FRIENDS,

This past year, we began to explore what it means to pursue Redemptive Quests: good, hard, risky work that’s motivated by love. In that spirit, we’re thrilled to share how our network of founders, funders, and innovators continues to lean into that idea, living out redemptive entrepreneurship as a community.
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We’re always inspired by the opportunity to collaborate as we pursue God’s vision of a restored world. May we find refreshment, energy, and possibility as we dream and build together.

The Praxis Team

2024 community letter from
Praxis co-founder and ceo, dave blanchard

REDEMPTIVE RESPONSE: Using Crises as a Catalyst for Quests

Last year’s Praxis Community Letter introduced the concept of redemptive quests: good, hard work pursued in love that calls us to re-risk to the fullness of our talent and resources.

At Praxis, we continue to organize around our own redemptive quest to reawaken the Church’s creative and prophetic contribution on the major issues of our time, leaning on our list of Opportunities for Redemptive Imagination (ORIs) as a creative agenda for the our community.

We read the headlines and pray earnestly about the culture wars (and shooting wars) of our world—yet when it comes to our social and financial capital, we naturally internalize these threats as reasons for a conservative, risk-management approach to stewarding our lives and resources. Rather than withdrawal into safety, I encourage us to adopt three approaches for creative, redemptive response: working with a thesis-driven methodology, embracing lament as a generative resource, and investing in the proximate.

redemptive quest case study

Long-Term Influence in One Square Mile

There’s a small town about an hour outside Philadelphia called Kennett Square. Tucked in Chester County, a rural area with equestrian heritage, this square mile is home to 7,000 residents, with tree-lined streets and brick architecture that make a picturesque backdrop for community life.
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Kennett Square is the unlikely setting for a redemptive quest that has spanned more than three decades, as Mike Bontrager has created lasting influence in business, community, and family. Through a series of moves that might have seemed foolish at worst and counterintuitive at best, he has activated teams toward an audacious vision that’s still in the making.

Our portfolio

Our 9-month Business and Nonprofit Accelerator programs are highly selective, mentorship- driven experiences to grow existing ventures as they join the Praxis Portfolio. They feature expert mentoring, spiritual formation, paradigm-shifting content, access to guaranteed capital, and strong friendship with peers and our core team. Taking inspiration from the full-service model of world-class venture firms, we support all the ventures in our Portfolio after their program year through ongoing content, introductions, counsel, and community gatherings.

Our Portfolio comprises 240 active ventures that employ 12,000 people in 113 countries, earning over $675M in annual revenue.