Welcome Matt!

That's me on the left.  The others are my three favorite people in the world: My wife of 31 years, Nancy, and our sons Patrick and Chris.  We are from the state of Minnesota in the United States, but moved here to Geneva 3 years ago when Nancy took a job with the International Labour Organization, a branch of the United Nations. Patrick and Chris are college students back in Minnesota, but we manage to visit each other often.

I love living in Geneva, and we take every opportunity to travel and experience as much of the European continent and culture as possible.  In my free time, I enjoy hiking in the mountains (including race-hiking, my new favorite athletic activity), swimming, cooking, wine tasting (which I know nothing about, but like to do anyway) and writing in my blog, SwissSojourner.com.

Most of my professional career has been spent in the area of transportation policy and financing, in both the public and private sectors.  Working for the Minnesota State Department of Transportation, I created and then managed a state grant program designed to support public-private partnerships in which private sector beneficiaries of public transportation infrastructure projects (road and bridge improvements, mostly) support public financing through their own contributions of funds or land donations.  This program continues to flourish today.  I am continuing to work in the public policy arena here in Geneva through my own 1-man consulting business.

I am excited to be volunteering at euforia, because I believe strongly in the cause. And as an American citizen, I feel especially driven to contribute in my own small way to an organization that promotes collaboration to “imagine, design, and implement bold solutions to today’s most pressing social, environmental and economic challenges.”

Get to know the facilitators of The Unleash Project: Greta Rossi

As a person who can inspire you and may change your opinion when you discuss with her, Greta decided to rejoin again The Unleash Project this year. After a huge success of her training last year, she will be back for a session on "Letting go - Befriending your inner critic" at the Personal Development weekend in Zurich. We are grateful that she took the time to talk with us and give a powerful message to the future participants.

Please tell us about your experience for the Unleash project last year?
It was overall a very positive experience! I enjoyed leading a workshop on personal wellbeing in Bern, but above all, I loved seeing my colleagues in action and learning from their ideas and experience. It felt like The Unleash Project was built in such a way that everyone was able to give and receive knowledge and expertise – everyone was a learner.

Why did you decide to "come back" to The Unleash Project this year?
I am curious to see what this second edition of The Unleash Project will bring to the world based on the first year and I absolutely want to be part of this. I am very grateful to have been invited to facilitate another workshop, this time in Zurich, and I look forward to engaging with all other facilitators and participants!

We understood that the topic of this year is "Letting go - Befriending your inner critic". Please tell us a little bit about this training.
Have you ever experienced a voice at the back of your awareness that tells you that you are not qualified enough for that job, that you do not deserve the love of your partner, that you are not beautiful enough, smart enough, courageous enough…? Sometimes you can control these thoughts; but other times they seem to overwhelm you and dictated your reactions. That voice is the voice of your inner critic; we all have one – it is part of the human experience. This training will invite participants to reflect deeply on their self-limiting beliefs and habitual thoughts to maintain a healthy relationship with their inner critic, an essential element to wellbeing.

What are you looking forward to this training?
This training can be very powerful and intense, so I am looking forward to creating a safe space with all participants to allow for transformative and healing experiences to take place.

You are Co-founder of ImpactAimers. You may guide the young entrepreneurs through an exploration of their passion and talents to develop essential competences. In this aspect, what do you think about the role of The Unleash Project and its impact on the world?
The Unleash project is particularly important because it helps people to understand the interconnectedness of their work in relation to themselves and others, their community and society, and the wider world. There is no separation, only connectedness. So we must learn to improve our relationship with ourselves if we wish to bring about positive change in the world. This simple concept is by no means easy to grasp so I am grateful that The Unleash Project creates a space for people to experiment and learn together.

Do you plan to join The Unleash Project in next year?
If you’ll invite me back, absolutely!

Besides various engagements, you were Youth Coach. Indeed, making a change, helping transformative people are what we really need to make a better world. If you can send a message to the young people in our society now, what do you would like to say to them?
My message to the young people in our society now is not to wait to take the first steps as changemakers. You don’t have to follow traditional paths until you are fifty and then start “giving back” to the world. The world needs your passion and your courage, your energy and your talent, your motivation and your creativity… and it needs you now. Having said so, don’t rush – take your time to understand yourself better, to discover your purpose, and to choose a path that will allow you to honour your values. We live in a time of urgency, but we must confront chaos with calmness of being.

Remember — don't wait to take the first steps as changemakers! Sign-up for the first weekend of The Unleash Project (22 - 23 September in Zurich) now!

