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• Most Topular Stories

• The Benefits of Introversion

  Greater Good

  Greater Good

  15 May 2012 | 4:35 pm

  My Scottish grandfather had a saying he would repeat at family gatherings: “He who is loudest is rightest.” Although he meant it as a joke, the saying does reflect the fact that often it is the loudest person in a room who gets the most respect, or at least the most attention. Extroversion—the tendency to be gregarious, outgoing, and enthusiastic—is an American value and often associated with getting ahead or being a leader. But in her new book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain begs to differ. Cain, a self-proclaimed introvert and a…

• NONPROFIT CONFERENCE CALENDAR, Summer 2012

  WhatGives!? Do Something Good...

  Marijane Miller

  1 May 2012 | 4:20 pm

  [Editor's note: We realize that a large number of conferences have nonprofit tracks or elements. We tried to focus on gatherings targeted specifically to nonprofits, but please let us know if we missed an event you feel has value to this community. Just drop the info into the comments section and we'll keep updating the list. Thanks!] [...]

• The Unreasonable Institute At Sea: A Mobile Incubator

  Dowser

  Rachel Signer

  14 May 2012 | 11:05 am

  The Unreasonable Institute, an incubator for social enterprise start-ups from around the world, has teamed up with Stanford’s d.school and the study abroad program Semester At Sea to offer a unique business development experience for technology-focused social entrepreneurs: the Unreasonable Institute at Sea. A select group will be invited to board a ship charted by Semester at Sea, which will sail around the world for 100 days, spending a few days on land in countries like Brazil, India, and China.  The Unreasonable Institute will choose ten companies, represented by teams of two or three.

• Blogging for Nonprofits + Juicy Blogging Circle and E-Course

  Have Fun • Do Good

  Britt Bravo

  13 May 2012 | 12:10 pm

  Hello Have Fun * Do Gooders! I wanted to let you know about 4 blogging workshops coming up, in case you're interested. ******  Juicy Blogging Circle: Grow Your Blogging Habit May 16-June 6, 2012 Virtual A fun group blog coaching experience! Each week you'll: Check in with the Circle on a weekly conference call, and/or on the private class blog. Share your blogging goals for the week. Celebrate your successes. Ask for suggestions for how to move through challenges. Support other Circle members with their successes and challenges. Receive ideas, tips, resources, and cheerleading from the…

• You May Be Looking for the Wrong Measurement Director

  Bridgespan - All RSS Feeds

  2 May 2012 | 7:00 pm

  You May Be Looking for the Wrong Measurement Director 2012 05 03 Matthew Forti Nonprofits on the journey to using measurement as a continuous improvement tool will eventually need to decide whether to create a full time position to

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  WhatGives!? Do Something Good...

• NONPROFIT CONFERENCE CALENDAR, Summer 2012

  Marijane Miller

  1 May 2012 | 4:20 pm

  [Editor's note: We realize that a large number of conferences have nonprofit tracks or elements. We tried to focus on gatherings targeted specifically to nonprofits, but please let us know if we missed an event you feel has value to this community. Just drop the info into the comments section and we'll keep updating the list. Thanks!] [...]

• Points of Light Institute is UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

  Marijane Miller

  1 May 2012 | 12:50 pm

    We love to exaggerate, don’t we?  “That cupcake was AWESOME!”  “I’ve got to get a latte or I’ll DIE!”  “[Politician] is worse than HITLER!”  We love to make a point with all caps, punctuation, and hyperbole out the yin-yang. On the other hand, many of us have had truly life-changing moments, burned into our [...]

• WhatGives!? Donation App Discontinued

  Marijane Miller

  27 Apr 2012 | 5:13 am

    You may have noticed that the little box at the top of our homepage no longer offers our free fundraising app for nonprofits.  Unfortunately, as platforms have multiplied and evolved, keeping our little widget up-to-date and providing customer support have proven to be challenging, especially since we don’t charge for its use. So, we [...]

• Our Planet, Ourselves, part 2

  Marijane Miller

  26 Apr 2012 | 1:00 pm

  The idea that people are bad for the planet is as much of a crisis as climate change itself.  – Leah Lamb, Founder, My Planet I began my conversation with writer/producer/adventurer/speed talker Leah Lamb simply as a fan of her work and enthusiasm.  She’s a do-er and you know how much we love do-ers here [...]

• Our Planet, Ourselves

  Marijane Miller

  24 Apr 2012 | 2:28 pm

  This past weekend we all celebrated Earth Day.  Yay!  We love the earth!  Somebody pick up some trash and replace their light bulbs! Whew, glad that’s over.   I mean, come on.  A day?  Not even a week? We can’t devote more than 24 hours to think about the only life-sustaining rock in our known [...]

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  Dowser

• The Unreasonable Institute At Sea: A Mobile Incubator

  Rachel Signer

  14 May 2012 | 11:05 am

  The Unreasonable Institute, an incubator for social enterprise start-ups from around the world, has teamed up with Stanford’s d.school and the study abroad program Semester At Sea to offer a unique business development experience for technology-focused social entrepreneurs: the Unreasonable Institute at Sea. A select group will be invited to board a ship charted by Semester at Sea, which will sail around the world for 100 days, spending a few days on land in countries like Brazil, India, and China.  The Unreasonable Institute will choose ten companies, represented by teams of two or three.

• Drink Water? 999Bottle Lets You Measure How Much Plastic You Don't Use

  Rachel C

  10 May 2012 | 11:06 am

  If you've started to feel like plastic has taken over the world, it has -- from the Tupperware in our kitchens to children's toys to the remote patches of ocean it has polluted. And the increase in reusable water bottles may seem like it's helping, but it hasn't managed to stem the problem that those bottles exist, at least in part, to fight: the disposable plastic water bottle. The bain of any environmentalist's -- or surfer's or citizen activist's or bird lover's -- existence, bottled water is a tremendous source of the plastic pollution that has penetrated some of the most remote…

• Are Too Many Social Enterprises Adding To Our Problems?

  Rachel Signer

  2 May 2012 | 11:26 am

  Reich suggests that people target specific needs with unique projects, rather than creating issue-focused organizations. If you want to change the world—whether locally or globally, big or small—you’ve probably thought about starting up your own social enterprise or nonprofit. Think again. Author and Columbia University instructor Brian Reich says that too many organizations impede progress toward solving the world’s most pressing problems. He argues that people need to use existing models to target specific needs or issues, through flexible structures rather than permanent ones.

• Ethikus Leverages the Power of the Ethical Consumer

  Rachel Signer

  30 Apr 2012 | 10:45 am

  The idea that change starts small isn’t new. But in an age when large corporations seem increasingly ubiquitous and powerful, small businesses have become an important locus of sustainable economic movements. From May 3-10, hundreds of New Yorkers will participate in the first Shop Your Values Week, a project of the New York City-based startup Ethikus. The aim of Ethikus is to generate more business for small enterprises whose practices embody certain principles of sustainability in the realms of product-sourcing, employee relations, community engagement, and environmental impact or…

• Weekly Roundup: Malaria Making Progess?

  Anja Tranovich

  28 Apr 2012 | 9:03 am

  This week the global health and development community marked World Malaria Day (April 25), highlighting new initiatives to fight malaria: the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems in tandem with the Clinton Health Access Initiative; the African Development Bank's $30 million grant for malaria; and the WHO's new program, "Test, Treat, Track."  The theme this year is: “Sustain Gains, Save Lives:  Invest in Malaria.” As all these initiatives go into effect (or rally together for greater support), we hear of an upsurge of malaria cases in the Congo and a new wave of resistant strains,…

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  Have Fun • Do Good

• Blogging for Nonprofits + Juicy Blogging Circle and E-Course

  Britt Bravo

  13 May 2012 | 12:10 pm

  Hello Have Fun * Do Gooders! I wanted to let you know about 4 blogging workshops coming up, in case you're interested. ******  Juicy Blogging Circle: Grow Your Blogging Habit May 16-June 6, 2012 Virtual A fun group blog coaching experience! Each week you'll: Check in with the Circle on a weekly conference call, and/or on the private class blog. Share your blogging goals for the week. Celebrate your successes. Ask for suggestions for how to move through challenges. Support other Circle members with their successes and challenges. Receive ideas, tips, resources, and cheerleading from the…

• Christine Egger, In Conversation: How I Have Fun, Do Good

  Britt Bravo

  9 May 2012 | 8:52 am

   The third blogger in this run of the Have Fun, Do Good guest post series is the wonderfully wise, Christine Egger.  Christine is a facilitator, network weaver, and catalyst. She works with individuals and organizations whose mission is to increase our capacity for empathy, generosity, and creativity. You can learn more about Christine at cdegger.com, or find her on Twitter at @cdegger. How do I have fun and do good? I create conversations. In my experience the most fun, most good-doing conversations are the kind in which the participants not only learn about themselves and each…

• Jocelyn Harmon: People, Words, Technology & Truth: How I Have Fun, Do Good

  Britt Bravo

  3 May 2012 | 10:36 am

   My second guest blogger in this run of the Have Fun, Do Good guest post series is the warm and wonderful Jocelyn Harmon. Jocelyn is passionate about helping nonprofits to succeed online so that they can change the world! As Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Network for Good, she is privileged to lead the team to help over 5,000 nonprofits raise more friends and funds online. Prior to joining Network for Good, Jocelyn was Director of Business Development for Care2, where she worked with some of the most respected national nonprofits, including ASPCA, Environmental Defense Fund,…

• Plant a Kiss Day

  Britt Bravo

  1 May 2012 | 8:35 am

  "Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty" ~Ann Herbert On Sunday, my friend Heather of Create Your Own Beautiful, and I participated in Plant a Kiss Day. Plant a Kiss Day was organized by pal Sherry Richert Belul to celebrate the message behind Amy Krouse Rosenthal's book, Plant a Kiss, a story about how one small act of kindness can bloom. Heather teaches an awesome dance fitness class, ShimmyPop!, at Hipline on Sundays, so after class we "planted a kiss" by giving all of her students flowers and oranges.  Fun! Today through May 4th, 16 bloggers (including me) are…

• Amy Kessel, Unfurling: How I Have Fun, Do Good

  Britt Bravo

  25 Apr 2012 | 9:39 am

   I'm starting the Have Fun, Do Good guest post series up again!  My first guest blogger is the lovely Amy Kessel.  Amy is a certified life coach devoted to helping women unfurl into their authentic selves. You can learn more about her work at www.amykessel.com, and connect with her on Twitter at @AmyKesselcpc My favorite way of expressing myself is to spend time deeply connecting with other women. Lucky for me, I turned this into a career. As a life coach, I welcome what my clients want to expose to the light, and together we explore the learning that comes out of it. I feel…

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  Greater Good

• The Benefits of Introversion

  Greater Good

  15 May 2012 | 4:35 pm

  My Scottish grandfather had a saying he would repeat at family gatherings: “He who is loudest is rightest.” Although he meant it as a joke, the saying does reflect the fact that often it is the loudest person in a room who gets the most respect, or at least the most attention. Extroversion—the tendency to be gregarious, outgoing, and enthusiastic—is an American value and often associated with getting ahead or being a leader. But in her new book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain begs to differ. Cain, a self-proclaimed introvert and a…

• Three Insights about Compassion, Meditation, and the Brain

  Greater Good

  15 May 2012 | 3:00 am

  The recent International Symposium for Contemplative Studies (ISCS), held in Denver, opened with a guided meditation-turned-keynote address by mindfulness pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn, sitting cross-legged on his Zafu cushion. But as eminent and enlightened as Kabat-Zinn appeared on stage, his message was that the audience should not be intimidated by the Tibetan monastics, scientific icons, or other spiritually accomplished thinkers in the room. Instead, we were encouraged to embrace our common humanity—our shared aspiration to relieve suffering and cultivate happiness in life. “We are all…

• Three Lessons from Mitt Romney about Bullying

  Greater Good

  14 May 2012 | 10:59 am

  Last week, the Washington Post reported that presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a bully in high school. The most serious incident, reconstructed from interviews with both witnesses and perpetrators, involved chasing down a student thought to be gay and pinning him to the ground. Romney, who witnesses say was the ringleader, then took scissors to the boy’s hair as the victim cried and yelled for help. One witness described the victim, John Lauber, as “terrified.” Romney’s response has created controversy. At first, he denied remembering the incident,…

• Just One Thing: Find Your North Star

  Greater Good

  11 May 2012 | 10:54 am

  We’re pleased to present the latest installment of Dr. Rick Hanson’s Greater Good blog, featuring posts from his Just One Thing (JOT) newsletter, which offers simple practices designed to bring you more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind and heart. I recently did a meditation retreat (at Spirit Rock, wonderful place, including for workshops). One evening as we walked out of the hall after the last sit, I was feeling rattled and discombobulated. (One of the benefits of a retreat—though it can be uncomfortable—is that it stirs up of the sediments of your…

• Forgive and Forget?

