Everyone desires to be a valued participant in their community. They want to have full access to opportunities that will help them reach their full potential to that end. My life’s work and commitment have been focused on helping that happen . . . building bridges among diverse populations to help them develop the skills for restructuring systems to meet individual and collective needs. I believe that our survival is dependent on collectively working to create opportunities and systems that allow everyone to engage in meaningful life experiences that impacts the lives of others. Prior to leaving Washtenaw County in 1993, I was engaged in activities that helped shape structures and systems so that people could exercise their full potential. There were mistakes made along the way; but, I learned to readjust my focus as a result of the mistakes. On returning to Washtenaw County after retirement, I discovered many of the same issues  . . . the inability to achieve equity because of turf, social, economic, ethnic and racial divisiveness. I believe that we have the resources and know how to effect the needed change for accessible opportunity for everybody. My vision for Washtenaw County is for it to become a leader in Michigan in developing strategies to address the inequities among us. This means working intergenerationally multi-ethnically and inter-religiously to build coalitions for equitable change. I understand that this takes time, energy and ‘mind changing’ action for this to happen. Given where we are today, now is the time to start.