Rarely in this life are we able to do professional work that has direct impact on our communities, on the core technical infrastructure of the internet and also on the direction of our future financial instruments. Even more rare…to do such powerful work with a group of humans who are essentially family.

Chaos. We are all dealing with some level of perpetual and unpredictable chaos— in our societal, personal and professional lives. For those of us working in emerging technological fields that are pushing the regulatory and monetary boundaries on policies that society has lived by for centuries, the chaos has multiple layers we can not predict or strategize our ways out of.

We face a perfect storm of chaos, as a collective, that is in our face every single day. One need only open their news app and bear witness to a new reality of perpetual weather disasters as Mother Nature rebels against the pain we’ve inflicted upon the planet we call home.

I had the immense honor to speak at the Transformative Impact Summit this past weekend. To be in a room filled with change makers from around the globe at some of the most amazing organizations in web2 and web3 was a dream and I am filled with gratitude for those who supported my ability to attend this talk and for those who invited me to speak.

JournoDAO attended the ONA23 conference last week to talk about two core missions of our DAO; 1) how decentralization and blockchain can help protect the industry from the waves of AI disinformation filling our timelines and 2) how do we restore journalism at the local level using decentralized technology stacks to protect our communities from the perilous impacts of news deserts. After having just spent the summer in Paris, post ETHCC and ETHGlobal Paris, and being accustomed to ETH conferences, filled with Bufficorns, ping pong tables and puppy lounges, the difference was dramatic. And hilarious.

I recently concluded a 30 year adventure in academia and obtained an undergraduate degree in Yoga. I know, it’s as strange to type that as it was to experience it. The TL;DR is that about every 10 years, I return to academia for a few years and study something that I’m passionate about. The first round was outdoor recreation, the second round was photojournalism and political science and the third round-- yoga with a minor in religion. The say I’m a lifelong learner is a gross understatement.

Seeing the brilliance of my colleagues and our work together manifest in beautiful containers where the brightest minds of web3 could come together and build was beyond gratifying.

Let’s face it. Shit’s gettin’ real-- fast.

Community surrounds us at all times. But how often do we, in the technical world, turn to our IRL communities and find the humanity we need? I ask this question because prior to returning to school and finding my own belonging in a contemplative academic/spiritual community that gathers during the school year in person, I was at a loss for a solid IRL community.