Description
Downstream from the breakdown of the nuclear family and other social trends is another breakdown—of the adoption and foster care systems. The industrialization of the adoption process has created complex incentive systems that are, perhaps unexpectedly, most exploitative to the children themselves. Foster care systems have not fared much better for children, despite many well-meaning participants and a few breakthrough endeavors like Safe Families.
We're interested in ventures building new paths forward with a child-first design ethos and scalable interventions that can affect this broader challenge.
In today’s commercially-driven world people are more likely to be seen and referred to as 'consumers' than anything else. Instead of being met with resistance, this shift has often meant that individuals have formed their identity through a composite of brands, and product purchasing can be guided more by the desire to make a statement about one’s identity and values than strict utility. As a result, the lines between social movement, capitalism, and community are increasingly blurry (see: Nike, Whole Foods, and Patagonia).
Given this reality (which is with us for both better and worse), we’d like to support entrepreneurs with a vision for building brands with a counter-culturally virtuous and optimistic view of the world, spreading hope and beauty, eliminating stigma, and most fundamentally, redirecting our identity away from materialistic consumption and toward lasting contentment.
