“Things don’t have the be the way they are. In much of the world, we manage to take care of people pretty reasonably well. This is the wealthiest nation in human history, we can do it here too.” -Colleen Shaddox (Cohort 1)

"These stories highlight that 'freedom' to enter into this country is rarely free - in particular for people of color. Whether refugee or undocumented, there is a price that many have paid by the deeply distressing and disturbing experiences they have endured..."

"...We mistakenly ascribe external, physical attributes as prerequisites for leadership – things like gender (generally, male), education (MBA), height (tall), race (white), family background (you get the idea). This is a very biased – and ineffective – way of choosing leaders. And we are suffering for it."

“…on the surface, most Americans abhor hurtful bias. But when we pay attention, we can see that we are all guilty.”

"If we really wanted to have an honest discussion about what matters most to our silent generation, I have seven areas to focus our attention on..."

"...we must renew and reaffirm our uniquely American commitment as a nation of immigrants with zest, pride and humane values..."

Reflections from the year on core value priorities: love, collaboration, family, honesty, contribution, wellness, truth-telling, listening, presence, liberation, trustworthiness, equity, joy, creativity, peace, justice, belonging, community, civic engagement, service, tolerance, empathy, integrity and beyond.

"...Not only are we afraid to talk about ‘race,’ we are also unwilling to listen - really listen - to each other, and open ourselves to being transformed by someone else’s perspective on what ‘race’ is or means, based on life experience that is different from our own..."

“It is an advocacy that I cannot support, having grown past my bubble, talked to the people I affected, read more widely, and realized the necessary impact my actions had on people I never wanted to harm...”