Annual report 2017: the story of our first year

Moments ago, David Simas sent a message to the Obama Foundation email list announcing our annual report for 2017. If you’d like to get updates like this and the latest news from the Obama Foundation, you can sign up for our email list here. You can check out the full annual report here.

The Obama Foundation just released our very first annual report for 2017—and while I realize the words “annual report” don’t typically inspire, I promise you this one is not what you expect.

From the beginning, we’ve set out to be a different kind of organization, and that extends to the way we tell the story of our work.

Our annual report isn’t just a place to share financial data or metrics—the kinds of things you’d usually expect from a yearly readout. We see it as an opportunity to tell our story.

This is our story—and we’ve only just begun writing it.

It’s a story that details how strangers who met at a Foundation training event came together to form a new nonprofit to mentor Chicago-area students and help them become more civically involved.

It’s a story about how diversity and inclusion are core to our calling and our conduct.

It’s a story that belongs to Malay, Brendan and tens of thousands of other Chicago residents. To Celina de Sola, Keith Wattley, and thousands more inspiring young leaders. To Barack and Michelle Obama. And to you.

And above all, it’s a story about how the Foundation is inspiring, empowering and connecting people around the world, equipping them with the tools, resources, and networks they need to bring about change in their communities.

Within all these stories, you’ll hear a familiar echo from President Obama’s 2017 farewell address: An encouragement to believe—not in his ability to create change, but in yours.

Take a look at our story right now. We couldn’t have told it without you.

Thank you for being a part of it.

-David