Marilyn Mehlmann is a Vice-President of the UIA, a founder of the organization Legacy17. She will be leading our online Masterclass on 14 October.
We put to people involved in associations a series of questions on their path to their present post, whether they travel and enjoy it, the future of technology, the role and evolution of their organization. The replies are as varied as the aims of associations. Here is Marilyn’s story.
After more than 20 years as general secretary of an international 'sustainable behaviour' NGO, I left to start something new: an international cooperative of individual leading-edge practitioners, Legacy17. Its aim is to curate, enhance and disseminate 'people skills': the best methods and competence to bring about significant improvements in progress towards the SDGs. That was in 2016. In April I stepped down as chair of the board of Legacy17 but remain on the board and deeply engaged in projects and action research.
It wasn't a path I could have predicted for myself. Starting working life in administration, I went from personal assistant to the CEO of a manufacturing company to work for WHO, later to a job as an industrial journalist. An excursion into the world of computers led to programming and technical documentation (my first books were about computers), then consultancy and adult education related to project management.
And then something happened. I got more and more engaged, privately, in questions related to what we now call sustainable development. So, I used my private management consulting company to subsidise all sorts of initiatives to find 'better ways' of doing things, including co-founding and directing the Swedish Institute for Social Inventions – as well as contributing to setting up the Global Ecovillage Network and its Swedish member organization. Along the way I qualified as a psychologist and psychotherapist.
For a couple of decades I travelled extensively, teaching, coaching, doing action research, writing... in more than 30 countries. What a privilege! The countries in which I spent the most time were Vietnam and Ukraine. I still work a lot with Ukraine, and am delighted that my successor at the helm of Legacy17 is Ukrainian, living with her husband and three children in Kyiv.
Now the scene is changing again. We at Legacy17 are partnering with eight other organizations to set up an innovative educational platform offering space for transformative self-defined learning journeys. We're digging deeply into the potential and also the hazards of AI, experimenting with ways to use it to provide an educational experience that enhances personal experience and relationships - rather than replacing them. Watch this space!
Issue #19 – October 2025