But Then Again Pretty Much Anything is Possible When Two Visionaries Unite …

It all started with a car journey … and the planets aligning, of course.

As Virgin's success grew globally, and dad was no longer hiding from the company's bank manager who camped out on our doorstep on quite a few occasions, his attention started to shift. Instead of worrying about how to keep the brand afloat and pay the wages, he wanted to focus on what sustainable difference the brand could make in the world.

I've talked previously about some of the great initiatives that the group launched to address pressing social crises—some of these initiatives were rapid response answers to immediate needs. They raised crucial awareness and funds at critical times but then, as is always the case, the world would move on. Dad got to a place where he wanted to build a legacy, through business, that would result in positive, long-term change on a global scale.

Simultaneously, a young marketing director named Jean Oelwang, working for mobile phone company MTN in South Africa, had an epiphany. MTN had just launched a prepaid phone service against the advice of experts who said there was no mass market for mobile phones in the townships. One month into its launch, however, MTN blew past its annual sales target and Jean and the team were dispatched to understand why. What they found in the townships was a beehive of entrepreneurial activity: people selling phone calls out of suitcases and trailers; vendors using mobile phones to buy and sell food and services. “That was a huge turning point in my life,” Jean later told me. “I realized that you didn't have to work for a nonprofit to do good. You could cook it into an existing business.” MTN had introduced an affordable tool that allowed the country's poorest citizens to improve their lives and raise their family incomes.

“Of course an individual can make a huge difference, but it's when those individuals come together with like-minded souls that they can change the world forever and, importantly, for the better.”

—Richard Branson

Now, let's get back to the planets aligning, this time over Australia. That same marketing director was now joint CEO of Virgin Mobile Australia and just happened to find herself sharing a car with the big boss—a.k.a., my dad. During the ride Jean was amazed to discover that the Virgin Group supported around 2,000 charities, but each was supported on an individual basis. It was yet another lightbulb moment—Jean was buzzing with excitement—surely there was a way to combine the efforts of all the Group companies to make a far greater impact, this time together.

Easy, right?!

They set about the task of redefining how a diverse, global brand viewed charity. First, the fledgling Virgin Unite team developed and presented a compelling business case for change. Remember that 13 years ago this was a very unusual approach for a charity to take. They encouraged the businesses to think longer term. Instead of forming short-term partnerships with charities, they asked them to think about a social issue the business could really stand for, and have real and lasting impact on. They pitched the idea that the businesses could achieve much more by mapping and leveraging all their assets rather than by simply writing charity checks.

Over the past decade the team have used Dad's entrepreneurial spirit and the best of Virgin to grow and develop organizations and partnerships such as The Elders, Ocean Unite, Carbon War Room, and The B Team (you're familiar with The B Team from the chapter “People Are Your Purpose”), to name just a few. I am unashamedly proud to say that Virgin Unite broke the charity mold by bringing together business, charity, governments, civil society, and entrepreneurs to find solutions to the greatest challenges we face today.

But what does the future hold? Or, more importantly, who will be responsible for holding and protecting it?

As we look into the next 10 years and beyond at Virgin Unite we are working on our next disruptive collaboration—this time with young people from all over the world. Just as we turned to The Elders for their wisdom and advice in tackling many of the world's most pressing issues, we believe that now is the time to harness the power, energy, and ideas of a younger generation in a similar way—a group we call: The New Now.

While young people feel accountable for these global challenges, their voices often go unheeded when the powers that be make decisions that will affect generations to come. This generation must have a say in what happens in the world. After all, these are the people who will shape the future: for us, for them, and for those who will come after.

Our ambition is to bring together a group of future-focused leaders who will collectively inspire a rising generation to shape decisions for tomorrow's world. We hope that by supporting this group, we will play our part in lifting up new leaders in their communities and the wider world and ensure that the voices of this generation are influential and transformational.

The New Now is just one approach—we are mindful of the shoulders we stand on and those we stand beside. We intend to work with and support other individuals, organizations, and movements to ensure we always act in the most effective and positive way possible. By working together for humanity and the planet, we will hopefully build a better future for everyone.

Over half of the world's population is under 30 years of age; this is a generation who have an unprecedented opportunity and capacity to innovate new solutions and scale new movements to drive positive change. As we have touched on elsewhere in the book, it is also a generation that has inherited a raft of global challenges—from climate change to increasing inequality and rising intolerance.

I see this organization as the next step in shaping tomorrow's world. Working with the team at Virgin Unite (and with Sam) to convene, develop, grow, and launch an organization run by the young men and women who are the guardians of our future gives me a profound sense of hope for what is yet to come.

Tips to Kick-Start Your Weconomy 100-Year Purpose Plan:

	Individual life-planning: This was the first important step for us, making sure we each individually put in the work before we came together as a family. Going through the exercise of individual life planning really helped us to figure out how we should focus our energy and get crystal clear on what's important and what's not. This process helped me further clarify who I am—defining my values and purpose—then helped me better understand the values of my husband, Freddie. This foundational step was incredibly important before we started the wider family work. It's not as difficult as it sounds, either—if you can't access an organization to help you get started, then you can find guidance in books, websites, blogs, and other sources. Even sitting with colleagues and friends and discussing what you would like to achieve and the steps you can take to achieve them can be very useful.
	Listening and learning: We were in The Rockefeller Foundation office and I noticed that they had over 100 years of plans lining the wall. We didn't want to reinvent anything, so we took lots of time (and continue to take time) listening to others to see what's worked and what hasn't across the generations.
	Purpose: What positive impact does each member of the family (or team!) want to have both on their own and collectively? What is your why AND our why together as a family? Define your collective purpose. Many of the principles outlined in this book have shown you exactly how to do this as a company, charity, or social enterprise and as an individual.
	Identify: Define your individual or company or family virtues and values to create a moral compass for future generations. This is a bit like building a great trunk for your family tree that will help ensure all the branches have support in future decision making.
	A vision of the world we want: What is the world you want to leave to the next seven generations? How can you bring this to life as something that can evolve and be shared with future generations? A truly inspiring part of the process was seeing what emerged from the collective family vision. It was loads of fun to visualize it to remind us of what we are hoping to achieve in the future. Why not make this a team away-day, an all-company brainstorming; make it as creative and fun as possible so your people feel free to be open about the future they would like to realize for the world. Remember, we are thinking BIG here!
	Structure: None of this is worthwhile unless you have a plan for how you are going to make it happen. This step is about creating an ongoing framework for implementation that evolves with your family, business, or organization and provides lifelong learning, joy, and, most important, lasting impact.
	Capturing and living your plan: We spent a whole lot of time as a family coming up with experiences and ways of working together, identifying a wise circle of advisors, rituals, and other ideas that will support us every day in living our plan—and having the impact we dream about in this world.