DevResults is used all around the world by many different kinds of people. In each of those places, the reason people use our software is to make the world a better place. Some DevResults users are working in their own countries; others have moved to unfamiliar places. All have dedicated their careers to making a difference, one way or another.
But making the world a better place is hard. There are so many things wrong with the world - so many kinds of injustice, so many gradations of poverty, so many ways to rob people of their dignity. Whatever problem you choose to look at, it overlaps other problems, and has its roots in even deeper problems. And change comes about slowly, if at all.
So it's easy to lose hope. Too often, our frustration leads to despair and then to resignation. Cynicism is a professional hazard in the international development community.
We are committed to avoiding that cynicism at DevResults. We are intentionally optimistic about the world. We know that the world can get better, and that the key is to find the one problem that you can help solve, and to keep your focus on it.
Sometimes, change comes in small increments, each one requiring energy and persistence and dedication. Sometimes, it happens all at once.
Often, it comes slowly and then all of a sudden, as happened with the triumph of marriage equality in the United States. This victory gives us hope that our optimism is not misplaced.
We're also inspired by the leadership that the global south has shown on this issue. I am proud that my own country, Argentina, was the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriage - five years ago. Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, and South Africa have also been at the forefront of this movement.
At DevResults, diversity helps us be more creative. It helps us have the smartest people in the world working with us. It helps us understand better the problems of our customers. It exposes us to different opinions. It makes our lives more meaningful. It makes us happier.
Today, we celebrate the improvement of lives that is a result of the decades-long struggle of the LGBT community. This is a community we feel very close to, and whose pride in the face of hostility inspires us in everything we do.
Love is the most pure feeling in the world. It's what causes us to put the needs of others before our own. Recognizing the love of millions of couples is justice in the fullest sense of the word, because it creates equality in the name of the law.
The recognition of marriage equality by the Supreme Court of the United States is not only important for Americans. America sets the bar for a good part of the world, and the pressure to follow will increase even in unaligned countries, as it represents a human rights advance that can't be dismissed.
So, please join us in celebration, as we wave a rainbow flag in support of our colleagues, friends, relatives, and complete strangers, who just want to be themselves, to love, and to be loved.