Sasha Baek

Friend of Ailana Geven, a character in Ailana's world.

Sasha Baek worked as a freelance project manager and had a successful career. She met Ailana Geven in Kenosha Wisconsin and helped her with a volunteer project there.

In addition to doing organizing and other project management tasks, she joined Ailana on the work site to pitch in and help.

Something about doing that resonated with her.

Her career as a contract project manager had been satisfying and she had banked a lot of money. She had made some good investments and they were paying off, promising to pay off more in the future.

She liked how working with Ailana had been satisfying.

She called Ailana after things in Kenosha were settled.

She reported the success in Wisconsin, then got to her real reason for making the call.

“So…” Sasha said, “I was thinking… Maybe I connect with you again and we team up for whatever crazy thing you have going on next?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I come to New York and… sort of work for you… with you… as you do your… whatever it is you do… I saw you played checkers at a community center. I… I can do stuff like that. Serve meals… But I can… help organize, you know? What do you think?”

Ailana agreed, naturally, and Sasha met her in New York. They immediately went to Istanbul.

That night, she thought about things. She had been very successful in her career.

She had enough. Enough stuff, to be more exact.

What she lacked was good friends. What she felt her life was missing was meaningful contributions to…

Well, her work was meaningful to the people who hired her. It was meaningful to their clients. Certainly.

But working with Ailana in Wisconsin had opened her eyes up to a different concept of meaningfulness. Those who can, doing for those who cannot. Those with sharing with those without.

Sasha had decided that she wanted to be a part of that. And she hoped, perhaps, she’d make a good friend at the same time.