My Summit Story
As I write about my Summit experience, my thoughts are eclipsed by a feeling of helplessness, an ever-present sense that we aren’t doing enough. In just a single month, we have seen devastation across the South-Western United States, entire islands abandoned, thousands left without food or water, and the deadliest shooting in modern American history.
It is difficult to see any points of light, or glimpses of hope in such utter despair, and yet that is what we must do. We must try to continually seek the good, highlight our champions and redefine our heroes.
What I learned from #BIF2017 is that in looking for the good, we can often find the hidden great: an illustrator who remembers and promotes his immigrant past, leaders unafraid even willing to fail, a doctor who changed a care practice, an unflinching cellist seemingly afraid of nothing, or a student who proclaims his own value.
That is what we found at #BIF2017, the great. We found people who embodied our shared values, and not just the values we share as innovators or change makers, but those we cherish as advocates for social good.
How might we employ the empathy of Mark Brand and overcome our inherent bias and judgement towards others?
How might we channel the unending compassion shown by Angela Blanchard and be willing to serve?
How might we rise to the courage of Antionette Carroll and question how our own experiences shape our perceptions of the world and people that surround us?
One of the things that makes the BIF Summit so unique is its intention to seek and promote an experience that is theme-less. The theme of the Summit becomes whatever you need it to be.
For me, it became a need to look harder, to search deeper, to find the good in an impossibly bad situation; the gold in the grey space as we would say here at BIF.
My Summit experience has pushed me to temper personal inspiration with societal perspective, towards a renewed focus on innovation for social good. I came away with an ignited understanding of the power of collective values, of empathy, of compassion, and of courage.
These values are uniquely human centered and are central to what we do here at BIF. Our mission is driven by them, our people inspired by them, and our work strengthened by them.
