Photo Credit: UC Irvine Student Affairs
“AS LONG AS YOUR ACTION AND YOUR GOAL IS ALIGNED WITH SOMETHING THAT IS TRUE FOR YOU, IT WILL COME TO BE. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO RECOGNIZE THAT TRUTH AS YOUR OWN, THEN EVERYTHING ELSE WILL LEAD YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND OBSTACLES WILL MORE OR LESS FALL TO THE SIDE, OR AT LEAST YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE STRENGTH AND THE POWER TO OVERCOME THEM."
Dr. Nina Smart is the founder of Servicing Wild Flowers International, an NGO that uses non-violent ways to end female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She is also the recipient of this year’s Woman of the Year Award for Nonprofit from California Senator Tony Mendoza. Nina’s organization works with national activists, politicians, doctors, religious leaders and secret society women who have been subjected to this practice to create alternatives that respect human rights. By developing non-violent ways to end harmful traditional practices, SWF Intl. is able to apply culturally sensitive approaches that have the ability to create real change in practicing communities. Nina is also the author of Wild Flower: The True Story of a Romanian Girl in Africa, which details her own experience with FGM in Sierra Leone.
I was personally introduced to Nina through a mutual friend, and was immediately taken with her joyful and enthusiastic nature. When she shared her story with me, I was shocked to hear that the bright, happy woman standing before me had gone through such a traumatic experience. I was moved and inspired by the way she had clearly not let the events of her past bring her down, and was instead using that experience to help others. I wanted to know more about how she had managed to defy the odds and find her path. I knew that her story would be a powerful addition to Inspire-Aspire. As you read, I hope her words inspire you and help you find the courage to follow your own path. As Nina says, “This is my story, but it is also the story of anyone who ever had a dream and the courage to take that leap of faith and make it happen.”
I was personally introduced to Nina through a mutual friend, and was immediately taken with her joyful and enthusiastic nature. When she shared her story with me, I was shocked to hear that the bright, happy woman standing before me had gone through such a traumatic experience. I was moved and inspired by the way she had clearly not let the events of her past bring her down, and was instead using that experience to help others. I wanted to know more about how she had managed to defy the odds and find her path. I knew that her story would be a powerful addition to Inspire-Aspire. As you read, I hope her words inspire you and help you find the courage to follow your own path. As Nina says, “This is my story, but it is also the story of anyone who ever had a dream and the courage to take that leap of faith and make it happen.”
- Your NGO Servicing Wild Flowers is about working to end FGM in Sierra Leone, can you tell readers about how you got into this work?
I ended up working to end FGM because of my personal experience escaping from it. As a young teenage girl in Sierra Leone, I didn’t know what FGM was – there was no term for it. All I knew was that it was a very secret practice that girls were subjected to and that they never spoke about it after. In Sierra Leone, it is part of initiation into what is called the “secret society” for women – an initiation expected of about 98% of women in the area, depending on their ethnicity. I learned that because my father was from the tribes that practiced it, that even though I had been born and raised in Romania, I was now expected to become part of the secret society.
Fortunately, I was suspicious enough to question it – something many young girls in Africa don’t have the privilege of. Perhaps it was because of my Romanian upbringing, or because of the way I questioned everything when I first got to Sierra Leone. I had been tricked into going there under false pretenses by my father, so I was very suspicious of everything. I had lost the comfort of my Romanian family and was now in a world I didn’t understand and was being forced to live in. When I heard about the secret society, I just felt like, "I don’t want to be part of this – I’m tired of the secrets."
I decided that since it was something so secret that nobody wanted to talk about, there must be something wrong with it. I never found out what it involved while I was there, so I actually didn’t know what I was running away from. But I’m very grateful that I didn’t, because then I may have become paralyzed by fear. I just had this deep feeling in my being that something was terribly wrong and I couldn’t ignore it. People might call it intuition, or inner voice; something that was clearly guiding me in a different direction. So, as my book details, I decided to plan my own escape and was lucky enough to make it out of Africa before I was initiated into the secret society.
And then I forgot about it. Because that’s the convenient thing to do when you go through a traumatic experience. I didn’t want anything to do with Sierra Leone, I just wanted to forget that part of my life existed. However, I didn’t have peace and joy, something within me was unsettled. I began to consider that perhaps some of the events of my past came to pass in order to propel me in a specific direction.
