Get Melissa into Gore's Corps!

I am delighted to announce that my application to join Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in Los Angeles at the end of August was accepted!  Attendees cover their own travel costs, so I must fundraise.  Although this part of the work is out of my comfort zone, the rest of it is what I was born for, so here I go….

Here is why I think sending me to be trained by Gore and his team is a worthy investment:

•  If we don’t address the unfolding climate crisis -  NOW - we are leaving a nightmare for our own offspring and serious survival threats, if not complete species extinction, for their near descendants. (Unless you doubt the predictions of the same climate scientists who predicted the changes in weather and climate we’re already witnessing.  Even those experts are surprised by the rapidity with which things are progressing, and alarmed by the unforeseen, catastrophic domino effects starting to unfold).
  
  
• WE CAN TOTALLY SOLVE THIS.  It actually isn't all that hard – as numerous scientists and activists and leaders like Al Gore and Paul Hawken keep showing us: we have all the knowledge, tech, and resources needed.  What we lack are enough messengers capable of getting enough folks motivated to take action in time, and community educators and leaders equipped to help guide the way.
  
  
• I have a proven track record of being really good at getting folks to listen, consider, and be inspired to act on tough issues, even when acting was really hard or inconvenient. I also have experience providing facilitation and leadership for projects, programs, volunteers, entire organizations, and the small communities they serve and create (I ran a national NPO for most of my 30's and 40's).  And I have been deeply called to the battle to help enough of us awaken and get active  in time to avert disaster. 

Al Gore has been in action addressing climate change since before most of us even realized how critical it would become.  His Corps training  "takes great leaders and makes them exceptional, providing training in climate science, communications, and organizing to better tell the story of climate change and inspire communities everywhere to act."  

If you agree this training sounds like  someplace I should be, then please make a contribution towards getting me there!

$1,500 is the minimum, a little more gives some breathing room.  Any excess raised will be applied towards incubating and developing the outcomes – the materials and presentations and other acts of leadership that the training asks attendees to commit to enacting.

If you want to maximize your contribution by avoiding transaction fees being deducted and you have a Paypal account linked to your bank account you can use the "send money to friends and family" option to send directly to me using paypal@criticalMAS.net (note there is only one S in MAS, and it is .net, not .com).

If anyone wants to be a super patron and make a donation in the amount of $300 or more to really ramp things up, you get music as a thank you! Avi (my career musician husband) will play a one hour house concert of original music (your place or ours) for you and your guests, or, two hours of live music at the function or event of your choosing.  

And if an angel pops in to make a donation of  $500 or more,  we'll offer a free livestream public concert for everyone! 

  With fondest regards and great appreciation,

PS - For those who don't know me personally, my accomplishments include a Fulbright in cultural anthropology (ie, the study of how we humans create meaning and then conduct ourselves accordingly),  and serving as the visionary leader behind a federally funded, small but groundbreaking, non profit organization.  The latter involved some legislative work, lots of community building, speaking and teaching all across the country for the better part of two decades, and frequent interviews with major media outlets (such as CNN, Today Show, LA Times, WA Post, The Atlantic, People Magazine, and more).  My work was considered compelling enough for a textbook published by the University of Carolina Press to devote two chapters to it, and I once, to my great surprise, heard Sanjay Gupta quoting me on CNN while calling my ideas "very interesting." My conference workshop evaluation scores were also consistently the highest possible, with folks not infrequently writing in values higher than the scale allowed and offering superlative comments to express their opinion on my ability to deliver interesting and effective workshops, trainings, and keynotes. Colleagues called my contribution to the cause for which I advocated  "revolutionary" and "paramount." I share this not to brag, but to explain why there is reason to believe I am an effective public speaker and cause advocate! We are all called to bring our biggest gifts and talents to the battle against climate change and human stupidity, and this is what I have to offer.  Some people also find me "funny and refreshingly irreverent."  Most recently I have been facilitating the Pachamama Alliance's Awaken the Dreamer, Change the Dream symposium and Game Changer Intensive, and was a speaker at VanTalks, a local Ted style event, speaking about the role of "story" in the climate crisis.