Rachael Barclay

At some point on launch night, Dawn Mason called herself the elder in the room. She said it with a smile, the way you say something you have earned.

Dawn is a former Washington State Representative and a founding member of Vantage. Those are the facts, and they are not the point.

When she arrived on Thursday, she told me exactly what she was there to do. Some people walk into a party hoping to meet as many people as possible. Dawn was looking for two. Two right people, and she would have done what she came for.

Before she left, she found me to report back. She had her person. We need him, she told me, and he needs us. That sentence is the entire Vantage thesis, delivered in eight words by the most intentional person in the room.

And let me be clear about what kind of elder Dawn is. She is not a quiet presence in a corner. She is loud in the best way, a woman who does not mince words because she knows exactly who she is. Confidence like that gives a whole room permission to be honest.

I built Vantage because I believe rooms like Thursday should exist on purpose, not by accident. Watching Dawn work taught me something I did not have words for yet. Software can choose an introduction. It takes an elder to show a room what intention looks like.

Dawn, I am honored you were in the room. You called yourself the elder in the room, and you were right. Every network needs one. Ours is lucky it is you.

This piece was first published on The Vantage Point. Read the full version at https://www.joinvantage.co/vantage-point/the-elder-in-the-room