  Greater Good

  10 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Is the old adage “forgive and forget” still good advice? Rona and I talk about the relationship between forgiveness and happiness, and we suggest some things we can do with kids that will help teach them the skills they need to forgive and move on.

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  Bridgespan - All RSS Feeds

• You May Be Looking for the Wrong Measurement Director

  2 May 2012 | 7:00 pm

  You May Be Looking for the Wrong Measurement Director 2012 05 03 Matthew Forti Nonprofits on the journey to using measurement as a continuous improvement tool will eventually need to decide whether to create a full time position to

• Government's Role in the Social Services Industrial Complex

  30 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pm

  Once funding starts flowing through legislative committees and administrative agencies to organizations in the field to carry out a particular social policy, all the participants-inside government and out-tend to have a vested interest in sustaining the influence and power that flows along with the money. It is this combination that gives the complex its political juice, which can surprise even experienced political hands.

• The Social Services Industrial Complex

  24 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pm

  The dirty little secret of the social sector is that once government money starts flowing, the nonprofits that have advocated for it and/or who are benefitting from it have a vested interest in keeping it going, even as evidence shows “weak or no positive effects."

• Making Measurement More Than an Add-on

  22 Apr 2012 | 7:00 pm

  Making Measurement More Than an Add on 2012 04 23 Jacob Allen In this guest post on the "Measuring to Improve" blog, Bridgespan Manager Jacob Allen discusses the concept of 'embedded measurement,' an intentionally integrateive approach to measurement for

• Data’s Not Just for Donors—It Can Improve a Nonprofit’s Work

  31 Mar 2012 | 7:00 pm

  Data’s Not Just for Donors—It Can Improve a Nonprofit’s Work 2012 04 01 Matthew Forti Kathleen Yazbak Nonprofits, it appears, are not spending enough effort to measure how well their programs and organizations are doing. Over the last decade,

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  how to save the world

• Caught in Our Own Words

  Dave Pollard

  11 May 2012 | 4:52 am

    System diagram of the vicious cycle of the Industrial Economy (red, top) and the virtuous cycle of the Natural Economy (green, bottom) Jeff Clearwater and Ferananda Ibarra* led a presentation on (Charles Eisenstein et al’s) Sacred Economics and Sharing Economies the other day while I was in Eugene OR (thanks to fellow communitarian and alternative economies enthusiast Tree Bressen twisting their arms to add Eugene to their current West Coast speaking tour). One of the ideas they presented that I found particularly inspiring was this: Much of what we believe, and much of what we…

• Links of the Month: May 6, 2012

  Dave Pollard

  6 May 2012 | 7:55 pm

  Map showing the variance in temperature rise — from nil to 16C (30F), with an average of 4C/7F,  that could be expected as early as 2060 if we continue to emit more carbon each year as we are doing now. In the Arctic that’s an average of 30F warmer, every second of every day in every season. Here are more details and the interactive map from the UK Meteorological Office. Thanks to Sue Bullock for the link, via this explanation of the map. You may have noticed that my ‘links of the month’ posts have become less frequent (often every second month) and less focused on…

• Re-Learning How to Play

  Dave Pollard

  3 May 2012 | 11:47 pm

  kittens playing: photo by artistlanas In my last article I advocated re-learning to play, the way wild creatures do, both as a means of increasing the joy and resilience in our lives, and as a means of creating a context, a behaviour model, that will allow us to talk with others about the terrible truths of our current way of life and the inevitable crises ahead, without being dismissed as ‘doomers’ (or worse) by the incredulous, the hopeful and the deniers. My sense is that if we could regain this capacity of playfulness in everything we do, it would positively colour our whole…

• If We Had a Better Story Could We Tell the Truth?

  Dave Pollard

  21 Apr 2012 | 5:03 am

  violet green swallow playing with a feather; photo by Chris Maynard Recently, to my surprise, it’s become more acceptable to tell the grim truth about our civilization. Still not acceptable, mind you, but every once in a while when I do, I’ll notice someone nodding at me, giving me a sad smile, a quiet signal of comprehension and appreciation. tree swallows in aerial acrobatics; photo by Richard Seaman There are three (very large) groups to whom one cannot usefully or comfortably (or sometimes even safely) tell these truths: The incredulous: Those who either know so little or…

• Don’t Tell Me What (I Need) To Do, Tell Me What (I Want) To Do

  Dave Pollard

  19 Apr 2012 | 4:09 am

  We are all pattern recognizers. Our worldview, what we believe, depends on how we have organized what we’ve seen and heard and read and been told (by those we trust, and those we don’t) into patterns. It’s the process by which we make the enormous volume and complexity of knowledge at our disposal sufficiently manageable to understand and act upon. I have always prided myself on my ability to synthesize large volumes of information, and to imagine interesting and useful possibilities arising from it, seeing connections and patterns others cannot. So it’s been dismaying…

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  Inspire Me Today - Today's Brilliance

• Today's Brilliance from Colette Brown

  Colette Brown

  16 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Treat today like it was tomorrow. Think about what you want for tomorrow and manifest it today. No excuses... just live your dream now! ~ Colette Brown If I could share 500 words of wisdom to summarize what I've learned so far in life, these are the important things I'd want to pass along to others... It is hard to put a lifetime of experience into so little words. There are so many angles to look at it from and most lessons come from the past. I want to look at what lessons could come from the future, a future we can all aspire to today. There is future reality where all ages of life are…

• Today's Brilliance from Tara Taylor

  Tara Taylor

  15 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Our greatest fears can become our greatest accomplishments. ~ Tara Taylor If I could share 500 words of wisdom to summarize what I've learned so far in life, these are the important things I'd want to pass along to others... That we are all extremely intuitive and when one understands the true function of the ego is when one is able to deepen one's connection with their intuition. We receive a minimum of 500 intuitive messages a day, we have just forgotten how to see, hear, feel or know that intuitive message because we have numbed our senses over the years. We are constantly distracted by…

• Today's Brilliance from Lesley Rodgers

  Lesley Rodgers

  14 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Reclaim Your Personal Power - nothing can stop you but you. ~ Lesley Rodgers If I could share 500 words of wisdom to summarize what I've learned so far in life, these are the important things I'd want to pass along to others... Learn to accept and love all things; sure, see what's different but remember what's similar! Appreciate the beauty and wisdom of diversity but remain aware that we rely upon collaboration to exist; competition divides and conquers. True personal empowerment comes from balance. Each one of us has value and a purpose on this earth - make it your life-mission to discover…

• Today's Brilliance from Dr. Shirley Cheng

  Dr. Shirley Cheng

  13 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  I may be blind, I may be crippled; but with Yahweh as my Guide, I'm certainly not disabled--I'm ultra-abled, for "whoso trusteth in [Yahweh], happy is he"! (Proverbs 16:20, ASV) ~ Dr. Shirley Cheng If I could share 500 words of wisdom to summarize what I've learned so far in life, these are the important things I'd want to pass along to others... What's true wealth? Is it gold that glitters under the sun? Or is it wealth that no one and nothing, not even death, can take away from you? Let's consider material wealth for a moment. We can have everything we want in life: huge mansions, fancy…

• Today's Brilliance from Phil Bolsta

  Phil Bolsta

  12 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Seek to find beauty in everything you look at and you will find it. Invite beauty into your life and your life becomes more beautiful. ~ Phil Bolsta If I could share 500 words of wisdom to summarize what I've learned so far in life, these are the important things I'd want to pass along to others... Your every thought, word, and action spring from either love or fear. The nature of your choices determines the quality of your life. Love is the whisper of the Divine, ceaselessly calling creation back toward the Creator. Fear expresses itself as anger, intimidation, insecurity, despair,…

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  Timbuktu Chronicles

• Anti Malarial Nanofibre Fibres and Apparel

  Emeka Okafor

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Wired UK reports on a Nanotechnology collaboration between Frederick Ochanda & Matilda Ceesay : ...material scientist Frederick Ochanda has teamed up with designer Matilda Ceesay to create what is described as a "fashionable hooded bodysuit" embedded at the nanolevel with insecticides to ward off mosquitos that could carry malaria. Regular mosquito nets are treated with insect repellant, which lasts about six months. The material that the bodysuit is made from, however, contained clustered crystalline compounds known as metal-organic frameworks, which allow three times more…

• Innovation in Africa

  Emeka Okafor

  15 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  On CNN's Marketplace Africa,Yours truly on the basis for innovation: Continuing,what innovation means in practical terms:

• African Renewable Energy Distributor

  Emeka Okafor

  14 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Good reporting from Rwanda: A.R.E.D was founded in 2012 as an independent power producer that offers renewable energy solutions at a micro or macro level using technology such as M.S.C.C (Mobile Solar Cell Charger) and C.S.P (Concentrated Solar Power) in East Africa. We also provide a total energy solutions for the industrial and commercial sector, small or large communities, public sector and many more…[continue reading]

• Mohammed Sanad's $100K Prize Winning Multiband Antenna

  Emeka Okafor

  13 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Scidev reports: An Egyptian engineer who has designed a base-station antenna that can facilitate upgrades to more advanced mobile networks in developing countries has become the first winner of the Innovation Prize for Africa, which was created last year. The antenna makes it easier for telecommunication service providers to upgrade their networks without needing to change base stations. The winner of the US$100,000 prize, Mohammed Sanad, a professor at the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University, Egypt, said his antenna "suits developing countries, which don't have a…

• Back Pack Farm

  Emeka Okafor

  12 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Founded by Rachel Zedeck: The BPF Program provides not just biological farming supplements and training but a complete 5 phase program ensuring smallholder farmers increase their harvests and improve their qualities of life. Together, it is possible to achieve sustainable linkages in food production, value chains, credible finance, income generation, social and ecological domains. -Access for smallholder farmers to affordable eco-friendly farming agri-tech inputs and training. Backpack farm Image courtesy of Social Earth Materially improve crop yields to semi-commercial levels of production.