I began to examine these thoughts, and in doing so began to look back on what had happened to me to try and understand it. What could have possibly motivated my family and my father to want me to go through the practice of FGM? I decided that while I was researching this and exploring, I could start taking small steps in the direction of opening doors and creating opportunities. I went back to school for my Ph.D. in sociology, and started the NGO Servicing Wild Flowers International to help create a non-violent way to end FGM.
Even though I knew that I didn’t have all the information, I was very motivated by the idea that one person can make a difference. It stemmed from my deep desire to stop the violence, to understand my own path in life and to give more meaning to what I was doing. It was based on my belief that with courage, sincerity, and kindness, doors will open. I really believe that. It is this belief that has led me in the direction I have found now and this work that I’m doing. SWF International is now my career and my passion, based on my strong desire to address the issue of FGM and all the complexities that surround this harmful practice in Sierra Leone.
- In your book Wild Flower, you write, “It’s true – the whole universe conspires to help us achieve our dreams once we have unswerving conviction and the courage to take that first little step.” What can you tell women about your experience with this and how we can apply to our own lives?
It is much easier once you have taken the steps to go back and kind of dissect everything and explain it and encourage others to stand up for what they believe in, but I can tell you that during those dark days when I felt alone and afraid I was very confused. I kept going from one extreme to the other – from "Oh, I don’t want to disgrace my family" and "It can’t be that bad" to "I don’t want to do this, I must do something!" The moment I settled after a few months of internal debate was the moment I decided "This is it, I am going to take what you call the leap of faith!" In that moment it seemed as if something lifted from me like a big weight and I could actually feel a physical change in my body.
I knew I was risking my life, because I had seen how violent some of those people can be and should I have been caught the punishment would have been extremely harsh – not only from family members but from everyone in the community because it meant standing against that which they believed in. But I just trusted, it was something deeper than the sense of religious faith, the feeling was related to the very essence of my being. I put this trust into action by pretending as if the result had already happened – that I had already successfully completed my escape from Sierra Leone.
When I visualized that, I felt great positive energy within me. Regardless of how challenging or impossible it seemed, I was very determined to do it. And I think that that was what helped me attract the right conditions, because from there everything unfolded in ways I couldn’t imagine. Almost magically I started attracting all the right people, the right opportunities – just out of the blue an ex-boyfriend sent me a letter saying “Oh I want to send you a ticket to come to America!” … It sounds crazy and impossible but this is how things happened. And it was that one step – the courage to take action – that made it possible.
So I think that as long as your action and your goal is aligned with something that is true for you it will come to be. If you are willing to recognize that truth as your own, then everything else will lead you in the right direction and obstacles will more or less fall to the side, or at least you will be given the strength and the power to overcome them.
- Before you took up this work fighting FGM, you had a successful career as a fashion designer. Based on your experience, what can you tell other women about the benefits of pursuing a career path that combines your passion with a purpose, rather than just pursuing passion alone?
I was very passionate about being a fashion designer, and I was very disconnected at that time from anything that had to do with Africa, because I was trying to forget that time of my life. But it was hard to forget, and there was an unease I felt. Even though I had a very successful career, I still felt like there was an essential component missing. I felt the way I had in Sierra Leone about the silence of the secret society – that feeling of confusion and avoidance that permeated every area of life, that feeling I could not articulate or that people were not willing to discuss, that was just how I felt.
The more successful I became with my fashion career, the more that feeling developed in my heart. When it came up I was very eager to push it down and associate it with different things – the fact that I missed my family from Romania, problems with my then-husband … but deep down I knew the truth was that I wasn’t embracing my true calling.
Even though I was passionate about what I did and I was successful and I brought joy to many people, I had lost my own joy. I had been so engrossed with the materialistic part and the fame that came with my success that at first I didn’t understand this. According to everyone who knew me I was living the American dream – I was young and successful and able to provide for my family after just three years following my immigration to the U.S. I was living the American dream, but I wasn’t living my dream. I didn’t even know what my dream was. So it was really very strange, and it took me some time to figure out. It took going back and starting from the beginning.
