Last year Ode launched its first annual Intelligent Optimists Issue where we featured people who are not famous yet but should be because of the work they are doing to bring positive change to their communities, their countries, and the world. As part of this special issue, we would like to hear your nominations, too: tales of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Just tell us who your nominee is and write a few lines explaining why this person is special and why their work is important. Nominate your favorite Intelligent Optimist!
Dr. Gordon is a phychiatrist who started the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. He has been working all over the world in places where large numbers of people are experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from wars, such as in Kosovo, Israel, Gaza, New York after 9/11, and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
He is teaching hundreds of health care workers a very effective model of stress management in his Mind-Body Medicine Skills trainings. They in turn are going into the communities and working with the sufferers of PTSD. His research results are showing an 80% decrease in PTSD symptoms after the training. He is also training Cancer Guides who work collaboratively with people with cancer to create safe, effective, humane, individualized programs of care. Read more...
I could not describe this. I could no more describe this than I could describe what it is to be alive. Farland is a creature who embodies positive change; her whole being revolved and evolves in this direction. She flits between worlds, living off the land and traversing the country with her dogs and her love and her ability to see beauty, and to find a home, wherever she is. She is not an ambassador of life, but the very spirit of it.
Farland is an inspiration. She lives in a tiny hand-hewn cabin outside Moab; she gathers her own food and collects only the water she needs. She tends to children and animals with the intensity of attention and fierce caring of a four-legged mother. She's politically active but her campaigning is secondary to her enactment of what the world could be: she lives out her beliefs and her persuasiveness is not that of an elegant orator but of someone living a life of such integrity that it's impossible not to want the same. She has touched more lives than she could ever know, and she allows herself to be touched by them. Read more...
The employees at Greenfeet.com wish to nominate Valerie Reddemann as our favorite intelligent optimist. Valerie is the founder and president of Greenfeet.com, an internet retailer founded in 1997. Valerie started the company in her home, motivated by the idea of sustainability. Her vision is to bring quality, eco-friendly products and ideas into the peoples’ homes, no matter where they are on the "path" to green living. She envisions the business as a forum for spreading the word about sustainability.
She is a well-respected woman in the notably sustainable community of Chico, CA and has recently won the title of “2008 Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for the Chico Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business recognition program. Valerie is a regular speaker at community and corporate events, and she guests on television and radio to inform and inspire people to investigate alternatives to the norm. She has volunteered for the Barry R. Kirschner Wildlife Foundation for years, a non-profit organization dedicated to Education and Conservation. She created and co-hosts a weekly podcast called "More Hip Than Hippie" which reaches listeners around the world. This year, she partnered with TerraPass to offset the carbon generated by Greenfeet's shipping, without passing the cost to the customer. She also joined with Ebay's "World of Good" Fair Trade shopping site, which recently launched with much fanfare. Read more...
Johan is a Montessori primary teacher. He works at an urban Montessori school in Cleveland, OH. Johan has dedicated his life to bring education to children of all socio-economic backgrounds. He enters the classroom before 7AM each morning and doesn't leave until well after 5PM each night. He spends hours planning, preparing and creating work that will inspire and delight the children, to encourage each one to reach their full potential.
Johan is a one in a million teacher and my daughter has been forever blessed by having him as her guide for 4 years. He has drawn out all of Antoinette's amazing capabilities. That is why I would nominate Johan as an Intelligent Optimist. Read more...
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist who had a stroke of her own 12 years ago. She was not only able to fully recover, but also to eloquently describe her experience of the stroke through her background as a brain scientist. Her book, Stroke of Insight, is a fascinating and inspiring take on human existence, spirituality, health, and vitality.
As he emerged from the subway 20 minutes late for work due to a decision to have a birthday breakfast with his infant daughter, Mike Jaffe could not have predicted that his life was about to change forever. Seeing the plane slam into the offices on the very floor where he worked, Mike Jaffe stood on the streets of New York City while the world erupted into smoke and flames. In the days that followed, the realization of his near miss death caused many hours of long reflection on his life and his dedication to his job.
More than the understanding of his own potential for a “Wake Up Call,” Mike knew he had to help others live an authentic life based on pursuit of their life goals to honor his many friends lost in the tragedy of 9/11. In the seven years since, Mike has touched thousands of people through Jaffe Life Design (www.jaffelifedesign.com) and inspired them to rewrite their tomorrow (www.rewriteyourtomorrow.com) by changing their lives today. Read more...
Eve Anderson is a holistic healer who has been healing people successfully from all kinds of disease or trouble for the past 6 years. She created a healing method back in 2002, one of a kind, for karma clearing, longevity, perfection on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.
She has the ability to instantly remove karmic blocks in our life, which in turn activates the genes and strands in our DNA in millions which is the key for longevity and perfection. Read more...
Joi Gordon is chief executive officer of Dress for Success Worldwide, an international grassroots organization that has provided professional attire, mentoring, support and career development tools to more than 450,000 disadvantaged women since 1997.
Joi is a visionary, cheerleader, and tireless advocate responsible for overseeing an affiliate network that now spans 87 cities in 5 countries. She is responsible for strengthening the Dress for Success brand, implementing innovative programming and developing collaborative relationships with corporations, foundations and individuals who share the organization’s mission. Read more...
Frank Stewart is a founding editor of the international literary journal MANOA. Published twice a year since 1989, the magazine is now one of the most highly regarded literary journals in the U.S. and has done groundbreaking work in the field of publishing.
For example, in 2004 it produced In the Shadow of Angkor in 2004, described at the journal's website as follows: "Published twenty-five years after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge regime, In the Shadow of Angkor captures the resurgence of the Cambodian arts community and its efforts to restore a rich literary heritage. In many of the works, the artists defy the decimation of their brothers and sisters by the Khmer Rouge, as well as the attempt to erase Cambodia's memory of its history. The range of expression is impressive: the volume includes poetry, short story, film, rap lyrics, and essays, plus interviews with authors and a portfolio of photographs of Cambodia." Read more...
Dr. Bruce Charash, is a leading Cardiology and Internal Medicine specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City - and one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. While long committed to social causes, Dr. Charash was inspired by a call to action from President Clinton to put his passions into practice.
His stature, connections, drive, and must-do spirit have been the driving forces behind the creation of an organization, Doc to Dock, that collects unused excess basic medical supplies from US hospitals and provides them to clinics in developing nations. Read more...
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