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  Echoing Green Blog

• Van Jones Continues to Drive Change Through Fourth Social Venture

  Nidhi Chaudhary

  15 May 2012 | 4:15 pm

  Van Jones, a 1994 Echoing Green Fellow, is a serial entrepreneur. In 1996, he started the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an organization that unlocks the power of low-income people, people of color, and their allies to transform California and the world. He co-founded Color of Change, an advocacy group for African-Americans, in 2005. In 2007, he created Green For All, a national nonprofit dedicated to creating jobs via an inclusive green economy. And most recently, he co-founded Rebuild the Dream, an initiative to restore good jobs and economic opportunity.   For nearly twenty years,…

• The Buzz 5-11-12

  Nidhi Chaudhary

  14 May 2012 | 1:26 am

  Our quick read on the top tweets, news, and buzz circulating in the field of changemaking this past week. Tell us, what's got you talking? And what do you want to be talking about? Women bring in more than half of the income in fifty-five percent of US households; they are ruling social networks; and women over the age of fifty control a net worth of $19 trillion. Fortune 500 companies that have at least three women on their boards have seen an average return on equity increase by at least fifty-three percent and return on sales increase by at least forty-two percent. Yet, one in ten boards…

• Advice to the Echoing Green Finalists

  Nidhi Chaudhary

  10 May 2012 | 10:19 am

  Tonight, the Finalists for the 2012 Echoing Green Fellowship will convene in New York City to begin the process for this year’s selection for our next class of Fellows. Their whirlwind weekend begins with our annual Big Bold Benefit with special guest Chelsea Clinton, where they will have sixty seconds to pitch their enterprises in front of nearly five hundred people. It can be a little unsettling (and exhilarating), to say the least. Mark Hecker, a 2011 Fellow and founder of Reach Incorporated, says that his favorite part of the benefit was when his pitch was over—we imagine that will be…

• The Buzz 5-4-12

  Nidhi Chaudhary

  7 May 2012 | 11:15 am

  Our quick read on the top tweets, news, and buzz circulating in the field of changemaking this past week. Tell us, what's got you talking? And what do you want to be talking about? The Reynolds Program for Social Entrepreneurship at NYU put together a great list of social venture competitions and fellowships. With twenty-four pages of descriptions, eligibility requirements, and websites, this is a document you want to bookmark, print out, and then create a plan to meet the applications deadlines! http://ht.ly/aBYDo Would you have given Gandhi a grant? Kate Ahern, the Director of Social…

• Saving Lives in Africa?

  Scott Warren

  4 May 2012 | 3:06 pm

  Cross-posted on Huffington Post.Invisible Children's "Kony 2012" video, in addition to raising awareness about a vicious African warlord through an incredibly effective social media campaign, sparked discussion on an important, yet incredibly complex debate on the Western role in the African continent. The video indisputably educated millions of Americans on a conflict they otherwise would not have been exposed to, and provoked elected officials to act immediately. At the same time, the video's presentation rankled many. The nuances of the conflict and the Lord's Resistance Army were not…

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  alannashaikh

• Best SEO strategies to improve your website traffic

  Denys Sk

  23 Apr 2012 | 4:26 pm

  Mix linking SEO Strategies and improve the SEO of your site. Better SEO= more Traffic= betterincome, therefore SEO is a Key investment.There is no doubt that the content of our site is the aspect that we should never forget andshould be our main concern, as at the end of the day is what will make people come back, addas favorite, etc. So never forget to make your visits happy as you need your regular visits inorder to grow, we don’t want to lose them with posicionamiento web strategies and Keywords with no sense.But the reality is, if people doesn’t know that you exist, you can…

• Barcelona Fashion Sofa And Dressing up Stand Simply by Mies Truck Der Rohe

  Denys Sk

  23 Apr 2012 | 3:59 pm

  Ludwig Mies van der Rohe provides designed many of the most battling retro classics on the globe involving furnishings. The actual Spain's capital lounge is one kind of his / her unique bits that's been emulated all over the world : a new dark-colored Spain's capital type lounge won't shed it's attraction since it's gorgeous seems to be and also shape provides pleasure for several years. If you're intent on elegant home furniture then this Ludwig Mies van der Rohe influenced piece is the perfect merchandise to increase your current assortment. The actual black The capital settee will be as…

• Low cost Furniture: Exactly why Purchasing On the web is an Excellent Selection

  Denys Sk

  23 Apr 2012 | 3:44 pm

  Focusing on a good finances does not necessarily mean you must lose good quality for the price. Really should be reality, all you have to perform is always to have time and effort and you will probably definitely earn furniture which can be nonetheless of a good quality.Probably the most significant things you have to remember when you find yourself implementing a decent price range when you shop is that you have to be resourceful. Concurrently, make sure to never sacrifice good quality for any affordable. As a matter of truth, there are many regarding resources you should check out to get…

• Choose from The Best Furnishings Shops

  Denys Sk

  23 Apr 2012 | 3:27 pm

  Home furniture merchants are certainly not hard to choose. Initially you will have to check up on the design of your house, before you obtain any kind of furniture. This will help you have simple choices concerning the household furniture you need to decide on, so that it integrates with the structure of your home.You then will need to come up with a budget for the sort of home furniture you will want to buy. You may be stepping into a fresh home, and you'll would like brand new furniture. Consequently accordingly you are able to plan this. You won't need to purchase it just about all as…

• Youngsters Furniture Options

  Denys Sk

  23 Apr 2012 | 3:15 pm

  Picking out dormitorio juvenil place might be the two enjoyable and also exasperating. The trick is usually to balance the particular weighing scales anywhere near the midsection of fun and functional. Bedroom furniture together with themes or even colourful elements could possibly be fun and may create personality for your kid's room, but when they don't really have enough safe-keeping or if perhaps they could be swiftly outgrown, they may not be the best choice.When selecting bedroom accessories or perhaps a bed room set for your son or daughter, it's wise to seem a few or perhaps…

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  Green Parent Chicago

• Little Locavores: Supermoms Against Superbugs

  Christine Escobar

  15 May 2012 | 8:26 am

  Greetings everyone, Two years ago, I wrote about the clear and present danger presented by the over use of antibiotics in the livestock industry in The Morality of Meat. Children dead within days of being exposed to Methicillin Resistant Staph (or MRSA), the development of superbugs resistant to our antibiotics - it scares the shit out of me. Despite all the attention to childhood obesity, I firmly believe that this is the number one public health crisis in America. We need to change the hearts and minds of our government and our populace, to demonstrate the importance of keeping our…

• My Top Books for Breastfeeding, Plus a Mother's Day Discount on Nursing Wares

  Christine Escobar

  10 May 2012 | 2:34 pm

  It's been a few years since I've been on active duty, active breastfeeding duty that is. But, luckily I still get to be surrounded by little bundles of nursling joy as many of my friends and family continue to nurse their littles and add to their family numbers. Although our family seems to be complete, (we started a little early), there are a couple of things that I remember keeping me sane and steady during those early months of new motherhood. The first was a collection of good books with comforting advice. The following are my personal favorites. (In no particular order): 1. The…

• Cleaning for Health - Making Your Own Cleaning Products

  Christine Escobar

  3 May 2012 | 11:52 am

  What does it mean for something to be clean? Here at Sprouts, cleanliness is all about health. We clean to keep our living environment as healthy as possible for the children and us. Sadly, many cleaning products people use in their daily lives do not promote health. They clean up dirt and bacteria, but leave behind all sorts of synthetic chemicals that can contribute to a whole mess of health problems. Check out this test done by the Environmental Working Group on cleaners used regularly in schools in California. Many of the cleaners used have ingredients in them that are known carcinogens…

• Book Review and Interview: "Vegan is Love" the newest children's book from Ruby Roth

  Christine Escobar

  30 Apr 2012 | 2:42 pm

  Author/illustrator Ruby Roth's newly released children's book, "Vegan is Love", has drawn plenty of praise from notable figures such as Jane Goodall, Gene Baur and singer Jason Mraz. Building on the success of her first book, "That's Why We Don't Eat Animals", Roth offers a more detailed description of vegan living in "Vegan is Love", complete with information for children to make cruelty-free choices at home, in school and in their communities. Some critics of Roth's book say it is inappropriate for children because of its subject matter and…

• EarthTalk: Cloud Computing's Substantial Footprint

  Christine Escobar

  30 Apr 2012 | 1:26 pm

  Dear EarthTalk: Why is Greenpeace upset with some leading tech companies for so-called “dirty cloud computing?” Can you explain? -- Jeremy Wilkins, Waco, TX Leading tech companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft are now offering unprecedented amounts of data storage and access to “apps” on huge Internet-connected servers, saving consumers and businesses the hassle of installing and running programs and storing information on their own local computers. This emerging trend, dubbed “cloud computing,” means that these providers have had to scale up their power consumption…

• 

  Social Enterprise Reporter

• Making Nonprofit Work in a For-Profit World

  admin

  14 May 2012 | 1:57 pm

  How a Community Action Program launched a weatherization social enterprise — and how they now work successfully together. BY KEN J. ROBINETTE Excerpted from the November/December 2011 issue of Home Energy magazine The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) low-income weatherization funds are now winding down. In some states, like Idaho, that have spent all of their funds, agencies are looking for ways to keep their new, and seasoned, weatherization staff and contractors employed. As Congress continues to argue over national budget funding levels (and at present they don’t look…

• Prospecting for Social Good

  admin

  14 May 2012 | 12:06 am

  REDF’s Due Diligence Criteria for New Portfolio Organizations By Emily Bolton  REDF’s mission is to increase job opportunities for people who have been excluded from the workforce. To achieve this goal we invest in a portfolio of employment-based social enterprises that share our vision, have outstanding leadership and sufficient operational capacity to execute that vision. REDF builds the capacity of this group of social enterprises through strategic goal setting, business assistance, financial support and social outcomes measurement. Over 15 years experience working with nonprofit…

• Scaling Social Impact through Social Franchising

  admin

  12 May 2012 | 11:26 am

  I’m reposting back issues/articles from the Social Enterprise Reporter, including a PDF of an article by Kalyn Culler Cohen, in which she explores the differing approaches of two food service organizations: FareStart and the Campus Kitchens Project. Scaling Social Impact through Social Franchising PDF download.

• Youth-run fine dining in San Francisco

  admin

  12 Apr 2012 | 10:44 pm

  Came across an article in the SF Chronicle today about the Old Skool Cafe jazz and supper club opening in a tough part of town.  It’s great to see social enterprises like this that “confront the epidemic of violence by providing at- risk and previously incarcerated and foster care youth with a variety of career opportunities”.  I look forwarding to checking it out next time I’m in town.

• Welcome social entrepreneurs!

  admin

  3 Jan 2012 | 6:54 pm

  Welcome to the Social Enterprise Reporter.  I’ll be adding more content soon, but am interested in publishing stories from other social entrepreneurs like you.  Please submit your stories and ideas!  Thanks,  Tom White, Editor & Publisher.

• 

  Acumen Fund Blog

• Lok Capital and Acumen Fund announce Rs. 7 crore investment in Hippocampus Learning Centres

  Acumen Fund

  16 May 2012 | 3:07 am

  Lok Capital and Acumen Fund announce Rs. 7 crore investment in Hippocampus Learning Centres, a rural education services provider, signaling both funds’ first foray into education. HLC improves education quality and generates employment through pre-school and after-school learning programs in rural India. Bangalore, May 2012: Lok Capital, one of the largest dedicated funds in India for businesses focused on serving the lower income and base of the pyramid (BOP) customer segments and Acumen Fund, a pioneering nonprofit global venture firm addressing poverty in South Asia, East and West…

• Acumen Fund Invests in BASIX Krishi to Increase Agricultural Productivity Of Smallholder Farmers in India

  Acumen Fund

  11 May 2012 | 11:23 am

  Innovative model offers affordable extension services for crops and livestock to smallholder farmers through a wide network of trained personnel. Mumbai, India,May 11, 2012 – Acumen Fund, a pioneering nonprofit global venture firm addressing poverty in South Asia and across Africa, today announced an equity investment of INR 9 crores (~$2M) in BASIX Krishi Samruddhi Limited (BASIX Krishi). BASIX Krishi delivers productivity enhancing extension services—such as soil testing, seed treatment, vermicomposting, pest management and good harvesting practices for crop farmers; and livestock…

• Facebook + Skoll = Impact?

