Civilizations are defined by the stories they tell and the myths they invent and imagine. I have long been interested in where stories come from and increasingly which ones get told and why. I have been a teacher, a producer, facilitator and builder of network communities. My passion is in creating platforms for ideas and artists that delve and dwell in those irrepressible moments when a question takes on a life of its own. And becomes unstoppable.

I want to be part of a community that crosses over from business to art and from art into action action. A community that embraces hybrid vogor and nurtures connective tissue. A community that crosses over from artist to activist, from teacher to artist, from theory to practice, from idea to inquiry. From listening to seeing and from wondering to not needing to know.

At INVESTING IN MEDIA THAT MATTERS we gathered to redefine how stories get told and invest in media that matters. We said the story always come first and that "media that matters" is not driven by political and social issues but that if inside the story we also had an insight, or left understanding a political dilemna or social issue in a new or more accurate way we would succeed. We said that storytelling must be as be as big and as hopeful and as full of complexity and invitation as life itself. That left us lots of room for self expression and leverage as investors. Because we can make choices by investing in content or as a part of portfolio.

We acknowledged that our first job was to leave the world of downwardly spirally conversations about what is wrong with Hollywood, television, media conglomerations and unfair distribution and invent a new possibilities and market within the marketplace. Our marketplace will be measured and defined by its ability to help important stories get told and its commitment to existing and emerging voices. Our success will be defined by how we curating and celebrate the stories that emerge from the voices. And that how we celebrate and market those voices and stories is also the secret to how we we will grow and sustain the marketplace. As we gathered and listened we concluded that a large percentage of investing must be allocated for existing infrastructure or when necessary new platforms that will incubate, support, give sanction and distribute media that matters.

In return we should expect stories who give us something to hold onto and a reasonable return on our investments. Stories who make us see ourselves in one another and an investment community that will help us find each other. These will be stories who introduce us to the unfamiliar and help us remember our own familiar. Stories that will help the next generation understand from whence they came. Stories that help us find our way home and each other.

I want to be part of the new marketplace for ideas by producing media that matters and investing in platforms for stories to be told. At the the end of my life I hope to have asked questions that made a difference and told stories that invited others to see new possibilities for themselves and our world.