How are you using your guides? Are you finding the document useful? Are you finding some areas hard to work in or having challenges knowing what to do next?  Did you know that ARK produced a guide for our members to show what a regenerative economy looks like and how a culture of caring feels? We want to hear from you and learn about you through the stories of your journey.  I can assure you that buy sharing your light we all grow brighter and by sharing your darkness we diminish its hold on our lives.

Some use the bible, and some use a myriad of self- help books available on the market as a compass to guide them on the path of life. Some people refer to the sage wisdom of elders or celebrities who present as icons of success. On a less cosmic scale, guides are often produced to help people navigate the course of a nature preserve or a crowded convention center. Guides can also be people and if we remain open, all the people we encounter can be our guides as we all come to teach and come to be taught in the journey of always becoming the next version of our best selves. Mostly, guides are documents that share principles, convey ideas, and make recommendations on how an adventurer can make the most of the journey ahead. For ARK stewards that journey is just as much into the internal realm of self-discovery and personal growth as it about building methods, energy generation strategies and yes, gardening ideas.

To honor the many years of hard work by our dear friend, and stalwart steward, Willow King from Kenai, Alaska, ARK created a guide for new members titled “Harvest the Good” after her sustainable grocery store, “The Goods”. While a very limited document, the first version is filled with some simple ideas to start with and lays out the principles, plans, and practices we feel will help nurture the culture of caring that will empathically utilize AI to build bridges between the people and the planet; between nations and build a regenerative economy that can sustain generational prosperity. More importantly, it offers some practical steps to organize a meal with friends, a community garden or energy project, and things you can do to turn your habits into a side hustle that could grow into a career, passion, and mission of your own.

For ARK, think global/act local is more than just a notion. It’s a formula for success as a complete focus on the long-term and you starve, and total obsession with one step in front of another and you will be forever lost in the wilderness of distractions, escapes, and excuses. Local people need to know their efforts have impact, and global initiatives need to be collaborative efforts with those on the ground. Waste, delays, expenses, and often conflict ensues when one group (large or small) tries to manipulate or force others into something they don’t want to do. Influencing and incentivizing is one thing but bringing people together in the planning will avoid challenges in building a project or running a successful program.

A guide helps people navigate change and ours is no different. The main difference of our guide is that it serves as a manual for community resilience and individual empowerment as two sides of the change we wish to see in this world. It functions to organize people and organizations in the simple but necessary process of terraforming spaceship earth which is the goal of the Butterfly Renaissance. As the organization grows, the guide will change to reflect the perfectness of where we are. Your contributions, your wisdom, your intellect are all ways future versions of the guide can continue to aid and inspire future versions of you, me, and us.

The Blue Marble Emporium is ARK’s online store and POS for our commercial operations. It was set up, as most are, as a mean to promote the brand and generate a revenue stream to nurture the growth of bigger and better things. However, it was also meant to serve as a platform for a new merchant class that serves the divergent communities and individuals the world over to harness their ability to convert their skill, talent, and experience into the primary means of making ends meet.

It takes a village not just to raise a child but to nurture healthy adults, as we all need ourselves from time to time. Beyond the artisans and micro manufacturers who by their supplies from corporate chains and factory farms, the goal is to nurture the material economy so local resources can create raw material for an on-demand market, of other local merchants, to close waste loops and invest in community self-reliance. This is which is why we are starting with Gelato and why we are lifting up Jess Friday to bring her energy, experience, and passion for lifting others to the core of our retail experience.

Thanks to the regular support from the $10 dues paid monthly by members we are able to sustain a Gelato account and use it to trickle charge our bank account. Alone, the online platform has the potential to earn a stream large enough to sustain a staff but that’s a group lift as part of the marketing plan. As anyone who wishes to can be a vendor, promoting the store that sells your stuff it and easy ask.

