-By Madeline Matcheski
In today’s society, there have been a lot of conflicts. From the opposing views on the Black Lives Matter movement and the Truckers Convoy to the intense war in Ukraine happening currently, it’s often hard to have faith in the goodness of humanity.
Now introducing Yes Theory. Yes Theory is a YouTube channel whose motto is to “seek discomfort” and their goal is to show that we are all people and making meaningful connections and truly experiencing life is possible if you step out of your comfort zone. From donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities, to meeting random strangers and taking them on once-in-a-lifetime experiences that they never could have imagined going on, Yes Theory has made impacts on the lives of others. It wasn’t always like this though.
Yes Theory started as a group of 4 guys who wanted to make a change in the world with their videos, but before that, they were a couple of broke University students. Thomas Brag, Ammar Kandil, Matt Dajer, and Derin Emre started their channel in 2014 under the name "Project 30" before soon being changed to “Generation Y Not”. At the time, they were all sleeping on friends' sofas in Montreal, having quit their jobs to create a channel whose focus was to push people out of their comfort zone on a smaller scale with titles like “Dancing with Strangers in the Street.”
Their big break came when Snapchat offered them a chance to make videos for a fun comedy start-up series called “Brother.” They were able to secure their placement on the show, by successfully convincing Justin Trudeau to pose for their awkward family Christmas card as a pilot episode. They sold these cards for charity, with proceeds going to Syrian Refugees. The contract with Snapchat gained them enough money to make 30 of their next videos but their plan was something much bigger. They renamed themselves “Yes Theory” and started to pursue their own channel with the hope of making a difference.
While their titles, in the beginning, were low-budget and click-bait, now with over 7 million subscribers, they are able to share their message with the world. They have a bigger group of Yes Theory members with new additions like Tom, Eric and Tristan, who are able to make this possible.
On their channel you can find videos of them living on the streets for 48 hours with no money and calling random strangers and asking to spend a day with them, that truly showcase human compassion and how taking a chance can allow you the most insane and breathtaking experiences. In other videos like when they adventured to Tuvalu (the least travelled country in the world) and The Great Barrier Reef, you are met with the realization that every person has a story to tell and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask.
Most recently, on April 3rd they posted a video titled “96 Hours at the Ukrainian Border” where Ammar, Thomas and Eric flew to Warsaw, Poland to help refugees, learn their stories and show the world the gravity of the situation. It begins “what you’re about to witness here is living proof of what’s possible when we collectively choose to act in the name of love and empathy.”
They collaborated with Max Rantz-Mcdonald, founder of Adventurers of Change, an organization first formed to make an immediate impact on those hurt or misplaced after the earthquake in Nepal in 2015. Max had been on the ground going between the Polish and Ukrainian border to collect data on exactly what was needed for refugees and to make the connections to supply it. Together they were able to contact large corporations to donate money, supplies and generators from all around the world while also spreading the word and getting fans, the Yes Fam, interested in volunteering.
They were also able to connect one on one with the refugees. They even provided all the kids with Happy Meals and the families with gift cards to buy personal items.
Maria Protsenko, a professor and a lead architect of the city of Pripyat in Chernobyl, was among those being evacuated. Back in 1986, her knowledge and access to city maps put her in charge of the city's evacuation, assisting 50,000 people to safety in 3 hours. She was one of the last people to leave Pripyat and is now being forced to evacuate again due to Russian forces. Yes Theory was able to purchase a plane ticket for her and her daughter to Frankfurt.
“All the people in the world stand up! Stand shoulder to shoulder; stop this war because I built a city, then buried it, then had to watch every day how it slowly died in front of my eyes. Now in the blink of an eye ten cities have died,” she spoke in Russian.
In the few days that they were there, Yes Theory raised roughly $600,000 American and additionally, 100% of the ad revenue from the video is being donated to organizations helping refugees around the world.
On the day before they left, Ammar’s speech explained it best, “I knew there was so much humanitarian effort happening and so many people [were] going to come to be at the border to be physically there, but I knew Yes Theory’s part was to tell the story that can inspire the future generations to actually do something.”
Ammar said when they began Yes Theory in 2015 their vision was “to build a network of the most motivated, dedicated, powerful millennials that can just act whenever it’s needed, act whenever humanity needs it.” They’ve followed through with their promise, gathering millions of people to fulfill this dream.
Yes Theory is just one example of a group of individuals with the power to change the world. As their channel continues to promote this ideology, other people are being inspired to make the same ground-breaking changes. It’s a lesson we should all learn: to seek discomfort and act now! Connect with people and make the difference you want to see in the world.
Photo sources: Yes Theory Instagram
Photo (from left to right): Ammar Kandil, Maria Protsenko, Thomas Brag
