Global Sustainability Summits

All over the world we can find Summits on Sustainability. Just in Sydney and my favorite town, Durham, NC there are two strong examples happening this week. What drove me to write this immediately rather than study Finance was the amazing mention of Australian Transition Towns within Durham's Summit on the New Green Economy. My very existence is reinforced by this connection, and I feel like I'm in the right place at the right time.

The United States Study Center at the University of Sydney is holding a National Summit entitled "Sustainable Globalisation: Will it Survive the GFC?" My short answer for them is YES, but if you check out their website at www.ussc.edu.au/national-summit/ you'll see a long list of Speakers and a link to an even longer list on their Summit Program page.


The event is sponsored in part by the Economist, the Macquarie Group, and an academic partnership with the Harvard University Committee on Australian Studies. It's all so awesome. I wish I could go but I have class and some worthwhile AGSM Diversity Week activities to attend.

Meanwhile on the other side of the globe in my home away from home is the Summit on the New Green Economy in Durham, North Carolina. If you read the list of speakers at this event, they are giving the National Summit in Sydney a run for their money! The event is sponsored and organized by SJF Ventures, a Socially Responsible Venture Capital fund managed between offices in New York, NY and Durham, NC. That is amazing news. With the Full Frame Film Festival in Durham every year sponsored by the New York Times, half of New York shows up every spring. I invite this wholeheartedly. I think half of New York should outsource their operations to Durham. People are starting to figure it out!


SJF is a visionary leader providing venture capital to companies that share their ethics. They have a list of case studies on their site. Don't be surprised to find my work on that list some day! Between Durham and Sydney there is a wealth of resources I am discovering more everyday. Sustainable Sydney 2030 has been my mantra, and through the network of Creative Catalysts coming out of the woodwork during Vivid Sydney, the social resource available is overwhelming.


I will continue to surround myself with the reality that I believe in, and in time find my footing for a giant leap.