Arrivederci Rick!

Happier days - click for details.

Truly no good deed goes unpunished.

I just got this from Rick.

Transitions

Friends and Colleagues...

It is with a heavy heart that I'm writing to inform you of my resignation from my position as Conservation Programs Director with the Coral Reef Alliance. My last working day will be August 9, 2013.

I have been with CORAL since early 2005.
It has been a rewarding experience filled with relationships that were unimaginable when I stepped into my role. The journey has been exceptional. It has certainly never been dull nor without drama. The value and importance of people and collaboration as the focus of CORAL's work has been emphasized and magnified time and again. Your belief in--and support for--CORAL's mission over the years is reflected in my confidence that the organization is in a strong position for my transition to new challenges.

I take from CORAL the strength of experience, the integrity of working on a globally significant issue, and the knowledge that our collaborations together over the years have catalyzed meaningful change for coral reefs and the human communities who depend upon them.

Until CORAL appoints a new director, please feel free to contact executive director Dr Michael Webster (mwebster@coral.org) for any organizational issue, or assistant program director Jason Vasques (jvasques@coral.org) for anything programmatic.

A heartfelt thanks for providing me guidance, inspiration, constructive council, and--from time to time--a receptive ear. It's not just rhetoric or "NGO speak" when I say that your collaborations made my successes possible. Your commitment in helping realize our shared missions has been powerful.

I'm not sure where my next steps will take me--and in truth I'm looking forward to taking my first real vacation in nearly nine years. But after I decompress, I look forward to our paths crossing again professionally or personally.

Cheers and my heartfelt thanks,
Rick

Rick MacPherson
Conservation Programs Director
Coral Reef Alliance 

That is of course the official version.

There are resignations and then, there are resignations - and this one stinks. And although I'm not privy to any details, I do know this: this is a huge loss for the Coral Reef Alliance. 

Rick is one of last year's honorable nominees, and what I said there is but a tiny glimpse of the enormous respect and affection I have for the man. In a conservation universe that is so often plagued  by lack of accountability, ludicrous agendas, widespread cronyism and outright bullshit, and the total waste of resources that goes with that, he shines by his uncompromising integrity, honesty and total commitment to the cause. And apart from his unmatched professional skills that range from great leadership and brilliant erudition all the way to the arcane arts of successful diplomacy, Rick is a real Mensch, a good man with a big heart.

Buddy you shall be sorely missed.

Only for a while, that is - because I have no doubt that once you have duly decompressed (indulge!), you shall rise again with new vigor and motivation, and with a much better job description.

And we shall all benefit from it.

Le Roi est mort - vive le Roi!