by Susan P. Curnan, Della M. Hughes

With this issue we begin our third year as partners in publishing CYD Journal. It is a time for reflection and celebration, and for being deliberate about continuous improvement. While the two of us started this great venture and accept responsibility for the quality, relevance, and worth of each issue, our broader creative partnership includes many others. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to thank and recognize everyone who has contributed to the establishment and growth of the Journal.

Let us start with you, our readers. So far as we can tell, you number over 10,000 and you live in communities around the world. Our subscriptions come from every state and four continents, from K--12 schools, universities, community-based agencies, corporations, foundations, faith-based congregations, activists, advocacy groups, and local, state, and federal government. You work with young people and elders, across generations and disciplines. You represent a great mix of economic conditions and a diversity of races, religions, genders, geographic locations, and ways of knowing, loving, and learning. Our website, www.cydjournal.org, is active with your inquiry-with tens of thousands of "hits" each month. You tell us that the publication is used in boardrooms and classrooms, for staff and program development, and for educating the media, politicians, and potential partners in CYD. We want to learn more from you-what themes would you like us to focus on in the next two years? Which books would you like us to review? What CYD management problems would you like us to address? Our readers and writers continuously deepen our understanding, raise issues, ask and answer key questions-and, in so doing, influence how we and others see and take action in the world. Keep those letters and submissions coming! Thank you.

Speaking of authors, we have been blessed with an embarrassment of riches. One hundred and one writers have made the Journal sing. Your voices have carried stories and messages, lessons from research and experience, strategies for managing, leading, and facilitating our way toward a safe, just, and prosperous society where young people are engaged in full and healthy ways. You have moved us to action and moved us to tears. You have challenged our complacency related to law and justice, oppression, and hate crimes. You challenged the conventional wisdom on subjects ranging from evaluation to youth engagement, from peace circles and spirituality to organizational culture and the culture of sports, from the power of nature to the importance of health care for all, from global leadership to neighborhood academies, from safe streets to safe schools. All that and more in eight issues over two years! Thank you.

Like any business that wants to sustain itself and make a difference in the world we have other investors and collaborators to thank as well. Our advertisers-the Heller School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University, the National Network for Youth, the Third Sector, Outward Bound, Phi Theta Kappa, Integrated Research Services, Concordia University, Project Adventure, Meri Associates, Human Service Associates, Mendelson Center for Sport, Character, and Culture. Our foundation supporters-Ford, Ewing Marion Kauffman, Edna McConnell Clark, W. K. Kellogg, William T. Grant, Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds, and Public Welfare. Our co-founders-the Institute for Sustainable Development of the Heller Graduate School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University and the National Network for Youth. The Forum for Youth Investment and the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) have been bright, creative, and reliable journalistic collaborators. Through contract publishing arrangements and special contributions, these organizations and their leaders-Karen Pittman of The Forum and Kirk Astroth of NAE4-HA-have made substantial contributions to the vision and content of the Journal. Thank you.

Finally, "it's about the infrastructure." Specifically, about IJC's virtual publishing team, whose combined efforts bring all the good ideas to fruition. From insight to ink on the page and pixels on the screen, from imaginative editorial meetings to contact and contracts with authors, artists, advertisers, and subscribers. At some cost and great benefit we and our team are continuously blurring the lines between the roles (publisher, editor, writer, designer, and reader) out of necessity and our own discipline of innovation. We all wear many hats and have redefined our jobs along the way, which has also allowed us to blur the lines between work and play-something we value and wish for all of us at work in the CYD movement. Special thanks to you:

• Anne Dosher, long-time friend and CYD philosopher. (San Diego, California)
• Donna Woonteiler, managing editor. Donna manages around editing deadlines using technology and diplomacy. She is the cover queen, the wordsmith diva, and a phenomenal juggler; creative and practical, she always gets the job done with amazing grace. (Boston, Massachusetts)
• John Terry, editor-in-chief. John has earned his CYD stripes to go with his Ph.D. A man of vision, of letters, of groundedness in the environment, of steadfast determination to advance CYD, he constantly keeps us focused on the message. (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
• Ted Rodman, marketing and design. "Give me cover themes and ideas and set me free. I love this stuff and so will the world!" From the weight of the paper to the size of the margins to the specs of contracts to the evocative colors and graphics that grab attention, he is committed to getting CYD out there. (Rockport, Maine)
• Chris Reilley, website designer. Chris's creativity, technical skills, innovation, and attention to detail keeps cydjournal.org up-to-date, attractive, and user-friendly. (Arlington, Massachusetts)
• Martha Dean, fulfillment specialist. The database guru who keeps our lists clean and gets those subscriptions out in a timely manner to the right people.
• Beverly Goldfarb, copy editor. The newest member of the IJC publishing team, Beverly's focus on details and international perspective has been a welcome addition to our group. (Tasmania, Austrailia)

For the two of us this business of "knowledge building and strategic communication" has been a great adventure. In order to execute this dream we have had to climb a steep mountain, one of many in a vast and breathtaking range. Our climbing tools have been our passion for the mission, our commitment to a safe, just, and prosperous world, our pledge to keep learning, our dedication to partnership, and our enthusiasm for our publishing, editing, and writing roles.

We are stronger for the journey. It's been a rocky road at times. The remarkable vistas keep us moving toward the next hill, along the next curve in the road, to the top of the mountain-and then, on to the next. A formula that we learned long ago applies here: good friends + hard work + play + luck = the requirements to stay the course.

As we begin this third year, we are offering a new version of a logic model or framework for CYD. Invariably as we engage in the task of creating something as multifaceted as the "Towards Shared Prosperity" framework, we wonder if it really matters. Will the articulation of assumptions and the integration of ideas help shape the way we think about and act on our responsibility for the quality of everyday life and the future of the world? Will a modest guide for planning and action stimulate further exploration and push the boundaries of what we currently know? Will interaction among cross-cutting areas and fields actually occur? Will young people truly be accepted in new leadership roles? Will shared prosperity be achieved?

Humble consideration leads us to believe that a framework won't save the world but that it can influence thinking and acting. Further, we hope it can save CYD activists and educators valuable time by offering the integration of the best in theory, practice, policy, and research. We know it is helpful for us-we use it every day to guide our thinking, planning, and acting. It is our map for climbing the mountains-and as such, we know we will need to pencil in new paths, flooded creeks, fields of blooming flowers, and the positions of the stars. At each juncture we will keep notes about what we learn on the journey.