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Mike Strode is a writer, tech enthusiast, urban cyclist and kitchen alchemist who resides in South Chicago. He is founder and Exchange Coordinator of the Kola Nut Collaborative, a Chicago based timebanking initiative. Its core mission is to promote and sustain a robust timebanking infrastructure which supports non-monetary transactions amongst individuals and organizations in Chicago allowing a greater sum of the realized value of work to be retained and shared within local communities.

The Collaborative blooms out of 7 years providing technical, operational and strategic support for Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Renewable Living and its distribution subsidiary, Healthy Food Hub. Mike's community engagement work has included ride leadership with the Chicago chapter of Red, Bike & Green; editorial and archival oversight for Fultonia; and co-facilitation of Art Is Bonfire.

His current practice draws upon all of these experiences to interrogate the intersection of timebanking, social economy and community resiliency with skill based asset mapping as an essential tool for building social infrastructure within and between neighborhoods. Mike's passion include experimental percussion, social dance, Emergent Strategy, and capturing the relationship between natural, social, and sacred places in poetry and prose.

His grounding philosophy is mycelium, collaborative agility, empathic individualization, and all things human glue.