Why We Exist

Because imagining one world means remembering we’ve always been one. At 21, our Founder, Whitney Yasserie, after volunteering abroad, sat in a university classroom analysing a photo of poverty. A single, still image projected on a white screen. A hand offering water. Around her, students discussed it from every angle—ethics, economics, aid systems. But she remembered thinking, “I don’t want to be here in this room.” She didn’t want to study suffering from afar. She wanted to sit beside it. To listen, not dissect. To understand what dreams lived beyond the photo—what music, what memory, what joy still flickered in the background. Because every life is more than a snapshot of pain. She wanted to ask: What is your story? What is your vision for your life? For your community? And she wanted to help… in whatever way she could.

And here is the truth that she said must be spoken about how Imagine One World began:

“The people I met along the way, helped me more than I could have imagined. It wasn’t the hardship that transformed me—it was the presence. The joy. The laughter. The way they welcomed me, not as a saviour, but as a sister.”

This is the heartbeat of Imagine One World. Not charity from the top down. But solidarity. Story-sharing. A recognition of dignity and creativity already alive in every community.

We exist to hold space for what is already sacred. To nurture visions that rise from the roots. To support youth, families, and community leaders who are already imagining a world worth living in. Because there is no third world to first world. There is no other world.

There is only One.

And when we imagine with—not for—that’s when something real begins.