Anna Marie Voorhoeve

I can remember certain moments where I really thought, this is mine to do, let's say, and the earliest I think is when I was around eight. I was living in the Far East, in Malaysia, with my parents and family, and there was a civil war going on. One of the children of our household was missing for 24 hours but was found again. The presence of that civil war was quite close by, and I can still remember this feeling that I thought, this is just one big misunderstanding. If people would really listen to each other and speak more, this wouldn't be needed. It's not necessary to do this. We just need to understand and connect better. My parents also very much taught us that, when we moved every two or three years, and when we came somewhere, we would ask, how does it work here? Because it was very different cultures, Arab culture, Chinese, Malayan, Indian.

I was always in that connecting, doing things together. My parents also very much taught us that, when we moved every two or three years, and when we came somewhere, we would ask, how does it work here? Because it was very different cultures, Arab culture, Chinese, Malayan, Indian. They would say, go out to a sports event or club or school, connect and do something, contribute, do something together, because that's the way you find out. So there was always this, when I come somewhere, okay here I am, how can I contribute? That's the way I can connect. I had to actually learn also to connect without doing something, but that has been the foundational way of coming together to create something, an event or something nice. It's all, in essence, coming back to the same ways of working: how can we deeply listen, take a first step, listen again, take another step, and listen again?

Chief Elaine and Grandmother Esha are esteemed Indigenous knowledge keepers and spiritual leaders who collaborate with educators and advocates—such as Anna Marie—in the global movement for environmental and spiritual regeneration.Their collaborative work focuses on a profound, expanding Indigenous prophecy that unites four sacred birds:The Eagle: Symbolizes the Indigenous peoples of the North and the rational, industrial, and scientific mind.The Condor: Symbolizes the peoples of the South and intuitive, emotional, and Earth-centered wisdom.The Quetzal: Represents Central America and the sacred space of the heart, bridging the Eagle and the Condor.The Hummingbird: Symbolizes vitality, spiritual renewal, and the beauty of maintaining harmony with all of nature

At the moment, the last few years, I'm also working very closely with Chief Elaine and Grandmother Esha to work on bridging continents, on serving the prophecy of the Eagle, the Condor, the Quetzal, and the Hummingbird, from the perspective that if the indigenous people can really come back into their full purpose and be supported by the world to truly manifest what they feel is their role to play in the world, that's in the Americas, 80 million people, then we've really cracked some stuff around collaboration, and that can be a source of inspiration for many parts of the world. So, yeah, we are seeing how we can already start to connect and bring the wisdom that is being shared in a way that it can also land in the Western world, in Europe, how we can bring it there and connect, and then we come back. I love that work. That's really on my edge. It's new work for me, but it's all, in essence, coming back to the same ways of working: how can we deeply listen, take a first step, listen again, take another step, and listen again?

Holacracy and meshwork design are evolutionary organizational frameworks that replace traditional, top-down management with decentralized, self-managing systems. While Holacracy codifies this through rigid processes, meshwork design integrates complex adaptive networks, enabling cross-boundary collaboration to address broader, system-wide challenges.

The Art of Hosting (often referred to as the Art of Participatory Leadership) is a methodology rooted in living systems theory. It shifts facilitation from mere moderation to "hosting," intentionally cultivating environments where diverse groups can access collective intelligence, self-organize, and create sustainable solutions for complex challenges.

Systemic Constellation Work is an experiential modality that transforms complex relational or personal challenges into a 3D physical map. By inviting group participants to embody the different elements, individuals bypass logical overthinking to access deep, somatic listening and uncover hidden generational dynamics.

Different ways of inviting people into that kind of a space but also to listen, using tools like systemic constellation work, Art of Hosting, and more. There are many ways of how we can do that. A lot of multistakeholder collaboration involves putting something in the purpose, some complex issue that nobody can do on their own and that they really need each other for. Then the purpose holder, let's say, invites them in to commit themselves to that purpose and find that part in their organization or in themselves, the more ego part, people often say, but if it's in service of that purpose and can really shine, then you're closer to that purpose of yourself. So that's the kind of space we invite people into, to weave together, work on these complex issues, not only brainstorm after having connected, but also figure out how to manifest it.

I like to say that my purpose is to cocreate with all of nature a world that works, and that is in the visible and the invisible, because there's so much that is here around us that we don't see or are not aware of. So that's why I keep it very open, and in that is cocreation. It's that coming together, doing things together, to deeply listen, to play together, and to deeply understand. Deeply listen, deeply understand. In the last 10 to 15 years, I've given myself permission to say with the invisible, because before that it would be more between humans, but I'm sensing that I can get so much inspiration from nature, from things that are just coming from other realms. That's why I'm sharing it like that.

It doesn't take me off track, but I have to find ways of taking smaller steps than I might wish to take. I have learned through that practice to be in the not knowing, and I can hold that for quite a long time because I know if I take a step too quick, it will stop me. If I stay on track, connected to my purpose, and truly appreciating the now, it doesn't mean I don't think forward. I am really a strategic connector, always looking far ahead as well, but from here, and as soon as I let that go, the next step reveals itself. Step by step, I learned that it was about being in the now, accepting what it is, how I'm doing. If I could be with that, there would be enough energy from my heart. If I started to go into the mind or wish for something that was not there, it would drop away.

