The most profound questions often arrive in childhood, uninvited and persistent. For Sara Ting, President of World Unity Inc., that question came at age nine: why am I here, what is my purpose? The answer wouldn’t arrive in a flash of lightning or a moment of clarity. Instead, it would unfold through ink on paper in 1978, when she wrote what would become the Sun Poem in her personal journal. Those words—simple, powerful, undeniable—would redirect the entire trajectory of her life.
“Are you greater than the sun that shines on everyone: Black, Brown, Yellow, Red and White, the sun does not discriminate,” the poem begins, posing a question that cuts through complexity to reach something fundamental about human equality. What started as a personal reflection has evolved into a full-scale mission to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion through a message so universal that, as Ting puts it, “There is no one who doesn’t know the sun!”
From Personal Conviction to Global Vision
For years, Ting built a career around diversity and inclusion training and workshops. She was good at it. The work was important, impactful even. But something kept pulling her back to that poem, to its potential to reach beyond conference rooms and training sessions into the broader consciousness of humanity. The defining moment came when she made a decision that many would consider risky: to devote her full energy and time to the mission and vision of World Unity Inc. rather than focus on building her diversity and inclusion training.
“I realized the Sun Poem had a timeless, universal and transformative message the world needed!” she explains. It wasn’t just conviction driving this pivot—it was confirmation. When the poem was transformed into a song in 2015, a young girl named Annie offered a comment that stopped Ting in her tracks: “One day the world will hear this song and it will stop discrimination.”
Years later, when the poem appeared on 27 digital billboards across America in 2021, the president of one company reached out with another powerful affirmation: “Keep up your amazing mission. The world needs this.” These moments weren’t just encouraging—they were validation that the poem’s reach extended far beyond what any workshop could achieve.
The shift in focus changed everything. World Unity Inc. began garnering support not just from local sponsors but from national and global partners. The organization’s annual diversity and inclusion leadership event became a showcase for bringing the Sun Poem alive, creating ripples that extended far beyond a single day or venue.
When the Mission Is Tested
But conviction alone doesn’t shield anyone from crushing setbacks. After 16 years of work, World Unity Inc. had been officially designated to be part of a park where they would build the World Unity Landmark—a permanent installation showcasing the Sun Poem. Then, without warning, they were removed from the site. Sixteen years of planning, relationship-building, and dreaming, gone.
“I did not know if I could continue,” Ting admits. The doubt was real, the exhaustion overwhelming. Then came a moment that can only be described as providential. Driving in her car, she heard a story on NPR radio honoring Normandy Day, with vivid descriptions of young men parachuting from airplanes and being shot in the air, others jumping out of cargo ships and drowning because their knapsacks were too heavy. Then, in her right ear, she heard a calm male voice speak directly to her: “Sara there are no guns pointing at you, carry on.”
She’s been carrying on ever since. “I have a deep faith in God and this is what has sustained me over the years,” she reflects. It’s not just spiritual platitude—it’s the foundation that has allowed her to think bigger, dream larger, and persist when logic would suggest giving up.
Planting Seeds of Equality
Today, World Unity Inc. operates with a clear, ambitious vision: to plant the Sun Poem and the song it inspired around the world, and to build the World Unity Landmark to impact future generations. The organization offers free programs designed to reach different audiences in distinct ways.
Singing Equality across America and Around the World is a youth-focused initiative that uses the song inspired by the Sun Poem to plant seeds of equality in the next generation. Then there’s the TEDx Talk, “Uncover and Overcome All Unconscious Biases,” which features the Sun Poem and demonstrates how poetry and storytelling can empower individuals to become more self-aware and confront their own blind spots.
What makes World Unity Inc. stand out isn’t just the programming—it’s the approach. “The poem engages deep reflections without feelings of guilt, shame or judgment,” Ting explains. “It is timeless, universal and transformative.” Rather than pointing fingers or creating division, the Sun Poem invites people to examine their own relationship with bias by asking one simple question: are you greater than the sun?
Leadership Grounded in Gratitude
Ting’s leadership philosophy reflects the same principles embedded in her poem. She ensures her leadership style empowers and uplifts others, especially women, by elevating, praising, and recognizing their contributions and expressing gratitude for their support and leadership. It’s straightforward, unglamorous, and remarkably effective.
For young women aspiring to leadership roles, her advice is similarly grounded: “Cultivate self-awareness, gratitude, humility and collaborative mindset. Be connected to something greater than yourself, for me it has been my deep faith in God. Be an excellent listener and be curious. Confront your own unconscious biases. Have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and articulate it clearly.”
And if there’s one myth about women in leadership she’d like to debunk? “I would say that women are weak. It is a myth, a false narrative. My journey began in 1985. My vision grew bigger, and I was not afraid to think big because of my deep faith in God.”
A Beacon for Generations
When Ting looks toward the future, she sees the World Unity Landmark standing as a beacon for generations to come, showcasing the Sun Poem and its timeless message of unity. She envisions the Sun Poem and its song echoing across all five continents, helping raise the consciousness of human beings to become more self-aware and to be grounded in compassion, dignity, and their shared humanity.
It’s an audacious vision, the kind that might seem impossible to someone who hasn’t spent decades watching a simple poem touch hearts across demographics, geographies, and generations. But for Ting, it’s not about possibility—it’s about purpose. That question she asked at nine years old has been answered, not with words but with action, persistence, and an unwavering belief that the sun truly does shine on everyone.
