Lisa Kimball had magical qualities – she would gather and connect a diverse group of people, let each person soar above all expectations and gently guide the group as they co- created something remarkable. Lisa continually shared her gifts with a wide range of professional groups, clients and friends. Stories of Lisa’s talents, generosity and big heart are now being shared across many networks and between colleagues and friends.
What we share is more than a remembrance, it is the enduring energy of Lisa’s voice encouraging us to never stop searching for a good collaboration, to see the world through a new lens, to take risks, to believe in what makes each of us special and of course, to have fun.
A dear friend and neighbor of Lisa’s on Martha’s Vineyard, Nancy Aronie offers writing workshops that were an annual summer event for Lisa and everyone she could convince to join her. The process is simple, the results are extraordinary.
You begin with a simple prompt: When I Think about Lisa….
Write for ten minutes without stopping, thinking or censoring yourself.
Post your writing in the comments below this post or send to dgeaston@plexusinstitute.org
You are also welcome to share a drawing, poem, song or other media.
When I think of Lisa, I think of her exceptional generosity: running the Plexus Institute and the DC Fractal. She connected so many people that there is an immeasurable world of ideas she helped spark. She leaves me with a vision of a future constantly coming into being, one filled with amazing people and unlimited opportunities to create goodness.
When I think about Lisa, I can still hear her infectious laugh. I heard it first in Metasystems Design Group’s Arlington offices in the mid-1980s. Lisa essentially mentored me as I took on the task of developing “the nation’s first electronic policy network” for then-Senator Gary Hart’s new Center for a New Democracy. I visited MDG’s offices frequently to better understand the potential of this new medium to transform democratic processes, involve more citizens in policy development, and move issues onto the public agenda. But mostly I went for hits of the brilliance, generosity, openness, and creativity embodied in Lisa and other MDG folks. I was and remain awestruck by Lisa’s critical thinking and ability to gently nudge me to examine my assumptions and refine my purpose and objectives. Over the years, I contacted her for that kind of guidance when developing new initiatives.
It wasn’t until I joined The Meta Network that I became aware of Lisa’s genius at conference moderation and facilitation. Observing her porting efforts and always-constructive and thoughtful contributions to online discussions in those early years influenced my approach to developing electronic advocacy networks to support the efforts of the Advocacy Institute, the American Cancer Society, and other public interest groups and government agencies in the late 1980s and early 1990s more than any other factor.
In 2003, I returned to The Meta Network and joined an online community of women including Lisa. She continued to amaze all of us with the variety of new initiatives and partnerships through her involvement with the Plexus Institute as well as her ability and willingness to step in to address tensions that arose from time to time among community members. Knowing that she cared for the health of the community whether or not she happened to be participating actively always felt so reassuring. I will always appreciate her efforts to sustain the Spirit community and ensure that TMN moved to an acceptable new “home” when her health problems warranted that.
Lisa’s brave and accepting spirit through the last few years of physical Hell inspired me all over again. You can read her posts in her Life Story on BSMN to get a better sense of this extraordinary woman. Your participation in that community would make her smile, I bet. I had the fortune to speak to Lisa on the phone this summer. Despite her physical limitations, her can-do spirit and curiosity remained strong. And she was still able to laugh.
When I think of Lisa, I recall her energy, enthusiasm and zest for life…. especially her use of the term “juicy”. I have no doubt that she is organizing a group jazz event in other dimensions right now and staying curious about will happen next… peace to us all as we mourn our loss
When I think about Lisa I think about how much Lisa thought about — breadth, depth, wise, funny, acerbic — her curiosity was energetic and indefatigable — Lisa was more interested in more dynamics in organizations, meetings, conversations and relationships than anyone I’ve worked with — you couldn’t budge her off a conviction except with a great question and then, wow, fasten your seat belt because that conversation was going to rev up!
Lisa’s ability to work a room, hold a room, launch complex ideas and bring things to fruition is deservedly legendary. She did not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise, and did so in a kind and generous way. Lisa knew more kinds of people across more social strata, cultures, and time zones and it always amazes me how many paths in the networks I enter, run back to Lisa as a major network hub.
I remember partnering with Lisa on some tough projects and going back to the hotel at night, scrapping the hard work planned for the next day, and starting over with a fresh sheet of paper because good enough wasn’t going to be good enough. Lisa’s stamina and passion came in equal measure and her clients were better for both, and so am I.
There is a Lisa-shaped hole in my heart and life and I’ll miss her terribly.