 Gelato isn’t a big, centralized plant with a huge footprint. They are regional and create more jobs for more folks. Furthermore, I have spoken with them, and they are open to introducing hemp and that means other local textiles as supplies and demand dictate. In time we can add other products and services to the inventory. We can sign people us for classes, sell tickets for events, and slowly build a vendor community the world over.

Most importantly is the work Jess has been doing with Villaj. The connections she has made to advance the new merchant class and providing option for people where they are to contribute their talents and earn a living in the process. Especially those who are neurodivergent, meaning people who do not see the world or process information in the same way as most people. Throughout history, these special individuals have contributed to huge advancements in science, philosophy, and culture but do so because of the village that surrounds them, lifts them up, and like any good teamwork with patience to match the strength of some to the skills of others, bringing new and beautiful things into the world.

$10 each month may not seem like a lot, but that’s $120 each year and multiple that by the growing number of people willing to invest to see a new dawn, a new economy, a new culture emerges. One in which taking care of each other, of the planet, and acting with consideration of future impacts isn’t divergent behavior but part of mainstream flow of consciousness. Nurturing a culture of caring is an investment in the perpetual profits of peaceful exploration. Exploring strange new worlds is a part of who we are as a species that keeps us looking up and moving forward.

As we get things moving, we have set up a special fundraising account, specifically for seeding the Blue Marble Emporium. If you would like to help kickstart this campaign, you can do so here.

Anything helps and everything is appreciated.

Like a book our lives have many chapters. One chapter of note is the birth of a child. An independent entity that will have a life of its own, but is still somehow, “yours” because you gave so much of yourself just to bring them into the world. You can care about them, worry about them, and sacrifice for them. You want to influence them and try carefully not to recover missed opportunities by living your life through them. In the end, the best you can do for your child is to help them learn to live without you.  The same is true for a business enterprise or non-profit and now is ARK’s time.

The Alliance first appeared on the scene in Oregon in 2008, where friends Amber and Heather helped me formalize years of community organizing around hopscotch painting at local schools and parks. It sprouted once again in Alaska in 2011 where Peggy, Miriam, and Loretta helped establish the current 501c3 nonprofit with a focus on community resilience. In the beginning, the mission was the simple acknowledgement that people helping people makes the world a better place. It solidified into an academic goal of providing educational opportunities that empower individuals and enrich the communities where they live. After the pandemic, the mission stayed the same, but the efforts shifted from academic, to workforce development. Specifically establishing the means to provide wrap around services for marginalized individuals and over 12 months, help them work a 12-step program that transform what many see as a community liability into an asset of unlimited potential.

“Grow” is the title of our newsletter, not because we are an agricultural organization but because we are committed to personal growth as a formal entity.  Change is inevitable, but growth is optional and to grow, healthy capable adults need a village too. Everything we do at the global level is simply designed to provide the support needed for every blade of grass to grow strong in the light of the sun. There are so many non-profits, government agencies, and religious organizations that provide services for when someone falls but, there is simply not enough work being done to weave the cultural net that allows people the safety to fail (a critical part of growth) and when they do, the support to keep them from dying of loneliness and despair. This is the heart of the Good Jobs for a Green World program, which is now our corporate focus.

On August 1, 2024, our small global community will celebrate the beginning of a new chapter as we officially establish Alaska as an independent organization. While still under the umbrella of the corporate 501c3, the state chapter will only focus on the common self-reliance goals of the region. It has its own bank account with Credit Union One and applications are now being accepted for an inaugural governance council. Furthermore, the focus will be on just meeting the needs of the people of this state. Working with the corporate board and our advisory Global Rainbow Congress, we will help the local council stand, walk, and learn to live, play, and leave an enduring legacy.  A model for how people, communities, states, and ultimately nations learn to work together as we remember we are all one family, and this is our home.

