There are a hundred reasons why I love this job. One of the top five reasons is the opportunity to meet extraordinary people while traveling around the world on behalf of PMI... 41 countries, nearly 1,000 days of travel abroad in the last five years, and the opportunity to meet hundreds of extraordinary people. Chalk up another one in San Francisco.

My recent trip to San Francisco to help PMI members celebrate the 35^th anniversary of the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) chapter introduced me to another extraordinary person. Her name is Bonnie Nixon, and she is the Director of Environmental Responsibility for HP. Her title just doesn't do her work justice. One of the most significant areas of responsibility is maintaining an ethical supply chain in all areas of HP business. This is a remarkable job! Bonnie evaluates the organizations in their supply chain to rate them regarding their social and environmental impact, to ensure that HP contributes to global sustainability throughout their value chain. Pretty cool job, huh?

But that isn't the reason I was so taken with Bonnie. You see, Bonnie has been an environmental activist her entire adult life. She didn't "back into" the job, or take a "new" opportunity, or accept a job as a "corporate" move, although all are reasons to take the job. Nope, she took this job because it was a perfect fit for her, a continuation of the pursuit of her passionate "calling" to contribute to global sustainability. It is neither a job to her, nor just an avocation. It is the reason she is on this planet...I think she believes that. If not with HP, then on her own, or with another company or organization, because it is what she is on this planet "to do." She is driven to pursue a better world. Her personal belief in this journey was visible from the moment I met her. Her focus is razor sharp, and her commitment to global sustainability is crystal clear, and her depth on the subject is bottomless.

It started when she was a student at Pennsylvania State University, in the USA, While attending university, the famous crisis occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. The incident solidified her commitment, and she dedicated her life to doing what she could to change the way people and organizations interface with the world around them.

Since she dedicated herself to this cause, she has accomplished great things.

To top it all off, she has a remarkable balance of impatience and humility. A person with a commitment like Bonnie has all the right to pull her hair out with the glacial progress man has made protecting the planet and all of the species on it. She is persistent, focused, and impatient when she needs to be. Yet she remains humble knowing her place and role in all of this.

Yep, add Bonnie to the list of remarkable people I have met in my life.They are all around me, every day, and every place I go. I find that I look for them more and more, to find the commitments, the lifelong pursuits, and the passion that drives ordinary people to do extraordinary things. It sure makes me want to wake up and go after it another day.

Thanks, Bonnie, for adding to the list. I was honored to be on a panel on global sustainability with you. I was humbled by it. And thank you, Jennifer Russell, for inviting us to be on the panel to meet one another.