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Joseph A. Boyd posted a message.
Sep
16
Sep 16, 2023 at 3:37 PM

Happy Birthday Marc.
Joe Boyd

Joseph A. Boyd posted a message.
Aug
01
Aug 01, 2023 at 10:52 AM

Happy birthday Frank. Hope all is well.
Joe Boyd

David Thoenen changed his "Now" picture.
Apr
20
Apr 20, 2023 at 11:57 AM
Gail Hadley Rodney added a photo to her profile gallery.
Apr
18
Apr 18, 2023 at 10:40 AM
Gail Hadley Rodney changed her "Now" picture.
Apr 18, 2023 at 10:40 AM
Gail Hadley Rodney added a photo to her profile gallery.
Apr 18, 2023 at 10:29 AM
Gail Hadley Rodney added a photo to her profile gallery.
Apr 18, 2023 at 10:28 AM
Gail Hadley Rodney changed her "Now" picture.
Apr 18, 2023 at 10:27 AM
Gail Hadley Rodney added a photo to her profile gallery.
Apr 18, 2023 at 10:21 AM
Gail Hadley Rodney added a photo to her profile gallery.
Apr 18, 2023 at 9:49 AM
David Cohen posted a message. New comment added.
Apr
13
Apr 13, 2023 at 11:32 AM

Posted on: Apr 11, 2023 at 7:48 PM

I closed my Los Angeles practice for good in June of 2020, and since then have been in semi-"retirement" in the little desert town of Joshua Tree, California with my wife of 43 years, Carolyn. I feel like I'm working harder than ever, but that's probably because I've slowed down a bit. I count myself incredibly fortunate to still be doing what I love at this age.

David Thoenen posted a message.
Mar 08, 2023 at 4:41 PM

My birthday has been a well kept secret. That's OK with me but over the years I've wondered ...

Gail Hadley Rodney posted a message. New comment added.
Feb 19, 2023 at 1:53 AM

Posted on: Jan 01, 2023 at 5:48 PM

Happy Birthday Hal! It all seems so long ago that we travelled to Tennessee for that orientation! But it turned out to be a formative experience for me that lasted 15 months.

David Cohen posted a message.
Jun 10, 2022 at 1:41 PM

Yay

David Thoenen posted a message. New comment added.
Nov 21, 2021 at 1:14 PM

Posted on: Nov 20, 2021 at 3:16 PM

I'm taking a pause in the chaos of my life to add a bit of updated information to the item in our most recent class note regarding my involvement with an NGO operating in Afghanistan, Ascend - Leadership through Athletics. Since mid August Ascend has been working literally around the clock to extricate our Ascend family from Afghanistan.

First the numbers. To date Ascend operations have brought 130 + members of its community out of Afghanistan. While evacuation operations will continue, the emphasis now shifts to resettlement of those in transit. Twenty have arrived in their new home in Ireland. The first nineteen of twenty-nine are resettled in Chile. Five have transitioned from US care in Abu Dhabi to Germany. Four of eight are now in Denmark. Currently twenty are in US resettlement facilities in the US with more to follow. Others are in transit in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan. A little over three months (a lifetime) ago Ascend was delivering women's empowerment programming in Kabul. Since then an awesome team of staff and international volunteers has worked seven by twenty four, managing a global migration of young women to new homes. Truly remarkable transition!

Reality check. Take a long look at the photo and think about it. I find it moving. These girls have just disembarked in Abu Dhabi. They are so much more than numbers to celebrate. They are teenagers just like your grand kids or the kids living down the street from you. Two are only fifteen. They and their families have made excruciatingly difficult decisions. Two days before getting on the evacuation flight in Mazar they said good bye to their homes and families not knowing if they would ever see them again. Their courage is mind boggling. It was the promise of a future free of Taliban brutality and an opportunity to acquire education and live as free women that motivated them to accept challenges that will test that courage. Their faith in Ascend gave them the strength to commit to a promising future. They are remarkable.

Ascend's strategic plan for 2022-2023 is emerging. Revised programming will continue in Afghanistan. The objective of the empowerment of Afghan women and commitment to Ascend's mission there remains unchanged. The board of directors will also be considering options for exporting the Ascend model to other countries with similar cultural characteristics (and mountains!) to Afghanistan. And the Ascend programming model is likely to be applied in refugee communities with one country already establishing a prototype organization. And the beat goes on!

The Taliban are in Kabul. That's one reality that Ascend will respond to. A more universal reality is that girls and women globally face challenges where the leadership skills that Ascend enables can be brought to bear. That's what Ascend is all about.