  Every once in a while things go really right. Several years ago I had the chance to be the inaugural Global Climate Director at Doctors Without Boarders (MSF). One of the highlights was building an outstanding global team. We recruited the best and brightest from around the world to do some heavy climate lifting in a difficult global medical humanitarian context. At the end of the process we were a team of nine from five countries.
That is how I first got to meet Olive Toran. She was on an MSF field mission at the time in a climate communications role. She was collecting stories from people in the communities that are impacted by more intense and sever weather due to climate change. Several months later it was an easy decision to bring her onto the team as a communications specialist. It was a privilege to work with Olive shaping stories. She always invited my perspective even if I saw things differently than most. She was free to challenge me so we could have the best communications products and we both could grow in our roles. Most leaders are lucky to have one person on their team like this. I had several amazing climate professionals who all continue to shine their light on tough and important climate and health topics in new organizations, where they don't back down from challenges - but face them head on. I'm telling you I only hire the best and brightest and it shows! By the time I left MSF I had yet to meet Olive in-person. Something I often regretted. Then, last week, as luck would have it, in her final days of her final MSF contract she was giving a talk in Toronto at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) called Climate and Human Health - creating global cultures of care. I booked my ticket immediately. She was in esteemed company on the panel with Dr. Mili Roy from CAPE (Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment) and moderated by ROM Climate Change Curator Dr. Soren Brothers. Olive spoke from the heart. She said the things that often go unsaid about climate change in academic circles. That we must be in dialogue with communities to reveal their needs around climate change. That the impacts of climate change are not distributed evenly and how we talk about climate events and weather matters. That people who live closer to the land often know much much more than 'experts' when it comes to adaptation, and that we must listen to them and react to what they say. She reminded the audience that we are interconnected and dependent on community connections. In fact, we know that strong community ties builds climate resilience. The moderator ended with one final question. A question that people working on climate change often get asked, "How do you stay optimistic?" And without missing a beat, Olive said, "I have good people in my life - like my mentor Kady who is here tonight". And my heart melted and I am still smiling. What a treat to hear Olive speak and to meet her in-person and share our fears and aspirations for our lives and careers - as friends. Because friendship, across communities and geographies and perspectives, might just be the renewable resource we all need right now - as we face these extraordinary times of climate breakdown. For some of Olive's past work check out ‘A hostile climate: Confronting the challenges of aid delivery in the context of climate change’, Drawing on interviews with 49 humanitarian staff in 30 countries around the world.
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