  Tristan Zucker

  10 May 2012 | 9:51 am

  Late last March I boarded a plane to Great Britain after attending a conference on the European debt crisis at the Banque de France.  I was heading to the Skoll World Forum, hoping to replace the despair about the state of the world I had picked up in France with optimism for the future of a world transformed by social enterprises.  I was not disappointed. For an intern at Acumen Fund, the Forum was an eye-opening experience.  Every person I talked to told me about amazing ventures, every conversation between the participants ended with excited promises for future collaboration, and every…

• We Are Watching You – Political Accountability through Civic Participation

  Acumen Fund

  9 May 2012 | 10:11 am

  We Are Watching You is a campaign to create political accountability in Kenya by increasing citizens’ vigilance and civic participation. The campaign uses elements of popular culture to sensitize citizens and works in collaboration with civil society leaders. Created in the wake of the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya, it is led by Ramadhan Obiero – an Acumen Fund East Africa Fellow. Ramadhan has experience as the Coordinator for the Vumilia Youth Group, the Stage Manager for musician Eric Wainaina, the leader of the Kale Leo Band, and the Chairman of the African Cultural…

• Our Experiments with Generosity

  Sapna Shah and Prateek Kanwal

  3 May 2012 | 10:00 pm

  In 2009, Sasha Dichter ran a  ’Generosity Experiment’, an attempt to say yes in a world where you often hear ‘NO’. It quickly turned into a worldwide phenomenon, and became part of a broader effort to reboot Valentine’s Day as “Generosity Day” in order to reconnect the day to the core ideas of love and human connection. Three years later, the Acumen Fund India office recognized this ongoing effort and partnered with Teach for India (TFI) to run our very own generosity experiment with students from a school in a low-income community in Mumbai. The video above documents the…

• 

  So what can I do?

• Change the world.

  Karama

  6 Oct 2014 | 5:52 pm

  How will you make our world a better place?* Health and education* Economics, social entrepreneurship, and microfinance* Food and water* Energy and technology* Women, children, and family* Environment, land, and sustainability* FaithAnd don’t forget to visit the So What Can I Do Bookstore. Your efforts can change the world.”Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mohandas GandhiPlease visit http://sowhatcanido.blogspot.com to offer your comments and suggestions, forward this post, and peruse the archives. Thanks for reading "So what can I do", the public service weblog promoting…

• Send a girl to school.

  Karama

  8 Mar 2012 | 8:15 pm

  Happy International Women's Day! One great way to celebrate is to invest in the women of tomorrow and the communities they'll create. You can do that by helping send a girl-child to school. According to CAMFED, "When you educate a girl in Africa, everything changes. She’ll be three times less likely to get HIV/AIDS, earn 25 percent more income and have a smaller, healthier family." Consider supporting CAMFED as they help girls all over rural Africa pay school fees, purchase school books and uniforms, and get a life-changing education. And if you'd like other ideas for today and everyday,…

• Sacrifice, save, serve.

  Karama

  22 Feb 2012 | 10:32 pm

  Today is the first day of Lent and many Christians are giving up some luxury as a way of preparing for Easter and focusing their thoughts and prayers on Christ's sacrifice for us. If you are giving up something for Lent this year, and if that something costs money, consider donating your savings to a worthy local, national, or international service organization. * If you're giving up pop for Lent, you could save and donate $30 to help a family use agriculture more self sufficient by supporting Heifer International (where I got this idea).* If you're giving up desserts for Lent, you could save…

• Make it a day/life of service.

  Karama

  6 Jan 2012 | 10:02 pm

  I remember one Martin Luther King day many years ago, when I was in grad school, that I spent in the lab. That wasn't too unusual because I generally went to the lab every day. But one of my colleagues (who was also working) asked me why I was in the lab on the King holiday. I replied that I thought Dr. King would want me to get my PhD. I still think of the King Holiday as a day on rather than a day off, but now that I have finished school, I have a bit more time to be of service to others on that day. Readers of So What Can I Do are likely to feel the same, so I offer two resources to find…

• EITC: Ask for it!

  Karama

  6 Jan 2012 | 9:30 pm

  Tax time is upon us once again. You've got a couple of extra days this year - til April 17. And here's another piece of good news: lots of folks, many of whom don't know it, will qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. EITC can mean up to $5,751 in your pocket. That's money to pay bills, save for college or a downpayment on your home, or stash away for a rainy day. Find out if you're eligible or ask your tax preparer about it.Remember you have to file a tax return (even if you're not required to or do not owe) in order to claim the EITC.You've already earned it. Now go claim it."Next to…

• 

  Social Business Blog

• Public Services (Social Value) Act in action?

  Anne Mountjoy

  15 May 2012 | 6:22 am

  At the end of last year the Social Enterprise Mark Company launched the ‘50in250’ campaign. It’s designed to help public and private sector organisations buy from certified social enterprises. The campaign provides these organisations with an easy way to develop ethical supply chains and achieve meaningful corporate responsibility. Innovative organisations that have already signed up to the campaign include KPMG, Wates Group, City of London Corporation, Telereal Trillium and most recently Connect Housing. As we’ve been travelling around the country at various 50in250 events (with more…

• The dull pains of human networks and technology

  Katrina Cruz

  4 May 2012 | 4:11 am

  At the beginning of last month, I attended Skoll World Forum’s fringe forum – Oxford Jam run by Emerge Venture Lab. I am told it’s a Jam worth getting stuck in* and sure enough I book myself in for one full day of back-to-back sessions between 8am and 5pm. ‘Fringe’ event-styled apparel thoughtfully selected and 12-hour caffeine-intake strategy in place, I begin with conversation at a breakfast session organised by Cisco. Discussion circles around how to exploit the potential of human networks and technology to unlock barriers to large-scale change, which of course reflects the…

• Charity, Politics, Tax-Breaks and the CITR

  Rod Schwartz

  27 Apr 2012 | 12:04 pm

  Over the past few weeks I have been shifting in my seat over reactions to the Government’s decision to limit the tax breaks rich people can receive for charitable giving. We would all like to see more charitable giving, and with all the pressure charities are under, this seemed potentially ill-timed. However, I felt distinctly uncomfortable watching a steady cast of charity execs provide political cover for and plea for continuing this subsidy to the rich. There are sacrifices that need to be made and, after all, there is nothing to stop wealthy individuals from giving should they wish…

• Mind your language

  Colleen Baldwin

  27 Apr 2012 | 8:22 am

  I have a good friend, let’s call him AK, who broadly speaking works in IT. Introduced at a party, strangers are prone to start grilling him about their poor broadband connection or recurring laptop glitches. He almost certainly won’t know how to fix them. On the other hand, you could certainly have a useful conversation with AK if you are a CIO with a budget the size of a small country’s sovereign debt, and you need help formulating a five-year strategy to update your firm’s legacy software. AK’s title is research analyst and vice-president in a major international IT research…

• Why social enterprise can save the Olympic legacy

  Tom Cropper

  18 Apr 2012 | 2:01 am

  It’s 11am on a chilly spring morning and I, along with an assortment of other hacks, am waiting outside Pudding Mill station for a tour of the Olympic Park. We’re all there for the same reason – to see if this talk of legacy is anything more than hot air. Legacy, it’s a small word, but one packed with meaning. It’s the word that persuaded the selection committee to look beyond mouth watering bids from Paris and Madrid and turn their eyes towards a run down part of London which bore more similarities to the set of Mad Max than an international sporting arena. It was a leap of faith…

• 

  Serendipity Factory: Happy Discoveries

• Give Your Mom Something to Smile About

  Serendipity Factory

  12 May 2012 | 5:51 pm

  A recent survey by NBC found that 98% of Mom's prefer hugs, kisses and time with their family over expensive gifts for Mother's Day. Another alternative would be to give a gift that helps others in need. The World of Children organization is the only global recognition and funding program that exclusively focuses on a broad range of children's only issues – health (including hunger and nutrition), education, safety, and human rights. They have given away $4.3 million to 97 worthy organizations that help vulnerable children in 148 countries.  If you are unsure of how to recognize…

• Solitude Matters

  Serendipity Factory

  6 May 2012 | 8:01 pm

  "I prefer listening to talking, reading to socializing … I like to think before I speak (softly)." - Susan Cain I came across Susan Cain's TED talk on Stephanie Ryan's blog, and as a quiet girl -- I adore her speech. She explains she explains why introverts are capable of great love and great achievement, not in spite of their temperaments -- but because of them.

• Hidden Memories

  Serendipity Factory

  28 Apr 2012 | 10:19 am

  When my husband and I remodeled our first home, we found little treasures from the previous owners in the process. There was a pocket door that we re-finished and when it was pulled from the wall there were children's playing cards and crayons stuffed in there. I know my sister and I also left our mark on houses from our childhood -- like "little girl graffiti" on a basement wall. We are nearly finished with my art room / office, and decided to leave a hidden memento -- if many moons from now someone lives in our home and decides to remodel. I have a bunch of doodles of floor plans, of how my…

• A Lesson in Gratitude

  Serendipity Factory

  21 Apr 2012 | 1:24 pm

  I came across Leah Dieterich's website, via A Lady's Findings. Leah hand writes a thank you note every day. Not necessarily to people, but to the beautiful little gifts from the universe that she pauses to appreciate. It is such a sweet and perfect way to be grateful. She has a book of her writings called,thxthxthx: Thank Goodness for Everything  

• Caine's Cardboard Arcade

  Serendipity Factory

  13 Apr 2012 | 6:58 pm

  Thank you Karma Tube for sharing this video today. As Karma Tube describes, Caine Monroy is a 9-year old boy who spent his summer vacation building an elaborate cardboard arcade in his dad's used auto parts store. He spent months perfecting the game designs, making displays for the prizes, designing elaborate security systems, and hand labeling paper-lunch-gift-bags. Unfortunately, his dad's store is in an industrial part of East L.A. and gets almost no foot traffic, so Caine had exactly zero customers... until a random filmmaker, Nirvan Mullick, stops in for a used door handle and buys a Fun…

• 

  Gimundo.com

• Paralyzed Woman Claire Lomas Completes London Marathon in Bionic Suit

  editor@gimundo.com

  15 May 2012 | 10:45 am

  Wearing a ReWalk suit, paraplegic Claire Lomas walked the entire London Marathon in 16 days.

• 6 Good Reasons to Buy Locally

  editor@gimundo.com

  10 May 2012 | 9:58 am

  Check out these benefits for buying your fruit and vegetables from a local farmer or market.

• A Fallen Soldier’s Last Gift: Bruce Hays and the Apache Project

  editor@gimundo.com

  6 May 2012 | 9:09 pm

  After soldier Bruce Hays died in Afghanistan, his Wisconsin neighbors worked to restore an old truck that he'd promised to his wife Terry.

• Voytek, the Soldier Bear

  editor@gimundo.com

  2 May 2012 | 10:07 am

  Voytek may sound like an average (G.I.) Joe – but there are a few important distinctions. Voyek was quite a bit hairier than his fellow men. He could sleep for weeks at a time, eat every last bite of whatever sludge was being served at the mess hall – and did we mention he weighed nearly 500 pounds?

• Tama the Cat Is Station Master For Japanese Train Station

  editor@gimundo.com

  2 May 2012 | 10:02 am

  In Kinokawa, Japan, you'll find a feline celebrity at the local train station – and no, for once, it's not Hello Kitty. The cat in question is Tama, a stray tabby who makes her home in the station.

• 

  How I changed the world today.