I was 27, and I decided that I was not going to declare who I was and my new profession until I was very sure, so it was a very bold move. Of course my friends and family thought that I was crazy to close a very lucrative business and start in a new direction that I didn’t even know at the time, but I felt that certainty so clearly that I was willing to go through the isolation of hardly anyone understanding or supporting me. I remembered the inner voice that had so clearly guided me in West Africa and sought to reconnect with that.
I went back to college and decided to start with the elimination process. I knew exactly what I didn’t want to do and that is how I started. Through elimination I narrowed it down to three areas – the medical field, psychology or sociology. I quickly ruled out the medical field when I fainted the first time I had to take someone’s blood. So then I had to decide between psychology and sociology, and as I learned more about the two, I became sure that what I wanted to understand and study was the connection between people, circumstances, institutions, states, and cultures – sociology. Once I decided that sociology was the discipline to help me breakthrough and create a channel for this energy, then it became a little bit less difficult for me.
But the field of sociology is very broad, and once more I was faced with making a decision. I was fortunate enough to be a student of Dr. Bernie Berk at Cal State LA and was taking his class on deviant behavior. He asked us to write a paper on a situation in which we held the deviant role – not the kind of paper you like to write about yourself! I found it very difficult to situate myself into a deviant role. As I searched my past for examples, I suddenly remembered how in Sierra Leone I was considered to be deviant because I was not initiated into the women’s secret society. And that is how everything came back to me. As I started to research more, the then broad discipline of sociology suddenly offered a very clear and narrow path for me to study: FGM as a ritual of initiation into the women’s secret society and its political implications.
It then became easier for me to figure out how to move forward. I completed my Master’s study, then applied for a doctoral program at University of California, Irvine. It was during my grad school days that I became even more excited about the fact that I could start making a difference now. I started taking small steps towards building an international organization. I’ve always believed in being able to educate yourself in a way that you can then use that information to guide you in your life, which is very different than becoming educated. I wanted to make sure I was using the education I was given in the right way, and I felt that serving through my organization was a way for me to use that knowledge to help empower others.
So comparing my career in fashion to what I am doing now, I can say that yes, there is a very big difference between the two. Even on a very challenging day when I receive news of girls being kidnapped and cut against their will, it does not diminish my joy for what I do, because I know that my work is aimed at helping protect and promote these women’s rights. So I feel joy even at the worst times, if that is possible to understand – even when I am bitterly crying, in my heart I am still happy … versus before when I may have looked happy and glamorous on the outside, but I wasn’t joyful inside.
It is a challenging path, but even in the deepest challenge is the grandest joy compared to the path that I lived in a parallel existence of making choices based primarily on financial gain. And that is something I am very grateful for. It took many years of exploring, because I first needed to face the traumatic experiences and then accept them before I could choose to do something about it. Most importantly, it was about choosing to live with sincerity. I say that because we fool ourselves the most, and I have been an expert at doing that. It takes courage to be sincere with yourself to the point to say, "Okay, am I really happy?" But it is during those moments of self-reflection, when I’m willing to have a truthful conversation with myself and accept the disappointment or pain I may be feeling that transformation truly happens.
- Being naïve is often viewed with negative connotations, but in your case you say it is what enabled you to overcome the obstacles that stood before you, because you always believed there was a way around them – regardless of the odds. What can you tell other women about the positive power of applying this kind of “naïve” thinking to problem-solving?
Well what others may consider “naïve thinking” to me really means following your heart. And my life experiences have been a powerful reminder of that – in terms of doing so despite the obvious obstacles that lay ahead of me. I just always believed that I was going to get on the other side of them. I think it is very different than necessarily positive thinking or being “naïve” in the common sense of the word, to me it’s more about trusting myself and trusting the path I am taking. It comes back to believing in yourself – believing in the sincerity of the mission and the sincerity of the action to accomplish that goal and the reason for the goal.
I think part of being naïve is also about admitting that you don’t know, and seeing this as a strength rather than a weakness. I had an interesting experience with this when I found out that my first name – Geanina – literally means “I don’t know” in Bengali. I thought that was pretty funny, my first name being “I don’t know” and my last name being Smart! But it really made me think about how this “I don’t know” attitude has always served me. I never thought in terms of “I don’t know, so I can’t do it,” but rather “I don’t know, so I will find a way!” I think that is the positive aspect of being naïve, about not needing to know all the answers before deciding to take action.
