Welcome Ami Lawrie-Allen

My Commitment to You to Be Proud of How I Spend My Time

From the admittedly impossible task of work life balance, to working in a manner that aligns with my values, the birth of my first child, Ami has brought life further into focus.

Ami is now 30 days old and I’m already wishing I took more paternity leave and had committed to less projects. At the same time, I wanted to say a few words about how excited I am to be working on what I want with who I want. To be more specific, I’m excited to surround myself with values aligned people that I am constantly learning from on projects that I am proud of explaining to Ami.

I wanted to highlight one project called Canadian Democracy @ Work that is at the core of my fellowship with the think tank, The Dais. It exemplifies my new direction and I need your help on it:

Here’s were you come in. If you’re working with a large employer in Canada, we need your help to support Canadian democracy. In short, if the below is of interest, please let get in touch!

Immediately below this I’ve pasted the text from our new and still-in-development website explaining the project. Below that, I’ve pasted my update on Ami’s birth and to reiterate, she’s a big part of my clarity to work projects like this, which is to say, to work on what I want, with whom I want. In the coming weeks, I’m excited to announce a number of other projects.

Canadian Democracy @ Work

Civics education is good for business and society.

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Canadian democracy is under immense pressure. 

Polarization has increased. Trust in public institutions and civic literacy have decreased. The proliferation and influence of mis- and disinformation have accelerated. Together, these trends are contributing to decreased social cohesion and democratic engagement, as well as increased radicalization, across the country. 

Strengthening democracy must be a priority for all parts of Canadian society – including Canadian employers. 

According to the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, employers are the most trusted and credible organizations in Canada. In fact, employer communications are cited as more trustworthy than media reports, social media posts, and government releases. The relationship between employers and employees, therefore, presents a critical avenue to champion democratic renewal and restore trust in our institutions. 

The Canadian Democracy @ Work initiative (Democracy@Work), in collaboration with employers across the country, is working to reinvigorate civic engagement, combat rising disinformation, and equip Canadians with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate a changing digital world, including better understanding the impact of AI and emergent technologies on the state of democracy. 

Why do we need Democracy @ Work? 

Information and civic literacy are typically only taught in schools. There is little training or education for adults on these crucial topics. Yet, as the internet has become an increasingly significant political arena, and as the digital landscape has changed drastically, it is essential that adults update their knowledge and skills to navigate this evolving environment effectively. 

The modules developed through this project will equip Canadian adults with an understanding of fast-moving developments in artificial intelligence, deepfake technology, and digital manipulation – and the relevance of these advances to their civic lives. The knowledge and skills developed in the course of these modules will, therefore, enable Canadian adults to better participate in democratic processes, contribute to informed public discourse, and safeguard democratic institutions. 

Why should businesses care about democracy? 

First, because business success depends on good governance. The stable social and economic operating environment on which businesses rely can only be maintained if our democracy functions well. 

And second, because threats that affect democratic institutions are also cause for concern for businesses. Canadians’ difficulties in differentiating true content from false, for instance, presents serious problems for democratic institutions. It is also a problem for businesses. Companies are often the targets of disinformation. Companies are amongst the groups most frequently victimized by false, reputation-harming content, preceded only by political parties.

How does the project work?

This project is grounded in extensive consultation with major Canadian employers to inform the content and structure of the modules and training materials. These consultations are underway, and will continue into Fall 2024. The employer- and expert-informed modules and training materials will be beta-tested starting Winter 2025. They will then be refined, and the project will be scaled-up to reach more employees, beginning Spring 2025.

Back to the fun stuff - here’s how I introduced Ami to the world on LinkedIn:

Part 2: introducing baby Ami Allen

Part 1 was a call for someone to replace me so that, as my brother and others recommended, I could leave LinkedIn well, Part 2 is the beginning of an explanation of what’s next, grounded in the most important event of my life, the birth of my daughter Ami.

As I explained in my last post on how my values have shifted since joining LinkedIn, my hope is to be proud of my explanations to Ami about what I work on and why. For instance, my addiction to social media and tech relates to my interest in working at LinkedIn but also now to my desire to focus the next phase of my career on fixing society’s relationship with tech.

I was wrestling with whether to post on Ami’s birth because this act in itself succumbs to the need for social validation, the dopamine hits of your congratulations.

I also struggled with where this would fall on the line of acceptability between professional and personal posts on LinkedIn. I struggle with the line between personal and professional in general, combining work and play gleefully, but also confusingly, for my family and friends and me.

Yet I thought the below post, originally for Instagram, would help explain why this month, and this year, and even hopefully for much of Ami’s life, I will be less online, and working less, with a 7 pound baby tipping the balance in favour of family.

Introducing Ami Lawrie-Allen

One friend described having your first child like crossing an event horizon. For some time I’ve been excited for, and scared of Ami’s delivery as the third Kuhnsian paradigm shift in my experience of love after my wife and dog.

Few could have imagined me “settling down” a decade ago. Now the home and community that Elina Lawrie and I have built make me grateful and proud that she proved us all wrong and turned my mind 180 degrees.

Similarly, if in a different dimension, I’ve understood love and the world very differently after the arrival of our whippet, Alberto Giacometti. Elina taught me to imagine a life built with another human being and Gio taught me I could love an animal so much that going for a run with him is my favourite activity.

While these shifts were positive, like all change and learning, they were also uncomfortable and hard (responsibility for a house?! Or the patience to train a puppy).

I’m going to pull back from work this month and making a conscious effort to do so multiple times this year to fully support my wife and daughter and immerse myself in this paradigm shift to fatherhood.

Apologies if correspondence is delayed or if I drop any balls: almost all the balls that don’t relate to Elina, Gio or Ami have gone from glass to rock or rubber and while still scared, the excitement for the growth, learning and love that will follow these sleepless nights already exceeds my fears.

If urgent, as always, text my cell.

I’ll leave you with the penultimate update on Ami’s arrival that I sent our family this past week:

After a smooth 12 hours of labour and 3 hours of pushing, baby Ami Lawrie-Allen was born 7.3lb at 8:57 this morning. Mom is happy and healthy and dad in tears