It's been a while since our last blog post, but we haven't been slacking…far from it! Most of 2008 has been nose-to-the-flippin-grindstone getting the Beta site that you are now (hopefully) enjoying designed and built while at the same time scouring the planet to find the 5 green Change Agents - called Earthkeepers - that are introduced here on Changents with this site launch.
 
These rock stars of globe greening exemplify what we admire most about Change Agents: they're individuals who have found highly personal, out-of-the-box ways of creating change. We're proud to host them on Changents and we think you'll find the opportunities to follow their ongoing stories, join their teams and help them out in all kinds of ways as Backers to be super gratifying.

On a related note, we are honored to have Timberland as our charter sponsor. This relationship started (and I'm not BSing here) when Deron sent a cold-call email to Timberland's CEO Jeff Swartz describing Changents and signaling our interest in helping any way we could. The compatibility of values made a Timberland/Changents partnership a natural. So what if they're a billion dollar company and we're a start-up. Who's counting? Fast Company's article a couple years ago on JSwartz called Walking the Walk described a corporate ethics visionary and evangelist that we wanted to connect with if we could. A flame was burning in Stratham, New Hampshire and we needed to get closer to the heat...if we could find a way into the kitchen...

Did we expect a reply? No. Did we get a reply? Yes, but not from Jeff. He forwarded the email to people with keys to the kingdom who invited us in to talk. The snowball rolled from there. Let's just say we're very pleased to be in the good company of this good company. It gives us a lot to aspire to.

We're building Changents as a community and we welcome your feedback on the Beta (email alex at changents dot com with suggestions, ideas, etc.). Check out Change Agent stories; spread the stories that inspire you; invite a friend to join up; "Back" a Change Agent and get involved in doing good; nominate yourself as a Change Agent and tell your own story; whatever works. Your personal pinpoint on the "continuum of engagement" is yours to choose. Just decide and get your hands dirty. There are no wrong answers. The only sin is a sin of omission.

Thanks for joining us on the Changents Beta. We're getting closer all the time.