I think we are often made to feel like not knowing is something to be ashamed of or that it means we are not smart enough. Particularly in grad school, you have all these bright students in the room and you’re supposed to know the answer, but I never had a problem saying, “You know what? I don’t know. I just don’t know yet.” And that doesn’t make me weaker, it doesn’t make me less likely to succeed, it just means that I am still searching as I move forward.
It’s like Henry David Thoreau says – “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you imagined.” That is very important, because it is true. You have to have the confidence, the faith, the “naivety” if you will, to imagine your dreams becoming your reality. And I hope and I wish that everyone would do that. There is this amazing song called “I Hope You Dance” that is so motivational, essentially the lyrics say – instead of sitting it out, I hope you dance. I feel that this is so important to remember. Taking chances and following our hearts is the closest thing we all have to an inner compass. Whatever our life mission is, if we are seeking it truly and we are willing to follow where it leads, the path will reveal itself.
- I think many women can relate to your story of being judged for a decision that goes against cultural norms and approvals. Particularly when women make career changes that go from socially acceptable and financially “safe” positions to outside-the-box and more “risky” endeavors, we often face lack of support from well-meaning family and friends. What can you tell other women about letting go of approval seeking or what people think of you and staying true to your dreams?
I feel that the moment you choose your path it is almost as if there’s no other option; it becomes the only way you can move forward. I have experienced a lot of resistance from well-meaning friends and family, and my way of dealing with it is to constantly inform them of how happy I am and how important the work I’m doing is for me, much more than highlighting the effect it has on others. Because it’s very difficult to measure that, so I feel that as long as I continue to do my part in a way that feels right to me I don’t have to prove my success to anyone else.
And I think it’s very important to always employ kindness. People may not understand what you are doing and perhaps even ridicule you, but we have to employ kindness for ourselves and for our mission. Because even though we are agents of change, we ourselves still have to “be the change.”
Also, it is sometimes our worst critics that are our best sharpeners – I call some of my friends my sharpeners. Something in my mind may make perfect sense, but then when I verbalize it, often my “sharpeners” give me a whole other perspective to consider. So it’s important to use this opposition to your advantage.
Also, I do not believe it is a good idea to surround yourself with only like-minded people. I think it is very important to have people we love, who for one reason or another don’t understand what we do, included in our work because they offer us a mirror – maybe a reflection of who we were. They help us measure how far we have come, and they help us think, because those closest to us know how to push our buttons. Sometimes it’s good to have your buttons pushed. It’s not comfortable and it’s never the right time in most cases, but it is necessary.
But also it is important be true to yourself. Listen to opposing opinions and then analyze what feels right to you. From the outside people may not understand your decisions, they may even see you as just being stubborn or difficult, but it’s about not letting that cause you to act out of fear, it’s about standing in your truth.
- As a woman who had the courage to escape from a situation that involved great physical danger, what can you tell other women about overcoming fear? How did you find that strength within you that allowed you to move forward despite the risk?
I was able to stick to my plan and take the final steps because of a story I had read at that time, when I was only 19. Jackie Collins’s Lucky spoke directly to me, right there in Sierra Leone. Not only was her heroine’s name inspiring, but so were her actions … I just kept saying, “If Lucky can do it, I can do it!” and that became my motto. Lucky’s story provided me with the inspiration to believe that I too, could do anything I set my mind to. It’s like what you’re doing with these interviews for Inspire-Aspire, giving women inspiration to aspire to. I aspired to be just like Lucky, and I feel that reading that book at that time was what gave me the courage to believe in myself and overcome my fears.
To me, Lucky stood as an example of making that momentary choice that then becomes your path. It was about how not being afraid to be alone in your choice is the beginning of standing tall and firm, of realizing that is what helps you look back eventually and say, "Oh wow I did that?!" and maybe almost laugh in the face of fear. Even though Lucky was a fictional character, what she stood for was very real. So I extracted what was important to me and reshaped it into something that could propel me forward.
Also, I would say it is important to not be afraid to feel fear. Fear is ugly, and I have no problem crying. I think that we have this amazing tool that’s called tears – that it’s actually not the sign of weakness we’ve been told, but rather something that can help us process and move on to the next moment. It’s okay to cry, but don’t get paralyzed from it. If something terrible happens, it’s important to feel it and process it, but then also to regroup and move forward.
