Community: The true driver of excellence in human experience

The idea that we are a community first, a community of people from a breadth of backgrounds and experiences, from all corners of our world, has been the foundation on which our work has been built, our efforts motivated, our research driven and our hope inspired. It is a tapestry of possibility, grounded in evidence and brought to life in practice that has made the journey to our 9^th volume so enriching. A community is fostered in realizations of people who want to be part of something together – an idea, a hope, a purpose or possibility – and that in coming together they can create something greater than they could have alone. That is the essence of community of which I speak. That is the community we have built together. It is when we recognize that community is not just an incubator of ideas, but an engine for action, that significant things can happen. I often share the quote from Coretta Scott King who said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” I would add that the pieces that follow and all we learn from one another represent those very compassionate actions; they are the seams that bind our community, a community that through those actions is the true driver of human experience.