• kiva loans to Julia's

  Julia

  20 Apr 2012 | 8:23 pm

  Found 6 Julia's to lend to at Kiva. Loan María Julia $25.00 Loan Ana Julia Zeledon Franco $25.00 Loan Carmen Julia Florez $25.00 Loan Ana Julia $25.00 Loan Paulina Julia $25.00 Loan Carmen Julia Vidaurre Baldera

• kiva loans to Julia's

  Julia

  12 Apr 2012 | 11:21 pm

  Made two Kiva loans today.Receipt Loan Julia Jemesunde $25.00 Loan Julia $25.0

• Kiva loans

  Julia

  4 Apr 2012 | 10:44 pm

  Receipt Loan Julia Samon $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Mercedes Garcia Centeno $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia De La Rosa Montaño $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Clotilde Nina Olarte $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Liliana López Cruz

• Kiva loans to Honduras

  Julia

  21 Mar 2012 | 12:00 am

  Used up all my credits and some ! Loan Ma Orbelinda Gonzales $25.00 Loan Marlon Ivan Cardona Funez $25.00 Loan Dennis Mauricio Sanchez Cardona $25.00 Loan Evelyn Johanna Canales $25.00 Loan Jose Osvaldo Chirinos Gonzales $25.00 Loan Maria Elena Andino Galvez $25.00 Loan Gervin Alonso Argueta $25.00 Loan Esly Karina Romero Turcios $25.00 Loan Grupo Libertad 1 Group $25.00 Loan Carlos Antonio Rivera Hernandez $25.00 Loan Grupo Guasaule 4 Group $25.00 Loan Wilson Omar Osorto $25.00 Loan Ma. Brigida Sanchez $25.00 Loan Noel Alsides Vallejo $25.00 Loan Juan Carlos Perez $25.00 Loan Blanca Damaris…

• kiva loans to Julia's

  Julia

  20 Mar 2012 | 11:29 pm

  Loan Julia De La Rosa Montaño $25.00 Loan Julia Amavilia Mendez Castillo $25.00 Loan María Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Nora Calderon Fajardo $25.00 Loan Paula Julia Martinez Pulido

• 

  WhatGives!? Do Something Good...

• NONPROFIT CONFERENCE CALENDAR, Summer 2012

  Marijane Miller

  1 May 2012 | 4:20 pm

  [Editor's note: We realize that a large number of conferences have nonprofit tracks or elements. We tried to focus on gatherings targeted specifically to nonprofits, but please let us know if we missed an event you feel has value to this community. Just drop the info into the comments section and we'll keep updating the list. Thanks!] [...]

• Points of Light Institute is UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

  Marijane Miller

  1 May 2012 | 12:50 pm

    We love to exaggerate, don’t we?  “That cupcake was AWESOME!”  “I’ve got to get a latte or I’ll DIE!”  “[Politician] is worse than HITLER!”  We love to make a point with all caps, punctuation, and hyperbole out the yin-yang. On the other hand, many of us have had truly life-changing moments, burned into our [...]

• WhatGives!? Donation App Discontinued

  Marijane Miller

  27 Apr 2012 | 5:13 am

    You may have noticed that the little box at the top of our homepage no longer offers our free fundraising app for nonprofits.  Unfortunately, as platforms have multiplied and evolved, keeping our little widget up-to-date and providing customer support have proven to be challenging, especially since we don’t charge for its use. So, we [...]

• Our Planet, Ourselves, part 2

  Marijane Miller

  26 Apr 2012 | 1:00 pm

  The idea that people are bad for the planet is as much of a crisis as climate change itself.  – Leah Lamb, Founder, My Planet I began my conversation with writer/producer/adventurer/speed talker Leah Lamb simply as a fan of her work and enthusiasm.  She’s a do-er and you know how much we love do-ers here [...]

• Our Planet, Ourselves

  Marijane Miller

  24 Apr 2012 | 2:28 pm

  This past weekend we all celebrated Earth Day.  Yay!  We love the earth!  Somebody pick up some trash and replace their light bulbs! Whew, glad that’s over.   I mean, come on.  A day?  Not even a week? We can’t devote more than 24 hours to think about the only life-sustaining rock in our known [...]

• 

  Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy - Institute for Food and Development Policy

• Oakland Ag Policy 101

  admin

  15 May 2012 | 1:17 pm

  The Oakland Climate Action Coalition’s Food/Urban Ag Subcommittee and the Oakland Food Policy Council are offering a workshop/info session on local urban agriculture policy. The Oakland Food Policy Council is a project of Food First. Oakland has been a leader in the urban farming movement and this session will bring you up to speed on the changing policies and provide advice from fellow urban farmers who have firsthand experience dealing with the legal aspect of it all. read more

• Police-Occupy Stand Off at the Gill Tract Farmland in SF Bay Area

  admin

  12 May 2012 | 8:14 pm

  By Jeff Conant, AlterNet, May 11, 2012 Read the original on AlterNet. Albany CA – When University of California Police arrived at the Occupied Gill Tract yesterday morning at 6 a.m. and began barricading the gates, with some two dozen members of the Gill Tract Farmers Collective inside, word spread quickly that Occupy the Farm was being raided. How did the Farmers react? By planting tomatoes. read more

• Food Rebellions workshop at the Gill Tract Farm, Saturday, May 12, 2012

  admin

  12 May 2012 | 8:02 pm

  Food First's executive director, Eric Holt-Giménez and former policy director, Annie Shattuck leading a workshop at the Gill Tract Farm.

• Tomato Justice: Standing Up to an Agricultural Industry That Crushes Its Workers

  admin

  11 May 2012 | 6:31 pm

  In Immokalee, FL, women are sexually harassed, workers are cheated out of their earnings, and they have to pick 2 1/2 tons per day to make minimum wage. Read this startling report and join the campaign for fair wages for farm workers. Read more about The Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

• 3rd Week Anniversary of the Gill Tract Farm - Come Celebrate Mother's Day Weekend

  admin

  11 May 2012 | 4:12 pm

  THIS WEEKEND IS A CRITICAL MOMENT COME READY TO WORK AND ENVISION SAT. 5PM VISIONING MEETING FOR THE FUTURE OF THE FARM (CO-SPONSORED BY PHAT BEETS, PLANTING JUSTICE and ALBANY FARM ALLIANCE) SUN. 1-3PM: COLORFUL MAMA’S OF THE 99% MOTHERS DAY BRUNCH AND CHILDREN’S MARCH ALL WEEKEND: LIVE MUSIC • FARM WORK • SOIL REMEDIATION • WORKSHOPS • KIDS FUN Workshops include: SATURDAY 11-1PM Bio Remediation (Ralph) • 1-3PM Bike Workshop (Jose and Others) • 1 PM Historical Lessons: The South Central Farm in LA (Alex Tarr and Meleiza Figueroa) read more

• 

  Chris Blattman

• Blogging will be slow to non-existent the next 2-3 weeks

  Chris Blattman

  11 May 2012 | 7:58 am

  I am en route to Liberia, then on to Ethiopia next week. I’m back late in the month to then move house from New Haven to New York. I may blog here and there, but otherwise see you in June.

• Links I liked

  Chris Blattman

  10 May 2012 | 10:58 am

  Quote of the day from @tejucole: ”The student who just sent me an email with a smiley face in it will receive an emoticon in lieu of a final grade.”The damage to NYC in The Avengers would cost $160 billion to repair h/t@ATabarrokRound-up on the latest debates on the Millennium Villages impactsShould you switch from Google to Bing?

• Your neocolonial moment for the day

  Chris Blattman

  9 May 2012 | 1:59 pm

  The newest expatriate sport in Rwanda? Motorcycle polo.Instead of horses, of which there are few in Rwanda, players drive and ride motorcycles, of which there are many. Along the slick roads here, in Rwanda’s capital, they are commonly used as taxis, and a growing number of young Rwandan motorcyclists turn up at competitions to show off and practice their skills.Photo shoot and article here.I am pretty sure the expats do not wear spurs, but perhaps it is only a matter of time.

• No more web ads?

  Chris Blattman

  9 May 2012 | 1:00 pm

  I have belatedly discovered the AdBlock extension for Chrome, which generates white space where ads should be. Even on Google search pages.<insert angels singing here.>

• Come to a May 15 public lecture at the University of Liberia

  Chris Blattman

  9 May 2012 | 10:28 am

  I’m not sure how many of my readers are in Monrovia, but if you are, please come to what I hope will be the first of several lectures at the University of Liberia.I will speak mainly about the evidence on whether youth poverty and unemployment contribute to crime and violence, and whether employment and cash transfer programs have the potential to reduce poverty and social instability. I will also talk about some new work on conflict prediction and early warning, and the promise of local institution building and dispute resolution for bringing stability.Location: Kofi Annan Institute…

• 

  ...My heart's in Accra

• An idea worth at least 40 nanoKardashians of your attention

  Ethan

  2 May 2012 | 10:28 pm

  In my class today, celebrated science journalist Alister Doyle shared an insight that crystalized for me a line of thinking I’ve been exploring about media attention, celebrity and charity. Doyle shared an idea he’s developing with Paul Salopek (and let me just pause and mention how intimidating it is to have characters like Doyle and Salopek as “students” in a class I’m teaching), in which journalists develop new units of measure to explain complex and elusive concepts. The unit he shared, which he credits to Salopek, is the Jolie. A Jolie is unit that denotes…

• Opening notes from Media Lab spring meeting

  Ethan

  24 Apr 2012 | 8:59 am

  Radio host John Hockenberry introduces the first day of the Media Lab’s spring sponsor meeting. He suggests that the lab is an “infectious idea”, a way of working and thinking that spreads well beyond the walls of the building. He warns the crowd, packed into the third floor atrium at the Lab, and fourth and fifth-floor balconies, that this isn’t “some sit back in your seats TED conference experience” – instead, we need to work to get the most out of our experience. Joi Ito, director of the lab, lets us know that this is the most open meeting…

• The tweetbomb and the ethics of attention

  Ethan

  19 Apr 2012 | 11:03 pm

  Bachir (Chiren) Boumaaz, known as “Athene”, is an online gamer known for his prowess at World of Warcraft and other multiplayer games. His YouTube channel, which describes him as “world’s most famous record-breaking professional gamer” includes hundreds of videos, boasts over 600,000 subscribers and over 300 million video views. Athene and his friend Reese Leysen have been building a community focused not just on gaming, but on “leading a pro-active lifestyle.” Their postings on ipowerproject.com have turned towards activism, starting with online…

• Tim O’Reilly at MIT Media Lab

  Ethan

  18 Apr 2012 | 4:58 pm

  Legendary technology publisher Tim O’Reilly is the speaker at today’s Media Lab Conversations with Joi Ito. O’Reilly Media is one of the best respected technology publishers in the industry, producing many of the books working programmers rely on to build their software and systems. O’Reilly is also an important convener – the conferences his organization hosts are important in shaping the dialog about the internet and innovation. Tim opens his talk with two quotes, one from Oscar Wilde (“Quotation is a serviceable substitution for wit”) and a second…

• The Passion of Mike Daisey: Journalism, Storytelling and the Ethics of Attention

  Ethan

  28 Mar 2012 | 4:34 pm

  I am telling you that I do not speak Mandarin, I do not speak Cantonese, I have only a passing familiarity with Chinese culture and to call what I have a passing familiarity is an insult to Chinese culture—I don’t know fuck-all about Chinese culture. But I do know that in my first two hours of my first day at that gate, I met workers who were fourteen years old, I met workers who were thirteen years old, I met workers who were twelve. Do you really think Apple doesn’t know? In a company obsessed with the details, with the aluminum being milled just so, with the glass being fitted…

• 

  CRIN News Feed - Home - English

• YEMEN: As Death Toll Rises, UN Urges Greater Protection of Civilians in Yemen, Especially Minors

  16 May 2012 | 5:34 am

  The use of the heavy weaponry, landmines and detonating unexploded ordnance in Yemen have claimed the lives of 27 children and maimed 32 others so far this year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today, urging all parties to the conflict to respect their obligation to protect civilians, especially minors.

• UGANDA: Senior LRA commander, responsible for grave violations against children, captured

  15 May 2012 | 11:43 am

  The Ugandan army last Saturday captured Caesar Acellam Otto, one of the top military leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army, in the Central African Republic.