Greta is the co-founder and Chief Empathy Officer (CEO) of Ākāśa Innovation, a not-for-profit social enterprise in London that prepares, inspires and empowers a new generation of changemakers to co-create a world for all life to flourish in. Greta is also the co-founder of ImpactAimers, an initiative that empowers young changemakers through immersive residential experiences; and of Recipes for Wellbeing, an initiative that aims to create and spread a culture of wellbeing in the field of changemaking. Additionally, she is the European Regional Coordinator of ChangemakerXchange, a programme by Ashoka, and the Project Manager of the 2017-2018 Social Innovation to Tackle Fuel Poverty programme, a partnership between Ashoka and the Schneider Electric Foundation. Greta holds a BA (Hons) in International Relations and is a qualified coach and facilitator in radical collaboration, and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

The interview was made by Quynh-Giang Nguyen who is part of our wonderful volunteer host team.

euforia offers an experiential learning class at HWZ

Last May euforia was invited to give a class at the University of Applied Science in Business Administration Zurich (or HWZ for the locals) on “Rethinking and experiencing leadership for social change”. Over 4 days, a dozen young professionals experienced the euforia approach to discovering and developing their own personal leadership plan, with the guidance and support of 2 euforians, Malika and Yoko.
 

What did the program look like?

As they arrived Wednesday evening the students dove straight deep into leadership with a Fishbowl around the question “What does Leadership in the 21st century mean to you?”.

Over the next couple days they experienced a program quite similar to imp!act, discovering the difficulties of collaboration through a card game, figuring out their very own changemaker/leadership model, brainstorming on concrete projects ideas for addressing topics of their choice (equality, climate change and political shifts), and, finally, developing their own personal 3 month leadership development plan. We added a unique twist to the training, as the students were given a flash-training in facilitation so that they actually were the trainers for their colleagues. The results were impressive and fun, as the students made the sessions their own, adapting them to their own contexts and developing their own fun energizers and signals. During one session clapping became the official cheerleading action to signal agreement or support for something that was said, resulting in some serious noise and laughs. For many students it was their first experience with facilitation and they found the tools and methods offered relevant and useful for their professional life.

On Friday afternoon the students were kicked out of class to go out and test their own personal leadership prototypes in the world and get a reality check. They loved the experience of stepping out of their stretch zone to share with the world what they wanted to do, and came back inspired by the experience.

On Saturday we offered an open space to do whatever the students chose, and we ended up sending them on a gratitude walk and then discussing the concrete application of holacratic principles at euforia. Many were enthused by this session, eager to figure out how these elements could be applied in their own hierarchical context, interested in the understanding that holacracy does not mean no hierarchy but distributed hierarchy.

 

What were the highlights?

As with all euforia trainings, we asked for extensive feedback, both orally and in written form. The students enjoyed the high quality of the training, the experiential learning approach and the graphic facilitation of the 4 days. They valued having time and space for introspection and prototyping their own leadership. One feedback that particularly surprised and pleased us was their discovery and appreciation of our positive mindset. And of course, they loved the informal euphoric setting, fun atmosphere and the openness and connexion created in the group.

“It was an interesting workshop, with a lot of inspiring topics and methodologies, which I will try to use in my business.”

Obviously, there was also constructive feedback and we’re already using it to improve next year’s class. The students sometimes had trouble connecting the concepts to their everyday work and we addressed some concepts they already knew, while missed out on addressing or deepening other elements. So for next year we’ll offer more open space to address the emerging needs of the class and check more in depth what their needs are beforehand. On top of this, we’re changing the format of the course to hold it in 2 parts: 2 days of training, followed by 4-6 weeks in their workplace during which the students will implement their leadership development and test the techniques we shared with them, and finally 1 day of training to debrief and solidify their learnings and commitment to their own leadership development.

“You both did a great job! Thank you for this experience.”

Giving this class was a superb experience, from the first contact with HWZ’s Sylvie Vlk and Prof. Sybille Sachs, right through the entire class and up to the debriefing with Sylvie and Sybille a couple weeks after. We’re truly grateful to have such a wonderful opportunity with great partners and we’re already looking forward to sharing with you the results of next year’s edition!
 

Yoko Malbos,
euforian, Chief Empowerment Officer and Co Founder

"So many beautiful souls spinning around together"

Emmanuel was one of the participants of last year's (r)evolution lab and co-organized together with a bunch of likeminded peers imp!act Geneva in spring 2017. Here's how he experienced the programme.

Amazed. Inspired. Empowered. Dreamful. I felt so, and so much more, during my experience at the RevLab in 2016. After seeing with my bare eyes what a crazy pack of changemakers could do in only 3 days at imp!act, I couldn't stand it; I wanted to be a part of it, and in turn give what I received.

Turns out, I learned so much more again! The RevLab was truly tailored to our needs and demands, I felt, and I really felt like euforia was unravelling under my eyes. So many beautiful souls spinning around together, to deliver a surprising solution-oriented training for an organisation team. The training is so complete, in fact, that I use almost everything in my daily life and NGO even now, after imp!act is finished.

With its very clear shape (2 week-ends, each of them oriented towards specific parts of the event planning) and its awesome guests and speakers, RevLab really has premium feeling with a friendly taste, as I could not feel rigid or heavy hierarchy during the sessions. RevLab is simply a gathering of same-minded individuals that want to come together to unfold the potential of youth, and let it explode! Truly a next-gen training session, the kind I want to find again as I move through my path towards the state of change enabler <3

Join (r)evolution lab and organize your own transformative event in your neighborhood, city or company! The next programme cycle will start soon: 24-24 September (Zurich) and 3-5 November (Bern) 2017. Find more information and the registration form here.
 

