Former President Barack Obama says he aspires to create “a million young Barack Obamas or Michelle Obamas” who will pick up the baton in what he describes as the “relay race that is human progress.”
At a conference in Japan on Sunday, the former president spoke about how he hopes the Obama Foundation, a nonprofit formed in January 2014, will help achieve his post-presidential aims.
“After I left office, what I realized is that the Obama Foundation could potentially create a platform for young, up-and-coming leaders, both in the United States and all around the world to come together, meet together, create a digital platform where they could exchange information,” Obama said.
“If I could do that effectively, then I would create a hundred, or a thousand, or a million young Barack Obamas or Michelle Obamas,” he added.
Obama’s remarks were previously reported by other media outlets, including The Guardian and The Washington Examiner. The former President has been on an Asia-Pacific trip that also included stops in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
“The single most important thing I can do is to help develop the next generation,” he said Sunday.