Ask Richard By Richard Branson Thank you to Don Meade for this great
question. Upon reflection, my answer hasn’t changed since the age of
16.   What motivates me most in life is trying to solve unacceptable
issues. At 16, I couldn’t accept the brutality and senselessness of
the Vietnam War, so I started Student Magazine to protest the war
and report on the atrocities it was inflicting. I wanted the magazine
to challenge the stale publications of the day and cover issues that
really mattered to young people, such as abortion bans, outdated,
education models, LGBTQI+ discrimination, and so forth.  Now, at the
age of 73, solving unacceptable issues is still my main source of
motivation and it is why we launched Virgin Unite 20 years ago. As a
relentless optimist, I believe there isn’t a single issue we cannot
combat in our lifetimes, if we dedicate enough energy to it. This is
what gets me up in the morning, and it’s what sometimes keeps me up
at night too. However, it’s important to not get pulled in so many
directions that you have no direction at all. And so, I wanted to
write more on the specific issues that I focus on the most, with
endless momentum from Virgin Unite and the wonderful Virgin Group
team. Criminal justice reform   I believe that people shouldn’t be
judged by their darkest moment in life, and societies can’t prosper
without mercy. In my mind, penal systems need to shift their focus
away from punishment and toward rehabilitation. People need to be
given the best possible chance of rebuilding their lives and escaping
the cycle of re-offending. This is why we work with the Responsible
Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) and other organisations to
advocate for rehabilitative justice systems, fair checks on criminal
records, ending cash bail (which cruelly discriminate against people
experiencing poverty), and abolishing the death penalty. I’m also
immensely proud of the endless work that Virgin Unite does to help
reform systems that trap vulnerable people in destructive cycles of
penalty and poverty. Together, we are all working to bring fair chance
hiring into mainstream business practices. It’s a powerful way in
which all businesses can get involved in criminal justice reform. 
One area of reform I am particularly passionate about is ending the
death penalty. It is an inhumane, ineffective and error-prone form of
punishment. Why do we kill people who kill people to show people that
killing people is wrong? Some people claim the death penalty deters
crime, yet nothing could be further from the truth – and study after
study refutes this. Look anywhere in the 55 countries that retain the
practice: the death penalty doesn’t make communities safer, it has
no noticeable impact on crime rates, and it wastes resources that
could be better used elsewhere.   One of the most frustrating
aspects of the death penalty is the well-documented risk of executing
innocent people. For every eight people executed in the US, one person
has been found to be innocent. This is an unacceptable margin of
error, particularly when the stake at play is a human life. This is
another area where businesses can really take a stand, which is why we
helped RBIJ launch Business Leaders against the Death Penalty,
alongside many business leaders like Paul Polman. The campaign has
brought together more than 250 notable leaders including Sheryl
Sandberg, Alan Jope, and Marc Benioff to call for an end to capital
punishment all around the world. Over the years, we’ve written
countless letters and had many tense phone calls to plead mercy for
people on death row, and I really struck a nerve when took on
Singapore’s government over its horrific use of the death penalty
for non-violent drug offences. We don’t always succeed, but I hope
that our work will ultimately help people and governments understand
why its time to end the death penalty for good. Ending the War on
Drugs The war on drugs cannot be won, but it can be ended. While the
global trade in illicit drugs has soared to upwards of $400 billion,
communities remain ravaged by drug-related violence, prisons are
overcrowded with people sentenced for simple drug possession and
personal use, addiction is rampant, and billions of dollars has been
wasted in fighting an impossible fight.  If the focus shifted to
decriminalising and regulating recreational drugs, it could create
seismic shifts in harm reduction, public health, public spending,
prison statistics, drug-related violence, death, and more. Governments
need to wrestle control from criminal networks by creating legalised
and regulated markets. The health risks of drug use and the
dramatically rising overdose death toll in many countries often make
people feel nervous about decriminalisation. However, the failed war
on drugs has only increased these health risks and exacerbated the
dramatic outcomes we see. Prohibition has driven the market towards
riskier, more potent, and contaminated substances with unregulated
strengths, ingredients, and production methods. Furthermore, people
are pushed to consume drugs in unsafe environments, leading to greater
risk of harm. It’s time we wake up to the fact that the so-called
war on drugs is a war on people, which is what led me to become a
member of The Global Commission on Drug Policy. The commission does a
fantastic job in creating informed, evidence-based discussions about
humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs and drug
policies. My fellow Commissioners and I have spent years making the
case that no one should be criminalised, marginalised, or stigmatised
for possession and personal use of illicit drugs. When problems arise,
drug addiction should be treated as a public health issue, not a
responsibility of already overburdened criminal justice systems.