Alaska is positioned to be a global hub of culture and commerce. With that awesome power comes the great responsibility to think beyond the next budget cycle, to see beyond the next election term, and learn to think critically about how our individual actions impact the world now and for seven generations. This is not a novel or unique way of thinking, but the deep wisdom of the land passed down for eons and only forgotten recently because of the capitalist way of thinking about pieces and the control of commodities.

Ultimately, making the best of what happens next will be up to the people of this land. We are humbled and honored to serve as we can to help keep everyone looking up and moving forward as we explore the strange new worlds of a bright future.

How does one person, group, or ideology provide guidance to another?  Provide too much and your being bossy or infringing on freedoms. Provide too little and your being too vague and it often results in blame over failed attempts. Any group large or small, organized for any purpose, usually starts with shared principles, a common purpose, or a vision of a brighter tomorrow for all. Companies, churches, businesses, and governments all use one or more of these tools to establish the foundational framework for what comes next.

As social creatures we desire, we need, to belong. To share what we have learned and learn from others. However, many wars have risen over the call to “educate”. This is largely because those efforts have been focused on teaching others what to think, which is called indoctrination. There is another way, a way where teaching people how to think for themselves is the gift of a shared experience and multiple perspectives. Where individual expression is critical to the reliable innovation of the whole and the whole recognizes the intrinsic value to provide those innovators in their individual journeys through life.

While some have special needs, the vast majority of people can move freely on their own. Never an issue until your freedoms starts infringing on the rights of someone else or short-sighted individual behaviors compromise the biological integrity of the Living Earth. As one species this is our home and even when we can travel among the stars, good stewardship of Earth is a duty we all equally share. This common purpose inspires a vision of a brighter tomorrow for all and the principles on which we all share in triumph and defeat. To those ends, guidance becomes a practical matter of sharing tools, showing how to use them, and sharing in the work and the bounty of the shared experience.

For those who have pledged to be good stewards, we have created a handbook to guide individuals and groups through orientation, establishing chapters, and creating the first project that anchors our efforts in this here, this now. Functionally, a workforce development group for the regenerative economy, those efforts begin with nurturing personal growth, which is the core function of the tribe mentality. To ensure the one doesn’t get lost in the many, the governance of ARK is layered to provide for the needs of individual communities with regional support and a reference point of an advisory board of high caliber professionals, whose careers have been waging peace in a world at war.

Its easy to see the war raging in the world around us. Not just in the middle east, Europe, or some “far-off” place to American eyes, but right here at home and waged with the most insidious weapons of fear, confusion, and doubt. It’s easy to build walls and allow labels to define people who are not you. Its’s easy to accept on merit the word of the system, what is “safe” to eat, what is “true” to know, and what is “right” to believe. It’s easy to give up, lay down, and let the darkness take you. Many have fallen and gotten up so many times from so much trauma, that the act of standing is seen as the action of a fool, but they are wrong. Courage isn’t the absence of fear but acting in its presence and this guide, this organization exists to nurture the hope in the change that is you.

It is for these noble spirits and weary souls we organize in peace as effectively as those who love war. And through individual action and group strength, we will break the bonds of addiction and set free the engine of innovation that will bring generational prosperity. We will be here to help each other heal, lift each other up, and inspire in all to be the most excellent version of their next best self.  Because that’s what family does.

Check out our eco-friendly shopfront, the Blue Marble Emporium!

Have you ever heard the phrase “If you don’t feel like you fit into this world it’s because you are here to create another”?  This is the call of the innovator, and to those who heed it opportunities abound. Humbly originating as a simple online store for the Alliance for Reason and Knowledge, ARK, this construct is intended to serve as a network hub for all the artisans, professionals, and innovators that on their own, work to collectively advance the regenerative economy. Also referred to as the “resource- based “and “peace” economy, this industrial framework serves to build the bridge that leads us in the direction of a brighter future for us all.

