Go Make Your World

Anyone else’s social media feeds full of graduation photos and videos right now?

I loooooooooove it. Give me all the pics and vids; I eat them up.

I loved all of my graduations. And I had the honor of giving my high school alma mater’s commencement speech in 2022, exactly 25 years after my great-aunt gave my high school commencement speech. There’s just something fully alive and wonderful about graduation ceremonies (the caps! the gowns! Pomp and Circumstance!). You walk across that stage and enter a whole new world.

When I gave that 2022 speech, I closed with a quote from Toni Morrison, the great American novelist I was first introduced to by my incredible English teacher, Mrs. Streiff, as a freshman in high school.

Toni Morrison asked: what is the world for, if you can’t make it up the way you want it?

I think about that question a lot, but especially this time of year — graduation season. We get a chance every day to make the world what we hope for it to be. We all have something to bring to that.

Congratulations to every graduate out there. Now go make your world. 😉 

With love and appreciation,

Sarah

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🖋️LEADING WHEN SCARED

Judy Belk has had a remarkable career in philanthropy, including as President and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation. I really loved this essay of hers that recently appeared in Inside Philanthropy; in it, she shares her wisdom on leading with courage when the stakes are high.

The whole piece is worth your time (and just takes a few minutes to read), but two things stuck with me: Judy’s advice to “find your peeps” and “trust your gut.” Good reminders, all.

🎤IN THE SPIRIT OF SPEECHES

Yes, I came across this incredible NPR archive of The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever. Yes, I went down several rabbit holes and watched video snippets. Yes, I love the pull quotes for each speaker. No, I had no idea that, back in 1996, Kermit the Frog gave a commencement speech.

For when you need a pick-me-up read or video, bookmark this site.

▶️ WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PLAY?

Might I interest you in a free, interactive “playshop?” Weave, the Aspen Institute’s community-building network, is hosting a virtual, 75-minute “playshop” on Thursday, June 11 at 9am PT/12pm ET. And it looks pretty fun.

Executive coach, community organizer, jazz singer, and improviser Cathy Salit will guide participants through how play and improv can make you a better listener, communicator, and connector.

Register here.

🧩 FROM WRITING TO DOING

Many of the ideas I share in this newsletter — about volunteering, philanthropy, social impact more broadly, etc. — also show up in my consulting work with companies, funders, and nonprofits. If you’d like to explore ways to work together, you can find more at Services - Mission Up.

💘 NONPROFIT LOVE

In 2000, Gerald Chertavian founded Year Up United with a promise he’d made to himself and, in a way, to his little brother David, whom he’d been matched with through Big Brothers Big Sisters decades earlier. Watching David navigate a world that made him travel twice as far just to reach the starting line lit something in Chertavian that business school only sharpened. (Chertavian literally wrote in his HBS admissions essay that he would someday start a program to close the opportunity divide. Then he did.)

Now, 25+ years later, Year Up United has served more than 52,000 young adults, connecting people without four-year degrees to training, mentorship, and paid internships at leading employers in tech, finance, and operations.

In 2025, Year Up United’s employed graduates earned an average starting wage of nearly $27 and hour. Even in a challenging economic climate, more than half of the organization’s graduates were hired by the company where they interned, and 60 new businesses chose to work with YUU and the talented young adults the organization serves. Those are some really great numbers.

If you want to do something about the opportunity divide, consider becoming a Year Up United volunteer. Corporate partnerships are welcome, too. And if you’d like to start by learning more about the opportunity gap, you can watch UNTAPPED, a Netflix documentary that follows the journeys of six Year Up United graduates.