[0.000 --> 10.280]  Our lives are made up of small moments and small decisions.
[10.280 --> 19.040]  Left or right, walk or drive, eat, and or take out, lend a helping hand, or some words
[19.040 --> 27.800]  of encouragement, or an offer of support to a neighbor, a colleague, a stranger.
[27.800 --> 32.280]  Now these decisions are not like the others.
[32.280 --> 37.840]  And with the world in this much pain, it might seem futile to be focusing on those kinds
[37.840 --> 40.000]  of micro-decisions.
[40.000 --> 47.800]  But the truth is that we underestimate the power of our own generous actions.
[47.800 --> 56.440]  Every time we intentionally choose generosity, the effects of that choice are more powerful
[56.440 --> 59.760]  and more far-reaching than we might think.
[59.760 --> 65.800]  The truth is that what one person can accomplish is enormous.
[65.800 --> 71.600]  I've been one of the many leaders, ending them here in this room, of Giving Tuesday, since
[71.600 --> 74.600]  it was created in 2012.
[74.600 --> 77.560]  And it began as an experiment.
[77.560 --> 83.280]  Could we use social media to create a day of giving following two days of consumption
[83.280 --> 87.600]  Black Friday and Cyber Monday here in the US, and if we could, would anybody be interested
[87.600 --> 88.600]  in it?
[88.600 --> 91.920]  Well, and Nielis to say, the answer was yes.
[91.920 --> 96.360]  But I think that even all of us who were there at the very beginning were genuinely stunned
[96.360 --> 104.360]  by just how deeply and widely the idea resonated.
[104.360 --> 112.280]  Non-profits and families and schools and houses of worship all joined in with such enthusiasm
[112.320 --> 115.760]  and creativity.
[115.760 --> 122.320]  People felt like they were asked to be givers, invited to be givers for the first time,
[122.320 --> 124.600]  or in a totally new way.
[124.600 --> 130.800]  I will always remember the woman who posted, I'm not rich, I don't have a million dollars,
[130.800 --> 134.680]  but I can help change lives on Giving Tuesday.
[134.680 --> 140.680]  And with the spark that that ignited, it spread throughout the whole United States and
[140.680 --> 144.760]  then throughout the entire world.
[144.760 --> 151.040]  And now 11 years later, Giving Tuesday is a year round global generosity movement made
[151.040 --> 157.960]  up of thousands of leaders and millions and millions of people who are working to transform
[157.960 --> 164.920]  their communities and their world one small act at a time.
[164.920 --> 170.040]  And as a global family, because that's how we think about ourselves, we look and
[170.040 --> 176.600]  sound and work and worship in very different ways.
[176.600 --> 183.480]  But what we share and what keeps us together and keeps us working is a dream of a future
[183.480 --> 189.040]  based in the value of radical generosity.
[189.040 --> 196.680]  That phrase might sound like it means something big or extreme or dramatic or newsworthy or
[196.680 --> 200.680]  kind of scary, but it's actually the opposite.
[200.680 --> 204.800]  The word radical simply means from the root.
[204.800 --> 212.040]  And so we imagine a world where generosity is simply at the root of our decisions and
[212.040 --> 222.640]  our behaviors, even and maybe especially down to our smallest and most mundane ones.
[222.640 --> 229.720]  I have essentially been on a decade-long global generosity tour witnessing this principle
[229.720 --> 232.720]  of radical generosity in action.
[232.720 --> 239.360]  I have been welcomed and hugged and fed in more countries than I can count.
[239.360 --> 247.000]  And from Kenya to Colombia to Canada, so many more places, I have witnessed the hundreds
[247.000 --> 251.600]  of ways that generosity manifests.
[251.600 --> 258.600]  And what I have learned, my understanding of what generosity is and my appreciation for
[258.600 --> 266.200]  what it can accomplished, has expanded a thousand times over.
[266.200 --> 272.600]  I've unlearned a lot of lessons and I've learned a lot of lessons about generosity.
