My thoughts about our pitch to the board later on this week re: the evolution of the MS model. We can only expect to have 15 min on this so am keeping it fairly narrowly focussed: Our focus would be on improving our ability to grow the MS volunteer community, increasing diversity, increasing participation. The goal has to be to build a system that can attract and retain volunteers in multiple locations and local contexts who can engage at multiple levels. There is no one size that fits all. In this challenge, the community must lead. That is where the expertise is, that's where the local knowledge is and where the solutions will come from. We need to innovate, take some risks and think outside of the box. Good theory, but in reality, there are lots of hurdles -- it is not so easy to get adequate funds moving in the direction of innovative community outreach programs. --- offer a couple of real examples. *The ask: In the interests of bringing more people into our communities to deal with the ever increasing workload, will the Board formally recognize and encourage efforts to innovate in this challenge of growing our community -- by lowering some of the barriers.* Marita