VIA is an organization with a strong entrepreneurial philosophy. Our role is that of strategic partner with the social entrepreneur and his/her organization with vision and commitment to create a more civil and humane world. We act as facilitators, advisors and team-builders on how best to achieve the organizations’ social goals. We are also conduits between the private, corporate and governmental donors and the projects which we support.
Programs
General Programs
Through its Advisory Board, VIA selects programs that fall under broad categories such as improving the quality of life for both individuals and their communities; prevention of violence, cruelty and suffering. Simply put, initiatives that make communities, world-wide, better places in which to live. While the recipients of our funds must show solid, well organized and achievable goals, overriding consideration is given to the quality of leadership of those who will oversee the ventures.
The Golden Circle Programs
Golden Circle Programs focus specifically on the prevention of inhumane treatment towards animals, and how by helping the animals in question, we can use the process as a way of teaching values of empathy and compassion to all beings, human and animal alike.
The guiding principle of the Golden Circle Programs can be found in its name: Golden for life’s universal rule of treating others as you would have others treat you; and Circle as in the Circle of Empathy, a concept that describes a human predisposition to place certain relationships within a mental circle of affection, caring and empathy, while, at the same time, excluding others. Through these programs, we endeavor to expand participants’ circles of empathy to include all life.
The Golden Circle initiatives have proven to be successful in helping participants, particularly children, express and examine the effects of cruelty in their own lives. By speaking of the harm done to animals often frees participants to speak about their own suffering. Learning to be kind to animals has proven effective in helping others learn to be kind to one another.