So I don’t think there’s a formula in terms of how to overcome fear, but I think that being honest with ourselves and honoring our inner strength is an important place to start. Don’t buy into the idea of fear, you are capable of doing things. And seek out whatever helps – maybe very tight friendships or spirituality or a certain religion, whatever way you can protect the sacred core of who you are. I think that this is what helps every person overcome fear, knowing that you belong to something that is greater than yourself. That’s where the strength comes from, that’s where the path is hidden.
- Oftentimes we can feel overwhelmed by the thought of trying to make a big change alone, but the truth is – as evident from your story – there will always be people that show up to help you along the way. You’ve said that the main reason you were able to escape from Sierra Leone is because of all the people who came together to help you. What can you tell other women about the importance of remembering they are not alone?
It is somewhat like the snowball effect, I’ve found that people will come to your aide once you make the decision to move forward. It’s important to be secure and own your mission first though, not to be overly worried about how to get others to join. That will naturally follow. It’s like Mother Teresa said, “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” That is what I have found to be true for me, both in my experience escaping from Sierra Leone and in the work I am doing now. At first I stood alone in my mission, but once I set forward on it others came to help. It’s about focusing on your mission and trusting that it’s going to organically grow and attract the energy that is needed from different sources. The more you continue on your path, the more you attract those who will collaborate with you and whom you can impact as well.
- You’ve mentioned there were times in the past where you questioned if your work was actually making a difference, if your abilities as one woman were enough. What can you tell other women who might be feeling this way?
If you’re following your path and have embraced your mission, and are courageous enough to actually walk on that path, then that is Number 1 – you are already making a difference. But it took me some time to realize that. Mother Teresa has always been a role model to me, I feel like she accomplished so much in her lifetime and I have always looked up to her. During grad school I wanted to visit where she lived in Kolkata and early last year I finally had the opportunity. I thought it would be an uplifting and inspiring trip, but instead I was met with disappointment in seeing that what Mother Teresa fought against still continues to exist. The slums, the hungry and sick, the very poor children – they were all still there. The initial experience left me drained, disappointed, and shocked. It made me question my approach, and if what I was doing had the capacity to create lasting change.
I had been thinking about this a lot when I took a recent trip to San Francisco. I stepped off the ferry and was surprised to be met there by a statue of Gandhi. I had visited before and didn’t recall seeing it, so I was very excited that there, at the ferry building of such an important and busy port, Gandhi’s statue greeted me. When I went over to take a closer look I read the inscription and it said, “My life is my message.” I have books about Gandhi and I have been to India, but I have never seen that quote before. It was exactly what I needed to hear. It brought the disharmony I had been feeling after my trip to Kolkata into a kind of peace and reminded me of the bigger picture – that my real mission, my real message, was just to live my life in my truth. If I am doing that then I am making a difference, regardless of how much I am able to achieve or not through my work. That really helped me.
- In a career that’s focused on giving back and helping others, it can be easy to forget to take time to care for ourselves. But this self-care is so important. What can you tell other women about your experience with self-care and why they should make it a priority?
Unfortunately, I had to learn the importance of self-care the hard way. I was not a believer of self-care because I always felt that the mission was so much more important, and I know many women feel the same way. But I’m here to tell you that your own life is just as important – because if you’re not healthy, how is that serving anyone? So I think this is very important, and it’s a lesson that I am still learning and practicing.
Because of my lack of attention to this part of life, I ended up facing some very severe health issues. At the time I cannot say I didn’t have warnings, but I continued to ignore what my body was telling me in favor of the mission – I kept telling myself, “I am doing just fine, I will just squeeze some time for myself here and there.” …. Squeezing some time is not the same as making time. That is very important to understand. And to pause and consider again "What’s the mission?" Is it to complete something that you feel you have control over? Is it that crucial to answer all of the emails in your inbox at the expense of your health?
It’s a personal choice that has to be made on a daily basis and you have to be courageous enough to put yourself first. This is what I’m working on, being kind to myself and learning to take time off and concentrate on other aspects of life that can be just as beautiful. It’s important to always try to be kind, not only to others, but also to ourselves. And not just to our physical bodies, but to our minds and spirit as well. It’s about nurturing all those aspects.
