I am one of those people who loves volunteering. It makes me feel good especially when the work being done is valuable and important. Relocating over the summer meant losing touch with the volunteer work I had been involved with in one town and having to cultivate new opportunities in another.
I had the good fortune of happening upon an amazing organization called the Institute for Humane Education(IHE). I first happened upon it while helping the man friend with his job hunt. IHE was looking for a new Executive Director. Neither of us had heard of IHE before, and we were surprised to learn it was right in our backyard. It seemed interesting. But, like so many things, I promptly forgot about it.
A few weeks later I was lucky enough to have my place of work, another amazing non profit doing important work, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, send me to TEDxDirigo. The founder of IHE was one of the speakers at this event. How funny! I had no idea this organization existed and then twice in as many weeks it came across my radar. Little did I know what would come of it.
Zoe Weil is an amazing woman and a passionate advocate for humane education. Her talk was inspiring and energizing. I was chomping at the bit to get involved. We spoke briefly in between presentations and agreed to talk more what I could do.
I met with Zoe at her lovely home on the coast of Downeast Maine. We had a wonderful conversation sipping tea in her living room surrounded by her dogs. The more I learned about IHE, the more I wanted to get involved. When she asked me to join the Board, I jumped at the opportunity.
Zoe’s TED talk is now available for everyone to see. I encourage all of you to take the twenty minutes to watch this presentation. It will change the way you think about education in the best possible way.
The Gillman Girl Home for Wayward Creatures and Unwanted Things 