Together International is less about an organization and more about an invitation. In a world where compassion is under threat and empathy is considered a sin, who really is my neighbor? “My humanity is bound up in yours,” said Desmond Tutu, “we can only be human together.”

When it comes to inspiring change and solving problems, we often focus on the wrong things. Hunger, disease, displacement, and polarization are symptoms, not causes. Almost all human suffering today — conflict, famine, even natural disasters, is human-made. Poverty is not solved by wealth. Conflict is not fixed through force. Fractured communities do not come together when one side wins.

Impossibilities are overcome when people come together. When “us and them” categories give way to friendship. When we are committed to our own change, even as we seek to bring change. Coming together often means setting aside agendas and cheering on others. Coming together means accompanying friends — neighbors nearby or people across the world — as they lead their own change. It believes everyone counts, that kindness matters, that love still wins.