Last Thursday, I was in Ixtapa, Mexico. The difference between this Thursday and last is pretty enormous. Today in New England, we’re watching the final orange, red and yellow leaves drop from the trees and spending long yet exciting hours in strategic planning meetings for 2013 and crafting the end of year appeal. But last Thursday, I was among about 200 folks who gathered for the annual “non conference” called Opportunity Collaboration looking over the gorgeous pacific coast beaches of Ixtapa. I had my reservations—how was the week going to be productive with “no agenda,” with 200 people to get to know and too much to do back home?

It’s hard to put it into words, but it was a phenomenal week of where I shared our passionate work with other non profit practitioners and learned from thought leaders in the fields of social impact investing and micro-finance. I met the Executive Producer of “Half the Sky” –the 4-hour documentary film that had the C2C team in tears the week before.  I learned about new ways of measuring impact from really smart university think tank folks. And I also heard from global funders who struggled with being sought after and how hard it was to say no to so many great projects and ideas that always needed more funding. I flew from Mexico City to Ixtapa with a 26-year old Pakistani woman who has been advocating for girl’s education in her country for 10 years and knew the young woman who had been shot in the face as she rode her bus to school the week before.

I came away more certain that ever that the C2C model is critically needed to build capacity to deliver primary health care to women and children. At OC, I learned about and hope to create partnerships with many other great organizations and individuals who want to leverage each other’s core competencies, resources and collective energy to eradicate global poverty through thoughtful action. Never before have I felt so certain about our direction. Please join us as we grow and expand.