About

Our Mission

We connect members of distanced communities, documenting and sharing personal experiences to bridge digital and physical spaces.

Our Values

Community | Inclusivity | Creativity | Accessibility

Our Journey

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how people around the world live, work, and connect. Billions of people had their livelihoods altered almost overnight and, three months later, are continuing to adapt to unforeseen hardships and new social distancing measures.

In response to universities across North America sending their students home for the year, our team came together to create The Dear Harvard Project, an initiative in collaboration with Harvard University Common Spaces. The project centered on the premise that the digital cards created by global members of the university would be printed and displayed as public art once it is safe for the community to reconvene in person. In the month that followed, we also partnered with Phillips Academy at Andover to launch Dear Andover, where we built new features and refined our designs.

After receiving widespread positive feedback on these projects, our team reflected on how we could maximize our impact and bring our platform to as many people as possible. As most of our team is Canadian, Canada seemed like a clear next step—particularly because of the nation’s unique collective identity. We are excited to share Dear/Cher Canada with the country and look forward to seeing the diverse messages and images that people offer.

What differentiates us from social media?

Our web-based platform that is separate from traditional social media…

Promotes greater accessibility, particularly across age groups, at a time when in-person and intergenerational connection is especially difficult.
Transcends social silos created by social media, bringing the distanced groups into a single conversation and fostering a greater diversity of perspectives.
Encourages deeper reflection by drawing in users for a specific purpose.
Preserves communities' collective memory of these unique times.