“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Eleanor Roosevelt

Dear Dr. Burton:

I am so grateful to have this opportunity to express my appreciation! You are a kind, creative, and inspiring individual that I respect and admire greatly. I feel honored to count you as one of my greatest teachers, mentors, and friends.

It was such a privilege to enrol in your courses at Simon Fraser. By the end of each semester, our classes always felt like family after mutual engagement in rich “futures thinking” and reflection upon our goals, values, and ideas about the most preferable futures.

The sense of community empowered us to think past the individual to collective in the classroom, on the Applied Foresight Network (AFN) and beyond. The AFN <www.appliedforesight.org> continues to act as a vibrant hub of informed dialogue and pragmatic action on a number of critical issues on the horizon for humanity.

The AFN platform is an excellent example of students, citizens, and professors globally taking personal responsibility and initiative — engaging in collective international thought, and local integrated action. Through the AFN, we have experienced how the power of one becomes the force of many.

Thank you for your friendship, wisdom, and energy — and commitment to a beautiful future and the leaders of tomorrow.

Best wishes

Artin Kiani