Put your ideals to work
Rutger Bregman is the co-founder of The School for Moral Ambition.
Not long ago, we had a dream. Imagine an alliance of ambitious idealists who think awareness is not enough. Imagine an organization that would empower small groups of pioneers to make a historic difference. Imagine a movement of builders, who take on the biggest and most neglected challenges of our time, and who will persevere until they’ve accomplished their goals. And we’ll call it:
The School for Moral Ambition.
We believe the most ambitious people should work on the most important global problems. We need our brightest minds to end factory farming, safeguard our democracies, make pandemics history – and these are just a few examples. The School crafts a theory of victory to tackle such problems, and works towards concrete milestones.
You have a neat resume and a great job. You're what people commonly call 'successful.' And yet, something gnaws at you. Does your work really make a difference? Are you using your talents for a good cause? Or has the world not really become a better place when you've checked off your to-do lists?
If these are questions you struggle with, then The School for Moral Ambition is the place for you. As a foundation we want to help you explore a different path, one where your career and the precious time you invest in it contribute to a much better world.
The School for Moral Ambition emerged from a desire to not just talk about a better world but also to take action towards one.
The four founders are writer Rutger Bregman, designer Harald Dunnink, former banker Julia van Boven, and former consultant Jan-Willem van Putten.
To determine the missions of our first two fellowships, our research team began with a longlist of 30+ neglected global problems. After about 1,000 hours of research and interviews with more than 50 experts, two cause areas came out on top: fighting the tobacco industry (8 million deaths a year) and accelerating the protein transition (crucial to combat climate change).
We live in a world where the best people usually don't work on the most important problems. That needs to change. And for us, these two fellowships are just the beginning.
Seven Founding principles
As a foundation, The School for Moral Ambition is founded on seven principles. These describe the way we want to improve the world – and guide all our decisions.