The model for development for this store is not just a place to sell ARK swag but to collaborate with like-minded businesses who are principle aligned for symbiotic relationships.  Moreover, as ARK is a nonprofit with a mission of training the workforce that’s needed to mainstream the regenerative economy, we are working to develop the framework of serving a niche in the global market for local manufacturing. This is intended to strengthen local economies by regionalizing the supply and demand which increases efficiencies keeping raw materials and customers closer to the source of production. Especially with additive manufacturing, commonly referred to as3d printing, closed loop cycles are critical to profitable outcomes.

For now, we have a print on demand agreement with Gelato, which is the lowest footprint means of marketing and brand development. They too regionally produce goods, employ local labor, and use the web to spread ideas that locally become reality.  The resources this process provides enables us to educate, empower, and enrich others in several ways and on multiple levels. Adding to that, cutting edge authors on topics related to permaculture (the Rosetta Stone of time-tested, mother approved indigenous wisdom), service providers for the transition, real estate opportunities, and more are all possible when you consider this is our home and what happens to one of us is the business of us all. As we do, the Blue Marble Emporium becomes a space for the creation of not just one new world but access to the multiverse to explore.

The most powerful ways we shape the world around us on a daily basis are the economic choices we make, how we spend/invest our time and money. So, while our selection is small our vision is grand, and telling us what you need and how we can fill it is how this small seed grows. Hopefully one day into a healthy vibrant home for all those seeking to leave this world behind. Or leave this world to those who come after in better shape than when we found it, depending on your preference of legacy and your investments today.

The Alaska Solar Tour in 2022 was in many ways the best yet and left everyone looking forward to what happens next. We managed to represent in both Anchorage and Fairbanks, and we had good contrast of systems. From one small residential system to the largest system ever to grace the national tour with a utility scale solar project from the top of the world capable of providing seasonal power to over 70 homes. We were blessed to have local and state leadership speak at related events and in Fairbanks got to here from a Space Foundation teacher liaison as we sought to weave the idea that solar, like all clean energy sources, are built to serve the industrious activities of cities large and small.

We extend a heartfelt thanks to the contributions of state Representative Geran Tarr, FNSB Assembly member Savannah Fletcher, Janice Lynn Park, Lyn Franks, Eric Friend, and Marci Ward, speaking for the Space Foundation. We couldn’t have made this happen without the financial, logistical, and technical support from Alascorp, and Solar Punk Magazine. A special shout out to Tom Delong and John Sloan from the local cooperative GVEA who opened and let us tour the utility scale system, answering questions and helping us see how the light becomes power. Without question, the good food and supportive staff from Pike’s Landing was the cherry on the top of a very sweet Sunday afternoon in October.  Thank you all for it making a great day and marking the calendar for another successful event.

As for what happens next, well, that’s where thing get really exciting! Unknown to many Mrs. Ward has been working for a number of years with the Space Foundation to introduce the next generation to the current generation of astronauts and, often at her own expense, bringing up these inspiring figures every other year.  Also, working diligently in the background, as they all dutifully do, local teacher Beck Hanson has been inspiring her student to engage in the future by adapting elements of the Future City competition hosted, nationally by DiscoverE as a lesson plan for her middle school students.

Although we host the annual solar tour and regenerative planet summits, ARK, essentially is a workforce development group gearing to serve as a component of mainstreaming the regenerative economy. This year we were inspired to put solar in the context of clean homes and green cities as a way to keep moving the future forward.  Drawing on the American Solar Energy Society annual event, the Future City competition, and the Space Foundation we created the Tour of Future Cities. Homes, businesses, schools, roads, infrastructure, industry, and social services can seem overwhelming when looking though a microscope but through a telescope that are all critical components of a cluster of development, we call a city. From a densely populated urban core to the most remote Alaska village, to sustainable, grow, and thrive, they both need culture, commerce, an economic base, and as always, Nature is the force that bring it all together to endure.

