astounding.

This isn’t just a regular building, because there are so many ways in which we give back, but people can’t see that from outside. So seeing people come in and realize that is amazing.

In a world that seems increasingly calibrated by the quantifiable (clicks, dollars, destinations), I especially appreciate the ICA’s conscientious embrace of the qualitative (wishes, experiences, bends in the road) as well as its organizational generosity in sharing information about how to access and assess this special data, which is often pretty elusive.

I saw in their individual passions, in the programming at ICA, in the GreenRise building, in every fiber of the organization a thoughtfulness I find lacking in the wider world. My greater mission as a person is to seek and cultivate this kind of thoughtfulness, and so from the outset I have seen ICA as profoundly fertile soil.​​

I am looking forward to learning more about ICA and how we can spread the word about the work into areas where collaboration and  community voice are essential.

After years of thinking so strongly about accumulation, it’s not so easy to start to think about distribution. Ken and I have been incredibly fortunate... and that good fortune allowed us to arrive at the point of saying we have ‘enough.’ We want to care for our children and the organizations that matter to us.

​ICA-USA has a lot to learn and share with our sister organizations. Even though ICAs don't all have the same mother tongue, we do share a language in the way we use our process-based methods in individual, community, and organizational development. By working together, sharing skills, and learning from each other, we can have a greater impact and continue to to have a vibrant network working on positive social change.

ICA is not afraid to be engaged in the critical issues of our time, especially today’s involvement with climate change and the environment. Of course, along the journey with ICA I have been deeply impacted by wonderful colleagues who have inspired, nurtured, and supported me. For all of you, I am forever grateful.