Before we can build a better future, we must first be willing to imagine one.

Before we can build a better future, we must first be willing to imagine one. This apparently obvious and simple idea has subtly shaped civilization since the beginning of its times - for better or for worse.

Around the world, young people are growing up amid extraordinary technological change, political uncertainty, social transformation, and environmental challenges. They are being asked to inherit a future that is being debated constantly, yet they are rarely asked a more fundamental question:

What kind of future do YOU want?

Not what are you worried about or what problems concern you. Not which side of an issue you support, but what future you hope humanity can create.

I am currently developing PROJECT: FORWARD - “Are We There Yet?”, a global documentary and youth engagement initiative centered on that question.

Its purpose is not advocacy, politics, fundraising, or campaigning. Rather, it is an effort to listen, to create a space where young people from every corner of the world can share their hopes, fears, aspirations, and visions for the decades ahead—and where those perspectives can be woven into a broader global conversation. A springboard for civic and civil conversation.

We often analyze and debate each other on the nature of humanity’s problems - whether local, regional, or global - but we rarely create the opportunity to explore solutions and build the necessary infrastructure to implement them. 

Our often passionate debates show that we all care profoundly about our world and our lives, but also reflect a hidden abyss between the intellectual realm of understanding a problem and the pragmatic reality of applying solutions to that problem. This becomes more pronounced when the problems are so overwhelmingly large that we eventually tune out the fact that we are locked out of the option to interfere and change anything, and completely miss on the opportunity that problems present to us as a society: to engage in an active problem-solving cooperation for the benefit of all.

Project FORWARD is designed to build bridges. Bridges take resources, time, and passion. But just like Rome wasn’t built in a single day, it was also not built by a single person.

Humanity has never lacked experts willing to predict the future, yet what it may be lacking is a willingness to ask young people to imagine it, then help turn those dreams into blueprints for action. This is where Project FORWARD is meant to step in and this is where we can all step in to help and to nurture young people’s dreams - to show possibilities. To remind humanity that being human is about the hope and joy of living as a collective and as a peaceful and creative civilization.

I envision this project as a global network of lighthouses connecting through mutual dreams and hopes, shared human values and principles, and shining the paths for collaborative action.

You may think that the project itself is too large, or even impossible to accomplish, but think about it for a minute - everything we see around us was once in someone’s imagination. Humanity has a tremendous potential to rise above violence and destruction, but it needs vision to be able to dream and to sustain the flame of hope. No magic wand can accomplish this; only us. Together.

So how can you help? Start small - BUT START - with a $5 monthly contribution or more. Add a little of your time and valuable life experience as a volunteer and co-creator. Later, as the project progresses, step into a mentorship position or share your life story to younger generations looking at us for guidance. I understand you are busy. Everyone is. Society is designed that way, to consume everyone’s time and resources, but if you can find a few minutes to spare and invest in a future that belongs to others you have already taken an evolutionary leap. 

Project FORWARD will evolve as well. We will move into crowdsourcing, we will open up collaborations with multiple youth organizations across the world, we will then continue on toward a not-for-profit path and expand into a true collaborative and educational platform. Ultimately, we will play our small part in being part of a movement that brings out the best in all of us.

But do not wait until then to start helping out. If we plant an apple seed but never water it, nurture it, and graft it from a seedling to a full tree, we’ll never enjoy its fruits. A seed remains only what “could have been” if not protected and taken care of. 

Today is a good day to help.