Grateful and Inspired

I am grateful to have been of service to you, my colleagues and friends, and to this storied organization. I feel like I've lived different lives at ###. First came ### - I was a salesman, soothsayer, and ultimately navigator-captain...for the benefit of our organization and all the people doing the work. We "just had to land it"

Then came predictive models, machine learning, Looker, and Google cloud which were intertwined with #### - I was designer, dreamer, trouble-maker...for the benefit of our future and what we *could* do. We "just had to build it"

Then came the pandemic and I was " just" one of us and was spokesperson for our good work to the likes of Forbes and Google. It was an honor to help pool our talents in our pandemic response. I am still amazed at how much we together built and accomplished (not for profit or fame) for the care of people. Truly remarkable that we took the technology used to power the likes of Lyft and AirBnB....and we used it to care for vulnerable people "at scale".

I came to ### hoping to find a truth....that we could take care of people with the same intensity as other people chase sales and commerce (no judgement implied; sales and commerce are also good). I am so proud of, grateful for, and humbled by my team and the larger organization. Our own actions during the pandemic became my incontrovertible proof of how much good could be done for so many people with the right technology, the right care providers, and earnest compassion.

We rose to the challenge, reached deeper, moved faster, and found ability (and a version of ourselves) that we (perhaps) never knew was inside our block of marble. We have lived that experience; we know not only what it means but also how it feels. We "just had to do it"

As the last year unfolded, the victories from growing people became the victories that powered and guided me. It is joyous to see my team (and of course others at ###) meet wherever they are and then become (and do) more than they ever dreamed before - somewhat a poetic arc for the guy who entered the organization and was all about about technology.

-Valmeek Kudesia