A VOS VOTES !

Notre projet step into action Genève est nominé pour le Prix Jeunesse!! Maintenant, nous avons besoin de votre vote pour remporter le prix!

C'est par ici pour aller voter pour notre projet : http://pjgenevois.ch/prixjeunesse/vote/

Et voici l'aftermovie de l'événement : www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViTK01jvoJA

Get to know Karima

Carpe Diem - enjoy the present & live the life you love...

It’s my motto forever !!!! Enjoy every moment as if it was the last and without worrying about  tomorrow! So I follow my heart and build my life step by step, without plan or big (long term) project! Just me and my feelings!

I grew up in Paris where I did a mathematics’ bachelor degree. Then, I went to Marseille to do a Management and Communication Master, with sustainable development option!!! I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I wanted to be useful and work with values.

I have always done what I’m passionate about whether it be doing animations for children age 3 to 17, creating/calculating carbon footprint and giving advice for SD, taking care of people with disabilities,  managing various teams or organizing projects and events.

Fun, Love & Smile!

I’ve traveled a lot, but always seek for more! I was a volunteer in India, danced salsa in Cuba, took english lessons in Dublin, ate vegan in Berlin, discover Sicily living in a  car and more!!!!

I’ve followed my heart and love brought me to Marseille where I lived for 6 years. I then went back to my family in Paris. Only 2 years ago, I discovered the mountains and Switzerland!

In Geneva, I’ve discovered euforia and the step into action project ! 2 volunteering years later, to develop the project I have become an employee for step Geneva :).  I am also happy to work  for euforia to help them with administration work!

12 moves and 9 years since I left my parents house, it means a lot of homes, lives, friends, experiences, life sortings and discoveries!!!

Take time & Relax...

This year I have decided to stay in the same place the longest possible! After 10 years of  madness and hard work, I choose to take time for myself, and work part-time. I’m lucky to be part of Euforia, where  finally the values I defend are present in my work.

Can’t wait to meet you euforic euforia community <3

Step into action is back – bigger than ever this summer in Bern!

At the moment, 14 highly motivated young people from all over Switzerland are working together to realize the next step into action event, which will take place in Burgdorf (BE) from the 4th to the 6th of September 2017.

At this step-event, 1500 teenagers are going to go through an interactive parcours to learn more about social and environmental causes, how to tackle them and how they can step into action to make the world a better place. The participants will get in contact with relevant NGOs and sustainable companies, which will be on site.

Keep your eyes open for further information later in the year, if you are interested in participating at the event as a volunteer.

The unleash project: “It’s a bit like finding a watering hole in the desert”

Katalin from unMonastery participated at the kick-off of our new program the unleash project and is now engaged as part of the host team to organize the whole workshop cycle. In the following she shares her experience with euforia and the program.

You may not have heard about the unleash project, but you probably heard about euforia. And even if you have never heard of euforia, you have probably encountered the conundrum of work: a staggering number of people are unhappy in their working lives, while volunteering and activism is changing the way how the world deals with crisis situations - just think of the refugee crisis in Europe. In particular, young people are eager to engage and work very hard for causes they believe in. At the same time, Millenials are famously difficult to integrate into traditional workplace environments. the unleash project is offering solutions both for companies struggling with reinventing themselves in order to accommodate this new, extremely valuable human resource, and for people who are young or young at heart, finding it difficult to enter a hierarchical, competition-based, achievement-oriented workplace that does not offer purpose and satisfaction on a personal level.

The first meeting of the unleash project took place November 25-27, 2016, in Bern. Attending any Euforia event is a bit like finding a watering hole in the desert - familiar and unfamiliar characters come together to share their experiences and questions in a unique and nurturing environment. Workshops are designed to facilitate people with differing learning styles; delicious food and brief energising and meditation sessions break up the day, to nurture body and mind while learning; participants are encouraged to actively participate and share their own concerns and solutions to any given problem. Tools from The Art of Hosting are applied, including circles, world cafe, and other tricks, to maximise integration and collaboration. You meet highly successful business professionals, activists, artists, social innovators, students, freshly graduated young people searching for a better working environment, the employed and the unemployed, refugees, post-graduates. The overarching connection is the sense of community and shared values. It is a truly magical experience.

The unleash project will continue - if you missed the Kickoff, you can still sign up and participate in the rest of the events cycle. You can step into the cycle at any point, since it restarts in May 2017 as the current series come to an end.

Upcoming events:
20 - 21 January 2017: Personal Level: Focus, Mindfulness and Wholeness
Impact Hub, Bern

3 - 4 February 2017: Team Level: Creating a collaborative working environment, Share & Grow Night
Geneva

10 - 11 March 2017: Institutional and Societal Level: SDGs and Impact Initiatives, Share & Grow Night
Impact Hub, Bern

12 - 13 May 2017: Debriefing
Wylerringstrasse 36, Bern (Innovationsdorf)