A Letter to our daughterMARK Zuckerberg· Wednesday, December 2,Dear Max,Your mother and I don ' t yet has the words to describe the hope we give us for the future. Your new life was full of promise, and we hope you'll be happy and healthy so you can explore it fully. You ' ve already given us a reason to reflect on the world we hope you live in.Like all parents, we want the grow up in a world better than ours today.While headlines often focus on what's wrong, in many ways the world is getting better. Health is improving. Poverty is shrinking. Knowledge is growing. People is connecting. Technological progress in every field means your life should be dramatically better than ours today.We'll do the happen, not the only because we are, but also because we have a moral responsibility To all children in the next generation.We believe all lives has equal value, and that includes the many more people who'll live in future generations than Live today. Our society have an obligation-invest now-improve the lives of all those coming into this world, not just those Alrea DY here.But right now, we don't always have collectively direct our resources at the biggest opportunities and problems your genera tion 'll face.consider disease. Today we spend about the times more as a society treating people who is sick than we invest in the so you won ' t get s Ick in the first place.Medicine have only been a real science for less than 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 Ears.Today, most people die from five things--heart disease, cancer, stroke, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases-- And we can make faster progress in these and other problems.Once We recognize that your generation and your children ' s generation could not be suffer from disease, we collecti Vely has a responsibility to tilt we investments a bit more towards the "the future" this reality. Your mother and I want to do we part.curing disease would take time. Over short periods of five or ten years, it may not seem like we ' re making much of a difference. But over the long term, seeds planted now would grow, and one day, or your children would see what we can only imagine: A world without suffering from disease.there is so many opportunities just. If Society focuses more of the on these great challenges, we'll leave your generation a much better world. • •Our hopes for your generation focus on the ideas: advancing human potential and promoting equality . advancing human potential is about pushing the boundaries on how great a human life can be.Can you learn and experience the times more than we do today?Can Our generation cure disease so you live much longer and healthier lives?Can We connect the world so that you had access to every idea, person and opportunity?can we harness more clean energy so Can invent things we can ' t conceive for today while protecting the environment? can we cultivate entrepreneurship so can build any business and solve any challenge to grow peace and prosperity?< /c3>promoting equality is about making sure everyone have access to these opportunities--regardless of the nation, Famili Es or circumstances they is born into.Our society must does this isn't only for justice or charity, but for the greatness of human progress.Today We is robbed of the potential so many has to offer . The only-to achieve-potential is-to-channel the talents, ideas and contributions of the Every person .Can Our generation eliminate poverty and hunger?Can We provide everyone with basic healthcare?Can We build inclusive and welcoming communities?Can We nurture peaceful and understanding relationships between people of all nations?Can We truly empower everyone--women, children, underrepresented minorities, immigrants and the unconnected?If We generation makes the right investments, the answer to each of the these questions can be yes--and hopefully Withi n Your lifetime. • •This mission--advancing human potential and promoting equality--would require a new approach for all working toward s these goals.We must make a long term investments over, or even to years. The greatest challenges require very long time horizons and cannot is solved by short term thinking.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.We must build technology. Many institutions invest money in these challenges, and most progress comes from productivity gains through innovation.We must participate in policy and advocacy to shape debates. Many institutions is unwilling to does this, but progress must is supported by movements to be sustainable.We must back the strongest and most independent leaders in each field. Partnering with experts are more effective for the mission than trying to leads efforts ourselves.We must take risks today to learn lessons for tomorrow. We ' re early in our learning and many things we try to won ' t work, but we'll listen and learn and keep improving. • •Our experience with personalized learning, Internet access, and community education and health have shaped our Philosop Hy.Our generation grew to classrooms where we all learned the same things at the same pace regardless of our interests or needs.Your Generation would set goals for who want to become-like an engineer, health worker, writer or community Lea Der. You'll have technology this understands how do you learn best and where you need to focus. You'll advance quickly in subjects so interest you most, and get as much help as your need in your most challenging areas . You'll explore topics that aren ' t even offered in schools today. Your teachers would also has better tools and data to help you achieve Your goals.even better, students around the world would be able to use personalized learning tools over the Internet, even if they Don ' t live near good schools. Of course it would take more than technology to give everyone a fair start in life, but personalized learning can be one SC Alable-Give all children a better education and more equal opportunity.We ' re starting to build this technology now, and the results is already promising. Not