GDI on building bridges, not barriers
GDI was born to build bridges, not barriers. In our daily work designing and launching social impact initiatives, we’ve seen firsthand that progress rarely happens without collaboration and empathy. More often than not, systems change requires working closely with people and groups different from us, and pushing ourselves to understand points of view and experiences that differ from our own.
Recent political movements in the US and around the world reflect a different set of core beliefs that threaten to slow positive momentum of recent decades in areas ranging from economic empowerment to gender equality. As an organization that works closely with public, private, and philanthropic actors, we’ve thought carefully about our role in resisting unnecessary divisions in the global community.
We joined 440+ nonprofit leaders in publicly opposing the recent executive order banning immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries and now, we want to take a moment to be extra clear about what GDI stands for:
We believe in agitating for social change.
We believe in a free and critical press.
We believe in welcoming immigrants.
We believe in admitting what we don’t know.
We believe in equal pay for equal work.
We believe in the power of partnership.
We believe in looking beyond stigma.
We believe in democratic principles.
We believe in prioritizing impact.
We believe in taking a stand.
We will continue to express these core beliefs in all that we do at GDI, and hope our partners across sectors will join us.