CATALYST: Why, What, When, and How to get involved.
An overview of the CATALYST publication, conference, and network.
CATALYST: A Platform for Change.
Welcome to the CATALYST Updates Substack. All updates relating to CATALYST will be posted here.
Please subscribe to this page to receive an email whenever a new update is posted.
1. Why CATALYST, and why now?
We are in a time of crises.
We are facing challenges that can only be solved by knowledge exchange and innovative cooperation across disciplines. In my experience, everyone can think of a crisis their field or industry is facing - be it in physics, medicine, ecology, entertainment, historiography, politics, engineering, or another.
This isn’t ahistorical - at a psychosocial level, the world has always been ending.
Previous generations dealt with the challenges of their time by the strength of their networks - their companies, their universities, their churches, their families, their tribes. It wasn’t easy, but they had the networks to innovate and adapt.
CATALYST is a modern manifestation of those networks, adapted to a time of remote knowledge exchange and information overload.
CATALYST is platforming the leaders of the future. As a network we can connect young leaders and establish them as thought-leaders in their fields.
A CATALYST publication will allow us to invite established leaders to engage with our writers at the CATALYST Conference, bringing generations of leaders together to connect, grapple with the crises of our era, and point the way.
2. What is CATALYST?
CATALYST is an online, in-print, and in-person platform for change.
It is a platform to bring together young leaders to answer: ‘What is to be done?’
There are three aspects of CATALYST:
The publication - a series of articles grappling with crises and identifying actionable conclusions to the question: ‘What is to be done?’
The conference - a gathering where writers will discuss their articles, answer questions, and connect with established leaders.
The network - as a result of being published together, gathering in the same place, and grappling with the crises of our era, CATALYST will have developed a cross-discipline network of thinkers, professionals, and leaders.
3. When will this happen?
Digital publication will begin in April and May 2025, leading up to the physical print-edition and the conference in August or September 2025.
4. How can I get involved?
There are two ways to get involved in CATALYST.
1) Contribute to CATALYST
You can get involved by writing an article for CATALYST.
An article in CATALYST should contain these three elements:
Crisis - point out a problem you care about. The issue you would be providing insight into and proposing actionable solutions to.
Importance - mention why tackling this crisis is so important. What could solving it mean?
Action - your conclusion to the question: 'What is to be done?'.
True writing is exploratory. Proposals allow the authors to draft ideas and receive feedback.
The editors of CATALYST -
and myself - are here to help you write the best article possible. In our eyes, our role is to provide detailed feedback to your drafts and to help hone communicate your unique insight as clearly as possible.Standard articles in CATALYST will run from 800 to 1200 words.
Articles that need more word-space to fully explore their implications will run from 1500 to 3000 words as ‘Feature’ articles.
To submit your article, please email me at ‘guillermo@tela.app’.
More details here: Article Guidelines
2) Help organise CATALYST
If you do not want to write a contribution for CATALYST, but still want to take part in this venture. We welcome volunteers to take part in the organising CATALYST.
We need interviewers to be on camera asking presenters at the conference, mediators at solution-workshops for the conference, and people skilled with cameras and recording equipment. It will be an immensely gratifying venture with great networking and upskilling opportunities.
If you are interested in helping make CATALYST happen, please email me at ‘guillermo@tela.app’.
5. Subscribe for Updates
CATALYST exists to tackle the 21st century crisis.
CATALYST will platform action, reflection, and reinvention.
CATALYST exists to point the way.
Subscribe for updates.
