TM 234 Utopia
Press release -- From the desk of Kate Kildare
Executive Director: The Order
Fifty States Initiative Code Name: Hera
When inventor-adventurer Tony Stark and renowned physicist-hero Reed Richards launched the Fifty-State Initiative, they didn't bother with modest goals. "We're talking about making the world better," Stark told The New York Times last year. "There aren't so very many windows in history where you really get a chance to do that. But six months, a year from now, you'll see that the Initiative, in an unprecedented collaboration of superpowered individuals with government and the private sector, is moving our society toward a future that once seemed unimaginable."
Last weekend, Henry Hellrung, field leader of California's Initiative team, the Order, got to see a bit of that future firsthand, at a Lake Tahoe conference hosted by billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne. Hellrung, who is known as Anthem when on active duty with the Order, escorted Lorna Hansen Dane, a top Wayne Industries researcher, herself a registered superpower.
Other A-list attendees included actress Julie Madison, longtime peace activist and goodwill ambassador to the United Nations; Harry Osborn, scion of the prestigious high-tech firm Oscorp; and high-powered Los Angeles attorney Lindsey McDonald.
Stark Industries was also well-represented, in the form of executives-in-training Sally Martha Blevins, of Gotham City, and Stephanie Lane Stetins of Wayzata, Minnesota, who first gained national attention last year as top recipient of the Maria Stark Foundation scholarship.
One thing to notice about this list of names: changing the world isn't a boys' club anymore. Virginia "Pepper" Potts, co-founder of the Order and current chief operating officer of Stark Industries, commented, "Thomas Wayne and Howard Stark's generation of leaders made decisions behind closed doors, in smoke-filled rooms. Nick Fury ran SHIELD the same way. They were great men in their time, and I don't want to diminish their contributions. But we don't live in their world anymore."
"Lorna Dane's research is as important as anything else going on at Wayne these days," Potts continued. "The Mighty Avengers couldn't run without Carol [Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel], and SHIELD couldn't run without Maria Hill. As for Sally Stetins, Stark Industries hasn't seen a more promising young employee in years. The joke around the company is that she's going to be Iron Man in ten years!"
Unfortunately, Potts noted, images of female leadership in the media are slow to change. "I hate to say it," she added, "but some people hear that there were men and women at these meetings, and they decide to cover it like it was some kind of pleasure cruise. In actuality, a meeting of that many minds in business, science, international relief, and the superhero community doesn't come along every day."
Not that it was all work and no play. Hellrung commented that he and Wayne were able to get some "quality fishing" in along with "honest, productive conversation," adding that, "It was really a perfect mixture of business and pleasure. Like its own little perfect community in the middle of Lake Tahoe."
Of course, one weekend of honest, productive conversation isn't going to change an imperfect world all by itself. But today, just maybe we're all a little closer.
Executive Director: The Order
Fifty States Initiative Code Name: Hera
When inventor-adventurer Tony Stark and renowned physicist-hero Reed Richards launched the Fifty-State Initiative, they didn't bother with modest goals. "We're talking about making the world better," Stark told The New York Times last year. "There aren't so very many windows in history where you really get a chance to do that. But six months, a year from now, you'll see that the Initiative, in an unprecedented collaboration of superpowered individuals with government and the private sector, is moving our society toward a future that once seemed unimaginable."
Last weekend, Henry Hellrung, field leader of California's Initiative team, the Order, got to see a bit of that future firsthand, at a Lake Tahoe conference hosted by billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne. Hellrung, who is known as Anthem when on active duty with the Order, escorted Lorna Hansen Dane, a top Wayne Industries researcher, herself a registered superpower.
Other A-list attendees included actress Julie Madison, longtime peace activist and goodwill ambassador to the United Nations; Harry Osborn, scion of the prestigious high-tech firm Oscorp; and high-powered Los Angeles attorney Lindsey McDonald.
Stark Industries was also well-represented, in the form of executives-in-training Sally Martha Blevins, of Gotham City, and Stephanie Lane Stetins of Wayzata, Minnesota, who first gained national attention last year as top recipient of the Maria Stark Foundation scholarship.
One thing to notice about this list of names: changing the world isn't a boys' club anymore. Virginia "Pepper" Potts, co-founder of the Order and current chief operating officer of Stark Industries, commented, "Thomas Wayne and Howard Stark's generation of leaders made decisions behind closed doors, in smoke-filled rooms. Nick Fury ran SHIELD the same way. They were great men in their time, and I don't want to diminish their contributions. But we don't live in their world anymore."
"Lorna Dane's research is as important as anything else going on at Wayne these days," Potts continued. "The Mighty Avengers couldn't run without Carol [Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel], and SHIELD couldn't run without Maria Hill. As for Sally Stetins, Stark Industries hasn't seen a more promising young employee in years. The joke around the company is that she's going to be Iron Man in ten years!"
Unfortunately, Potts noted, images of female leadership in the media are slow to change. "I hate to say it," she added, "but some people hear that there were men and women at these meetings, and they decide to cover it like it was some kind of pleasure cruise. In actuality, a meeting of that many minds in business, science, international relief, and the superhero community doesn't come along every day."
Not that it was all work and no play. Hellrung commented that he and Wayne were able to get some "quality fishing" in along with "honest, productive conversation," adding that, "It was really a perfect mixture of business and pleasure. Like its own little perfect community in the middle of Lake Tahoe."
Of course, one weekend of honest, productive conversation isn't going to change an imperfect world all by itself. But today, just maybe we're all a little closer.