Enter Ecodistricts. A method of measuring the metrics that lowers the cost of living and improving the quality of life for all. Utilized as a city planning tool, permaculture is the design science that honors and replicated ancient indigenous wisdom. Through their voluntary protocol, communities large and small can organize and assemble a comprehensive civic strategy for influencing the economic development strategies. This plan of action drives investment priorities with a focus on climate resilience, civic independence, and food sovereignty as the short-term investment that yields the best long-term profits for us and those who come after.

The Future City competition is only open to middle school aged kids and concludes in January. However, the Arctic Innovation Competition is ongoing with submissions due in March and awards given out on Earthday Saturday, April 22^nd. As we get into the swing of annual deadlines for multiple events, we see how the prompt of “how do you see your city in 100 years” is an inspiring question that when incentivized can motivate folks to put their best ideas forward. With a $2000 kicker prize for climate resiliency its sure to get people looking up.

To many the world right now seems dark and divided, the Tour of Future Cities is an opportunity to rise above the partisan politics and divergent goals to find common ground in a clear vision of a positive and peaceful future.

Stay tuned for future events.

Thank you for inviting me here today.

As I step forward and prepare to give the graduation speech to the class of 2050, I think back to all the steps taken that led to this one. At 75, I have seen things change in an instant, like the 9/11 attacks and the election of the first Indigenous woman elected President of the United States, Winona LaDuke, in 2024 as the leader of the Restored Green Party. I recall the many dear friends that made a powerful contribution to the advancement of an enlightened planetary civilization, and those who gave their all, like Jim Thorpe and Mary Peltola, that made it possible for us all to be here today. Hearing my name called interrupts my thoughts and I step up to the microphone.

As I look out into the crowd, my heart swells with pride and hope for a brighter future for Earth, our collective home. As we begin the journey into the great void of space, we must take a moment to recognize those people who got us here. Not just the “famous” people who refused to accept ‘good enough’ was worth settling for, but those heroes in your life who believed in you when you lost faith. Those friends who became family when they lifted you up so you could walk this stage today. Now it is your turn, through your work and ambitions, to lift the next generation up and to be for them the guiding light that someone is for you today. To teach important lessons like fear is nature’s proving ground. Always asking the same question; “Are you ready for what comes next”?

There are two basic responses. In some instances, ‘Forget Everything And Run’ is the only option. As hard as it is to leave everything you have worked so hard for, it is, in the end, only things, and things can be rebuilt. In this instance, choosing to live is passing the test and the resiliency to endure is what makes us and those who come after stronger and wiser from the lived experience.

The other response, the other choice, is to ‘Face Everything And Rise’. Stories of POW’s who with nothing but sheer will and faith endure some of the most horrific atrocities one person can do to another. They understand to die for what you believe in only happens once. To live for what you believe in requires the constant vigilance to principles and purpose that enables you to endure the ridicule, contempt, rage, isolation, and deception of those who only wish they had your integrity or are threatened by your heart. To show compassion to those who have harmed you is the only way to heal from the trauma and help others heal. All these instances are proof of the endurance of the human spirit and our capacity to make the choice every day to rise.

I believe we are spiritual beings having a physical experience and that our purpose here is to learn, love, and leave an enduring legacy. I believe we were created to evolve, that life is an adventure, and the tests we face are the Universe asking with hope “are you ready for what comes next”? I believe Star Trek is the theme of a brighter tomorrow that’s worth pursuing and that the actions we take today are how we can be authors of the script with best hope for the future. Today that hope is you.

The most precious assets we learned to nurture was in ourselves and each other are innovation, compassion, and connection. These tools, when sharpened, shape us each to lead ourselves and inspire each other. That is what we needed to do; choose to rise today and everyday going forward to the challenge of being the next version of our best selves and to inspire those around us to do the same. We endured the storms of the early 21^st century because as the climate changed, so did we. As the planet shifted so did our economy, our culture, and civilization. Alaska leaping forward became the template that allowed the US, as leaders of the fossil free world, to inspire the whole world to rise.

