"Hope is life."
He played songs and told stories about transforming desperation and difficulty into hope and newfound possibilities across a 2-hour set.
Livingston's ability to enchant an audience with his presence, his insights, and his ringing melodies are testament to the power of a human being's abilities to transform a setting.
You can look at the power of poverty and be rightly intimidated.
Or you can look at the power of poverty and choose to imagine solutions that are equally dimensional and capable. We showed a video of one Hope participant, Mujadid, who explained it this way: "Kids, they have the power. They can change the world to a better place."
Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners in Health, said that it is a "failure of imagination" not to see the catastrophic effects that poverty has on human lives and communities around the globe.
Harvard Business Press suggests that there is one reliable correlate to success for individuals and organizations, and that is the quality of leadership.
Our mission is to provide outstanding leadership development programming to kids living in poverty everywhere.
Imagine if we made leadership development a global education standard for all children living in poverty. Think about the power of youth growing up with purpose, identifying as leaders, and envisioning better futures. Picture young leaders connecting, collaborating, contributing, and becoming part of a large and growing community and culture of leadership globally.
This vision of a better future is happening now at Hope Collaborative. Your support and participation at the Oakley Country Club is helping deliver Hope and its impact to many more kids.
"One of the most valuable things I learned in this program was teamwork, because when we work together, anything is possible." - Kathy, age 13 (Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, MA)
"Hope Collaborative [is] a safe space to share our personal experiences." - Harsha & Sahithi, age 14 (Presidency High School, Nizamabad, India)
We have included more photographs of the friends and supporters who joined us for a magical evening Wednesday, July 12.
Thanks again!