Ten Principles For How To Make World A Better Place
It's been another harrowing week of political challenges to progressive action — from targeting of Harvard University to corporations pausing or silencing impact initiatives that are intended to make the world a better place.
Over the past two decades leading Impakt and, more recently, helping advance the Impakt Foundation for Social Change, I've seen the highs and lows of the social impact space first hand. This week I've been thinking a lot about what really matters in this work and thought I'd share ten principles that have informed my work. They're more important than ever to me and I hope they'll be helpful to you too.
1. Purpose is the North Star: In a volatile environment, staying anchored in why we exist beyond profit is essential. Check out Greater Purpose, an new initiative that is helping to shape the next generation of business.
2. Authenticity Over Optics: Real outcomes matter more than ever. Social impact takes more than just communications. That's always been the case but is especially poignant today when many companies are opting to stay quiet about impact.
3. Co-Create Impact With Communities: Solutions designed with those we serve are the ones that succeed. As my colleague Fatemeh Alhosseini, PhD always says about the work she is doing to improve lives for refugees "by newcomers, for newcomers."
4. Small impact is really big impact. Helping to solve social problems and achieve the SDGs always starts small and often remains at a scale that can seem insignificant. It isn't.
5. Practice Resilient Optimism: Hope isn't naïve — it's a strategic opportunity that keeps me moving forward.
6. Impact Starts on the Inside: You can't build external credibility without internal integrity. Too many corporations are performative and opportunistic - these are the ones that went dark fastest after the inauguration.
7. Take Risks: In every thing, progress requires courage, not comfort. Today, almost everyone in the impact space is way out of their comfort zone and should use this as a opportunity to be even more courageous.
8. Keep Moving Up: At the end of every week I make 2 lists: one of things that moved up and the other of disappointments. The moving up list is always longer.
9. Play the Long Game: Sustainable change isn't fast — but everything that's really valuable happens slowly. Hockey stick growth almost never happens and when it does it usually ends badly.
10. Believe in Collective Power: To quote Mitchell Cohen, President of Daniels Corporation, from his great book Rhythms of Change, "Building community is very much like playing music: jamming with eyes and ears wide open, listening deeply and being generous with every player, building bridges and friendships with every refrain."
The work of making the world a better place has never been easy. But the only certainty is what will happen if you don't take action. So follow these principles and take action.
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Foreign Harvard students were detained at Logan Airport, denied visas after Trump proclamation
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Read more: President Trump moves to bar Harvard's international students from entering the U.S. 'At this time, Harvard cannot assure its international students and scholars that they will be able to travel to Cambridge to study at Harvard free from disruption caused by the federal government, which could occur without notice and have immediate effect,' she wrote. The proclamation was just one of the Trump administration's many attacks on Harvard's foreign student population, which has become a frequent target amid its ongoing feud with the university. On the night President Trump's proclamation was issued, Martin called Customs and Border Patrol at Logan Airport to ask how officers would handle international Harvard students who were already flying to the airport, she wrote. They 'did not seem to know the answer.' 'Making the Presidential Proclamation effective immediately — rather than setting an effective date in the future — caused significant confusion and disruption, given that visa holders were literally in the air on the way to Boston when the Proclamation issued," Martin wrote. The day after the proclamation was issued, an 'unknown number of individuals' affiliated with Harvard were sent to an enhanced security screening 'where they were detained for many hours with no ability to contact anyone,' Martin wrote. Read more: 'Government vendetta': Harvard fights back after Trump blocks its foreign students from US The next morning — despite the fact that the proclamation was no longer supposed to be in effect — Martin's office fielded calls from the families of international students and visiting scholars 'who had no idea where their loved ones were' following the arrival of their loved one's flight at Logan, she wrote. 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Read more: Judge blocks Trump admin from banning Harvard international students from entering US One international student from India was detained at the airport with her father for over eight hours, Martin wrote. The student's father was eventually granted a tourist visa, but she was pressured to withdraw her request for admission into the country or sign an expedited removal order. The student eventually agreed to withdraw her request, but a few hours before her return flight was set to depart, she was allowed to enter the U.S. in recognition of the temporary restraining order, Martin wrote. At least one U.S. consulate — the one located in Munich, Germany — continued denying visas to Harvard students and scholars in accordance with the proclamation the day after the temporary restraining order was issued, according to Martin. 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One incoming public health student decided to withdraw from Harvard even though she already had a valid visa 'because of concerns about her ability to focus on her studies with all this uncertainty,' Martin wrote. 'The Presidential Proclamation has exacerbated the palpable sense of fear, confusion, and uncertainty on Harvard's campus about the future of its international students,' Martin wrote. Harvard deserves wide public support in fight with Trump| Paul Chiampa Harvard researcher released from custody after months in detention Ex-Harvard professor fired after refusing COVID shot named to CDC vaccine panel U.S. House committee demands Harvard send them hiring policies for review Read the original article on MassLive.
Gizmodo
2 days ago
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As Trump Comes for Your Social Media, It's Time You Consider What's Worth Sharing
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
University of Pittsburgh named in lawsuit briefing supporting Harvard
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