Inclusion and Authenticity

Around 10 years ago, while I was dating my soon-to-be wife Susan, I first met Marc. In a sense, I was in the process of joining a new community -- this crazy group of folks I will loosely call the Stanford crowd. And coming from another bay area school which is not always welcome in Palo Alto, it was refreshing to meet Marc and instantly experience his earnest interest in getting to know me. Marc's welcoming nature is clear in the above note, which he gave to Susan and me at a going away party as we prepared to move out of state for several years. The photo is also from that party.

After coming back to the bay area, I've had a few chances to catch up with Marc. One was not long ago when he came to SF for a conference. He and I went out for dinner, and he brought along a co-worker from an old job, who he probably hadn't seen in years. He was such an includer with a generous heart.

That evening at our home, Marc shared with us about some hard things he'd been going through. Though Susan and I had not seen him for some time, he wanted to be real with us and connect on a deeper level. His transparency made an impression on me that lasted beyond his visit.

-Brian Campbell