2021 Annual Report 

Letter from Keith

Ten years ago at about this time, I was in downtown Providence in a legal office of filling out paperwork to start a non-profit. I had recently left my job, and there was a recession. But I’d been working on a granola company with my friend Geoff that was creating quite a buzz. We had a donated kitchen and a garage full of kitchen equipment. I also had a family with three girls and no paycheck.

We picked the name “Beautiful Day” from a U2 song that my kids loved:

See the world in green and blue

See China right in front of you

See the canyons broken by clouds…

After the flood all the colors came out.

Sometimes you need a song in your head. Like many aspiring social entrepreneurs, I was naive to the challenges of starting either a business or a non-profit. Yet I firmly believed that our state should be a welcoming home for refugees. And I think I’ve been proved right that a social venture—built at the crossroads between business, job training, and community education—could be an important way to draw diverse people together and make a difference.

This year we are celebrating our tenth anniversary by placing the line "Proudly made for you by refugees" front and center on all our packaging. I do feel proud to be building this social venture. Our world is an even darker and more dangerous place than it was 10 years ago. If we care about our communities then we must get better at welcoming refugees. And that welcome cannot be a one-way street. A true welcome always goes both ways. How else can we transform the very worst our world has to offer into a beautiful thing?

We hope you like this report. We had fun designing it to be interactive, so please take a moment to click the buttons, watch the videos, and meet some old and new friends. And it’s just a beginning. There are now 82 thousand new Afghans adjusting to life in this country. And many millions of Ukrainians are wondering what will become of their displaced lives. It can be our privilege to get involved and be part of that two-directional welcome in our own communities.

Your tax-deductible gift will help Beautiful Day provide vital job training for refugee adults and youth and build more welcoming communities through public education and outreach. Won’t you give today? Donations of any amount are welcome. Thank you!