Natalie Derr, IOB Creative Technologist, and key driver in the evolution of our Sandbox program recently took a month-long service trip to southeast Asia. Hear about the connections she made between her work at IOB and the amazing trip

Belonging. Community. Acceptance. These are things that many, if not all of us, crave. Even those of us who proudly wave our introvert flag still desire to be seen, heard, and loved. It is in our DNA to find “our people…our place.”

At Islands of Brilliance, we’ve provided a space for our participants who are 18 years or older to form their own community, the Brilliant Breakfast Club.

I love how as a part of this community, we are able to not only share our common experiences but our knowledge and the resources we collect along each of our personal journeys.

As we all know, last night was a difficult and unimaginable time for our country. As we witnessed these horrifying actions unfold, I couldn’t help but wonder if we should cancel our meeting. As we began our first meeting of the year, we acknowledged that most of us had considered not attending last night, and yet we did gather. As I reflect this morning, I am struck by the power of that seemingly simple action. We came together as a small community, we showed up for each other.

“Thank you - I am so glad we found you!”

“My daughter absolutely loved joining in yesterday, when is the next one?”

“What is all this Juice Talk?”

I am really lucky, I get to hear lots of happy stories. We here at IOB call it, "Juice." Juice is representative of all the good stories we get to share—stuff that makes us happy, proud, and know we are doing important and meaningful work.

Summer is in full swing and we sure felt the heat last weekend here in Milwaukee! Last night we talked about quite a few different topics…from celebrations to Pop Tarts.