It does not erase my passion; it does not diminish the joy I have for what I do. It is like recharging my batteries – allowing for other kinds of beauty like music, dancing, reading, cooking African food and traveling to nourish me so that I can preserve my own strength. Then, I can bring that energy and enthusiasm to my work to fuel my mission.
- What role does spirituality play in your life? From your experience, what benefits do you think women can gain by tuning into their spiritual side in both life and career?
It is central to everything. Spirituality – what I feel is the essence of who I am as a person – is what led me to embrace my path and stand up for my mission. Spirituality is about protecting the core of who you are, removing everything that is not true, and having the courage to follow your truth. That strength or courage comes from somewhere deep within us and that to me is spirituality. I believe that following that and nourishing that is directly related to your life purpose – your calling, your work.
Spirituality comes from following my path and accepting the guidance that is given in more ways than I can label. But it is only given or seen when I pay attention to me as a human being, honoring me as an important part of this creation process as well as the mission. So this spirituality, it can be a combination of many different beliefs, but the highest of all is the certainty that I am on my path. That is what I can say the most, and I think that is important, for it is what has lead me in the right direction in many times of doubt.
- Your story is an example of the powerful impact we can have on one another when we choose to share our experiences, despite how difficult or uncomfortable it may be initially. What can you tell other women about why it’s important to “Stand in your truth for yourself and others.”?
In the opening of my book I include a quote from Paulo Coehlo saying: “Tell your story, be an example to others – tell everyone that it’s possible and then others will find the courage to climb their own mountains.” This really speaks to me. As mentioned before, I found the courage to escape from my situation in Sierra Leone because I read an inspiring story – Lucky’s story. And two years ago when I met Jackie Collins and was able to tell her how much Lucky had inspired me, she shared that most of Lucky’s adventures were inspired from her personal life story. Hearing that just motivated me further and reminded me of the importance of telling my own story.
Just recently I met a student at Normandale College in Minnesota who told me that she took action and found the courage to face a very challenging situation after reading about how I made my final decision in Wild Flower. She said she read my story several times. That for me was very powerful, because that is why I shared my story. I hope that when people read it, it not only inspires them to act on their dreams but also helps them realize the importance of telling their own stories.
Also, I believe sharing your story is another example of standing in your truth. It took me many years before I was able to share my story, but now that I have it has enabled me to become stronger, so that I can continue to speak about this issue that still affects millions of girls, and that many people still don’t know anything about.
In March this year I received the Woman of the Year for Nonprofit Award from California Senator Tony Mendoza. The contribution of my book for bringing attention to this important issue of FGM was also mentioned. Congresswoman Janice Hahn, who presided over the ceremony, congratulated me on telling my story and remarked on how important it is for us to continue to raise awareness about FGM to end this practice. Even in the U.S. it is an issue that affects more than 500,000 girls. So I am grateful that I’m in a position to share my personal story to help these girls.
- What are your thoughts on the importance of role models? Who stands out as a role model for you?
Mother Teresa is my role model because I learned from her deep struggle. She worked with what she had, and she always worked with her heart. I admire how hard she persevered to start the Missionaries of Charity and to follow her calling within the Catholic Church. It’s amazing how easy it is for so many organizations to lose focus and get lost in the bureaucratic process and work less and less on their mission. So that’s something I really admire about Mother Theresa, how she stood in her truth and in doing so she engaged the sisters to return back to their mission of caring for the poor in a direct one-on-one service.
Another powerful inspiration for me has been Wangari Maathai. She was the first African woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree. She was educated in the US, and used her education to empower her fellow Kenyans. Through the grass-roots organization she founded, she taught women how to conserve the environment and improve the quality of their life. She was also the first African woman and the first environmentalist to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The clear and effective examples I find in the lives of these two women combined is what really fuels my work. I look to them for inspiration and learn from their approaches as I continue to stand in my truth for myself and others.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: CONTRIBUTE TO NINA'S NGO SERVICING WILD FLOWERS INTERNATIONAL HERE. PURCHASE NINA'S BOOK WILD FLOWER HERE (PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY BACK TO ORGANIZATION.)