In a fishbowl, I first asked each of them to share a story of their role as an innovator. Each story in itself was amazing, full of ingenuity and perseverance. Then I asked them “how did this experience change you.”

The woman from the Tanzania Ministry of Education – who has the incredibly hard job of training teachers to use online tools where a) the teachers themselves have insufficient education themselves b) often no electricity and c) tiny tiny bandwidth — blew us all away. She said, quite simply, “these teachers taught me that I am a learner first.” It was one of those moments when we all held our breath and then smiled and nodded as a whole.

Openness –> gives us voice and the chance to be truly seen, heard and loved.