Even today, what surprises me the most is how uncommon, ‘common sense’ really is. A regional perspective is initially inaccessible to a new arrival but often the new way of thinking can be a huge gain for the community, when the insight is welcome. Innovation occurs everyday when the two ‘worlds’ of regional (common) perspective (sense) collide. Often, people simply cannot perceive something until someone new shows them the way. Not an insult to intellect or capacity, but a testament to the grace and beauty that the immigration of new perspective serves to widen, deepen, and enrich the learned lessons of the host.

I’ve had the fortune of meeting a variety of people from one end of the country to the other. Made possible largely by a grandfather who drove semi-trucks and divorced parents who lived a nation apart I was blessed to experience America from the perspective of the workers. I never met anyone of royal blood, social elites, or Hollywood celebrities but I did meet people richer than money could ever buy. I was sheltered and guided by community leaders who held no title or position beyond healer, teacher, and coach. I also was blessed to cross the reservations and on one rare occasion became emersed in indigenous culture as I was, at 10 years old, given a headdress and paraded across the stage at a pow wow with other visitors. From these adventures I learned universal truths that I carry to this day. Money does not give people power. Position does not make one person better than another. Change is made everyday when a single individual shares their heart and mind to light up the world with new ideas.

Growing up on Star Trek, touring blue-collar America, and experiencing widely different cultures gives me appreciation that perspective, that diversity, is what makes this world beautiful and this nation great. Far from perfect, we are called “the great experiment” because we learn from our mistakes and apply those lessons to doing better next time.  We see the past as part of who we are but not the defining characteristic of what we can become.  We also have the intellect and experience to know that facing our fears (individually and collectively) is how we grow stronger and rise together.

My professional journey started nearly fifty years ago, earning a degree in natural resource management and a decade in the emerging renewable energy industry in Portland, Oregon. For the last thirty years I’ve served the Terran people as a certified sustainable building advisor and founder of an educational organization instrumental in mainstreaming the regenerative economy by 2030. Under President LaDuke, permaculture was recognized as a design science that involves our behavior in relation to how we interact with our home and each other. This Rosetta Stone of indigenous wisdom is popular in agriculture as it’s an industry of connection. The way we grow our food is just as important as the way we build our homes, towns, and cities.

The climate crisis was a direct result of the long-term impacts of short-sighted thinking. The way we have built our cities, our cultures, our global system of commerce had started a war between the economy and the environment with people caught in the middle. This divide was the root cause of many of the other conflicts we experienced and the endgame for many of them was to build new cities.

These actions became manifest in the investment of self-determining spaces where local living regenerative economics provide for the essential elements of life equally. Communities where art, language, and culture are nurtured and shared as the generational wealth of nations.

From the ashes of the old, we built a brighter world for us all where intellect and imagination fuel a clean economy of reliable innovation. Where cultural traumas were healed, and the economy of the environment provide relative peace, progress, and prosperity to a people who grew beyond “glorious leaders”. A future where we lead ourselves and inspire each other to explore strange new worlds and seek new limits of the human experience. The rise of a new day where investing in the planet is good for the people and nurturing healthy citizens the most profitable investment.

Many believe the most precious resources the world possesses, is locked in the ground. I would argue without the knowledge, imagination, and motivation of educated people it would still be there. Recognizing that in the advancement of “civilization” we desecrated the culture that was already here, we can use those same pioneering skills to heal old wounds and grow stronger from the sharing. Unlike most of the continental US, Alaska has so many unique characteristics that it can sometimes feel like living on a whole different planet. It is our environment that makes us unique and our people that make us special. Geotourism, aerospace, and data management are just a few of the innovative industries that permitted the people to prosper and Nature to thrive.

We created policies that nurtured the economic environment which propelled our values and principles into the future. We felt “representative governance” was holding us back, so we used the new tools of Magnova to engage directly in the market and set the pace to make the best of what came next. We moved forward by focusing not on what divides us but on what connects us and a trident strategy addressing policy, economics, and social programs provided the perspective to propel innovation past ignorance and the fear of loosing position, power, and profit.

