Last week co-director John Engle flew to Denver, CO to participate in WorldBlu Live 2013. From the WorldBlu website:

WorldBlu LIVE 2013 is the world’s premier gathering on freedom in the workplace. It is designed for individuals and organizations who recognize the power of freedom and democracy as a leading tool for boosting the bottom-line, promoting innovation, attracting top talent and inspiring full engagement.

John was invited both to give a main-stage presentation and to demonstrate the Circles of Change program for participants. What he didn’t know in advance was that he had also been selected by WorldBlu to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at their Night of Honor event last Thursday for his accomplishments and commitment to democratic, freedom-centered practice. In cahoots with our friends at WorldBlu, and with a generous gift of time and talent from our friend and associate, Luke Renner, we created the video below which was aired at the awards ceremony.

What none of us anticipated was the generosity of the DaVita, WD-40 and Woohoo, Inc. companies. DaVita prepared in advance a giant check indicating their contribution of $10,000 as a part of the award. WD-40 CEO, Garry Ridge, quickly committed to matching it and long time friend, Alex Kjerulf, founder of Woohoo, Inc. committed an additional $5,000 to Haiti Partners work.

Haiti Partners is very grateful to WorldBlu for the amazing work they are doing to promote democracy and freedom in workplaces across the globe. We are so thankful to be a part of their inspiring network, which includes extraordinary companies like Davita, WD-40, Woohoo, Zappos, and many others.

And we are so grateful to John for all he does and continues to do each day to help all of us and those we work with to cultivate our potential and reach new heights.

Chapo ba (hats off to you), John!

*To learn more about how Haiti Partners integrates democratic practice in our work, please view the video below.