Soul Creative Media's current creative warrior is Jackson, Wyoming local and sustainability expert, Tim O'Donoghue, sustainabledestination.org.  Tim is former Executive Director of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce.  Today, he is a consultant providing services for communities, destinations, and businesses in sustainability and sustainable tourism.  He founded The Riverwind Foundation and their mission is to unite efforts to minimize resident and visitor impacts on the Greater Yellowstone and other ecosystems now and for future generations.  Riverwind Foundation builds partnerships and initiatives to address climate change and visitor impacts on the environment, community, and economy.

Our greatest hurdle, according to Tim, is our willingness as a community to work together and listen to each other.  We all know that our town and country is filled with strong opinionated wills, myself included, and the ability to come to the table and make compromise for a goal we all want to achieve can sometimes be difficult.  Tim reminded me of something my dad always taught me when I would get on my holier than thou tree hugging soap box, compromise is not failure, it is actually what creates change.  My dad would say, "Leigh, it's compromise that actually gets things done.  You don't get anywhere without compromise."  

Tim's sincere integrity reminds me of my dad and his sentiments echoed my dad's teachings.  A sustainable future is agreeing on a lasting solution even if it's slightly different from our original way of seeing.  According to Tim, it's throwing ego aside and making an effort to work with other groups, NGO's, and individuals. 

During our interview, Tim shares the Riverwind Foundation's Destination Management Plan.  He talks about creating sustainable tourism, educating tourists before they arrive, improving public transportation, and implementing choices and habits in our daily lives in order to make a difference.  I left our interview feeling more hope for our town, our nation, and our planet.  Tim reminded me that feeling apathetic is not our problem, it is reaching across the aisle to listen, communicate versus soapbox, and compromise.  Once we all choose to come together, in spite of our differences, we can literally move mountains.  Ultimately, Tim believes Jackson, Wy. can be an example for other communities across the United States in how to be more sustainable and still manage to be thriving economically. 

Tim is a daily creative warrior, he thinks outside of the box and addresses challenges head on.  He reminds all of us that we all can be living examples of creative change.