People were organizing to go swim around in the bioluminescence down at the beach. A pulsing group were having a blast on the dance floor. The conversations were ebullient and warm. People were at another final night of another intensive Hollyhock gathering.

It's been a little over a week but we are still basking in the glow of the 13^th Annual SVI at Hollyhock.  We had a remarkable group of people join us for four days of skill building, networking, truth telling, and beautiful sunshine.  This year, we were thrilled to have 130 of the finest social change leaders join us.  When developing the agenda and inviting the participants, we are never quite sure of what the final outcome will be, but we're always sure that there will be some magic. 

I'm about to do my 13th annual Social Venture Institute (SVI) at Hollyhock. Renewal added one in Toronto in April this year and that makes it a little harder to know if this is the 13th or 14th, but who's counting? They have all been extraordinary.

Renewal's CEO Joel Solomon was recently profiled in his hometown paper The Chattanoogan. 

Joel reflects on his start with Northgate Mall in Chattanooga, Tennessee here.

Rick Ingrasci and Torkin Wakefield knew each other because they served along with their respective spouses, Peggy Taylor and Charles Steinberg, as chairs of the Humanistic Psychology Association. Rex Weyler and Shivon Robinsong met in the founding times of Greenpeace.

Want to make a difference but don’t know how? Explore the tactics, creativity, pitfalls, and challenges of what it takes to create change in the world.  A potent mix of storytelling and skill sharing, this series brings together leaders who used creative thinking and courage to change the world.  Speakers come from the worlds of activism, business, the arts and many others.  With this series you’ll learn new ways to make change in your community and beyond, by hearing their personal struggles and what they did to overcome the odds.