Why Blue Dot? A Note from our Founder, Lindsay Levin
Dear friends,
When astrophysicist Carl Sagan first saw images of our solar system taken by the Voyager 1 space probe in 1990 he described the Earth as appearing like “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”
Sagan later wrote— “There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
I have been fascinated by stories about our place in the universe since childhood, finding comfort in how tiny we are and just how magnificent everything around us is.
This sense of wonder has shaped my life. From backpacking at every opportunity in my teens and twenties, to an early career in business, to founding Leaders’ Quest in 2001, where I worked with an awesome team to seek out people who are shaping the world around them, often in the toughest of circumstances.
Many things stood out – from the tenacity of countless ‘invisible giants’ who are building a brighter future, to the damage we humans are doing to the Earth.
These experiences inspired us to team up with TED and a small band of visionaries in 2019 to create TED Countdown – a global initiative to accelerate and amplify solutions to the climate crisis.
It’s a Collective – a core team eager to tap into many wonderful relationships forged over the years, and amplify the strengths of people and organizations who are doing great work. To model the kind of radical collaboration that we need much more of.
Our work includes my role as Head of TED Countdown and partnering with Leaders’ Quest on select projects. We are also supporting Uniting for a Shared Future, a coalition of diverse Israeli and Palestinian leaders who are working to find common ground for a just and peaceful future. They are incredible people whose vision, courage and hard work restores our faith in shared humanity.
Blue Dot brings together people I love, lessons we’ve learned, ideas that matter, and a restless energy to, in Sagan’s words, “build a kinder world on the only home we have.”
Lindsay Levin
October 2024