only does 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 would rapidly improve every year "re in school.Your mother and I have both taught students and we've seen what the it takes to make this work. It'll take working with the strongest leaders on education to help schools around the world adopt personalized. It would take the engaging with communities, which are why we ' re starting the San Francisco Bay area community. It'll take building new technology and trying new ideas. And it'll take making mistakes and learning many lessons before achieving these goals.but once we understand the world we can be create for your generation, we had a responsibility as a society to focus our Investments on the reality.Together, we can do this. And when we do, personalized learning would not only help students in good schools, it'll help provide more equal Opportu Nity to anyone with an Internet connection. • •many of the greatest opportunities for your generation would come from giving everyone access to the Internet.people often think of the internet as just for entertainment or communication. But for the majority of people in the world, the Internet can be a lifeline.It provides education if you don't live near a good school. IT provides health information on what to avoid diseases or raise healthy children if you don't live near a doctor. IT provides financial services if you don't live near a bank. It provides access to jobs and opportunities if you don't live in a good economy.the internet is so important this for every ten people who gain internet access, about one person was lifted out of Pove Rty and about one new job is created.yet still more than half of the world's population--more than 4 billion people--don ' t has access to the Internet. If Our generation connects them, we can lift hundreds of millions of people of poverty. We can also help hundreds of millions of children get a education and save millions of lives by helping people avoid dise ASE.This is the another long term effort that can being advanced by technology and partnership. It'll take inventing new technology to make the Internet more affordable and bring access to unconnected areas. It'll take the partnering with Governments, non-profits and companies. It'll take the engaging with communities to understand what they need. Good people'll has different views on the best path forward, and we'll try many efforts before we succeed.But together we can succeed and create a more equal world. • •technology can ' t solve problems by itself. Building a better world starts with Building strong and healthy communities.Children has the best opportunities when they can learn. And they learn best when they ' re healthy.Health starts early--with loving family, good nutrition and a safe, stable environment.children traumatic experiences early in life often develop less healthy minds and bodies. Studies show physical changes in brain development leading to lower cognitive ability.Your mother is a doctor and educator, and she had seen this firsthand.If you had an unhealthy childhood, it's difficult to reach your full potential.If you had to wonder whether you'll have the food or rent, or worry about abuse or crime and then it's difficult to reach yo ur full potential.If You fear you'll go to prison rather than college because of the color of your skins, or that your family would be DEP Orted because of your legal status, or that you may be a victim of violence because of your religion, sexual orientation O R gender Identity, then it's difficult to reach your full potential.We need institutions that understand these issues is all connected. That's the philosophy of the new type of school your mother is building.By partnering with schools, health centers, parent groups and local governments, and by ensuring all children is 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.It would take the many years to fully develop the this model. But it's another example of how advancing human potential and promoting equality is tightly linked. If We want either, we must first build inclusive and healthy communities. • •for your generation to live in a better world, there are so much and our generation can do.Today Your mother and I is committing to spend we lives doing our small part to help solve these challenges. I'll continue to serve as Facebook's CEO for many, many years to come, but these issues is too important to wait until You or we is older to begin the work. By starting at a young age, we hope to see compounding benefits throughout our lives.as you begin the next generation of the Chan Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join P Eople across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation. Our initial areas of focus would be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communitie S.We'll give 99% of our Facebook shares – currently about $45 billion – during We lives to advance this mission. We know this was a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we working alongside many others with we want to do we can.we ' ll share more details on the coming months once We settle into our new family rhythm and return from our maternity and paternity leaves. We understand you'll have many questions on why and how we ' re doing this.as we become parents and enter this next chapter of our lives, we want to share our deep appreciation for everyone who Makes this possible.we have a strong global community behind us because. Building Facebook has created resources to improve, the world for the next generation. Every member of the Facebook community is playing a part in this work.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 is surrounded by loving family, Supportiv E friends and amazing colleagues. We hope you has such deep and inspiring relationships in your life too.Max, we love your and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for both 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 how you bring to this world.Love ,Mom and Dad
MARK Zuckerberg, A letter to our daughter (ext.)
