My name's Gina, and I work mostly behind the scenes at NetSquared. Right now, I'm pretty much breathing N2Y2 24/7, trying to make sure that staff, panelists and community members have everything they need to make N2Y2 a success.

When NetSquared began, we had a brief campaign where we asked people to take a picture of themselves with a few words describing the change they want to see in the world. "Crush the Roots of Violence" was the change that came to my mind, and this desire has led me to join the Board of the Samaritan Neighborhood Center, among other things. While I've been really honored to be part of this project, I'm leaving CompuMentor and San Francisco at the end of this summer, to pursue a graduate degree in Community and Cultural Psychology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where I hope to dedicate myself fully and pointedly toward creating the change I want to see by studying the effects of traumatic violence on diverse populations.

These last couple of years (and especially these last few weeks) have been a roller coaster. Through all of it, I've been continually surprised and impressed by what I think is the best thing about NetSquared - that it compels those involved to look beyond themselves and their immediate needs and desires and work toward something that is bigger, that has the potential to improve everyone's lot. It hasn't all been easy, and it sure hasn't been perfect, but it's definitely been worthwhile. I hope that others feel the same.