For our part, in 2022 ARK began a metamorphosis of letting go of who we are so that we may become who we were meant to be. This meant a transition from education and advocacy to workforce development and driving investment into local projects that build capacity for resilience. We expanded our corporate board, and established state and regional chapters. To give a big view on our small steps we adopted a global advisory board, the Global Rainbow Congress. We also supported emerging entrepreneurs and inspiring social leaders to earn a living wage by training the next generation of permaculture professionals which led to the mainstream global adoption of the regenerative economy in 2030-ending the global crisis.

As the late Michael Jackson once wrote, “I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways”.  ARK launched the Butterfly Renaissance as a social program that acknowledges we can’t build an intelligent civilization without providing the education that nurtures critical thinkers. We didn’t need to teach kids ‘what’ to think, but ‘how’ to think because truth is universal and we needed to give them the skills and tools to tackle new and exciting challenges, like interplanetary colonization, by breaking the old cycles of consumption, exploitation, and conflict. It built on the decades of work of groups like the Global Ecovillage Network, the Venus Project, and Moneyless Society to focus on ways to provide support for people in transition, to help them locate, or build their own communities. From these healing places the power of the people grew, first in the garden (eradicated hunger), then in the neighborhoods (eradicated homelessness), and then ultimately in the markets to influence policy.

We began by bringing professionals from around the globe and getting their input on the Good Jobs for a Green World framework which became our core business model. Because we believe, in a green world all jobs are good. The premise of the program was we used to spend roughly fifty thousand dollars a year to keep a person in jail or to deal with them being on the street for a year. We asked, why not take that money, and invest it on the front end? Engage individuals when they are re-entering society and invest a year and the same amount in their individual health as an indicator of our cultural wealth. Aerospace, geotourism, green building, electric vehicles, drones, health care, and agronomics were all on the list of viable careers that paid a base living wage of $50K or more.

Hemp, hydrogen, and healthcare. Those were the policy research components of the Restored Green Movement. With over one hundred and fifty environmental organizations working over the last sixty years, one might wonder why it took so long to face the global climate crisis. It would seem a matter of common sense that the environmental movement and the groups promoting environmental policies would be working together.  Under president LaDuke we recognized that in examining all the political party’s bylaws environmental stewardship is a key principle that rarely became a platform.  The Libertarians don’t have specific language but “being responsible with your liberties” is a great statement of stewardship and the planet is solid common ground to stand together on.

The other programs we promoted were all solutions to smaller pieces of the bigger picture that spelled out how we moved from global consumption to local production. How we ended the stigma that kept Nature illegal while promoting a culture of addiction. Most importantly we sought options that provided educational opportunities to pioneering spirits that empowered individuals and enriched the communities where they live. We came here because the kindness of others who lifted us up and we are here to pay it forward. People helping people is how we make the world a better place and lifting each other up is how we all rise together. One people, one planet, one purpose: to thrive in perpetuity became the dream of a new America, leaders of the fossil-free world.

Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy or CEDS is the term used to describe city planning. EcoDistricts was the development protocol, adopted worldwide, that holds the space for people around a project or place and guides them through the process of creating together the metrics to measure which lower the costs of living and equitably improves the quality of life for all. For two decades, ARK helped organized two annual events that engaged people where they are at and used innovation to inspire folks to learn how to use the tools to be the change they want to see in the world. With help from the Climate Reality Project and Earthday the events went national. That brought the focus of local investing into the scope of leading the world forward.

The first means we cultivated to bring about change was through the Regenerative Planet Summit. In 2012 we held our first event focusing on vertical farming, permaculture from the first nations experience, and economic solutions to environmental challenges. In 2021 we rolled with the times and held a virtual three-day event, covering community organizing in the big cities, the small rural villages, and in space. We even had former Minnesota Governor, Jesse Ventura as the keynote. This space was reserved for the celebration of community and the human element of making change. Anchored around Earth Day we ended up spending a whole week sharing all the good things happening in the world with workshops to replicate locally.