• BULGARIA: State to face ECHR over death of 15-year-old in childcare institution

  15 May 2012 | 7:40 am

  The girl died in 2006 from gastrointestinal perforation. Numerous items were found in her stomach, including dishwashing sponges, socks, rags, and stones. No details were revealed about how this came about. Nobody has been held liable for the girl's death.

• UNITED KINGDOM: Border Agency 'detaining children in degrading conditions' at Heathrow

  15 May 2012 | 6:26 am

  Children held in small, stuffy rooms at airport for hours, often sharing space with adults they are not related to, watchdog finds.

• AUSTRALIA: Same-sex families hit back at doctors' claims

  14 May 2012 | 9:52 am

  Doctors for the Family defends that its views are based on medical research only, but opposition groups say they come from a hidden right-wing religious agenda.

• 

  Angel Covers

• Report from Mama's Wish - Huangnan No. 1 School

  Inblognito

  4 May 2012 | 8:56 pm

  Students from Huangnan No. 1 School, Qinghai Province, China 1. School background The Huangnan Nationalities Number 1 Middle School was established in 1992. There are 15 classes with approximately 1000 students from different counties and there are 70 teachers and workers. Especially the government is aimed to collect students from other counties because there are no senior schools from other areas. Since this school was opened, it gives the chances to the rural girls to enter high school and now the amounts of female students are yearly increasing.  We are really happy to support…

• Tupperware for Tots

  Angel Covers

  21 Apr 2012 | 12:49 pm

  Just in time for Mother’s Day, Angel Covers has partnered with Tupperware and Barbara Ingalsbe.  Orders placed through the link below will provide 40% of the purchase price to the Angel Covers Foster Care Program.  Place your orders between April 21-30 to support our beautiful foster children and their families...because every child deserves a loving home. http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/home  Zeke and his foster mom Hank and his foster mom      

• 20 Apr 2012 | 9:55 pm

  Inblognito

  20 Apr 2012 | 9:55 pm

  Report from Mama's Wish Earlier this week, students at the Tongren School were visited by Jian Cuo and Rinchen, of the Mother's Wish Foundation. Below is Rinchen's report regarding their visit. We hope you enjoy reading about them! Tongren Middle School Mama's Wish students 1.School background and the situation of Tibetan females Tongren Middle School is the oldest and biggest school in this county. It is now 40 years old and thousands of Tibetans were educated and graduated from here. Currently there are more than 1500 students and now there are both junior and senior classes and the…

• Report from Humble Hearts

  Angel Covers

  6 Feb 2012 | 10:35 am

  Below you will find a letter from the Director of the Humble Hearts School, sumerizing the 2011 school year. Enjoy!To Our dearest Sponsors:I wish to take this time to highlight the 2011 events as I appreciate you all, our work wouldn’t be possible without you our sponsor who have a variety of backgrounds and skills you all bring something different and special to HH. No appreciation is enough for your great kindness and generosity, may the Almighty God richly reward you all.As you all know our aims are simple and straight from the heart.To create a safe, loving and nurturing environment for…

• Yak Sustainability Program Update

  Angel Covers

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:43 pm

  The Yak Program is a self-sustaining project that provides yaks to rural boarding schools for orphaned and destitute children in some of the most remote locations in western China.These schools are very poor boarding schools with few resources and large numbers of children. Located at high altitudes, these schools and the children who attend them must live and learn in harsh conditions.Whereas few animals are able to survive in the extreme conditions of such high elevation, yaks are uniquely able to live comfortably outside in these harsh conditions where vegetation is virtually nonexistent.

• 

  quoteflections

• Time to Move On

  25 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  Dear Readers, It's been a good run. I have decided to move on to other pursuits and interests. This online journal has been a stimulating hobby for me over the last few years and I have appreciated your readership very much. Best wishes to all who may have gleaned some enrichment from this site. Paul What we call the beginning is often the end And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.~ T. S. Eliot

• Success and Value

  24 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  To burn always with a hard, gem like flame, that's success in life. ~ Robert W. Marks  Success is that old ABC - ability, breaks, and courage. ~ Charles Luckman   Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become one of value. ~Albert Einstein

• Treasures of the Morning

  23 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  Expect problems and eat them for breakfast. ~ Alfred A. Montapert  Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper. ~ Francis Bacon  I used to love night best but the older I get the more treasures and hope and joy I find in morning. ~ Terri Guillemets

• Expect Nothing

  22 Apr 2012 | 11:01 pm

  The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them up.  ~Ambrose BierceBlessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.  ~Jonathan Swift The best things in life are not things.  ~ Art Buchwald

• #238 Lucid Intervals

  20 Apr 2012 | 11:01 pm

  Lucid intervals and happy pauses. ~Francis Bacon Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. ~ Ovid Reverie is when ideas float in our mind without reflection or regard of the understanding. ~ John Locke

• 

  Gift Hub

• Should Financial Advisors Listen to Clients - Deeply?

  Phil Cubeta

  15 May 2012 | 3:41 pm

  Interview with Ronnie McClure, CPA, PhD. Listening for buying signals, listening for a chance to talk, listening to win a debate - yes. But listening so we can hear client aspirations and the emerging story of a life wending towards a distant goal? Why listen when what the client says might only get us off track.  My sense is that since we don't listen, and since it is not in our best interest to listen (we are persuaders and managers of a track process) donors should make it a point to clarify their objectives before meeting with us. They should bring a little  memo…

• "Your Final Exam Results are In," said God shaking his head sadly

  Phil Cubeta

  15 May 2012 | 10:09 am

  Download Pop Quiz and Final Exam For Interfaith Worker Justice, I put together this Pop Quiz and Final Take Home Exam. We may use the Quiz with the Board, most of whom are religious leaders. The suggestion is that they share the Take Home Final with their wealthy congregants. Answers to the quiz are provided. The Final, a high stakes exam, is scored at death by a higher power. No retakes, unless you believe in Reincarnation. 

• Metrics, by Madame Bovary

  Phil Cubeta

  9 May 2012 | 1:38 pm

  Madame Bovary returned the favor by writing a roman a clef about Flaubert. She outsold him by 1,000 to 1. Flaubert claimed his was the superior work but his character shrugged. Sales are sales, she said.

• Why Is my tongue black?

  Phil Cubeta

  26 Apr 2012 | 5:41 pm

  I am told on good authority that the best wine auctions are now held in China. They are bidding the best vintages out of the reach of most Americans, even the richest. Fortunately, bum wines remain affordably priced, which is a mercy. I only wish they did not turn my tongue so black. Or, maybe that comes from licking my boss and generous patrons boots. Checking my peers tongues, I conclude that I must either be drinking more than they or licking more because my tongue is the blackest, or at least among the blackest, right up there with Dirk who just got promoted to Senior Morals Consultant…

• On "coercive metrics"

  Phil Cubeta

  26 Apr 2012 | 2:51 pm

  Metrics Mania by Alison Bernstein. http://www.nea.org/home/50022.htm

• 

  WellnessCoach.com™

• How to Hire a Great Wellness Coach in 3 Powerful Steps!

  Erica Ross-Krieger

  3 May 2012 | 2:07 pm

  Congratulations! You’re ready to make an investment in yourself that will forever change your life – you’re ready to hire a great Wellness Coach. With a simple plan, you can do so in 3 simple steps: I.   Get Clear II.  Get Answers III. Get going   I. Get Clear! What you put into your personal Wellness Coaching journey will determine what you get out of it. The journey begins with you getting clear about what’s important to you and what you want in a great Wellness Coach. • Take the time to answer these 10 questions: 1. Why I am hiring a Wellness Coach? 2. What is/are my…

• 5 Sure-Fire Ways To Block Your Own Success

  Erica Ross-Krieger

  27 Apr 2012 | 3:14 pm

  “Are you interested in your own success or committed to it?”– John Assaraf When you’re interested in your own success, you dream a lot, wish a lot, hope a lot and focus on the roadblocks in your way. Thinking you’ll achieve success “someday”, you don’t even see that you’re the one actually putting up those roadblocks. When you are committed to your success, you see clearly that the roadblocks are of your own making. You breathe, simply notice what you are doing and, in that moment of witnessing, you activate what author Rick Carson calls The Zen Theory of Change in…

• Top 10 Business Resources Every Wellness Coach Must Have

  Erica Ross-Krieger

  18 Feb 2012 | 8:51 pm

  Whether you’re building a new Wellness Coaching business this year, leading one that’s established, or restructuring and re-energizing a Wellness Coaching business that’s undergoing a makeover, the resources shown here are a must-have. By “resources”, I truly mean “sources of help.” That said, you are going to have to expend energy to obtain or create each of the “sources of help” that I’ll mention. I won’t share anything with you I haven’t put into place myself. I have each of the 10 resources below in place for my own business. Yup, it took solid effort…AND the…

• Say a Hearty Yes! to Your Wellness Coaching Business

  Erica Ross-Krieger

  2 Feb 2012 | 3:43 pm

  “The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.” – Joseph Campbell • Are you saying a “hearty yes” this month? • Are you saying “yes” each day to high impact actions that will move your wellness coaching business forward? • Are you letting go of time-wasters, energy-drains, and clutter in all areas of your business and your life? In the 2012 Wellness Coaches Calendar, the focus for February, Develop a Yes!Energy® Mindset, is based on Loral Langemeier’s soon-to-be-released life-changing book, Yes!Energy: The Energy to Do…

• Announcement: Free Monthly Q&A Call for Wellness Coaches

  Erica Ross-Krieger

  17 Jan 2012 | 6:32 pm

  Got Wellness Coaching Business questions? Let’s Talk! I’m excited to announce the new Free Monthly Q&A Call for Wellness Coaches. Beginning Wednesday, February 8, 2012, on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, I’ll be taking the business questions that are foremost on your mind. No two calls will be the same and you’ll be setting the agenda. Get answers to questions such as: • How do I create added revenue streams & not just trade time for money? • When is it time to establish a business entity? Should I incorporate? • Which marketing strategies work best?

• 

  What Do You Stand For?

• Microsoft to Business Units: Reduce or Pay Up

  10 May 2012 | 11:00 pm

  In less than two months, all direct operations divisions of Microsoft will be forced to reduce emissions or pay the price. But it's not a government organization or NGO who's enforcing the mandate it's the company itself.  Microsoft announced this week it is committed to going carbon neutral by July 1 and is extending this responsibility throughout its company. Through what Microsoft deems the "accountability model," each division within the company will be responsible for its own carbon emissions, which will not only raise internal awareness, but will also send a strong message to…

• Status Update: Facebook Promotes Organ Donation

  3 May 2012 | 11:00 pm

  For years, the Department of Motor Vehicles has inquired whether we'd like to be an organ donor, but Facebook has posed a more direct question: Are you?The world's leading social network announced Tuesday it will now allow users to include organ donor status among other biographical information on member profiles, marking perhaps the first time an individual's donor status has been shared in such a public way. Yet, the outcome is much more than a timeline milestone. The New York Times reports nearly 7,000 people die each year waiting for an organ transplant; Facebook reaches 161 million users…

• Burger Kings Big Commitment

  26 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  Burger King, the world's second largest fast food chain, signaled bold change this week when it announced it will source 100 percent of its eggs and pork from cage-free chickens and crate-free pigs by 2017. The company, which purchases hundreds of millions of eggs and millions of pounds of pork annually, currently sources just nine percent of eggs and 20 percent of pork from cage-free vendors. Burger King joins a number of other brands making cage-free egg purchasing decisions, but according to Matthew Prescott, a spokesperson for the Humane Society of the United States, this is the first…

• Earth Day Roundup

  19 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  As Earth Day supporters look to "Mobilize the Earth" on the National Mall on Sunday, companies are mobilizing consumers to take part in Earth Day promotions. Here's a sampling of programs you can expect to see as you do your part to reduce, reuse and recycle this weekend:   Target is celebrating "Earth Month" by offering special discounts on environmentally friendly products throughout the month of April, in addition to giving out 1.5 million reusable bags on Sunday. The retailer has also partnered with Recyclebank, a B Corp that doles out points and discounts at major retailers to…

• Sustainability: No Secret Sauce

  12 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  It's no secret most companies prefer to keep their proprietary tools and processes under wraps for competitive reasons. Yet in the age of transparency, companies have become more willing to open their doors to inspection. One company has taken this a step further by allowing anyone even its competitors to view an essential aspect of its supplier assessment process, all in the name of sustainability.  Bart King recently reported for Sustainable Brands on P&G's newest innovation in sustainability, its Supplier Scorecard Analysis Tool. The scorecard measures supplier improvement year…

• 

  How I changed the world today.

