Update from Donald Robertson

What has our nonprofit project been doing recently and what is next?

Hello everyone. I’ve recently arrived back from Athens where I was invited to speak at a life coaching training event run by my friend Brian Johnson of Heroic. Around 180 people attended, from the US and around the world. They experienced many aspects of Athens, including the Acropolis, Agora, Panathenaic Stadium, and the replica trireme Olympias. However, most importantly, they attended a talk I gave in Akadimia Platonos park, under a tent, with lunch served. It gave us another opportunity to prove that the park can be used as a venue for international events, and is capable of attracting visitors from around the world who want to support its future.

It is our hope that by helping organizations like YPO and Heroic to run international events in Plato’s Academy park, they may become regular, perhaps annual or biannual visitors to the area. Many of the attendees are also CEOs who may be interested in running events or workshops in the park themselves in the future. This is now the second time I’ve been involved with an international event held in the park itself, and the fourth major event I’ve helped with in Athens, in recent years. I think we’ve definitely got “proof of concept” that Akadimia Platonos is a viable location for similar events in the future.

What Next?

Our nonprofit has been doing well but it’s not always been easy. There are some obstacles we have to deal with in Greece. We believe that we now have potential investors who may be interested in supporting us in establishing a permanent base adjacent to the park, where we can run small events and co-ordinate larger events in the park itself or potentially at other nearby venues we’ve now identified as suitable.

We’ve also identified a derelict building which we are interested in buying and renovating, in order to create a centre beside Plato’s Academy park, and near other existing resources, such as the Digital Museum of Plato. Unfortunately, our lawyer has informed us that no owner is named for this property in the Greek land registry, so we are currently carrying out research to see if we can obtain more information, and the locate the owners, in order to explore the possibility of purchasing this building.

Your support is essential as we move forward. You may have noticed that there were fewer posts earlier this year as my wife, Kasey, who is our communications director, and responsible for the newsletter, had a baby, and was, unfortunately, unwell for quite some time following the birth. We’re pleased to say that mom is now well on the road to recovery, and our son, Hector, is doing very well. So Kasey has resumed working on the newsletter and you’ll see regular interviews and excerpts appearing here again.

We are also planning future activities and collaborations in Athens. While we work on finding a suitable property, we may attempt to run our first small event, under the auspices of Plato’s Academy Centre. Details have yet to be confirmed, although we are looking into the possibility of organizing a writer’s retreat in nearby Delphi, in order to help raise additional funds for the nonprofit. We are also planning our 2025 program of virtual events, which we believe will begin with an online conference on philosophy and democracy.

Please let us know your thoughts about our project and the proposals mentioned above. As always, we greatly value your feedback.

Yours,

Donald Robertson

President of the Plato’s Academy Centre