A History Of What I've Been Doing

I'll admit it: I've been a generalist. I've worked in a wide variet of positions in many places around the world. I've designed and implemented several systems, been an administrator of a system for many years, published academically, wrote chapters for books, conducted research, been a consultant, advisor, mentor, trainer...I've been everywhere and have collaborated successfully with a great many awesome people from all around the world.

Here's a brief summary of my path.

1986-1990

While in High School in Canada, I was involved in the Peace Movement and in leading the effort to make my town a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, which was important at the time as nuclear materials were being shipped from Uranium Mines to Nuclear Power and Weapons Facilities in Washington State, USA.

It was at that time that I started to learn about politics and communications, and Murray Bookchin was one of by big influences then and now.

1991-1997

Double-Majoring in Political Science and Philosophy, with a minor in Environmental Studies, I volunteered with a number of organizations, participated in Anti-Gulf War protests, Indigenous Rights movements, and expressed solidarity with the EZLN movement in southern Mexico, and was often cooking for the Food Not Bombs soup kitchen. So yes, rather radical at the time.

I was also Administrator of the Victoria Local Exchange Trading System from 1992-1997, where I became very involved in the local currency movement in Canada, America, Mexico and Argentina. I ran for the Green Party of BC in the 1996 Provincial Election, and set a record.

1998-1999

By 1998 I was a public Junior High School English teacher in Japan, having decided to leave Canada in order to earn enough in order to be able to repay my student loan which the government had increased the interest on to 9.25%.

Upon finishing, I returned to Canada briefly but was quickly called to Mexico to meet with a project I was supporting there, and then to Buenos Aires to assist the Red Global de Trueque (RGT) which had over 500,000 members using alternative currencies.

2000-2001

In early 2000, the Canadian Volunteer Agency CUSO, much like the American Peace Corps, asked me to go to Thailand to assist with setup of a complementary currency in the rural northeast

They then asked me to do the same in Indonesia, through the Credit Union network in central Java Island. For this project I was a finalist in the Untenguggenberger Preis in Austria.

Then I took the opportunity work with the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) mission as a Civic Education Grants Program Manager with UNDP Electoral Assistance Programme.

I also managed to find time to assist the Doole Community Exchange System in Dakar, Senegal, for which they were awarded Finalist in the World Bank Development Marketplace that year.

2002-2005

Upon finishing my contract in East Timor (Timor Leste), I worked as a consultant to the Provincial Government of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea to help them understand a powerful traditional currency in their Province, the Tabu.

I was then invited to lead the Social Money Workshop of the Foundation for the Progress of Humankind in Paris, and travelled to major conferences in several countries together with my colleagues.

From 2002-2007 I was also Asia Region Coordinator for the Stichting Aktie Strohalm, a Dutch NGO funded by the Netherlands Foreign Ministry to implement local currency systems in Asia, Central and South America.

I also collaborated with Prof. Bernard Lietaer on writings that reflected our shared opinions on monetary and economic systems, as well as worldview. We became good friends.

2005-2010

By 2005, my hobby started to turn more professional as I was earning my living full-time from my work already for several years.

At the same time, I was living in Bali, Indonesia for a few years, working out of cyber cafes and then upgrading to dial-up internet.

Ubud attracted a lot of people to come and visit and see what Bernard Lietaer and I wrote about which may have informed his ideas of a Yin-Yang duality between fiat money and complementary currency.