It’s wonderful to see the tide shifting in both policy and opinion
on this issue! If you’re unsure where you stand, I would suggest
reading through the commission’s reports and opinion pieces. LGBTQI+
rights LGBTQI+ equality was one of the first issues I campaigned about
as a teenager. At 17, I launched the Student Advisory Centre after
discovering a huge demand for young people wanting advice on topics
including sexuality, health and relationships. Many ostracised gay
people came to us seeking support and ways to meet other gay people
and feel part of a community. The fact that someone could be shunned,
bullied, discriminated against, thrown into prison, or even face the
death penalty (as is sadly still the case in quite a few countries)
for same-sex relationships is completely unacceptable. Business can
play a big role here, which is why we supported the I helped launch of
the wonderful organisation Open for Business, as a business-led
coalition that makes the economic case for LGBTQI+ inclusion. From
creating safe and inclusive workplaces to putting pressure on
governments that persecute LGBTQI+ people, joining coalitions like
Open For Business and raising awareness through meaningful Pride
festivities – there’s so much that businesses can do. At Virgin,
I’m so proud of the work our companies and Virgin Unite are doing,
which includes implementing gender-neutral uniform policies, Pride
flights, effective partnerships, inclusion networks, advocacy efforts,
and beyond. Re-defining dyslexia and neurodiversity I am dyslexic, and
I don’t shy away from talking about it. In fact, I want businesses
around the world to understand the unique value of hiring dyslexics;
and I want society to understand that dyslexia is just a different way
of seeing the world, a different way of processing information, and an
opportunity to come up with great ideas. To bring this message
across, we started working with Made By Dyslexia many years ago and
it’s proven to be a very impactful partnership. Together, we worked
with LinkedIn to change the Dictionary.com definition of
‘dyslexia’, encouraged LinkedIn to add ‘Dyslexic Thinking’ to
its list of recognised skills, developed Dyslexic Thinking training on
LinkedIn Learning, delved into the aggregated power of dyslexia and
AI, and much more. Beyond dyslexia, I believe that all forms of
neurodiversity should be embraced by employers, education systems and
wider society. We need to reframe neurodiversity, and ensure that
neurodiverse thinkers have the support they need to reach their full
potential in life. This is why we invested in auticon back in 2016,
and have proudly supported their teams ever since. auticon is a
fantastic IT consulting business and social enterprise that employs
adults on the autism spectrum, and places them in permanent roles as
IT consultants. auticon is now the largest autistic-majority company
in the world, and works across 15 countries. Brilliant. I truly
believe that the world needs a neurodiverse workforce to help solve
some of the big problems of our time, so it’s brilliant to see
more and more leaders catching onto this too.   Ukraine Promoting
peace is how my advocacy journey began, as I protested the Vietnam War
on the streets on London and through the pages of Student Magazine. On
the eve of the Iraq War in 2003, I organised for Nelson Mandela and
Kofi Annan to fly to Baghdad and try to convince Saddam Hussein to
step down in the interests of his people. Sadly, the war broke out the
week they were due to travel. Frustrated by this experience, Peter
Gabriel and I came up with the idea for a group of respected global
leaders to come together and promote human rights and peaceful
conflict resolution. This led to the launch of  The Elders with
Nelson Mandela at the helm and including visionary leaders such as
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan and Graça
Machel. It’s through my work with The Elders that I was keen to
speak out on the war against Ukraine. When Russia annexed Crimea in
2014, I was worried by the general apathy that surrounded the issue. I
visited Ukraine in September 2014 to encourage leaders, businesses,
and global citizens to take it seriously. Eight years later, after
Putin’s full-scale invasion, I was shocked and horrified. I pushed
for Western governments to swiftly deliver advanced weapons and for
global businesses to show unwavering support for Ukraine. We must
remember that Ukraine's troops are defending far more than their own
sovereignty and national identity. They are fighting and dying so the
rest of us don't have to. Since the war broke out, we have visited the
country multiple times and met with President Zelensky to understand
how businesses can better support the country.  As a result, I became
an ambassador to President Zelensky’s UNITED24 fundraising platform,
and worked with Virgin Unite to partner with the Howard G. Buffett
Foundation and the Bridgeway Foundation to support some brilliant
projects including the SuperHumans Center – which is a world-class
medical facility for Ukrainians wounded in the war and the incredible
organisation GEM that is getting relief to those who need it the most.
I was also thrilled to host a dinner with UNITED24 at our Virgin
Hotels property in New York, which raised $635,000 to rebuild a school
in Marianivka. Liev S. (get spelling) also joined me as a fellow
Ambassador for United24. His work to get funds to local Ukrainian
charities through BlueCheck is tremendous. In this war of attrition,
Ukraine’s allies must double down on their commitments, and do
everything they can to ensure that Ukraines’s brave people can repel
Russia’s aggression, protect their sovereignty, and rebuild their
country. Elevating the Planetary Boundary Science Humanity is not on
track to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the
cost to future generations is rising with every passing day of
inaction. The Planetary Boundaries Framework was first developed in
2009 by a global team of the world’s leading scientists and led by
Professor Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate
Impact Research - identifies nine critical systems needed to
regulate the health of the entire planet. From climate change to
freshwater use, biodiversity loss to chemical pollution and the
release of novel entities, the boundaries define what Rockström calls
the “safe operating space” for humanity. Veer too far beyond
these limits and we risk causing irreversible damage to the very
ecosystems that sustain life. I was thrilled to join Virgin
Unite and several partners for the  launch of Planetary
Guardians last year. The Guardians are an independent group of
leaders, working together to elevate the planetary boundary science,
and make the boundaries a measurement and operating framework to
inform collective global action. The work of Planetary Guardians, can
help to change our current course and secure Earth’s future, but it
will require constant vigilance and radical collaboration from the
rest of us. There are many other issues that deeply concern me and so
I use advocacy, investments, partnerships and outreach to try to solve
them. It is only by believing that humanity can solve the issues
we’re up against that we can stay motivated and empowered to do it.
And so, this is what motivates me above all else, Don. I hope it has
motivated a few other readers too. Until next month, Richard Read More
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