When I was 13, I fell ill, and after two years of exploring and investigation, there was no real advancement in my status. I was told that that was just it. I started to accept that, with help from others, to accept that this was my state of being. The more I accepted that, a change happened. I had totally no energy and no clarity, and the more I accepted that, a little bit of energy would come that I could do something. If I then said, 'Oh, later, if that energy becomes more,' it would come. But if I stayed with what there was, I could enjoy that moment. Step by step, I learned that it was about being in the now, accepting what it is, how I'm doing. If I could be with that, there would be enough energy from my heart. If I started to go into the mind or wish for something that was not there, it would drop away. It was a lesson of stepping forward, falling down, and getting up again. After some time, ten years, I could say, 'Okay, I get it. I understand.'

My experience is that the more synchronicity and serendipity happens, the more you're probably on track. So if things suddenly come up and you say, how's that possible, that's usually a good sign. There might be people, I know there are people, who think I'm crazy or who can't see the red thread. They see that I do a lot of different things, but for me they're all one. Because I'm following the energy. I'm seeing where I can cocreate toward something that is about a world that works for all, about where love is at the center, where we are really following our hearts. All of us can do that. If I stay on track, connected to my purpose, and truly appreciating the now, it doesn't mean I don't think forward. I am really a strategic connector, always looking far ahead as well, but from here, and as soon as I let that go, the next step reveals itself.

Sometimes it's difficult to hear what your heart is telling you because we have so many ways to get distracted. One of the ways is letting go of all the things that you were taught it should be like this, it should be like this, it should be like this, to hold that, to say okay, that might be so, and what if it's not. And so the what if, and then from the positive, what if it's true. Before I started to realize there is so much more in the invisible that we don't see. When I met people who were saying something about that, I would say, well, what if it's true? And then something can open up. You don't always have to agree or believe it, but if you're asking, if you're curious, if you feel some curiosity or feel something coming, you can say, what if, let me explore. There's always a choice you can make, even if it's not the right choice. So that curiosity, the what if, what if it's true, are things that really help me figure out what's distracting me and what's keeping me there, and to ask advice, to find people or ways, which don't only need to be people, they can also be coincidences.

I follow what makes my heart sing. That's what I do. I also have the capacity to see something positive in many things. There's always something to learn, something I can contribute to. I have also gone along with many things in my life that I thought were the right things for me, and with insight, of course, they taught me something. At a certain point, I had to stop because I had made it the right thing, instead of it really being what I should be doing on my path. My body put me to a halt and I figured that out. In our team at The Hague Center, it's always about what makes your heart sing, follow that, listen to that, and bring that into form. I'm seeing where I can cocreate toward something that is about a world that works for all, about where love is at the center, where we are really following our hearts. All of us can do that. So it might look like all kinds of different projects, all kinds of different networks, oh, another one, another one. Underlying it, it's all the same.

Still, my body stops me, and it has very creative ways of stopping me. There's no way my mind can overcome that stopping because I have a very creative capacity to also redefine things and say, maybe it's this or that. There's a challenge in that. I have a huge amount of resources coming in in all kinds of ways. The resources for money are not always there. They are there, and then they're gone, and then they're there, and then they're gone. It's not so consistent. It doesn't take me off track, but I have to find ways of taking smaller steps than I might wish to take. Because of that stop, I immediately get motivated, and I know what that means. I experience it and I'm highly motivated to stay on track, even if I don't know what to do next. I have learned through that practice to be in the not knowing, and I can hold that for quite a long time because I know if I take a step too quick, it will stop me. It's not only my body; it's also my soul that just wants to do what I'm here to do.

A Unifying Worldview for Conscious Collaboration to Transform the World

Anne Marie Voorhoeve is a key systems weaver, connecting coalitions for global governance, youth empowerment, and planetary consciousness. She regularly brings these networks together during World Unity Week to build alliances, inspire systems change, and unify global visions

The Hague Center for Global Governance, Innovation and Emergence Foundation receives your blessings with great honor and appreciation. We pledge to use the funds in our most diligent service of the greatest good for all life.

I contribute to the building of many conscious networks that are working on finding these new ways of collaborating, co-creating, coming together, and we experiment with a lot of new ways of coming together or old ways, usually actually ancient ways, I would say, in which we feel that we can be fully ourselves and do that. There's this series of events of One World with World Unity Week, Peace Week, enlightening our way together and being beloved community. That's a cycle that's been going on till 2020. We've been doing that every year. I contribute to that. I contribute to many other world movements like the Holomovement by strategically connecting, really weaving people in, and supporting the systems to the people, to deeply listen to each other. A lot of multistakeholder collaboration involves putting something in the purpose, some complex issue that nobody can do on their own and that they really need each other for. Then the purpose holder, let's say, invites them in to commit themselves to that purpose and find that part in their organization or in themselves.