where I've beenwhere I'm going

So tell me, are we way past the point in the life-cycle of blogs where the reader, not having seen a new post in weeks, has decided it's not worth visiting the blog anymore?

I hope not. Then again, you're reading this so maybe I have some ground to stand on.

I've been away for quite a while, and have let the messages pile up on my cyber doorstep. I apologize to those who left their thoughts.

I changed jobs in June and moved cities to boot and that has been quite an adjustment. Add to that, the curse of "saying I will start a series" which, invariably, makes me stumble on posting regularly.


Where I've been

I've been working on physical plans at a much smaller, though just as interesting scale. I felt I needed to get back to my design roots and thought a stint in campus planning would satisfy that need.

But the move also shifted me slightly off my focus of livable cities, and though I kept up with the news - I was not as immersed in it which probably is one of the reasons for the dearth in posts.

Well, all that is about to change...


Where I'm going

Then, the Rockefeller Foundation called. We talked.

Here's more about them:

The work of the Rockefeller Foundation for the 21st Century is to enable 'smart globalization.' It attempts to harness the creative forces of globalization to ensure that the tools and technologies that have significantly improved the human condition in many parts of the world during the past half century are accessible today to more people, more fully, in more places.

The foundation focuses its work on five, interlocking issues and one of them is rapid urbanization.

What do they want to accomplish, particularly in my field? They want to address...

...the risks of accelerating urbanization - shaping efforts in planning, finance, infrastructure, and governance to manage a world in which, for the first time in history, more people live in urban communities than rural ones.

I liked the challenge they posed. They liked what they saw in me. They made an offer and I've accepted. I start work with them in November and will be serving as Associate Director for Urban Development and I'll be working on the challenges of urbanization worldwide.

Let me repeat that, to shake my own disbelief at how I've found a home for my passion.

I will be working to find solutions and shape efforts
in planning, finance, infrastructure, and governance
to manage a world in which, for the first time in history,
more people live in urban communities than rural ones.

Let me step back and say, "Wow!" Sorry. This is a defining moment for me.

And have I told you how they work?

• We seek and support work that sparks innovation, fresh approaches to problems and their resolutions.


• We work across and between disciplines, bridging the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.


• We bring diverse people and parties together and engage them in meaningful alliances.


• We search for and work with partners to leverage as many elements as possible to maximize opportunities for success.


• We work to strengthen individual, institutional, and community capacity — empowering more people in more places to build and maintain better lives and futures.


• We strive to stay nimble and agile. Almost all of our work is selected because the Foundation sees an opportunity to break a bottleneck, surface a new issue or reframe an old one, take advantage of a current or coming tipping point, or expand a proven solution in concert with others.


• The Foundation vigorously and regularly measures impact and outcomes. Our initiatives specify clear time frames, identify anticipated results, and require monitoring and evaluation. This does not mean that we expect to solve the world’s thorniest problems overnight. It does mean that Foundation-supported work defines hypotheses, articulates both short- and longer-term objectives, foresees and adapts to changing circumstances, and fully integrates verifiable methods of assessing progress.

Wow!

As they say in the old time world of Komiks, "Abangan ang susunod na kabanata."