[272.600 --> 277.120]  Often when we think about giving, we think about money.
[277.120 --> 281.040]  And yes, money is an incredibly important form of giving.
[281.040 --> 285.800]  It is crucial for the health and sustainability of our civil societies.
[285.800 --> 292.640]  But thinking about giving only in terms of money is like thinking about love only in terms
[292.640 --> 295.080]  of diamonds.
[295.080 --> 296.720]  We love what we can measure.
[296.720 --> 299.560]  We love what we can quantify.
[299.560 --> 307.600]  But I think what we would love even more is to live in a world of immeasurable abundance,
[307.600 --> 311.800]  empathy and solidarity.
[311.800 --> 317.360]  Generosity builds a bridge between this world that we live in now and that one.
[317.360 --> 325.480]  And it builds bridges between us at the same time, one small act at a time.
[325.480 --> 329.800]  So what do some of those small acts look like?
[329.800 --> 337.560]  They might look like in Toronto where people chalked messages of gratitude and love on
[337.560 --> 343.360]  city sidewalks just to uplift the spirits of anyone who might walk by.
[343.360 --> 347.360]  And then a lot of the people who did walk by picked up the chalk and they added their own
[347.360 --> 348.880]  messages.
[348.880 --> 353.000]  This picture happens to be Toronto, but this project actually happened in dozens of cities
[353.000 --> 355.440]  across the country and across the world.
[355.440 --> 363.720]  Or in Nairobi where people painted rocks with bright colors and inspirational messages and
[363.720 --> 365.680]  they put them all over the city.
[365.680 --> 371.640]  Park benches, bus stops, just to bring smiles to the faces of strangers, smiles that they
[371.640 --> 380.080]  would never even see and turning the earth's literal most mundane object into a love letter.
[380.080 --> 385.760]  In Jackson, Tennessee, one of our long time giving Tuesday leaders, Alison, was inspired
[385.760 --> 393.240]  to combat food insecurity in her community in one small way which was building a set
[393.240 --> 395.320]  of little free pantries.
[395.320 --> 398.560]  And she put a message on Facebook asking for help.
[398.560 --> 405.240]  People responded and they built an initial six boxes which local residents then stocked
[405.240 --> 408.000]  with food and other supplies.
[408.000 --> 413.480]  All of this done on donated supplies and volunteer time.
[413.480 --> 420.120]  And that has now turned into over 40 boxes, over three different counties with a network
[420.120 --> 426.680]  of hundreds of volunteers keeping it stocked.
[426.680 --> 431.600]  What these stories have in common, some of them are much more elaborate and some of them
[431.600 --> 434.840]  are literally just a fleeting moment.
[434.840 --> 442.160]  But what they have in common is that each one inspired at least one person who was watching.
[442.160 --> 451.000]  Researchers think that for every act of kindness or good deed a person does, they can affect
[451.000 --> 456.120]  someone or many people, three or more degrees removed from them.
[456.120 --> 459.840]  Imagine that next time you do a small good thing for someone.
[459.840 --> 464.600]  But you might be inspiring people you will never meet to do good as well.
[464.600 --> 471.160]  Your one fleeting moment could be amplified a hundred times over.
[471.160 --> 477.880]  But researchers also have found that we tend to drastically underestimate the effect of
[477.880 --> 484.200]  our own actions and how much they will be appreciated by the recipient and that that
[484.200 --> 492.160]  miscalculation might hold us back from doing nice things for others more often.
[492.160 --> 496.200]  We also think often that it's great.
[496.200 --> 498.960]  Like let's do more nice things for more people, yes.
[498.960 --> 505.720]  But also my life is stressful and hectic and hard and that takes up time that I might
[505.720 --> 508.600]  not necessarily have.
[508.600 --> 511.400]  I find myself in that thought process all the time.
[511.400 --> 518.400]  And what I remind myself of is that generosity alleviates stress.
[518.400 --> 520.640]  It doesn't add to it.
[520.640 --> 525.640]  People who give are healthier and happier and more hopeful.
