When we started Brightest, we thought a lot about values, who we want to be, and, more importantly, what we want to help people, organizations, and communities become in terms of realizing their full potential. Whether you're an organization or an individual, it's hard to be perfect. We're not perfect. You're probably not perfect (though tbh if you really are, we're hiring). And that's fine. Our view is sustainability, climate action, and positive social and organizational change aren't about perfection, they're about making positive, meaningful progress - day after day, month to month, and year over year. It's about consistently standing behind (and up to) the values you hold and trying your absolute best.

We're all equal, beautiful, and unique humans with the potential to create progress in our own lives, for our friends and family, within our workplace, and in the communities we're a part of.

So when we say "Our mission is to help you live better, work better, and catalyze a more sustainable world" here's what we really mean:

Live Better

No one should live in poverty, be a victim of climate injustice, or suffer from a lack of access to basic needs and care. That's our collective priority #1. Next, we need to make real improvements in each other's lives: health, happiness, love, sustainable living, empowered social enterprise, and the opportunity to do meaningful work.

Work Better

Work sits at the center of human potential - our ability to create, problem-solve, and innovate. We believe everyone has a right to do meaningful, fulfilling, and sustainable work, while earning a livable wage. Research consistently shows purposeful work is one of the top factors of your overall happiness, and that organizations with strong corporate ESG and sustainability performance are better places to work that build more economic and social value.

Catalyze a More Sustainable World (Your Way)

There are a lot of things in the world we need to make better. And a lot of ways you can create positive, sustainable change. Whether you're looking to help your team volunteer a few hours to a worthy cause, build new, impactful partnerships, or make your company or city more sustainable - we're here to help.

Since we also think it's important to pick sides and take a stand on issues that matter, here are a few other things we believe in and want to make clear:

We believe in tolerance and inclusivity

We will only succeed if we embrace different people and perspectives. That's true for us, our communities, and the world at large. At Brightest specifically, we have to be champions for diversity, tolerance, inclusion, and equal treatment of people, regardless of where they’re from, who they love, who they identify as, how they look, or what they believe. We are still not diverse enough yet as a company and we need to aggressively push ourselves to get there.

We believe the three greatest, immediate challenges of our lifetime are:

(1) Slowing and solving climate change and biodiversity loss

(2) Spreading equality and lifting people out of poverty

(3) Healthy, democratic communities, institutions, and leadership

We will continue to work on, talk about, and problem-solve for these three themes for as long (and as aggressively) as we can. As a company policy, content that does not align with these views is not allowed on Brightest (and if it somehow slips through will be removed immediately). Moreover, we'll consistently strive and constantly question ourselves how we can be a more socially-responsible organization, from carbon offsetting our fossil fuel travel and servers to only buying and using sustainable products and services in the office.

True to our climate, environmental, and sustainability values, we want a Just Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy. This same mission inspires our tree commitment. Every time you or another member of our community completes an action in Brightest via the "completed this" button, we plant one tree 🌳 through a local reforestation partner.

This button 👉  I completed this

Sign up, take action, then mark it complete - that's one more tree to make our air fresher and our earth better. If you send us a photo of you completing it to [email protected] or tag @brightest_inc, we'll make it two 🌳🌳.

Through our "One Action, One Tree" program and additional renewable energy purchasing, we are (and will remain) a Net Zero organization.

In our own work, we make sure every employee is treated with the highest respect as a valued shareholder. Our people's success is our success. We fully recognize this fact, and are putting this in writing on the Internet so we never forget that pledge. Everyone is worthy of respect, dignity, compassion, and the opportunity to realize their full potential - and that starts from within.

We believe we're here to serve you as our friend, partner, or client, and we can only succeed in that if we stay true to our mission and be transparent, open, and responsible with you, your data, and your privacy

A simple, strict, transparent privacy policy stands behind everything we do. You can read it here.

We believe hate has no home here

Unlike some other products and services - there's nothing to equivocate about here. Hate, racism, violence, harassment, bullying, bigotry, and any form of abuse has no role in discourse and will not be tolerated. We firmly believe in free speech, and you are welcome to air whatever views you believe - but be prepared for the consequences and if you do it on Brightest one consequence is we will kick you off our site.

We're also actively working these tolerance, privacy, and safe-space priorities into our product roadmap, so we can proactively protect our community, minimize bad actors, and avoid issues we've seen play out on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms. It may slow us down, but it's the right thing to do.

We believe in you

Start where you are. Use what you have. Work with who you know. Do what you can.

You got this 👍

That's what we believe in.