⚡Unconventional Activist
Good morning! Hope you all had an absolutely incredible weekend and enjoyed celebrating either Halloween or Diwali (or both!).
Before we get going, we sincerely want to thank you for your support. We’ve been writing daily for a month and a half, and during this time, we’ve grown our subscribers by 58% and have continued to maintain strong open rates. We’re surprised and humbled, and we really appreciate you reading whatever we decide to rant about each morning.
The last six weeks have also been an opportunity for us to learn — learn more about the world, learn more about what you all like, and frankly, learn more about the newsletter game. While our learning is far from over, these nuggets of knowledge have helped us shape what we want to focus on.
Therefore, we are excited to announce new language on how we’re framing ourselves:
Tomorrow is a daily newsletter for the unconventional activist.
Understanding the Unconventional Activist
Activism is generally perceived as people coming together at the grassroots level to challenge injustice through street protests, rallies, and more. This style of activism is powerful and has helped people around the world bring attention to issues and drive change — from the Civil Rights Movement to the Arab Spring to the Democratic Protests in Hong Kong today.
However, at Tomorrow, we believe that activism isn’t limited to this format. You don’t need to take to the streets to catalyze change. Each one of us has an opportunity to transform the world in our own way. Unconventional approaches to activism can address the same societal issues in ways that even conventional activists may not be able to do. If all these forces can come together and form a powerful ecosystem, we can catalyze change at a faster rate and holistically transform systems.
So, who are the unconventional activists? There are many, but here are a few examples:
Entrepreneurs.
More and more companies are popping up left, right, and center — often helmed by young people with visions for a better world. Many of these entrepreneurs are designing companies that address major societal issues while maintaining a deep focus on profit. By considering both “profit and purpose,” these entrepreneurs can generate capital in self-sustaining ways (i.e., without relying on charitable donations) and can continuously deploy it to create impact at scale. There are a number of examples of such entrepreneurs today — from Ashish Gadnis, who is creating a blockchain platform to lift people out of extreme poverty, to Miranda Wang and Jenny Yao, who are creating innovative recycling processes for plastics by converting them into building blocks for sustainable supply chains.
Intrapreneurs.
As large companies gain more power today, they have an outsized impact on the lives of people both inside and outside their organizations. Unfortunately, many of these companies are broken, with issues ranging from dependence on dirty energy to poor workplace diversity. This doesn’t mean that those who work in these companies need to abide by these practices or leave the company. Rather, each employee can step up and demand change. Take Google as an example — employees have been protesting with community activists to demand changes, including how the company handles sexual harassment. By becoming an activist within one’s own company, each person can impact the lives of thousands of their coworkers and society more broadly.
Investors.
Investors manage the pursestrings of the world and can deploy capital to support companies that are impacting society in a positive way. This style of investing is on the rise, with $502 billion already deployed in the market today across public (e.g., ESG investing) and private companies (e.g., social venture capital). In fact, investors can also force companies to become more socially responsible — for example, Jana Partners LLC has used its Jana Impact Capital fund, in partnership with the California State Teachers Retirement System, to push Apple to develop tools to limit children’s time on mobile phones.
Policymakers.
Policymakers can address issues in ways that businesses just cannot. Take the refugee crisis, for example — businesses have done an incredible job supporting refugees in their new homes through employment and more. However, businesses cannot stop the conflicts that have resulted in 25.9 million refugees, and businesses cannot fix the broken processing systems that leave refugees without a home. Policymakers are the only ones with the power to address issues like these at their core by deploying legislation that can combat injustice.
How does this change what we’re writing about? Not much conceptually, but our goal is to go deeper. To produce change, we need to understand the world around us in a holistic way. Most newsletters cover a specific topic, such as business or politics — and when they do, they’ll just give you the day’s most relevant news. However, we don’t think that’s enough — we’re interested in showing you how business, policy, community organizing, and more are influenced by each other, and how they will continue to interact moving forward. To that end, we will continue to highlight stories and provide our takes across the full spectrum to enable the next generation of unconventional activists.
Other Changes
Tomorrow Today [Events]. Change cannot be achieved alone, only together. In that spirit, we are kicking off community events at our space in New York City. Mark your calendars for our very first event on Thursday, December 5 — we’ll be sending out more details soon!
Igniting Tomorrow [Funding]. Many of you are either already working on a number of world-changing things or have ideas bursting out of you everyday. Our goal is to see unconventional activists like you succeed. Let us help connect you into the space and access the financing you need to get started. If you’d like to share your ideas (or know a friend working on something exciting), please reply to this email!
Community Fridays [Community]. We know we write a lot. And we know that you may not have a chance to read this newsletter everyday, so, our Friday newsletter will have a recap of the week’s key stories. In addition, we want to use Friday to highlight our community—events, jobs, founders, funding, and book recommendations. Get excited!