I wonder what the world will be like in another quarter century. Will we humans have discovered how to live in balance with the planet? Will those of us in positions of privilege and material prosperity have learned to share better with others? Will we have learned how to build healthy and resilient communities? I hope the answer to all those questions is a resounding YES! And I believe the work we will do
as we enter the second decade of the 21st century will be crucial. I’ve spent 35 years working with
people who are building communities and building organizations that are strong and vibrant.
Lately I’ve been focusing more and more on the magic that happens when true friendship,
curiosity and respect are present in any room. I work in many ways – conversation host, teacher,
speaker, consultant, facilitator and coach. Many times these different roles simply flow into each
other. In 2009 I entered my “”third thirty”” and in many ways my work is to simply be Bob,
bringing forward the experience I have from many years working with many different groups. From 2005 – 2009 I served as the Co-President of The Berkana Institute, a nonprofit institute that
works with communities and pioneering leaders in all types of organizations throughout the
world. I worked with others to co-entrepreneur the Berkana Exchange – an innovative translocal
learning community of leadership learning centres in places like Zimbabwe, South Africa, Senegal,
Pakistan, India, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. I’ve hosted many of Berkana’s
Learning Journeys out into the world and worked to develop Berkana’s learning and consulting
programs. I’ve worked as a community and organizational consultant on behalf of Berkana and
wrote, made presentations, and hosted conversations on transformative leadership in the U.S.,
Canada, Brazil, South Africa and Australia. Before joining The Berkana Institute in 2000, I spent 25 years as the Executive Director of an
innovative community development corporation in the Pacific Northwest, Northwest Regional
Facilitators. Along with a small group of other younger leaders all in our mid-twenties, I founded
NRF with a great deal of support from older leaders in Spokane, Washington. My work touched
many areas – citizen participation, community organizing, affordable housing, work/family issues,
hunger, growth management, community futures, transportation, nuclear waste, community
health and nonprofit organization capacity building. My current work is to support the many people around the world who are stepping forward to
provide critical leadership in these times. My doctoral research and continued inquiry in the
world is around the emergence of forms of leadership which create new possibilities in our
communities. I work as a coach to many younger leaders, helping them name their work,
connecting them with others, assisting them in supporting each other, and illuminating their
work to others who are looking for a sense of what we might do, together. I am an Adjunct Professor in Doctoral in Leadership Studies Program at Gonzaga University and
have served as Adjunct Faculty and Distinguished Visiting Professor at other institutions. I’ve
recently relaunched www.resilientcommunities.org as my personal base on the internet.