The trouble with social problems is that they compound themselves. Economic inequity, for instance, can separate people, and those separations can lead to further inequity. Lack of quality education can lead to lower wages, which limits further educational opportunities. Sometimes, the problem is part of the problem.
Which can be depressing. However, the self-perpetuating nature of social ills has a curious upside. Addressing the issue in the right way not only helps lead to improvement, but it also becomes part of a solution. People working together for a brighter future is what a brighter future looks like.
We strive to help people think with each other. We hold that people thinking together improves society and promotes social justice. It isn't enough to work for the good, as charity can get caught up as part of the problem. And, it isn't enough to innovate, because transformations unguided by the good just lead to new inequity. We believe that benevolent, innovative citizens are the key to a better world.
But, a small handful of innovators isn't enough. A few bright ideas by some caring folks will not a better world make. Even the brightest and the nicest people on the planet cannot represent the interests of all people, because people are just different enough that their interests are best met by themselves. As such, innovation is most transformative when it is bottom up. When all stakeholders have, well, a chance speak and decide on the behalf of their own stake.
Seeking transformative innovation, we invent. Desiring socially just innovation, we strive to make our "we" as radically inclusive and polyvocal as we can manage.
