And so it begins...
It’s been a long time. Too long, and I’m sorry for that. But waiting - as you will see - can be worth it.
In one of my last postings I posited the question “Do you think the world needs a Plan B?” If you followed my work from the previous few years, you will recall that like so many of you I was deeply concerned about the state of polycrisis that we find ourselves in - climate change, war, income disparity, AI and so much more. Personally, I’ve been clear that a key motivator is the threat to democracy, for if we fail in that project, we lose the capacity to equitably address all of the others.
I wrote “It is not for a lack of faith in humanity - all the inspiration needed can be found in the example of the human story. We are on the cusp of a new age where exponentially advancing technologies will eliminate almost all of human want and need. But it is also true that the accelerating pace of change and political polarization has left the foundations of our societies – our institutions - less and less resilient. The stability and permanence they are designed to afford us, are increasingly legacy systems that hinder our efforts to transform.”
In turn, I argued that it was time for “The purposeful connection, empowerment and mobilization of the global community no longer willing to let the voices at the edges of our societies speak for us. A systemic, global, civic movement inspired by the innovation, courage, vision and collaboration of the Marshall Plan, Kennedy’s Moonshot or the COVID vaccine – with the power to prevail.”
While always encouraged by your affirmation of this view, my principal reason for elevating it was to see if I could tease out the actors to sponsor this vision and make it real, leveraging the learnings of a four year prototyping effort involving almost 1,000 peers from 35+ countries, shut down by COVID. That is to reimagine, rebrand and repackage that effort, and to secure the requisite funding.
It worked. My call-to-arms was answered by a remarkable individual, now not only my collaborator, but my friend Jeremy Cohen, Senior Partner at London-based Blurred, a globally recognized leader in sustainability consulting and engagement. That my call resonated would prove to be no surprise at all. Blurred’s mantra that ‘Impact = ESG x Purpose’ was one that not only neatly aligned with my vision, but more importantly amplified it with their network of some of the world’s leading actors pursuing meaningful impact for people and planet - companies, foundations, governments and more.
Throughout most of 2023 we deconstructed the learnings from that prototyping exercise, to reconstitute and reimagine a new endeavour purpose-built to deliver on our unprecedentedly audacious effort to systemically transform humanity by 2035.
To you, today, I am pleased to present UnitedPeoples™: Humanity’s Plan B™.
UnitedPeoples, or UP as it will be known, is a not-for-profit foundation registered in the Netherlands. Over the past year we sought out the best people and companies to help us lay the foundations for this bold venture. We have the plan, we have the people, with Jeremy and his team now leveraging the Blurred eco-system to solicit the funding needed. Given the response thus far, we are confident we will close on our first round by Q1/2 of this year.
Ours will be a stealthy launch. You won’t be seeing much of us until late 2024. However as we lay the scaffolding for the social movement organization needed to transform humanity by 2035 - systemically and globally - you will no doubt be seeing signs of our activity. As we progress through the year, more and more people will need to be brought into the tent. It’s only fitting that you be one of the first.
We can be found at unitedpeoples.earth. There, you can register to be kept up-to-date, and/or support our work as you are able.
As we contemplate the year before us, there are many reasons to be apprehensive. However I continue to believe the potential of humanity to be awesome, and that UP shall prove a critical instrument in assuring that we meet - and exceed - that potential.
