An update from me with LOTS of love

This one was a tough story to write. I have made the difficult decision to move on from my role as Head of Community Engagement at World Pulse. My journey began as a quiet community member in 2011, and spanned the full course of a powerful journey: In this window of 15 years, I have been a Voices of the Future participant, an Impact Leader, a two-time Spirit Award winner, a Digital Ambassador, a Mentor, a member and later facilitator of the Powershift Inclusive Excellence (PIE) committee, the Head of Training, and lastly, Head of Community Engagement. I still remember discovering World Pulse out of a chance encounter through a UN Volunteering engagement, and I remember my first story - “The Broken Taj Mahal.” The outpouring of love and care that the story evoked in the community has since never dimmed, and has only strengthened me. What a journey this has been!

Difficult as it was to take this decision, I do remain clear that it's the right time now for me to move onto my next opportunity - as a PhD candidate at Utrecht University and as a practitioner in the Privacy Law and AI Governance spaces, do always know and remember that I remain in deep service to the sense of community and solidarity we share at World Pulse. It was an honour to have worked with a powerful team since the day I started on this side of the table as staff - Ana Lozano, Corine Milano, Dawn Arteaga, Dr Jasmine Linabary, Jensine Larsen, Krizelle Manzano, Lourdes Rivas, Manasa Ram Raj, Martha Lawrence, Moutushi De, Tiffani Hutton, Vaishnavi Pallapothu, and Zulma Miranda. I have had the opportunity to engage with so many of you even more deeply through PIE - Karen, Jill, EJ, Urmila, Tamarack, Paulina, Busayo, Arrey, Sabina baaji, Sherna, Sally, Jeanine, Shadia, Ruth, Anum, Kabahenda, and Eunice. I’ve also had a powerful few years reflecting with all of you in our live events, together, and to see the community grow each day has been nothing short of thrilling.

It is this spirit of community that I deeply value, cherish, and respect, and have learned from immensely. As World Pulse charts new journeys in a world where chaos and violence reign freely, I know that this digital oasis will hold up a beautiful, gentle, and courageous space inside the interwebs, waiting to nurture silenced and unheard voices with open arms. Each of you are vital to this ecosystem, and have built a virtual microcosm that is far too rare and precious. Stewarding your leadership journeys, holding space for all of you virtually through live events, checking in on as many of you as possible every day filled my heart with plenty, and I am grateful for all of it. Since the inception, my hope and dream was to follow in the footsteps of those before me - the amazing Dawn Arteaga, especially - in finding meaningful ways to acknowledge and celebrate the leadership that makes this thriving community what it is, and to creatively nurture, recognize, and celebrate these journeys. Your wisdom, participation, and creativity in the journey ahead will be so profoundly valuable. I trust the World Pulse team under Lourdes’ leadership to center your wisdom, vision, and values every step of the way.