• kiva loans to Julia's

  20 Apr 2012 | 8:23 pm

  Found 6 Julia's to lend to at Kiva. Loan María Julia $25.00 Loan Ana Julia Zeledon Franco $25.00 Loan Carmen Julia Florez $25.00 Loan Ana Julia $25.00 Loan Paulina Julia $25.00 Loan Carmen Julia Vidaurre Baldera

• kiva loans to Julia's

  12 Apr 2012 | 11:21 pm

  Made two Kiva loans today.Receipt Loan Julia Jemesunde $25.00 Loan Julia $25.0

• Kiva loans

  4 Apr 2012 | 10:44 pm

  Receipt Loan Julia Samon $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Mercedes Garcia Centeno $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia De La Rosa Montaño $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Clotilde Nina Olarte $25.00 Loan Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Liliana López Cruz

• Kiva loans to Honduras

  21 Mar 2012 | 12:00 am

  Used up all my credits and some ! Loan Ma Orbelinda Gonzales $25.00 Loan Marlon Ivan Cardona Funez $25.00 Loan Dennis Mauricio Sanchez Cardona $25.00 Loan Evelyn Johanna Canales $25.00 Loan Jose Osvaldo Chirinos Gonzales $25.00 Loan Maria Elena Andino Galvez $25.00 Loan Gervin Alonso Argueta $25.00 Loan Esly Karina Romero Turcios $25.00 Loan Grupo Libertad 1 Group $25.00 Loan Carlos Antonio Rivera Hernandez $25.00 Loan Grupo Guasaule 4 Group $25.00 Loan Wilson Omar Osorto $25.00 Loan Ma. Brigida Sanchez $25.00 Loan Noel Alsides Vallejo $25.00 Loan Juan Carlos Perez $25.00 Loan Blanca Damaris…

• kiva loans to Julia's

  20 Mar 2012 | 11:29 pm

  Loan Julia De La Rosa Montaño $25.00 Loan Julia Amavilia Mendez Castillo $25.00 Loan María Julia $25.00 Loan Julia Nora Calderon Fajardo $25.00 Loan Paula Julia Martinez Pulido

• 

  Kiva Stories from the Field

• Clean Water and Safe Streets: What do we take for granted?

  adriaorr

  15 May 2012 | 3:28 pm

  By Adria Orr | KF17 | Samoa Of course, home doesn’t look like this… A huge part of choosing to move to another country, even temporarily, is leaving behind the comforts of home. There are several levels to this–the ease of familiar environs, the social security of friends and family, relatively cushy lifestyle (hot water, I’m thinking of you), and of course, sometimes, your physical security. When I think about the privilege I’ve enjoyed growing up in a developed country like the United States, the first things that come to mind are abundant food, clean water,…

• Update from the Field: Kiva’s new coffee partner and female empowerment in the Middle East

  IsabelB

  14 May 2012 | 11:00 am

  Compiled by Isabel Balderrama | KF17 | Ecuador Palestinian female borrower and FATEN customer Rima, pictured along with family Having been in the field for a little over three months now, KF-17 fellows’ posts begin taking a retrospective look at what has been accomplished over the past few months while working with their assigned Kiva partners worldwide. From having played a role in getting a new kind of Kiva partnership up and running to working with two MFIs dedicated to helping women get ahead in male-dominated Palestine, it is clear that this is the time for a Kiva Fellow to reflect…

• Empowering Women in Palestine

  Philip

  11 May 2012 | 10:00 am

  Philip Issa | KF17 | Palestine A couple of years ago, Mohammed Al-Shawaf, a Kiva Fellow serving in Palestine previous to me, wrote a thoughtful post on the complexities of implementing a women’s empowerment agenda through microfinance. Having served my placement at the same MFIs as him, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about FATEN and Ryada’s women empowerment initiatives and implementations. The two institutions are far apart in their models, with each carrying associated benefits and disadvantages. I also had the opportunity to meet with a women’s savings and…

• Coffee Time: Welcoming La Unión Regional Huatusco to Kiva

  kiyomibeach

  8 May 2012 | 11:00 am

  Kiyomi Beach | KF17 | Mexico Nursery for coffee plants. Once these plants reach a certain size they will be planted in the fields and be producing at full capacity in about three years. La Unión Regional de Pequeños Productores de Café Huatusco (La Unión Regional) is Kiva’s first non-microfinance institution partner in Latin America.  It’s a member-owned coffee cooperative dedicated to helping their largely rural, low-income members bring their coffee to market at a fair price. By partnering with organizations other than microfinance institutions, Kiva is able to provide much-needed…

• Update from the Field: Thoughts on Wealth, Religion and History, Foods from the Field, and a Day in the Life of a Fellow

  dgorgani

  7 May 2012 | 11:00 am

  Compiled by David Gorgani | KF17 | Dominican Republic A shot of a typical market in Tajikistan. As our fellowships wind down and as the first batch of KF17 fellows packs up to head home, the time has arrived to reflect on our experiences in the field and on the realities faced on a daily basis by the people living in the countries in which we’ve spent the past 3-4 months.  Whether discussing religious beliefs, economic circumstances, history, or simply what’s for lunch, our time in the field has finally given us the ability to analyze these realities with something resembling…

• 

  So what can I do?

• Change the world.

  6 Oct 2014 | 5:52 pm

  How will you make our world a better place?* Health and education* Economics, social entrepreneurship, and microfinance* Food and water* Energy and technology* Women, children, and family* Environment, land, and sustainability* FaithAnd don’t forget to visit the So What Can I Do Bookstore. Your efforts can change the world.”Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mohandas GandhiPlease visit http://sowhatcanido.blogspot.com to offer your comments and suggestions, forward this post, and peruse the archives. Thanks for reading "So what can I do", the public service weblog promoting…

• Send a girl to school.

  8 Mar 2012 | 8:15 pm

  Happy International Women's Day! One great way to celebrate is to invest in the women of tomorrow and the communities they'll create. You can do that by helping send a girl-child to school. According to CAMFED, "When you educate a girl in Africa, everything changes. She’ll be three times less likely to get HIV/AIDS, earn 25 percent more income and have a smaller, healthier family." Consider supporting CAMFED as they help girls all over rural Africa pay school fees, purchase school books and uniforms, and get a life-changing education. And if you'd like other ideas for today and everyday,…

• Sacrifice, save, serve.

  22 Feb 2012 | 10:32 pm

  Today is the first day of Lent and many Christians are giving up some luxury as a way of preparing for Easter and focusing their thoughts and prayers on Christ's sacrifice for us. If you are giving up something for Lent this year, and if that something costs money, consider donating your savings to a worthy local, national, or international service organization. * If you're giving up pop for Lent, you could save and donate $30 to help a family use agriculture more self sufficient by supporting Heifer International (where I got this idea).* If you're giving up desserts for Lent, you could save…

• Make it a day/life of service.

  6 Jan 2012 | 10:02 pm

  I remember one Martin Luther King day many years ago, when I was in grad school, that I spent in the lab. That wasn't too unusual because I generally went to the lab every day. But one of my colleagues (who was also working) asked me why I was in the lab on the King holiday. I replied that I thought Dr. King would want me to get my PhD. I still think of the King Holiday as a day on rather than a day off, but now that I have finished school, I have a bit more time to be of service to others on that day. Readers of So What Can I Do are likely to feel the same, so I offer two resources to find…

• EITC: Ask for it!

  6 Jan 2012 | 9:30 pm

  Tax time is upon us once again. You've got a couple of extra days this year - til April 17. And here's another piece of good news: lots of folks, many of whom don't know it, will qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. EITC can mean up to $5,751 in your pocket. That's money to pay bills, save for college or a downpayment on your home, or stash away for a rainy day. Find out if you're eligible or ask your tax preparer about it.Remember you have to file a tax return (even if you're not required to or do not owe) in order to claim the EITC.You've already earned it. Now go claim it."Next to…

• 

  Posts - Category: Green Tech

• Hitch a ride through Google's cloud

  Martin LaMonica

  15 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Google animation shows what happens when Gmail users press send. Behind the scenes are secured and energy-efficient data centers designed to optimize server usage and end-user performance. Originally posted at News - Cutting Edge

• Step on it: Virus could lead to motion-powered gadgets

  Martin LaMonica

  14 May 2012 | 9:44 am

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory designs a benign virus that builds up electric charge, a new approach to motion-powered personal electronics and energy harvesting. Originally posted at News - Cutting Edge

• Got a deck? Solar panels now a plug-in appliance

  Martin LaMonica

  12 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  A do-it-yourself kit for installing a handful of solar panels lets people dip their toes into grid-tied solar power. Originally posted at News - Cutting Edge

• Get smart: Charge your phone while walking in this shoe

  Tim Hornyak

  11 May 2012 | 3:38 pm

  Anthony Mutua's modified Nike sneaker can recharge your phone as you walk. Just don't expect more air in your jumps. Originally posted at Crave

• Picture brightens on auto-tinting smart windows

  Martin LaMonica

  11 May 2012 | 9:38 am

  Big building companies back smart-glass startups Soladigm and Sage Electrochromics to get auto-tinting glass out of the labs and into buildings. Originally posted at News - Cutting Edge

• 

  Latest Items from TreeHugger

• Photovoltaic Eye Implants Could Make the Blind See

  Alex Davies

  16 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  A team from Stanford has developed an implant for those with vision loss that's powered by sunlight.

• London's Raw Craft Show Focuses on the Essence of Furniture Making

  Bonnie Alter

  16 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Working in an age of austerity, these furniture makers focus on pure, honest design.

• Why You Shouldn't Buy Ladybugs for Natural Pest Control in your Garden

  Ramon Gonzalez

  16 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Got ladybugs? Encourage native ladybugs in your garden instead of buying wild-harvested ladybugs to manage pests.

• The Music Box: Artists Turn Shanties into Musical Instruments in New Orleans (Video)

  Melissa Breyer

  16 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Nine ramshackle structures have been rigged by a team of musicians, artists, and inventors to create a musical shantytown.

• Charcoal Kills 2 Million People & Vast Swaths of Forest Every Year. Can Biofuel Stop the Carnage?

  Brian Merchant

  16 May 2012 | 2:35 am

  A new venture seeks to produce sustainably farmed, clean-burning biofuel, turn a profit, and end the ills of charcoal in Mozambique—in one fell swoop.

• 

  Green

• On Our Radar: Coffee and Carbon Trading

  By THE NEW YORK TIMES

  15 May 2012 | 10:53 am

  For every ton of carbon captured by newly planted trees, a coffee-growing community in the Peruvian Andes receives a carbon credit that can later be sold on the global market to benefit local residents.

• Pondering That Green Label

  By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

  15 May 2012 | 8:53 am

  An environmental group devoted to protecting forests takes issue with a certification program financed mainly by the timber industry.

• Q. and A.: The Most Endangered Rivers

  By HILLARY ROSNER

  15 May 2012 | 6:12 am

  An environmental group lists American rivers that it sees as threatened by a weakening of the Clean Water Act.

