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About UsHome for the CoOptimum team is Portland, Oregon USA, Earth.
Terry Lewis, Cofounder
I’m a “big-picture” guy, seeking the perpetuation of life on Earth! I want to change that which is not sustainable to that which is! My long-time mantra has been, “To do the best I can with what I’ve got.” So, I challenge myself – and others – to pursue the greatest good. The path I currently see to accomplish the greatest good has me focused on optimizing interactions along with the cooperation that makes such optimization possible. In fact, my plan is to optimize those interactions to be far more empowering than we usually get to enjoy. In my experience, that kind of empowerment unlocks our all-too-often latent caring for things outside of ourselves, starting with our local relationships, then extending to the wider world. The result is our doing the best we can with what we’ve got, in ways that are most likely to perpetuate life of all kinds, and for all times! A short description of some pertinent history: I grew up in a military-ish family (father in Navy/Naval Reserve; mother had worked for OSS, the forerunner to CIA). After receiving a degree in electronics engineering, I accepted a job working for a “defense” contractor (of course, that was long before I understood things the way I do now). Sometimes, outside the building where I worked, protesters would demonstrate against the weapons of war we were designing. That gave me a chance to notice and understand how my colleagues reacted to such protests, and it was obvious their mindsets were only becoming more rigid. (That observation influenced my later efforts within groups working for peace.) My own mind, apparently quite unlike those of my colleagues, had been increasingly changing during my 3.5 years at that job. Partly this was due to the friends I was making outside of work, and their influence on me. But most important were my experiences in the peer counseling world that I fortunately had begun engaging in, and which opened up my world view, widening my understanding of us human beings and our inherent goodness. Inspired by a poem about people acting for the greater good, I made the choice to walk away from that job (and occupation), and I have never regretted it for a moment! My first activist effort was quitting that job. My activism has continued and grown more involved ever since, and I have worked on a range of progressive efforts:
My sources (and magnitudes) of income have been all over the map, the last one (in which I conceived, designed, built, and operated a voicemail system for personal ads) enabled me to semi-retire early from income-generating jobs. Since then, I've worked to develop CoOptimum and have been experimenting with various ways to facilitate empowering interactions. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking in the woods, contradancing, and coming up with the best puns ever! In the near future, I plan to share my points of view - perhaps in a blog - on how conditioned we have been (and are), leading us to compete when we could be cooperating. But right now, my focus continues to be on facilitating self-determined, self-organized interactions. CoOptimum's website is a work-in-progress, and hopefully with your participation, we'll optimize your interactions. Please consider taking our survey about such optimized interactions. If you are interested in exploring a cooperative interaction with me, contact me at: Terry at CoOptimum dot Org. |
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Kaye Blesener, Cofounder
Project manager Business analyst Editor and proofreader Brainstormer Problem solver Financial wizard In spare time: trombone player (3 bands), HOA treasurer, gardener. |
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Nancy Wirsig McClure, Designer
Nancy is principal and founder of Explanagraphics, visual communications consultancy based in Portland, Oregon USA. She helps organizations share their ideas -- creating infographics, user interfaces, explanatory animation, and presentations. Nancy's 20+ years of experience span design, online B2B marketing, technical communication, thousands of hours using Photoshop and Illustrator, and degrees in Computer Science and Anthropology. She has presented at national conferences, Ignite events, and local user groups. She's taught college classes and corporate workshops. Nancy consults on CoOptimum’s communications needs and then applies both left-brain and right-brain skills to storyboarding, design, illustration, and technically-perfect production. The results are the custom visuals and interfaces you see here. |
