Last week, I was standing on the forecourt of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Forty years ago almost to the day Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered there for trying to make the world a better, more just place. It was an important experience for me – prior to coming to the Young Foundation last November, I spent eight years working in human rights. To my mind, MLK combined the two themes which are central to our work here – striving for social justice for some of the most vulnerable people and innovation.

Two particular quotes of his illustrate this important synergy. He said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Our work sometimes looks to address the needs of people which may not seem particularly “trendy”. Those include people caught up in the criminal justice system who are typically the poorest, least healthy and most socially excluded. Often they are young, at the beginning of their lives and already at the bottom of the pile.

Martin Luther King Jr. also said that “human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.” How true that is. This “maladjustment” in creative thinking often brings some of the most radical and powerful solutions to long-term problems. It may pose a challenge to established systems which will resist change, but that is not a reason to stop pushing for change which can contribute to making society better and more just.