Shared stories via email
Howard Rheingold:
I met Lisa sometime in the late 1980s at a meeting of “The Electronic Networking Association.” I think Joi Ito was there, too. We hit it off and stayed in touch. I sometimes consulted with her when Rheingold Associates was helping organizations plan virtual communities. She visited me in California and I visited her in DC. In 1998, while sitting in my back yard, she urged me to use Caucus to experiment with yet another virtual community — Brainstorms, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in February. She had a great mixture of expertise, social conscience, and a sense of fun.
Donna Gold:
I and several of my colleagues at the National Education Association’s National Center for Innovation worked with Lisa primarily in the 90s.I recall her creative, innovative spirit, her can-do attitude, and her great sense of humor. I will always remember the twinkle in her eye when she was tackling a problem or facing a challenge. I greatly enjoyed working with her and respected her keen intelligence. She was one of those wonderful people who worked in the Washington milieu but never succumbed to the overlarge ego so often encountered here in spite of the many gifts she offered. Thank you Lisa for all you gave to us.
Barrett Horn:
Lisa played a significant role in the development of my OD work and though we only managed a few short times of actually being in the same location, those times made a large and even transformative impact on my OD practice.My heart goes out to John and to so many who looked to Lisa as a friend and mentor.
Jane Rainwater:
Lisa knew you could do stuff that you didn’t even know you could do. Her confidence in you made you confident that you could do almost anything. She was the best problem-solver on the planet. She made a network of friends and colleagues that is huge and permanent. We all loved her and will miss her more than words can ever express.
Billye Adams: One of Lisa’s partners at MetaSystems Design Group
I have been sort of stunned since I heard the news from Matt Minahan and Hope O’Keeffe a couple of days ago that Lisa had left this planet. So I finally came here tonight. And found you all, and so many wonderful expressions about what Lisa has meant and been. I wish she were here to enjoy it. But maybe she is….. if anyone ever ‘belonged’ online, it has been Lisa. She loved it. She drove it. She thrived on it. And brought so many people along with her, way back in what…. 1983, when online was all new and a wonder and we at MDG explained how these little packet of data sailed through the universe and lined up just like you had typed them in, and connect with someone else anywhere in the world. WOW. What days those were!!!!!!! A great, energetic and encompassing soul is gone and I feel very sad. And now the tears come. And it is good to be here in Lisa’s space with you all. I know she’s flying.
Barbara Bunker:
Lisa was not only a wonderful person but her creativity and contributions added greatly to our OD profession. I am sad that she is no longer in this world.
Laura Gramling:
I’ve always looked up to Lisa and have said “I want to be like Lisa when I grow up.” Her creativity, her ability to be relevant, her ability to be relatable, her ability to be present – as always inspired me. I want to provide that for my clients. That is what I strive for. It’s a space of being and action and non-action.
Judah Pollack:
Lisa had the extraordinary capacity to trust a group of people to find relevant, impactful, insightful answers all while sitting chill in a chair or moseying quiet around the room. Lisa taught me one of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever learned, how to get out of the way. I have no doubt she is causing trouble in the after-world scoping out the self-organizing systems of spirits and suggesting some very useful APD’s she’s seen the devilish using. Likely putting Mexican folk art up everywhere as well. I’ll miss her combination of sly wit and open heart.
When I think of Lisa I also think of John, her husband, and their warm creative household. The art and craft collections displayed within exhibited their joy and appreciation of the artistic contributions of people from around the world. We loved hearing Lisa enthusiastically describe anecdotes from their joint collecting trips and individual artworks. Her infectious spirit remains undiminished.
Beverly H. Stanford Stearns
When I think of Lisa, I think of her zest for living, her positive spirit, can-do attitude, keen intelligence, achievements in the field of leadership and collaboration, interests in others, and most of all her admirable bravery and determination to remain active in spite of the challenges her body forced on her.
We shared being in the Literature Section of the Women’s Club of Chevy Chase, MD. She joined the club and Lit. Section in 2016 and quickly volunteered to be one the presenters for our monthly book selections. We all were dazzled by her presentation, not knowing of her scholarship and leadership in her professional life.
At our December meeting in 2016 when we all shared our favorite books, she mentioned Tell Them Whom Am: The Lives of Homeless Women and Tally’s Corner: A Study of Streetcorner Men, both by Elliot Liebow. Her choices revealed to me that we were kindred spirits in our interests and concerns.
In May 2017 I had a delightful visit with Lisa when she was recuperating from an injury. Our discussion in that 2-hour exciting visit focused on those interests and the form of research we both did and were doing, qualitative research. She helped me by nominating an excellent couple to participate in a study I conducting with my husband. And I was delighted to learn a lot about the work she had done in her field and to talk shop with a kindred spirit.
I’m so grateful that I had some time with this amazing woman who was so beautiful inside and out.
Beverly Hardcastle Stanford Stearns 11/14/2017