Exciting Year for CII and Democracy – and More to Come

Dear Readers,

2018 has been a landmark year for the Co-Intelligence Institute (CII) and me.

Over the last two years we’ve been noticing more and more social change agents moving from Despair and Anger into Confusion, recognizing how so many old systems are becoming irrevocably broken. But what’s encouraging about that is how many change agents then move on into Curiosity and Openness.

And there we find CII at the sweet spot of being able to help these people and organizations move towards Clarity and Action. Multiple inquiries come in weekly, and we help them think about democracy, governance, wisdom, and social transformation in ways that are new to them. We connect them to existing innovations, methods, and resources that ground them in what is possible.

A favorite example is my weekly consultation with a colleague working with the innovative mayor of a London borough, helping her bring participatory deliberative democracy into her diverse community of 350,000 citizens. Another colleague brought news of the Citizen Initiative Review – a formal governance innovation arising directly from CII’s work – to representatives of over 90 countries at the global 2018 Forum on Direct Democracy. And I’ve been getting more and more requests for interviews for podcasts and research projects. It is exciting to think about what 2019 will bring!

Strong evidence of others’ recognizing our value is a recent anonymous donation of $15,000, specifically targeted to update, design and print the wise democracy pattern language as a boxed deck of cards for sale. This visionary donor and CII believe that the timing is right for such a practical presentation of CII’s wisdom to impact change-makers and the evolution of governance. Thanks to this donation I’m now immersed in updating the pattern language with new patterns and streamlining the existing set, integrating them all into an even more potent tool for designing and improving wise democratic initiatives. Democracy advocates, consultants and speakers are already excited about incorporating the new deck into their offerings. We’ll say more in 2019 about how you can participate in this venture.

However, the $15,000 donation is a restricted one, targeting only the WD-PL deck. Our current 2018-2019 winter fundraiser for $20,000 is for unrestricted funds (including our websites and my small salary), supporting our ongoing ability to respond to and support all the change agents who keep showing up at CII. So we ask for your generosity here and now as 2018 comes to a close and opens into another year of possibilities.

So far 34 people have sent us a heart-warming $8625 for our leading-edge transformational work. We appreciate all these donations, which have ranged from $5 to $3835. And we’d love to have your support – anything you would enjoy sharing (for joy really does need to be part of this!). I invite you to join our 34 first responders with a year-end tax-deductible contribution – if and only if it makes your life better. Together, we can make a world that works for all just a bit more possible… or maybe a lot, who knows?

Coheartedly,
Tom

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