Houston: After Catastrophe Comes Collaboration
In 2013, Boulder, Denver and communities north and east were hit by a storm that broke all records for rainfall. City planners had a 100-year flood plan. They had prepared for a “worst case scenario” that would strike every 100 years. The 2013 catastrophe was called the 1000-year flood. And in the days, weeks, and months that followed everyone who lived along Colorado’s front range or who planned to visit for business or pleasure was impacted. It took months and in some cases over a year for roads to be repaired. The town of Lyons, one of the hardest hit communities, received close to $100 million dollars in Federal funding to rebuild. While waiting for funds, cleanup crews and reconstruction to begin, the community organized potlucks, neighborhood work teams, and music festivals to rethink the future of their small town. The Lyons community knew what it had been, but the larger question facing these forward-facing citizens was this: What COULD it become? Everyone became engaged in rethinking “Our Town” and in thousands of different ways, everyone took on some type of leadership role. Even speaking up about what they had suffered, took personal courage, and in a town where everyone had been impacted in some way, the ability for those who suffered to ask for what they needed, helped guide community vision. Could Houston, still reeling from an unfolding catastrophe, tap the creative vision of civic leaders and residents living in distinct neighborhoods and districts within its meta-city to reimagine its future? Could the restoration of this sunbelt city include rebuilding as green, resilient, solar powered communities? Could Houston’s catastrophe become an opportunity to showcase how communities can...
The FIX: Bridging the Great Divide Between Men and Women
Boulder, CO: The exponential growth of technology demands that not just Google, but the entire tech industry in the U.S. rapidly embrace gender TRAIT balance or fall behind to tech innovators in other countries. For starters, the biggest mistake anti-diversity”workforce disruptors are making is to underestimate the value of women’s natural skill sets. Science now shows that keys traits found in the female brain just so happen to be the critical “missing link” needed to manage the complexities of the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution. To accelerate human performance and ultimately corporate profits organizations will need to create a structured, balanced, dynamic synergy between 10 powerful gender based traits found in both men and women. This corporate culture FIX doesn’t require long term training programs, a team of psychologists, or in depth report. It can be applied immediately using a situational awareness (SA) process – that I refer to as the 10TRAITS directive – that bypasses the traditional defensive stance of so-called “resistors.” It engages the whole system of an organization at its most vulnerable point. The most vulnerable point? The lack of respect by some employees of the high value of women’s skill sets. These natural skills, however, just so happen to be exactly what is needed to manage the exponential growth of an organization. Google is not the only corporation facing this problem. Firing disruptors such as Google’s James Damore offers a temporary, quick-fix “Band-Aid” approach to a long-standing problem in the tech industry. The long-lasting solution is structural and transcends traditional training processes by shifting the focus from gender diversity to balancing gender traits. When team building and decision making...
Sustainability2020: A Global Collaboration On Our Energy Future
Sustainability2020 is a GLOBAL collaboration – a global thinkery – bringing ideas and actions, tools and technology together with images and policies together at the LOCAL level. It takes the untapped power of the human mind and spirit and maps out a path to a world beyond OIL. A community is a network of skills and talents.What is your key skill or talent that you would like to share? It takes millions and millions of small incremental actions, developed into HABITS and taken each day, to create smart, green, resilient communities. It takes a global brain – thinking together on behalf of ALL life on Earth to create an energy future that is beneficial to all. Here is an urban Vertical Forest in China which cleans oxygen and also serves as an urban BIRD sanctuary. Here is the way the UK is changing human behavior, one person at a time. Who are we? Alexia Parks 10TRAITS Leadership is home to the Sustainability2020.org environmental leadership tool. It is designed to be used to guide school children and adults to take money saving, energy smart actions at home. Online, it aggregates data to help guide communities to focus resources, skills and talents on those most in need. We welcome partnerships with organizations seeking common cause, including Avaaz.org, The Women’s March, 350.org, and GREEN organizations around the world. Alexia Parks, a United Nations mentor an expert in Gender Equality, and founder of 10TRAITS Leadership is an author, speaker and futurist. In 1980, as Executive Director of the Energy Conservation Center of Boulder, Colorado, she organized a Community Energy Futures Conference for the city in 1980. It led...
Can Gender Diversity Solve A World of Problems?
Imagine what Gender Diversity would look like in government, politics, business, and the workplace. Imagine leaders in business, economics, politics and the workplace looked like the people they serve. Can gender diversity: 50/50 by 2020 solve a world of problems simply by creating a gender balance in policy and decision-making? Imagine a world in which men and women work together, creating a balance of power sharing to accelerate creativity, innovation and our rapid evolution to a fair, just, and sustainable world that works for everyone; animals, plants, and things that creep, crawl, and slither along, included! For a starting point, start at the LOCAL level. Who has a data base of city councils and their gender balance? School boards and their gender balance? What is the gender balance in every state legislature and Congress. Is it 50/50? If not, do the math! What is the balance point for gender equality in a policy and decision-making committee or board? Think GENDER. Why? Women think differently than men. If the committee, board, council, team, or Congress is out of balance, do the math. How many, of which gender, would it take to equal 50/50. If it is male dominant, then invite MORE women to step into leadership roles, or run for public office. How many, enough to bring it into balance. Do you see yourself in this role? Stepping out of your comfort zone is a first step toward creating the future you want to see in the world. In other words, becoming a leader offers you a “Be the change you want to see in the world” opportunity. It automatically helps you focus your mind...
Thank You President Barack Obama, Now Let’s Celebrate Women’s Equality Everyday.
Presidential Proclamation — Women’s Equality Day, 2016 WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY, 2016 – Thanks to the National Women’s History Project and Zonta International for reporting on this new recognition of the importance of reestablishing gender balance at home, at work, in the the workplace, — and the world. “All we are saying is….” restore the balance and dynamic synergy of the male and female, the masculine and feminine in everything we think, say and do. – – – – – – ————————————————————————————————————————– BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Nearly one century ago, with boundless courage and relentless commitment, dedicated women who had marched, advocated, and organized for the right to cast a vote finally saw their efforts rewarded on August 26, 1920, when the 19th Amendment was certified and the right to vote was secured. In the decades that followed, that precious right has bolstered generations of women and empowered them to stand up, speak out, and steer the country they love in a more equal direction. Today, as we celebrate the anniversary of this hard-won achievement and pay tribute to the trailblazers and suffragists who moved us closer to a more just and prosperous future, we resolve to protect this constitutional right and pledge to continue fighting for equality for women and girls. At every level of society, women are leaders at the forefront of progress. Serving as judges and Members of Congress, setting world records in sports, founding groundbreaking companies, and fighting on the front lines of combat, women continue to tear down barriers and shatter glass ceilings — just as they have done...
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