There’s something special about the concept of the Venn diagram — a set of overlapping circles that shows what may sit apart and what is uniquely made stronger, together. It validates the notion that we don’t have to agree on everything in order to agree on some things. And that when we see each other for the agenda we hold in common, as opposed to the divisiveness that keeps us apart, we will go so much further, faster. 

Standing tall in our common agenda is a deeply felt desire for our families to be whole, to be healthy, and to thrive. 

To get there, we all need to play our part to build a more inclusive economy — something REDF has leaned into for the past three decades. We’ve done it through the power of employment social enterprise, a market-based solution that’s achieving a social good: creating economic mobility for folks most boxed out of our economy so that they may find their way back in. 

We remain fully committed to the fearless and tenacious social entrepreneurs we back, who remind us every day that talent is not measured solely by words on a resume, but by the string of experiences that make people creative, resilient, and whole. And we’re committed to doing our part to convince those who influence our economy’s largest levers that lived experience is actually lived expertise — an expertise that, when leveraged, has outsized impact on our workplaces, our communities, and our entire society.

When we do that, if we do that, we can inspire a flywheel effect of change — one business, one community, one state at a time — that ultimately helps build an economy that works. For everyone.

—Maria Kim, REDF President & CEO