ANDREI IUROAIA

I was born in Iasi in 1987 and grew up in the '90s in post-communist Romania experiencing the wild meltdown of a society in a transition between a dictatorship and a so called free market democracy. It was for me a first hand experience of a crumbling system through dysfunctional governance, power greedy 'elites' and a society under shock and distrust, deeply hurting and profoundly lacking a capacity to enact positive change.

This period of my life seeded within me an inner drive that has never ceased since: the unshakable wish to create real change in people and the world during my lifetime. It is for me a creative challenge, perhaps as old as the human journey on Earth and it has become my personal research question: how may we shape ourselves and our collective presence in order to honor the true potential of human life?

Driven by the search to understand 'What went wrong?' and 'What to do now?' I developed early on a fascination for history and through that aspects of the human story such as economics, politics, ethnography, anthropology, geopolitics, history of thought, philosophy, sociology, geography, psychology and spirituality.

I studied and hold a BA in Economic Sciences specialized in Management and Leadership Styles and an MA in Political Science in Comparative Politics (Central and Eastern European Politics and Societies).

During my student years, after happily failing to fit into a 'regular job' state of mind, I engaged with different NGOs and had a few clumsy attempts at entrepreneurship and starting community initiative groups. Luckily none of those worked, but through the efforts I stumbled upon a rabbit hole leading to a myriad of people, groups and solutions that have been making real change and yet nobody in mainstream society seemed to know they exist.

In 2012 I embarked on what was then an unplanned journey of seven years, travelling throughout Europe. I explored the edges and fringes in search of what else is possible and how differently can humans live and work together. I engaged with organizations, ecovillages, intentional communities and a whole ecosystem of projects and networks activating everywhere from large cities to off grid backwater autark settlements. I met people that create their own models and solutions. I found experiments, open questions, but also proven methods, systems and wisdom. I found shockingly effective and powerful solutions for so many issues impacting social, cultural, economic, political and ecological problems, but most of all I met myself along the way. My life changed forever once I had the taste of the living possibility of a deeply caring and consciously lead life together with others.

I was lucky and privileged to receive the support, guidance and friendship of so many people that I encountered on my journey. They were my key to personal transformation, renewal and empowerment so that I could undergo my own hero's journey of initiation.

Throughout that journey I found that I could be a facilitator and a trainer and finally found a way to put into practice ideas that previously were for me, only theories. I attended many trainings and educational programs throughout the 7 years and engaged actively in experimenting with what I was learning, so much so that I now consider it as my own self made 'higher education'.

As before, I tried my hand by joining and initiating projects, community groups, enterprises and networks and learned by doing. Throughout the successes, failures and adventures I decided to teach and practice with others only what worked for me, in me and what served the evolution of who I am becoming.

Why am I doing this? Because technology, culture and identity are undergoing a revolution during these times and ''Teal organisations'' and ''New Work'' are becoming quite the hype. But despite the wave of enthusiasm and the few jaw dropping success stories lighting the way, many individuals and organizations are struggling to make the transition and mass adoption is slow.

It is not surprising considering what a monumental shift needs to happen, almost simultaneously, in such sociopolitical Taboos as: power, money, responsibility, belonging, conflict, value, ownership, community, well being, relationship to the environment and security. The struggle becomes real as groups underestimate the depth of change needed and decide to ''go teal'' without being able to use and most often not even knowing about proven tools and pathways. It is as dangerous as watching a Bruce Lee movie and then going out on the dark streets looking for bad guys!

Enabling this natural evolution is what I love to do and what fascinates me the most, it is what gives me hope in humanity and where I am investing myself towards multiplying my own happiness capital by getting others to master it themselves!