What if one million people wore the word respect?
Would we respect one another more?
What if one million people wore solidarity? Would we become more supportive of one another?
And what if the words were empathy, coexistence, courage, democracy, equity, and hundreds more?
A project built around words
By setting logic aside for a moment and choosing to believe completely in a dream, we created Projeto 1000 Palavras (1000 Words Project), a social-impact brand born in Brazil.
Our purpose is to celebrate words, explore their meanings and encourage the habit of writing. Our mission is to create opportunities for teaching and learning, using words as a doorway to education.
Writing is fundamental to the cognitive, social, emotional and cultural development of children and young people. That belief is at the heart of everything we make.
The list of 1,000 words
One of the project’s first initiatives was to create a list of 1,000 essential Portuguese words: words to use, learn and teach.
The list is a compass rather than a ranking. No word is more important than another. Respect is not more important than hunger; each opens a different and necessary conversation.
How the words were chosen
The list reflects the relevance of words in today’s world from our point of view. From the beginning, we also followed one essential principle: diversity across the alphabet.
- Meaning
- Social context
- Contemporary relevance
- Etymology
- Grammatical function
- Sound and visual character
The list is an invitation: agree, disagree, question it, tell us what is missing and share the conversation.
Words that create real impact
10% of the value of every product sold by 1000 Words Project is directed to organizations supporting the education and development of children and young people in socially vulnerable circumstances.
Funds are transferred every six months to organizations selected by the project. At the end of each period, we intend to publish the beneficiary organizations, the reporting period and the impact generated by sales.
Our transfers will be organized and documented, and we will seek external auditing or validation as the initiative develops. We are also working to extend this commitment through our production chain by inviting partners and suppliers to support the same educational purpose.
Organizations we already collaborate with
Turma do Bem · SOMAR · Apolônias do Bem