Baraka is a name we’ve used and loved since 2007. It means “gift” or “blessing,” and that seemed especially appropriate for our fundraising mission then.

As our mission evolved, we needed a name that would encompass the story better. All the standard words to describe it have been misused and abused into meaningless oblivion.

So we decided to make one up.

We believe that the pursuit of truth underlies high standards in any profession. Verify, verity, verifiable, verdict, veracity – all come from the Latin root ver meaning “truth.”

We also wanted to convey that our outlook is 360 degrees. We aren’t limited by culture, geography, or other traps of the mind that limit our thinking. The word that best captures that sense is “vista.” The root is vis meaning “to see.”

Ver-vis didn’t have much ring to it, but we tried other combinations – and Verista emerged. It carries the spirit of meaning in a new word that is easy to pronounce and spell. It also has a  vitality that we hope will communicate how we feel about our mission.