The number 17. Nothing jumps out right away, right?

If you’re a teenager, you’d likely argue it’s one of the more boring ages. You’ve past 16 so you can drive, but you aren’t yet 18 when we “adults” officially let you in the adult club and you’re finally able to vote(Register Here). If you’re interested in prime numbers(who isn’t?), 17 may be a little more exciting. It’s the only prime number that is made up of four other consecutive prime numbers- 2, 3, 5, 7. When you add those 4 numbers together they equal, yep you guessed it, 17. It’s also the day in March that celebrates Saint Patrick. You know, the patron Saint of Ireland that Irish and not so Irish folx use as an excuse to drink beer, Bailey’s Irish Cream (17%ABV), sing songs, and close down city main streets for parades. Particularly in Boston, where the Celtics hold 17 NBA Championship banners. (Brian, our co-founder, is one of those Irish Folx that fully supports this celebratory day. And the Celtics.) And, we’re pretty certain Fast & Furious 17 will be the best of the franchise. Feeling heptadecaphobic (fear of #17)? Try writing the 17 syllables in a haiku, maybe listen to Ricky Martin’s greatest hits album “17”, because the best ’17’ is coming up!

17 is Brave + Kind’s lucky number.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs/Goals) were developed by the United Nations and adopted by all UN Member States in 2015. The SDG’s are a viking-horn-blast call to action to all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that the world’s biggest problems are multifactorial, and goals like ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. The 17 Goals are an aggressive agenda that asks the global citizenry to innovate and collaborate. Remember Captain Planet? Look it up, kids. This is the live-action version.

The world coming together and agreeing on a plan to work together to save itself? No, it’s not an Avenger’s promo. It’s real life. We love it, so we built a business that promotes and supports the 17 Goals. For the Goals to be reached, everyone has to do their part. At Brave + Kind, we offer our community the opportunity to engage with the Goals and make a difference at a range of levels; local to global. We provide options to purchase brands that are aligned with the Goals, tools to learn about the Goals from perspectives micro to macro, and to participate in activities that directly support the causes represented by the Goals. It’s our hope that by doing our part we can chip in to the UN’s initiatives and we want to bring you along for the ride. But there are 17 of these goals! That’s a big wheel of cheese to eat in one sitting. So, our plan is to highlight 1-2 of the goals each quarter so we can really get our hands around the details. We’ll eat that darn wheel together, little by little.

“It’s a myth that each and everyone of us doesn’t have the power to change the world dramatically and quickly.” - Forest Whitaker, Nations United Film

PS. We’d love to hear from you!

Let us know which Goals you are most interested in, if you have an idea for working with one, or have a passion for leading a project drop us a line. We love collaborations.