Meet United Planet’s Founder

Meet Dave Santulli, President and Founder of United Planet. He laid the foundation of United Planet 15 years ago and has been reinforcing our values to the present day. His love for the exploring the world, respect for different cultures, and dedication to the United Planet mission continues to inspire volunteers around the world to build a global community one relationship at a time.

How did United Planet start?

The seed was planted when I was 14 years old and visited Russia with my 8th grade Russian class. I was one of only a few students from our group who drew straws to attend the Nutcracker at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Before the ballet, an older Russian woman turned to me to ask if I was American. She then asked me why Americans hated them and wanted war. The fear in her eyes was palpable. I  tried to reassure her, but the experience planted a seed in me.  From that point on, I wanted to see as much of the world as possible. I also realized that our perceptions and fears are rooted in lack of communications and real exposure to each other. We fear what and who we don’t know and often these fears are fueled by the media and other third parties and not by direct experience. When we are exposed to each other, we learn to appreciate—and even celebrate—our differences. This early experience, followed by many others, led me to United Planet.

What inspired you to create United Planet?

When I returned to the United States after living and traveling abroad for nine years, I looked back at my life and realized that it was my friendships and relationships with people from different cultures and countries, along with my experiences overseas that had enriched my life beyond measure. During this time, I developed a love not just for my own country, but for the world as a whole. When I was traveling, I was invited into countless homes for lunch or tea.  When I arrived late into a country, I was often invited to stay with the family sitting next to me on the flight. A Japanese family invited me to live with them for half a year so that we could learn about each other’s culture and language. It was the people of the world who inspired me most. It was their passion to share their cultures and to build friendship that inspired me. If we are able to understand, respect, and support each other, there are no limits to the challenges that we can overcome and the possibilities that we can discover as a global community.

What was the first United Planet program?

Dave volunteering in Honduras

The first United Planet program was actually local. It was called the Cultural Awareness Project. The idea was that we are surrounded by people of different cultures within our own communities, but most often people are not sharing and exchanging their cultures with each other. At Boston University alone, there are students from over 100 countries, what if some of those students visited local schools and shared about their countries? What if people who had experiences abroad shared those experiences with others? We launched this program right before 9/11. CNN picked up on the program and followed some of our African and Arab-American speakers into schools. CNN’s report was aired nationally and the program was lauded as a simple way of overcoming stereotypes and misperceptions by bringing people together through people-to-people dialogue. Today, we encourage our volunteers to share during their international visits and also to pass on their experiences when they return to their home country.

How did the organization evolve over time?

United Planet started with local and online programs. At one point, we had over 7,000 people participating in more than 20,000 conversations online, sharing their languages, cultures, and challenges with an active moderator team from five different countries. At United Planet, our vision includes what we call “the virtuous circle,” made up of local, online, and international opportunities. Our aspiration is to engage people not only in the life-changing experience of an international program, but also to encourage them to share their experiences locally and online. We also hope to share our mission and engage people around the world in our global community who might not have the opportunity for an international program. The organization evolved to offer more international programs over time, ranging from one week to one year in 35 countries. 

What are the main values of the organization?

As a team, we uphold the values of compassion, generosity, teamwork, perseverance, open-mindedness, respect, and flexibility. In a word, I would describe the purpose of United Planet as “relationships.” We are striving to build stronger global relationships and to unite the planet one relationship at a time. 

How does United Planet help volunteers succeed abroad?

We do our very best to support and develop the volunteer experience and the local community. The program is designed to give a fully immersive and authentic experience in the local community so that volunteers can forge real and authentic relationships with the local community in a spirit of friendship, partnership, and mutual learning. We include diverse activities to enhance the volunteers’ foundation of cross-cultural understanding. These activities include language lessons, cultural workshops, and excursions. We also have pre-departure trainings and in-county orientations. Many volunteers find the host family experience to be one of the most fulfilling of all—having a family away from home. We also learn about the skills and interests of each volunteer and then work closely in advance with host partners to arrange the volunteer experience so that it is a good fit and contributes to both parties. Every step of the way, we have a program coordinator assigned to each volunteer. The program coordinator works closely with the volunteers to prepare and support them for their Quest. Our goal is not to send a high number of volunteers; it is rather to maximize the experience of each and every volunteer and each and every host community partner through personal support and attention. 

United Planet team thanking all of its volunteers around the globe

Is there anything special about the people who work for United Planet?

The most rewarding part of my job over the past years in working with United Planet has been without a doubt working with all the people within the United Planet community from team members and board members to volunteers and host community partners and beyond. Everyone seems to understand the importance of the mission, especially in today’s world, have a sense of wonder, awe, and curiosity about the world that we live in, and also realize the responsibility and importance of each person to contribute to the world in which they live.

How is United Planet different?

I would like to think that our devotion to relationships and partnership is the focal point that sets us apart. This focus informs the design of all of our programs and all of our support structures. It also informs how we interact as a team and as a community. We work side-by-side with our host partners, and volunteers understand that we have so much to learn from our host communities. This sense of humility, respect, and partnership is essential to a mutually beneficial host community relationship.

Dave in Moldova

What programs have you participated in?

Every year, I travel with members of our board to one of our program countries. Last year, we went to Nepal. The year before, we traveled to Romania. I also have the opportunity to visit our programs throughout the year. Fortunately, there are no shortages of opportunities to experience the programs and to travel, but one of the most rewarding aspects of the position for me is to meet the volunteers and the host community partners. I am so inspired by their work and their stories. 

What is the biggest goal of United Planet?

The biggest goal will always be to most effectively fulfill our nonprofit vision and mission. We will always focus on building and supporting the strongest team possible. The organization is the team. If we have a strong team, we have a strong organization. We will continue to improve programs and their impacts on volunteers and host communities. We will endeavor to engage more individuals and partners in our work and raise our visibility so that our mission can affect more people.

How has United Planet changed your life?

I have become a different person by devoting the last 15 years of my life to this work and mission. I have learned far more than I have ever shared and I am incredibly grateful to all the people with whom I have had the privilege to interact and work. I suppose that my life and my sensibilities have moved even closer to our mission. I realize more than ever that we need to continue to build bridges and strengthen relationships across borders to ensure a better and safer future for all.