David Atkinson embodies the resilience he writes about. A 6'5" former high-performance athlete and baseball prospect drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, his journey has taken him from commercial fishing on Lake Michigan to pioneering sustainable building systems and navigating through life-altering challenges that would have broken a less resilient soul.
As a brain cancer survivor who had to relearn how to walk and speak, a veteran of the information technology industry with over 30 years of experience, and a second-generation business operator, David has lived at the extremes of human experience. His close brushes with death-including a catastrophic truck accident and a near miss from a falling 70-foot tree-have given him a profound appreciation for the fragility and preciousness of life.
Drawing from these experiences and decades of research, David co-created The Resiliency Code with Nicole Connor, developing a framework for personal resilience that addresses our most critical blindspots before they derail our lives. Through his work on sustainable building systems, community development, and personal resilience, he's dedicated to creating solutions that foster what he calls "Sovran Wellth"-true prosperity that transcends financial wealth to include physical, emotional, and spiritual vitality.
When he's not working to revolutionize sustainable community models or helping others navigate their path to resilience, David can be found tending to his homestead, collecting rainwater, caring for his chickens, or sharing his hard-won wisdom through the Sovran Signal YouTube channel.
Pioneer of Field Literacy and co-creator of The Resiliency Code. I correct collapse by restoring structural coherence across roles, systems, and stories. I don't manage dysfunction. I correct what enforces it. Rooted in Nova Scotia.