On the day of the inauguration, a video was released on YouTube with Barack and Michelle Obama talking about their plans after leaving the White House. After taking a break from all the stress that has piled on the past eight years, they announced that they plan on continuing their work through the Obama Foundation as citizens.
And that’s all well and good, but that brings up the important question: Okay, but what is the Obama Foundation?
I mean, really. We wanna know.
First of all, the Obama Foundation isn’t actually anything new. You may not remember, but it was first established in 2014. The reason you (probably) haven’t heard about it until now is that it’s still under construction: the website was barely launched, and honestly, the foundation itself is probably not going to be completely finished until around 2020.
What it’s about hasn’t been completely specified, but it would appear that focus is to promote causes that effect positive change on the country. At the moment, however, they’re still working with the public to establish its specific priorities and mission goals—so if you have a cause you’d like the Obama Foundation to support, now might be the best chance to have your voice heard.
In the meantime, the organization is slowly building its basics. It’s already partnered with StoryCorps, an organization focused on spreading stories about humanity and human nature, and the physical headquarters will start being designed and constructed in Chicago soon.
For the moment, it definitely looks like the emphasis is working with the people to achieve the goals of the public—which is definitely good news considering the strong opposition against the current federal government.
Interested in learning more? Check out the foundation website here, or watch the video by Barack and Michelle here.