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“Artificial intelligence won’t take your job, but someone who knows how to use AI might” was one of the most memorable lines from the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego. The moment reminded me of the early internet, except this disruption is moving much faster. The future will favor those who stay willing to learn.
Read MoreToday was my last day working for the City of Fort Worth, and the feeling was deeply bittersweet. I’m grateful for the colleagues who taught me how much public service depends on work most residents never see. The next chapter takes me only a few blocks away, to the Rainwater Charitable Foundation.
Read MoreAmbassador Tom Schieffer was scheduled to spend 45 minutes with our Sister Cities International Youth Ambassadors. He stayed for three hours and skipped lunch. Experience becomes more valuable when it’s shared, and our young ambassadors still talk about that conversation.
Read More“Carlo, this is a Thai tie that you can tie to strengthen ties between Thailand and the United States,” Ambassador Suriya Chindawongse told me before joining a live band for karaoke. I’ll remember the tie. I’ll remember the karaoke even more.
Read MoreI asked Sophia the Robot about the mayor of Fort Worth, and she answered without hesitation, then asked me how she was doing. Show-off. The most important questions about AI aren’t trivia questions for a robot, they’re questions for humans about the future we want to create.
Read MoreThe Fort Worth Forum invited Sophia the Robot, one of the world’s most recognizable humanoid robots, for a conversation about AI and the future of work. Seeing the technology in person turned an abstract topic into a room full of real questions. Efficiency should never be confused with wisdom.
Read MoreI was in my early 40s, running a business, when I started a Master’s program at Harvard and immediately wondered if I belonged in the room. That feeling never fully disappeared, and I eventually understood it didn’t need to. Confidence usually follows action, not the other way around.
Read More“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a choice.” That line stuck with me at a Harvard Extension School symposium celebrating 50 years of the program that changed my own life. Fear may be the first reaction. It doesn’t have to make the final decision.
Read MoreWhen the Fort Worth Forum picked Bozeman, Montana for our first Seminar trip, I wasn’t sure what Fort Worth leaders could learn from a city so different from our own. Turns out, plenty, starting with my first smudging ceremony. The goal was never to copy Bozeman, it was to come home with better questions.
Read MoreFort Worth is home to Dr. Opal Lee, often called the Grandmother of Juneteenth, whose walking and organizing helped turn a Texas observance into a national holiday. Influence doesn’t always start with formal authority. One determined voice can become a movement.
Read MoreCirque du Soleil went from 37 touring shows and roughly a billion dollars in revenue to zero shows overnight in March 2020. CEO Daniel Lamarre’s lesson: a brand can be a company’s most valuable asset, especially in a crisis. I also got to juggle, poorly, with one of the best jugglers in the world.
Read MoreWhat were the odds that the gym I walked into in Montreal would be owned by CrossFit Games champion Jeffrey Adler? Meeting him was especially fun since Fort Worth was about to host the 2024 CrossFit Games. Excellence is built through thousands of ordinary sessions nobody sees.
Read MoreIt was an honor to help coordinate a visit from the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Her Excellency Vjosa Osmani, complete with a helicopter tour and a Stockyards red-carpet welcome. I still managed to “serious-face” my way into the background of an official photo. The strongest relationships are sustained by the residents who show up long after the delegation leaves.
Read MoreMy first ride in a self-driving car happened in Phoenix, and “terrifyingly cool” is still the best description. I unlocked it from my phone and watched it slow for every pedestrian. A technically impressive product can still fail if people don’t trust it.
Read MoreThere’s a Japanese proverb that says “fall down 7 times, get up 8,” which pretty much describes my four-year relationship with trying to clean and jerk 225 pounds. I finally hit the PR with milliseconds to spare in a quarterfinals workout. I’ve gotten a little better on those monkey bars since the 5th grade.
Read MoreReturning to Western Hills High School 28 years later felt strangely familiar. We walked into a classroom to surprise the band program with a $5,000 Wellness Innovation Grant from Texas Health Resources, giant check and all. A grant or a mentor can turn a classroom idea into something students believe can produce real change.
Read MoreIt’s not every day you get to turn an ambassador into a cowboy, but I managed to pin a City of Fort Worth “Molly” longhorn pin on Thailand’s ambassador to the United States. Small cultural symbols create surprisingly effective points of connection. Fort Worth may have gained another honorary cowboy that evening.
Read MoreI was incredibly proud to watch Rachael honored as a 2024 Bold Woman by Girls Inc. of Tarrant County, after years of emceeing the very event she was now being celebrated at. Boldness in education often looks like consistency: advocating for one student at a time. Dr. Cap, we remain immensely proud of you.
Read MoreKurashiki’s Bikan Historical Quarter is a beautifully preserved slice of Edo-period Japan that also happens to be the birthplace of the country’s denim industry. Naturally, that meant denim-colored ice cream. Preservation doesn’t require freezing a place in time, and neither does progress.
Read MorePeople are always amazed when I tell them Japan has a 99% high school graduation rate. Every day, students serve each other lunch and clean their own school, no janitors required. It made sense why we surprised a classroom of teenagers reading Romeo and Juliet mid-lesson.
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