I went a little overboard in my writing on this. Please forgive me, I am bursting with gratitude.

Wow, great idea David! It is so fantastic to be reading these and discovering things I didn't know about people, and seeing the connections here bring forth good things.

Let me try...

1. Phil Cubeta brought me and here and encouraged me to attend the 05 Chicago gathering where I met Theresa Williamson. I coached Theresa, pro bono, for 10 sessions. And we developed a new fundraising strategy that brought in the majority of her budget for the following year. In 06, we had a development advisory meeting where I got to meet several amazing people and learn from them...including Patrick Donahue of Brinq. And again, we tried a modified version of the previous strategy and gathered a big chunk of the funding for the year. So many onet members contributed money to CatComm! It was very encouraging! I discovered my ability to contribute to make funding happen.
2. I really resonated with some of what Tom Munnecke was talking about re: uplift, positive discourse, etc. He brought me to the Uplift Academy gathering in Boston where I met a slew of really top-notch amazing people including Darlene Charneco[1] and Lars[1]. My dear friend Anne Marie[1] was there too, as was Arthur Brock. I also met several people who amaze and inspire me: Lenore Cowan, Eric Harris Braun (open money), Valdis Krebs[1], Jeff Ashe (savings led microfinance), David Isenberg[2], Doc Searls[2], David P. Reed[2], Ken Hamilton (Hope Healing), etc. This was career changing for me...I had been working on writing about philanthropy and offering coaching. Both Tom telling me that I was a good facilitator, and Valdis telling me I was a Network Weaver strongly impacted my current path. I discovered my ability to make connections happen between ideas and between people. [1—saw this month] [2—seeing next month]
3. Michael Maranda. Wow. Michael helped me discover how to invite community. He championed me, as he did so many others. He modeled how to stand up for others and for principles. I discovered my ability to nurture community as a whole.
4. Anne Marie Bellavance. I met her in Chicago 05 too. I gave her coaching pro bono for 10 sessions because I felt she was onto something. I have discovered the strength of positivity in the midst of complex and sometimes troubling dynamics with her steady and persistent holding of gratitude. I learned about asset-based community development from her, which together with my philanthropic study, has me feeling very powerful about seeing resources of all kinds (more than money). I discovered my ability to make gratitude and sparkle come alive in everyday life. I discovered my ability to be resourceful and catalyze other people being resourceful.
5. Bernard Brock. I met him here, and I was so amazed at his skill. He taught me a lot about how to post with respect. He touched me deeply and built my confidence. I noticed an absence of him, googled, and found out he had passed away. Strange to be so deeply touched by the death of someone you had never met. Now, when I sense something is going on...I make contact right away! I discovered my ability to make conversations happen. I discovered the power of online connections.
6. Arthur Brock. The son. Where to begin? Arthur taught me all about currencies, incentives, relationships, communication. He catalyzed many of my changes in the last year. He talked to me until my brain melted about so many things. And I would not be fascinated, as I am now, with field-building and flows, if it were not for the conversations Arthur and I had in December 06 strategizing how to build the field of currencies...and what strengths I had to offer. I discovered my ability to listen very deeply. I discovered my ability to see the world through flows and to look for incentives.

7. Seeing Beyond Sight and WDYDWYD. I did SBS Challenge in Budapest, Virginia, and California. Opened my mind, brought out my passion, and deeply inspired me. I am developing a workshop process that uses these to help people open up, connect, and discover. I learned a lot about viral spreading by watching Tony. Wow. I know this will reverberate through my life for a long time and in unexpected ways. I find Peace Tiles to resonate with many of the same qualities, which I call Network Art. I have participated in Peace Tiles making in Chicago, Canton (OH), and Vermont. It always opens me up to the world and to myself. I discovered my ability to contribute to making viral network transformation happen.
8. Thomas Kriese. Nurture. Thomas taught me about the complexity involved in managing community, as I watched him navigate between his own ideas and that of the organization he represented. The seriousness with which he held our conversations and the respect he showed for my nurturing opened my eyes to seeing myself in a new way. I discovered my ability to feel and then describe the dynamics of community.
9. Clare Mulvany. I met her through Greg Murray when she was fresh on her journey. I listened to her stories as she traveled, both of the people she met and her experience of the world and herself. Through Clare I saw new places in the world. When she came back I wrote a recommendation for her, and she was awarded some funds and recognition from Ireland Social Entrepreneurs. Clare taught me about really being bold and committing and following through on a vision with passionate conviction—despite so many unknowns.

[With Greg and Nathan Cryder, we worked on Adaptive Blueprinting, fleshing out the methods for scaling social enterprises out rather than up. Global Gain is focused on this activity now.]

10. Julie Peterson. I hardly interacted with her on onet. However, I did meet her through onet connections, and she blew me away with what she was doing in her local community. She showed me what local community can be—green dinners, activist coordination, music nights, community gardens, multi-generational collaboration. Through Julie I tapped into my deep desire for on the ground community, and I look forward to being in Chicago with her, working to create a collaborative working space and co-op living space, partially inspired by her work.

There are so many people who have touched my life here, inspired me, motivated me, challenged me, and given me purpose. Some whose names are only known in little pockets and some whose names are writ large upon onet: Salvador Carlucci, Sebastian Herrara, Michael Bauwans, Chinarut, Zoe Sullivan, David Evan Harris, Greg Murray, Alastair Wolfe, Jethro Heiko, Daniel Hunter, Gregoire Jaipot, Debra Hayes, Lenore Cowan, Jessica M., Gina del Vecchio, Gerry Gleason, Ted Ernst, Michael Herman, CM, Dav from Pheonix, Brian Lewis, Linda Nowakowski, Rory Turner, Christina Jordan, Jim Fussell, Liz, Luke Martin, Martín Rizzi, Michele, Lars, Mark, Peter Rees, John Berger, Jeff Morwatt, David Bale, Susan Megy, Liz, Ashis Brahma, Norbert, David Braden, RicHie, Julie C. and all the people listed above. I have met in person and been moved by over a hundred onet members, and I am so grateful for how they have changed my life forever.

I know some people like laundry list of I did x and some concrete, measurable good happened. I tend to work at a meta level on support. So my listening, championing, conversation facilitation, some say, enabled them to do tangible things in the world. Nurturing is not about taking credit, it is about supporting people you believe in to make THEIR good things happen. And, sometimes, just believing in someone makes a world of difference. I know it has for me. I am deeply grateful for the people who have believed in me. Thank you.