Warm weather is coming to DC. Two nights in the Shenandoahs next week will be in the 40s. Kaya and I are ready. My pre-camping ritual involves taking out all the supplies I might need and laying them out to ensure everything is there. I have checklists for different types of camping trips. The one […]
I am leading a Grand Challenge, Stop Stigma Together, which is eliminating the stigma around mental health and substance use disorders. Founded at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, we are now in our fourth year. I have had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of mental health professionals and researchers and learned so much about
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Participation is key in change work. There has to be room for people to rise into their participation. One of the great mistakes made by social change leaders is to jump into the director’s role and start telling people what to do. When your goal is to see change spread, it’s so important that everybody
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I intended to skip most World War II memorials and historic sites when my son and I were in Berlin. Then, I went out to dinner with my sister-in-law and other family members. She is a native German, and she encouraged me, telling me that I could not understand Berlin if I did not understand
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The Shepherd waits, still as stone, eyes tracing every shadow, a silent sentinel. The Pitty spins, a blur of muscle and joy, bounding, twisting, leaping, never still, never silent. One watches, one moves— both living from the same heart: the heart of our pack. “Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is
Last week, I had a business trip to Clearwater, Florida, and brought my beautiful bride, Laura, along for the ride. Although I spent most of my time in meetings, I deeply enjoyed both the location and the camaraderie of close colleagues. Our host secured a condo overlooking the gulf and went the extra yard to
My son, Gabe, and I met in Berlin earlier this month to spend a week in the city. It was a powerful trip in no small part because of the transformational DNA in the core of the city, all pertinent to my work on Grand Challenges. Berlin’s transformation over the past several decades is nothing
My mother, Diana Weaver Kahan, was a poet. Her birthday was yesterday. She would have been 90. Instead, she lives in eternity. She was not a published poet but a lover of poetry who read to me regularly and occasionally wrote her own. I am particularly fond of this poem she wrote in 2004: Because
Because I have Children Read More »
Desperate for some beach time, we all piled into the car last week after New Year’s and headed to eastern Maryland, where the Chesapeake Bay is prominent. We came to Downs Park, which has a tiny beach. There, the dogs played. Divya is sporting her hot pink sweatshirt because the weather is crisp, and she
Taking the Canines to the Beach Read More »
Grand Challenge: Transform U.S. Education > Idea: Remove traditional grade levels entirely, replacing them with mastery-based systems that let students progress based on demonstrated understanding rather than age or time spent. Grand Challenge: Repair US healthcare > Idea: monetize preventative care as a subscription service, incentivizing healthcare providers to keep populations healthy rather than treating
2025 Grand Challenges Read More »
