Curiosity and imagination are at the heart of our work.
Our Mission
We believe that businesses have the power to create positive global impact, but only when they’re built on an authentic foundation of values connected to a clear goal of positive impact — externally and internally.
Our mission is to partner with forward-thinking organizations and founders, guiding them to deeply embed their company vision and personal ethics into thriving, competitive workplace cultures. By fusing our expertise in human rights, social anthropology, and behavioral science, we cultivate a new generation of human-centric businesses — innovative companies that prioritize well-being, belonging, and positive impact as much as growth and profitability.
We accomplish this by working closely with founders, impact-focused VCs, and veteran leaders to translate their intrinsic values into culture blueprints that stand out for all the right reasons.
Our Values
prioritize well-being
Achieving your ambitious vision requires space to rejuvenate.
Champion curiosity
Breakthrough innovation stems from an insatiable appetite to learn and question.
Fuel purpose
We believe authentic work cultures rooted in shared values build great companies.
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Cultivating a bright future requires tapping into our childlike senses of fun and awe.
Foster belonging
Unlocking human potential means integrating every voice, and acknowledging our humanity.
BRIDGe GENERATIONS
Innovation thrives through intergenerational dialogue and knowledge-sharing.
Our Leadership
MICHAEL BRAITHWAITE, FOUNDER
With 20 years guiding global human rights organizations to drive culture change through emotional intelligence, Michael’s experience spans boards, founders, and international communications teams at the UN and Open Society Foundations. Michael now brings this expertise to activate startups to build ethical, human-centric foundations poised for sustainable growth. Her outside perspective provides the missing emotional intelligence that allows humans to thrive in tech — and any industry.
KAREN HEREDIA, FOUNDER
With a decade of leveraging social anthropology and stakeholder research experience to provide key insights at the nexus of social impact and tech globally, Karen specializes in high-level program strategy, stakeholder research, and community engagement to understand diverse perspectives and needs. Karen's background in social sciences brings critical knowledge of human dynamics that allows startups to build workplace cultures that foster strong branding, talent retention, and sustained growth.
Next Big Thing is proud to be a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise® with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce and certified as a Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) with New York State.