Think about it – most political campaigns are based around values. Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign galvanized millions of youth behind two very clear values – hope and change.
Many of us spend our entire lives in the same bubble – we surround ourselves with people who share our opinions, speak the way we speak, and look the way we look.
It’s the presence of others who are smarter, kinder, wiser, and different from you that enables you to evolve. Those are the people to surround yourself with at all times.
It always surprises me when donors who operate successful businesses assume that just building a school structure means that a community now has access to education.
They don’t come off. I walk into a lot of very high-level boardrooms now, and I present to distinguished conferences, but these bracelets remind me of the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met.
I could enjoy the life that I had by virtue of the educational attainment that my grandparents and parents had pursued. Education was always incredibly valued in our family.
The most abundant resources that we possess amongst the 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States are passion and knowledge, yet our most scarce resource is collaboration.
When it comes to fundraising for a social enterprise, if you are pursuing your true passion, you’ll learn to become great at your craft because you’ll care so much about perfecting the skills necessary to make that dream a reality.
I asked a boy begging on the streets, ‘If you could have anything in the world, what would you want?’ and he answered me with two words: ‘A pencil.’ Luckily, I had one in my pocket, and in the second it took me to give it to him, a defining dream was born.
For any movement to gain momentum, it must start with a small action. This action becomes multiplied by the masses, and is made tangible when leadership changes course due to the weight of the movement’s voice.
In moments of uncertainty, when you must chose between two paths, allowing yourself to be overcome by either the fear of failure or the dimly lit light of possibility, immerse yourself in the life you would be most proud to live.
That’s when the magic happens- when everyone else is asleep and you’re awake thinking about the world as it is, and the world as it could be. Make the most of those moments.
