Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about Vittana’s values. What do we stand for? What kind of organization are we trying to build?
There is one quote that was on our first business plan, strategic plan & every other document since founding:
Ridiculing idealism is shortsighted, but idealism without the rigors of pessimism is misleading.
We need very hard-headed idealists who can look into the worst and best of humanity and can create and implement strategies of success.
— State of the Future 2007, Millennium Project
At its heart is the idea of hard-headed idealism. It’s an idealism grounded in the brutal facts of reality, one willing to make the tough decisions while relentlessly fighting to achieve its original aim — a better world.
You can’t separate the two.
You can’t just be a mercenary corporation, arbitraging market gaps to make a buck. What’s the point? You can’t take all that money with you in the end.
You can’t just be an innocent non-profit, believing good things will come because you’re a good person. To create real change at scale, you have to make the tough calls.
In the end, how do we create the world we want to live in? By having an unshakable faith that our world is possible and putting in the hard work & tough decisions to make that world a reality.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
— Tupac