Creating the Future

“In 2020, creating the future laid groundwork in critical mission areas. For a full description of these accomplishments (in a more readable form) head to - https://creatingthefuture.org/2020-accomplishments-2/ during our formative years, the founders have chosen to self fund the organization, receiving only small stipends for their more than full time work. This has allowed the organization to focus on program development and proof of concept vs spending all our time raising money. In future years, as the organization scales to accomplish its mission (and must seek funds to do so), full time salaries and additional staff will be added as funds are generated.”

“Expenses interest expense 40 advertising 6,280 it expenses 2,918 workshop & educational 2,618 payroll taxes 2,604 computer expenses 1,837 telephone 1,814 administrative expenses 1,055 volunteer relations 249 meals & entertainment 144 travel 52 community engagement 8 total 19,619”

“Credit card & other payables 2,883 273 loans from officers 991 1,587”

“To show people how to change the systems they find themselves in, to aim those systems at bringing out the best in people, all by changing the questions they ask.”

“Sharing what we learn: tackling fear and uncertainty head-on: through writings and convenings, we leveraged our research in brain science to help people find calm during a year of uncertainty. Centering values and integrity for boards: in our ongoing open experiment in the work of boards of directors, our own board formally reframed their work as an integrity board - ensuring the organization's work is walking the talk of our values. Doing that work openly models what might be possible for other boards, ensuring their work is walking their talk. Centering racial equity and justice: in 2020 our board tackled questions related to the systemic imbalance of power, as a barometer for our own integrity. All those discussions happened openly, so that people could learn and explore together with us. As part of that effort, our work became an inspiration for the community-centric fundraising movement, centering racial equity in the fundraising world. Experimenting openly and sharing what we learn: creating the future is a grounds for experimenting with systems change, a place for learning. Importantly, it is a place for broadly sharing what we learn from those explorations. This year's learning and sharing included designing plain english bylaws; converting all our click-and-play classes into "pay what you can-; working with stanford social innovation review to share catalytic thinking more broadly with the world. Helping changemakers get past social change barriers: in 2020 we led a year-long inquiry into the systemic barriers to creating social change. That work will inform all our programmatic actions going forward. See https://creatingthefuture.org/2020-accomplishments-2/ for details.”