[525.640 --> 531.440]  Just the act of paying for coffee for the person behind us in line in the morning.
[531.440 --> 539.200]  Measurably enhances our feeling of well-being for the entire day.
[539.200 --> 542.200]  This is Sujohn.
[542.200 --> 550.280]  He is a Nepalese restaurant tour in London and Sujohn has done a world of good in his
[550.280 --> 551.280]  life.
[551.280 --> 557.320]  But during the pandemic he started doing what he does best and he began to cook hot, free
[557.320 --> 561.680]  meals for overwhelmed hospital workers.
[561.680 --> 566.040]  And when he was starting to do that other people saw they were inspired.
[566.040 --> 568.760]  They asked if they could join and help out.
[568.760 --> 575.280]  And soon they were feeding ambulance crews, fire crews, charity workers.
[575.280 --> 581.160]  And one year after Sujohn started cooking these delicious hot free meals, he delivered his
[581.160 --> 585.240]  100,000th free meal.
[585.240 --> 592.640]  Now Sujohn closes his restaurant every Tuesday, every giving Tuesday so that he and his
[592.640 --> 601.120]  army of volunteers can support their community in whatever ways needed all day long.
[601.120 --> 605.080]  And finally, this is Chloe.
[605.080 --> 608.400]  And Chloe is 16 now.
[608.400 --> 613.760]  But when she was just 8 years old she would walk to school with her mom and they would pass
[613.760 --> 617.120]  the same woman without a home every day.
[617.120 --> 621.560]  And Chloe asked her mom a lot of questions.
[621.560 --> 625.720]  Nothing with why doesn't that woman have a home but also things like what about when
[625.720 --> 628.360]  she needs to use the bathroom?
[628.360 --> 631.440]  What happens when she has her period?
[631.440 --> 637.080]  Chloe was learning to sew at the time so she asked her grandma to help her sew a beautiful
[637.080 --> 642.240]  tote bag and they filled it with toiletries and hygienic products and other goodies and
[642.240 --> 644.160]  they gifted it to that woman.
[644.160 --> 648.040]  Not just handed it to her but with connection and with conversation.
[648.040 --> 653.880]  And the woman said she couldn't even remember the last time somebody had asked her her name.
[653.880 --> 659.760]  Chloe has since made and delivered 5,000 of those bags.
[659.760 --> 665.720]  Chloe also DMed us on Instagram to ask if we had a giving Tuesday kids and if we didn't
[665.720 --> 668.000]  could she start it.
[668.000 --> 671.840]  And of course, because she's a very entrepreneurial kid.
[671.840 --> 676.400]  And of course the answer was yes and what can we do to help.
[676.400 --> 682.440]  And a few years later there is a global community of young people who have performed hundreds
[682.440 --> 689.240]  of thousands of acts of service fighting bullying and hunger and drawing attention to mental
[689.240 --> 694.640]  health among young people and the importance of community and they're connected to and
[694.640 --> 697.960]  support each other.
[697.960 --> 704.480]  So for every Chloe and Allison and Sujohn and the people with the chalk and the people with
[704.480 --> 711.760]  the rocks there are countless millions more and the algorithms just don't put them at
[711.760 --> 715.400]  the top of our feeds but they're there.
[715.400 --> 723.800]  And if we pay attention then they remind us that ordinary acts of giving are actually extraordinary.
[723.800 --> 731.200]  They remind us that generosity is not a burden, it's a gift and it's an antidote to our
[731.200 --> 739.760]  fear and our anxiety to loneliness and isolation to outrage and indignation.
[739.760 --> 746.600]  And they remind us that we have this tool accessible to every single one of us every day
[746.600 --> 753.200]  which is the power to change someone else's day or maybe even life for the better.
[753.200 --> 763.080]  And when we use that tool collectively we can build a more joyful, more equitable and
[763.080 --> 770.360]  more peaceful future and that does not seem like too radical a thing to imagine.
[770.360 --> 771.680]  Thank you.