The second is what came to be known as the Tour of Future Cities. The American Solar Energy Society and their national event had been an anchor for our existence in the community and a focus of much of our activism. Showcasing homes and businesses that have adopted clean technologies and green building practices these self-guided tours were a big kid’s field trip.

Seeking inspiration from the Future City and Arctic Innovation competitions, Ecodistricts, Earthday, the Climate Reality Project, and the Space Foundation put energy into the focus of strategic planning and drawing connections between a residential and utility scaled system. Kick-off events coordinated globally provided the world community a chance to gather and hear from local leadership on how together we move forward and rise to the challenges of the day. Because of this, today Earth Day is more popular than the Superbowl.

We introduced the Future City Alaska competition and encouraged the next generation of permaculture professionals to step forward.  Even today from grade school through college youth leaders are building on a writing assignment, a diorama, and a presentation to engage in cross generational modeling where pretty pictures become projects that get pitched to investors as places people someday will live work and play. This event in the first weekend of October became a regular demonstration of technology and energy solutions that enables the human element to free their minds for higher pursuits.

When we run from fear we are swept along in the current of inevitable change. However, when we rise to face it, we choose to navigate the options to grow. Growth is the purpose of life and while the result will not be anything like what we picture it, but efforts to look up, to see a brighter day before the dawn is how personal leadership inspires a people to rise. Today is the greatest opportunity you will ever have to become the next version of your best selves, and as you pioneer a new direction for all of humanity, you will be giving hope to all who come after.

To the 2050 graduating class of Starfleet Academy, here in the newly completed Luna City at the south pole of the Moon, the real question is, are YOU ready for what comes next?

I leave you today with a simple poem that always inspires me to see fear as the chance to face everything and rise.

Rise

By Robert Shields

When you can’t back down, and you can’t bow out,

All you can do is rise!

When you can’t step away, and you can’t stand down,

All you can do is rise!

When you can’t let go, that you know what you know,

All you can do is rise!

As a child growing up outside of Spokane, Washington in the 50’s, with depression era parents, I learned and saw many things that are being wisely revisited today. We grew and stored most of our family of four’s food needed. My Dad hunted, deer, elk, pheasant, grouse, and of course fished.  Mom and I canned peaches, pears, apricots, cherries, applesauce. We made jams and jellies, we froze rhubarb, and huckleberries depending on what was in season. Our garden was what is now popularized as ‘organic’; we just called it ‘real’ using composted garden waste and manure from nearby farm and our rabbits. We used everything, we saved everything. Having, lost faith in the American Medical Association long ago, I have been grateful for my skills as a wild crafter that has allowed me to forage and grow my own food and medicine.

When Robert first approached me with his concept for ARK it was easy to get on board… it just made sense to me. Thirty or so years ago there was a “back to nature” movement that is seeing a revival. As inhabitants of the earth, it should be our individual and collective, first and foremost focus to be good steward of the earth. To take care of her, and each other, so she can continue to take care of us. Over the last decade I have watched the organization, and Robert grow and find solid footing on a path to help us all move forward together. While we had the comfort of supporting bold decisions from the board room, Robert was out every day meeting people where they are at in search of the common ground on which to build.

By recycling what we use, by returning what we take, by wisely using the abundance Mother Earth provides for us we honor the gift of life and pass along an enduring legacy. While not ready to be recycled just yet I have sold my land in Fox and am preparing for my next adventure of reconnecting with family and friends and seeing our great nation. My time in Alaska has been amazing as has been my time serving as a board member for ARK. In this new era of humanities journey, I am confident that there is a path forward for us beyond this collective crisis of consciousness and honored to have been a part of this something special.