The "can we" manifesto - adapted from Mark and Priscilla Zuckerberg's letter to Max

 About Gratitude, Hope. Positivity and giving back

Its all about Learning and Connecting - advancing human potential and providing this opportunity to all 

Advancing human potential is about pushing the boundaries on how great a human life can be.... Innovate! 

• Can we connect the world so you have access to every idea, person and opportunity?
• Can we cultivate entrepreneurship so you can build any business and solve any challenge to grow peace and prosperity?
• Can we eliminate hunger?
• Can we provide opportunity for all? 
• Can we build connected, inclusive and welcoming communities? 
• Can we provide everyone with basic healthcare?
• Can we engender peaceful and understanding relationships between nations?
• Can we truly empower everyone - women, children, underrepresented minorities, immigrants and the unconnected?

If our generation makes the right investments, the answer to each of these questions can be yes - and hopefully within your lifetime.

On Health and disease prevention

• Can we cure disease so you live much longer and healthier lives? 

Today we spend about 50 times more as a society treating people who are sick than we invest in research so you won't get sick in the first place.

Today, most people die from five things -- heart disease, cancer, stroke, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases -- 

• Can we make faster progress on these and other problems?

Medicine has only been a real science for less than 100 years, and we've already seen complete cures for some diseases and good progress for others. As technology accelerates, we have a real shot at preventing, curing or managing all or most of the rest in the next 100 years. 

Over time .... seeds planted now will grow, and one day, you or your children will see what we can only imagine: a world without suffering from disease.

On Education and Continual learning 

• Can we improve the way we learn?
• Can we provide all with the opportunity to  get educated? 
• Can we engage personalised education without losing the face to face element ?

Our generation grew up in classrooms where we all learned the same things at the same pace regardless of our interests or needs.

Your generation will set goals for what they want to become -- like an engineer, health worker, writer or community leader. You'll have technology that understands how you learn best and where you need to focus. You'll advance quickly in subjects that interest you most, and get as much help as you need in your most challenging areas. You'll explore topics that aren't even offered in schools today. Your teachers will also have better tools and data to help you achieve your goals.

Even better, students around the world will be able to use personalised learning tools over the internet, even if they don't live near good schools. Of course it will take more than technology to give everyone a fair start in life, but personalised learning can be one scalable way to give all children a better education and more equal opportunity.

We're starting to build this technology now, and the results are already promising. Not only do students perform better on tests, but they gain the skills and confidence to learn anything they want. And this journey is just beginning. The technology and teaching will rapidly improve every year you're in school.

Can we achieve this? 

Together, we can do this. And when we do, personalised learning will not only help students in good schools, it will help provide more equal opportunity to anyone with an internet connection.

If our generation makes the right investments, the answer to each of these questions can be yes - and hopefully within your lifetime.

Connection and access to Internet

• Can we connect the other half of the planet?

Many of the greatest opportunities for your generation will come from giving everyone access to the internet.

Yet still more than half of the world's population -- more than 4 billion people -- don't have access to the internet.

- for every 10 people who gain internet access, about one person is lifted out of poverty and about one new job is created.

If our generation connects them, we can lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. We can also help hundreds of millions of children get an education and save millions of lives by helping people avoid disease.

How? 

- make internet cheaper or abundant and free 

- It will take partnering with governments, non-profits and companies. 

- It will take engaging with communities to understand what they need. 

- we will try many efforts before we succeed.

Can we do this?

If our generation makes the right investments, the answer is yes -- and hopefully within your lifetime.

Create  a healthy childhood

Can we break the poverty and violence cycle?

If you have to wonder whether you'll have food or rent, or worry about abuse or crime, then it's difficult to reach your full potential.

If you fear you'll go to prison rather than college because of the color of your skin, or that your family will be deported because of your legal status, or that you may be a victim of violence because of your religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, then it's difficult to reach your full potential.

How?

- by educating the perpetrators of abuse and crime 

- by partnering with schools, health centres, parent groups and local governments, 

- by ensuring all children are well fed and cared for starting young, we can start to treat these inequities as connected. Only then can we collectively start to give everyone an equal opportunity.

Can we do this?

If our generation makes the right investments, the answer to each of these questions can be yes - and hopefully within your lifetime.

As the next generation starts , let us follow the lead of the Chan Zuckerberg family, and support or emulate the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to 

- advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation. 

- Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.

Can we?

If our generation makes the right investments, the answer is yes -- and hopefully within your lifetime.

How?

PEIRL

Plan

We must make long term investments over 25, 50 or even 100 years. The greatest challenges require very long time horizons and cannot be solved by short term thinking.

Engage 

We must engage directly with the people we serve. We can't empower people if we don't understand the needs and desires of their communities.

Innovate

We must build technology to make change. Many institutions invest money in these challenges, but most progress comes from productivity gains through innovation.

Stand on shoulders of giants - back great leaders

We must back the strongest and most independent leaders in each field. Partnering with experts is more effective for the mission than trying to lead efforts ourselves.

Take risks - don't be afraid to fail 

We must take risks today to learn lessons for tomorrow. We're early in our learning and many things we try won't work, but we'll listen and learn and keep improving.

Love, Gratitude and Hope 

As we become parents and grandparents. and enter this next chapter of our lives, let us share our deep appreciation for everyone who makes this possible.

We can do this work only because we have a strong global community behind us. 

We can make progress towards these opportunities only by standing on the shoulders of experts -- our mentors, partners and many incredible people whose contributions built these fields. 

And we can only focus on serving this community and this mission because we are surrounded by loving family, supportive friends and amazing colleagues. We hope you will have such deep and inspiring relationships in your life too. 

Our child, we love you and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for you and all children. We wish you a life filled with the same love, hope and joy you give us. 

We can't wait to see what you bring to this world.