2020 Foresight

When Alchemy calls me, where will I be? How will I be in a position to help? It is pretty hard to say; my life is on no particular trajectory right now, except that I want to maybe have kids at some point in the next ten years. But, if I start in the future and examine my path, maybe I can piece it together.

I know that Alchemy has called me as a social innovator to help solve a food crisis. So... what kind of social innovation am I likely to be involved in? Currently, I have studied and am likely to have degrees in Mass Media and Public Policy Economics, but I have no interest in a career in the mass media. State and local government appeals to me, but nothing too high profile. Some things I am interested in are issues of immigrants and refugees, gardening and urban food production, entrepreneurship, and issues of girls and women, especially health and reproductive rights. My skills include organizing, business planning, and communication.

I think it is likely that in 10 years, I will have experience bringing all these together. I think my area of expertise will be to help immigrants and refugees integrate into new communities through programs that help them improve their cities and neighborhoods. I want to organize a program that teaches skills needed to start businesses, and also to grow and exchange food, through helping others. (this might be two parallel organizations). This will not only give them a knowledgeable community that can support their endeavors, and training in essential skills, but the kick start of a team of volunteers to help them with the initial work of whatever their enterprise may be. I would like it to be a continuous program that keeps adding value, keeping people involved and covering all angles of the issue, from advocating for themselves with the government via the democratic system, to technichal issues, to communication skills and doing further research on their own.

I will also be active in my own community organizations advocating for issues that are important.

Having launched these organizations, they will be self supporting in 2020, and I will have a few protoges who will be able to take over my work so I can help out in Tokyo. My family will miss me, but will be busy themselves and able to handle things. I will be an enigmatic figure, admired by many, but out of the spotlight. It will be hard to pin down exactly what I have done, since the stand out accomplishments of my career are the spectacular triumphs of others. Nevertheless, I have a reputation that draws from the mystery, and from the testimony of those who have worked with me.