the convergence it’s about a dying earth
and a hero and heroine that saved the
planet by lifting the collective
consciousness of humanity and healing
Earth’s energy grid through their
journey they bring more light to what
had become a very dark place but as my
words were being translated into
illustrations there were other images
that came into my awareness images that
perhaps we’ve all seen rain forests
being destroyed for palm oil elephants
killed for ivory plastics polluting our
water and sacred lands being disrupted
for commercial use and we began as a
simple goal to create a story awakened
something inside of me that long to
create impact especially as I saw more
darkness consume the planet and it
really made me want to do something
about that just like the heroes and
heroines and my graphic novel and I
wondered if there wasn’t an innate hero
and heroine inside all of us that long
to create impact and if this were true
then what would this modern-day hero
have to do in order to create real and
meaningful change especially in a world
with a social political and the
environmental problems are so massive
that its solutions just seem beyond the
scope of any one normal person well to
jump to the punchline it is my belief
that the hero and heroines that the
world meet today aren’t only the ones
that are doing the big massive acts like
organizing a March or heading a
non-profit and I’m sure there’s some in
the room with us today they’re doing
these things and you guys are awesome so
thank you but what the world also needs
are the everyday heroes that could do
the small
but purposeful acts that when aligned
with other heroes a mass to collective
change but before I go on I’d like to
share a little bit more about Who I am
because on one aspect I am this writer
and I live in the world of imagination
and creativity and I understand the
things like gut feeling and intuition
and things that I probably can’t prove
but then there’s this other side of me
that works in the field of finance and
economics and I work as a bond trader
for a financial firm in New York or I
also co-chair a network that educates
employees on the environment
sustainability and impact investing and
it’s within this financial landscape
that I see how social political and
environmental events take on a financial
expression by bringing the markets or
individual companies stocks or bonds up
or down but what’s kind of crazy about
this current economic system that we
live in is that it only captures the
value of a portion of anything and it’s
usually that thing that big that can be
quantified or has some sort of monetary
gain what it doesn’t capture are the
things that are hard to measure or to be
brutally honest the things that don’t
necessarily have an economic or monetary
bad a benefit and some would even say
are worthless or even non-existent which
is why in sacred land disputes companies
have the advantage because we know we
can price oil once it’s extracted from
the ground but we can’t measure it’s
just how much life is within that land
or community the value and richness of
the echo system or just truly how sacred
this land really is because it is quite
possible that it’s truly priceless and
what emerge for me was this duality
one world ruled by facts and figures in
this other world that converts in the
world of possibility and the question
became then what could the modern day
superhero do to bring more colors and
conversation to what has become a black
and white operating system well is my
belief that the heroes and heroines of
today need to bring these lights
non-measurable and some would even say
airy-fairy things like life nature
sacredness love compassion and even
magic a financial expression a financial
form because when we take things that
aren’t currently being measured and
therefore completely out of our economic
vernacular and give it a financial
impact a density a weight all this
sudden we’re beginning to speak in the
language that our dominant institutions
understand which is the financial
language and you’ve seen that across
many industries
rap music began as an expression also an
exploded into commercial success because
people wanted to go and support that
music meet companies and restaurants
offering vegan alternatives because
people were awakening to the suffering
of animals and moving away from this
crazy notion that an animal is worth
more to us dead than it is alive even
the growth of female protagonists and
films and women driven content came from
this desire for women to have a voice
and supported other men and women that
were creating vehicles for that do you
know why the me2 movement is so powerful
it’s because companies and institutions
understand that reputation risks equals
financial risks and that’s the same
reason why athletes you lose big
endorsements after a scandal or a change
in public opinion because these small
acts like boycotting anything with palm
or ivory are not using plastics or even
recycling if we do to supporting
sustainable fashion like my eco-friendly
shirt and my vegan shoes are looking at
the companies that were actually buying
from on a day to day basis and seeing
which ones actually give back to the
community versus the ones that just take
our money or when we’re investing really
seeing if our values align with the
companies that we’re investing in and
seeing what those companies policies are
for corporate governance diversity and
sustainability because these small but
defiant and I stress defiant acts not
only change the conversation but the
institutions themselves because wherever
money and attention goes structure forms
there’s what a couple of hundred of us
here right now can you imagine the
impact that we would make if we H gave
twenty dollars to an organization that
brought clean water to a community that
really needed it
or helped animals that were in dire need
or supported a nonprofit that protected
our land and rainforests and if it
wasn’t our money maybe it’s our time
like volunteering or just our attention
by sharing a social media feed or having
that conversation with someone because
even though these things seem small and
is a significant significant what we’re
collectively doing is giving love and
compassion a physical manifestation an
impact and this doesn’t only change the
economy that’s out there but the one in
here as well you know it took me about
seven years to complete my graphic novel
now screenplay and there were many times
where I wanted to quit because it was
just too taxing and I subscribed too
much to this idea that it needed to be a
financial success way too early in the
process but in those seven years of the
multiple drafts the long nights and when
dealing with things and people I didn’t
understand it taught me to be a better
writer to stick through something that I
believed in
and to believe in the power of my voice
that tells me that all creatures
including Earth herself has a soul and
in those moments where I’m alone in my
world just riding away from this outside
world that likes to tell us what success
looks and feels like I remember who I am
and I remember the truth that I like
everyone in this room are truly enough
and not just enough but priceless and so
to put it all together who are the
modern-day heroes and heroines it’s you
it’s me it’s all of us that know that
when we bring our time energy and money
and attention to someone or something we
start to change the dominant story here
on earth that says the world is chaotic
that people can’t be trusted and that
even love is a scarce commodity because
it’s these moment to moments words by
words connection by connection or how
things will change and then all of a
sudden we kind of we can have a world
where environmentalism equality
empowerment and enlightenment affect the
bigger e the economy both the external
and the internal one last thing I’d like
to share with you there are times when I
write where I’m taken into this world
that’s very creative and full of colors
and imagination and the same thing
happens to me sometimes when I meditate
and in one of my meditations I was taken
inside a giant oak tree where I was told
that trees are the world’s oldest
libraries because as the wind blows
through the branches and leaves these
trees pick up all our thoughts emotions
feelings and actions and stores them
into the earth and although I can’t
prove that this is true there’s
something deep inside me that’s how
me that it is and it tells me that even
though there are things beyond our human
scope of understanding or measuring are
still very much real and deserve our
love respect and more so than ever our
protection interestingly through to that
a tree the seed of a tree which is only
about this big when planted roots itself
firmly into the ground and takes a
heroic journey towards the heavens
even though a world tells us that
everything has to rule by the rules of
gravity and so so all my heroes and
heroines in the room the meek ones the
ones that are engaged in the big fight –
the ones that are still finding their
voice the world needs you we need you
and when we all tap into that superhero
inside each of us not only can we change
the collective consciousness of humanity
but we could redefine what it means to
be human and just perhaps give earth a
real chance to heal thank you so much [Applause]