Mission & Identity
The “why we exist” sphere. Anchors brand voice, theory of change, public positioning, and donor narrative.
Mission statement (working draft)
MISHA Foundation accelerates research into rare sensorineural hearing genetics by funding the labs that move fastest, building family-controlled patient registries, and connecting patients globally — so that no parent receives the diagnosis we received and is told to wait.
Theory of change
- Asia is under-represented in hearing-genetics research. HK = bridge between Mainland trial pipelines and Western lab quality.
- STRC (DFNB16) is the founder-case. Foundation-scope spans broader sensorineural genetics so it survives Misha’s specific therapy.
- De-risk via tools (registry, mouse models, AI prediction pipelines) — share open-access — credibility unlocks $5-50M follow-on grants per the 7-foundation playbook.
Brand voice
- First-person honest, not corporate. The founder is a parent; speak like one.
- Show the work. Failed experiments, ranking deltas, rejected hypotheses are the asset.
- No emoji. No marketing-speak. Numbers over adjectives.
- Match the tone of
~/Brain/Egor voice file.
Identity contrast
Not the Hearing Loss Association of America (advocacy-only, no research funding). Not Decibel Therapeutics (commercial, single-target). Not Bionic Sight (single PI, single trial). Closer to: SMA Foundation early years, Usher 1F Collaborative, RSRT.
Open questions
- Final name: “MISHA Foundation” vs “Misha Foundation” vs “Stereocilin Foundation”
- Tagline lock-in
- Logo brief
Connections
[part-of]index[applies]Communications[see-also]5-Year Vision[see-also]foundation-evolution-playbook