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Hello everyone!

We are just six months away from the turn of another decade.  By all accounts, the actions we take in the ten years between 2020 and 2030 will dramatically define the future of life on the planet.

We can readily see the very real impact of climate change around us.  This single issue also illuminates the environmental pressure on our commons - the air, land and water we rely on to survive.  And throws into stark relief the injustice and inequality - the unevenness with which the ability to live a simple, dignified and healthy life is distributed across the world - that we tolerate.

There is a pathway through this time that leads to our human community thriving on this planet.  And to find it, each of us as individuals needs a stronger understanding of our interdependent and globalized existence, and of our power in it.

Journalism has a role to play here in empowering people everywhere to see and use the power of our daily personal, consumer, professional and civic decisions to shape this world - and future - that we share.  For this coming decade in particular, that role must include uniting us to collaboratively discover the pathways through these challenges we face as a human society.

But the industry is currently stuck, marooned on the reef of its own financial woes.  It needs a nudge - and a coordinator, a facilitator - to motivate a shift from its current national frameworks and fragmented narratives to weaving the experiences and knowledge of individuals and organizations from across the globe together, connecting the dots and connecting us to each other.

Orb Media is a lever within the journalism community, coordinating and facilitating collaborative reporting on issues that impact billions of people that is distributed globally across platforms, cultures and languages.  And it's only through partnerships that we'll realize our full, unique capacity.

I'm doing this work because in 2030, when I look back on this coming decade, I want to be clear I made the greatest contribution I could to us successfully navigate this critical time.

I thank you for your support to date and for whatever support you an lend as we move forward.  For those of you in the United States, I am wishing you a holiday weekend rich with friends and family.

Hello there!

I hope that this finds you well and thank you for supporting Orb Media's work! 

I don't know about you, but 2018 went out with a whiz-bang here at Orb.  We had a great and busy year successfully producing and publishing six major stories that were seen by hundreds of millions of people in over 100 countries and 30+ languages. 

Our uniquely global and collaborative journalism revealed new information that connected big issues to the daily lives of people everywhere.

Since our last update to you Orb published two stories: "Fighting Blind: Struggling to close the terrorist pipeline" and "The Plastic Question: Making the right choices is harder than it looks".

Our collaborations and partnerships grew rapidly:

• 20 publishers participating in the Orb Media Network;
• Deep work with 6 academic organizations who contributed data and expertise to our projects;
• Dozens of other organizations and individuals who informed and amplified our findings.

By collaborating across countries, cultures and capabilities we achieved real impact and showed how your every day actions shape the world we share.

We tested our business model and processes while demonstrating that our stories can achieve viral scale, success and impact.  And, importantly, we learned about the resources and skill sets we require to generate global, data fueled and collaborative journalism that engages and incorporates people!

We're taking all that we learned in 2018 and for the next few months we'll focus on retooling and recalibrating the organization to ensure we build on our successes and deliver even greater impact in the coming year.

Your generous support and engagement with our team has brought us this far and we are grateful for what we've accomplished together.

I'm wishing you and yours a healthy, happy 2019 and look forward to being in touch this spring!

Until then, it's "Lights! Camera! Action!" as we get on with our work here at Orb - and my daughter and I kill it at charades! :)