• Offshore Transmission Line Takes a Step Forward

  By MATTHEW L. WALD

  14 May 2012 | 2:51 pm

  A federal agency cleared the way for an environmental review of a proposed Atlantic wind power transmission backbone.

• E.P.A. Appeals Coal Mine Ruling

  By JOHN M. BRODER

  14 May 2012 | 2:06 pm

  The agency will contest a judge's finding that it lacked the authority to revoke a waste disposal permit for a mining project in West Virginia.

• 

  GOOD

• Companies Value Internships, So Why Don't They Hire Interns?

  Nona Willis Aronowitz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  As recently as the 1980s, internships were uncommon and certainly not required for entry-level jobs. Nowadays, they represent a rite of passage for three-quarters of the 10 million students enrolled in America’s four-year colleges and universities. And according to a recent study by Millennial Branding, Inc., the lion's share of employers expect students to have internships on their résumés; 91 percent of the 225 employers surveyed think students should have between one and two internships before they graduate. Yet the study found that half of those employers…

• What's Killing the Electric Car? The Price of Batteries

  Tim Fernholz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  At last week's Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles, a consortium of automakers from the United States and Europe unveiled a speedy new standardized charger for electric vehicles. Under the old system, a full charge would take two to three hours; with the new system, put together by Big Three American automakers Ford, GM and Chrysler and their German counterparts—Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen—a vehicle could charge in as little as 15 or 20 minutes, while you’re in the grocery store or the doctor’s office. The initiative represents a step toward an…

• How to Make Public Transportation Safer on a Shoestring Budget

  Alissa Walker

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  For the past five years, I've ridden trains and buses in Los Angeles at least three times a week. But many of my female friends won't join me because of very real concerns about safety. Such fears are common in every city, but especially sprawling ones like Los Angeles, where riders must walk further distances to our stops, and often through less populated environments. For women who have a choice about whether to drive or take the subway, the thought of a crowded platform or dark sidewalk is enough to keep them in their cozy cars. So how can a city like Los Angeles make its streets…

• A Grassroots Group Demands Legislators Stop Education Cuts

  Liz Dwyer

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Can a grassroots parent group convince California's state legislators to create a balanced budget without deeper education cuts? That's the goal of the "Stop the Circus" public service announcement produced by Educate Our State, a 3-year-old 40,000-member organization hoping public pressure can force legislators to protect schools from the latest wave of slash-and-burn fiscal policy. The PSA—which features a little girl getting the run-around from politicians when she demands to know who is responsible for fixing the education system—was created by Greg Bartlett…

• In Conservative Cultures, Social Media Opens the Door to Condoms

  Christopher Purdy

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Promoting condoms as a tool for family planning and HIV prevention in conservative, traditional societies like Mozambique and Indonesia should be a hard sell.  But social media and internet platforms have made it easier for young people around the world to access information, overcome cultural barriers, and engage in discussions that often sell condoms more as a lifestyle accoutrement than a prophylactic device. This was driven home to me one day when I sat down at a restaurant in Jakarta and was amazed to see a teenage girl sitting with her parents and wearing a DKT “Fiesta”…

• 

  GOOD

• Companies Value Internships, So Why Don't They Hire Interns?

  Nona Willis Aronowitz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  As recently as the 1980s, internships were uncommon and certainly not required for entry-level jobs. Nowadays, they represent a rite of passage for three-quarters of the 10 million students enrolled in America’s four-year colleges and universities. And according to a recent study by Millennial Branding, Inc., the lion's share of employers expect students to have internships on their résumés; 91 percent of the 225 employers surveyed think students should have between one and two internships before they graduate. Yet the study found that half of those employers…

• What's Killing the Electric Car? The Price of Batteries

  Tim Fernholz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  At last week's Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles, a consortium of automakers from the United States and Europe unveiled a speedy new standardized charger for electric vehicles. Under the old system, a full charge would take two to three hours; with the new system, put together by Big Three American automakers Ford, GM and Chrysler and their German counterparts—Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen—a vehicle could charge in as little as 15 or 20 minutes, while you’re in the grocery store or the doctor’s office. The initiative represents a step toward an…

• How to Make Public Transportation Safer on a Shoestring Budget

  Alissa Walker

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  For the past five years, I've ridden trains and buses in Los Angeles at least three times a week. But many of my female friends won't join me because of very real concerns about safety. Such fears are common in every city, but especially sprawling ones like Los Angeles, where riders must walk further distances to our stops, and often through less populated environments. For women who have a choice about whether to drive or take the subway, the thought of a crowded platform or dark sidewalk is enough to keep them in their cozy cars. So how can a city like Los Angeles make its streets…

• A Grassroots Group Demands Legislators Stop Education Cuts

  Liz Dwyer

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Can a grassroots parent group convince California's state legislators to create a balanced budget without deeper education cuts? That's the goal of the "Stop the Circus" public service announcement produced by Educate Our State, a 3-year-old 40,000-member organization hoping public pressure can force legislators to protect schools from the latest wave of slash-and-burn fiscal policy. The PSA—which features a little girl getting the run-around from politicians when she demands to know who is responsible for fixing the education system—was created by Greg Bartlett…

• In Conservative Cultures, Social Media Opens the Door to Condoms

  Christopher Purdy

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Promoting condoms as a tool for family planning and HIV prevention in conservative, traditional societies like Mozambique and Indonesia should be a hard sell.  But social media and internet platforms have made it easier for young people around the world to access information, overcome cultural barriers, and engage in discussions that often sell condoms more as a lifestyle accoutrement than a prophylactic device. This was driven home to me one day when I sat down at a restaurant in Jakarta and was amazed to see a teenage girl sitting with her parents and wearing a DKT “Fiesta”…

• 

  GOOD

• Companies Value Internships, So Why Don't They Hire Interns?

  Nona Willis Aronowitz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  As recently as the 1980s, internships were uncommon and certainly not required for entry-level jobs. Nowadays, they represent a rite of passage for three-quarters of the 10 million students enrolled in America’s four-year colleges and universities. And according to a recent study by Millennial Branding, Inc., the lion's share of employers expect students to have internships on their résumés; 91 percent of the 225 employers surveyed think students should have between one and two internships before they graduate. Yet the study found that half of those employers…

• What's Killing the Electric Car? The Price of Batteries

  Tim Fernholz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  At last week's Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles, a consortium of automakers from the United States and Europe unveiled a speedy new standardized charger for electric vehicles. Under the old system, a full charge would take two to three hours; with the new system, put together by Big Three American automakers Ford, GM and Chrysler and their German counterparts—Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen—a vehicle could charge in as little as 15 or 20 minutes, while you’re in the grocery store or the doctor’s office. The initiative represents a step toward an…

• How to Make Public Transportation Safer on a Shoestring Budget

  Alissa Walker

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  For the past five years, I've ridden trains and buses in Los Angeles at least three times a week. But many of my female friends won't join me because of very real concerns about safety. Such fears are common in every city, but especially sprawling ones like Los Angeles, where riders must walk further distances to our stops, and often through less populated environments. For women who have a choice about whether to drive or take the subway, the thought of a crowded platform or dark sidewalk is enough to keep them in their cozy cars. So how can a city like Los Angeles make its streets…

• A Grassroots Group Demands Legislators Stop Education Cuts

  Liz Dwyer

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Can a grassroots parent group convince California's state legislators to create a balanced budget without deeper education cuts? That's the goal of the "Stop the Circus" public service announcement produced by Educate Our State, a 3-year-old 40,000-member organization hoping public pressure can force legislators to protect schools from the latest wave of slash-and-burn fiscal policy. The PSA—which features a little girl getting the run-around from politicians when she demands to know who is responsible for fixing the education system—was created by Greg Bartlett…

• In Conservative Cultures, Social Media Opens the Door to Condoms

  Christopher Purdy

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Promoting condoms as a tool for family planning and HIV prevention in conservative, traditional societies like Mozambique and Indonesia should be a hard sell.  But social media and internet platforms have made it easier for young people around the world to access information, overcome cultural barriers, and engage in discussions that often sell condoms more as a lifestyle accoutrement than a prophylactic device. This was driven home to me one day when I sat down at a restaurant in Jakarta and was amazed to see a teenage girl sitting with her parents and wearing a DKT “Fiesta”…

• 

  GOOD

• Companies Value Internships, So Why Don't They Hire Interns?

  Nona Willis Aronowitz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  As recently as the 1980s, internships were uncommon and certainly not required for entry-level jobs. Nowadays, they represent a rite of passage for three-quarters of the 10 million students enrolled in America’s four-year colleges and universities. And according to a recent study by Millennial Branding, Inc., the lion's share of employers expect students to have internships on their résumés; 91 percent of the 225 employers surveyed think students should have between one and two internships before they graduate. Yet the study found that half of those employers…

• What's Killing the Electric Car? The Price of Batteries

  Tim Fernholz

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  At last week's Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles, a consortium of automakers from the United States and Europe unveiled a speedy new standardized charger for electric vehicles. Under the old system, a full charge would take two to three hours; with the new system, put together by Big Three American automakers Ford, GM and Chrysler and their German counterparts—Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen—a vehicle could charge in as little as 15 or 20 minutes, while you’re in the grocery store or the doctor’s office. The initiative represents a step toward an…

• How to Make Public Transportation Safer on a Shoestring Budget

  Alissa Walker

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  For the past five years, I've ridden trains and buses in Los Angeles at least three times a week. But many of my female friends won't join me because of very real concerns about safety. Such fears are common in every city, but especially sprawling ones like Los Angeles, where riders must walk further distances to our stops, and often through less populated environments. For women who have a choice about whether to drive or take the subway, the thought of a crowded platform or dark sidewalk is enough to keep them in their cozy cars. So how can a city like Los Angeles make its streets…

• A Grassroots Group Demands Legislators Stop Education Cuts

  Liz Dwyer

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Can a grassroots parent group convince California's state legislators to create a balanced budget without deeper education cuts? That's the goal of the "Stop the Circus" public service announcement produced by Educate Our State, a 3-year-old 40,000-member organization hoping public pressure can force legislators to protect schools from the latest wave of slash-and-burn fiscal policy. The PSA—which features a little girl getting the run-around from politicians when she demands to know who is responsible for fixing the education system—was created by Greg Bartlett…

• In Conservative Cultures, Social Media Opens the Door to Condoms

  Christopher Purdy

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Promoting condoms as a tool for family planning and HIV prevention in conservative, traditional societies like Mozambique and Indonesia should be a hard sell.  But social media and internet platforms have made it easier for young people around the world to access information, overcome cultural barriers, and engage in discussions that often sell condoms more as a lifestyle accoutrement than a prophylactic device. This was driven home to me one day when I sat down at a restaurant in Jakarta and was amazed to see a teenage girl sitting with her parents and wearing a DKT “Fiesta”…

• 

  SocialEarth

• The X PRIZE Foundation Inspiring True Social Innovation for the Planet

  Justmeans

  16 May 2012 | 1:30 am

  I stumbled upon the X PRIZE Foundation and wanted to share this extraordinary social innovation organisation with you. It's an educational, not-for-profit with a fantastic mission to bring about radical [...]

• Part II- Are You the Right Leader for Your Social Enterprise?

  Paul Hardt

  16 May 2012 | 1:07 am

  In the first part of this two part mini-series, I told you about the work of Larry Greiner, who mapped out five stages in the organizational life cycle. Here are [...]

• Interview with Christopher Brereton of PictureHealing

  Clem Auyeung

  16 May 2012 | 12:45 am

  Christopher Brereton is one of the founders and is the lead Guru for PictureHealing. He and the team have developed a way to engage nonprofits, brands, and passionate do-gooders through [...]

• Question and Answer with Paul Rice, President and CEO of Fair Trade USA: Part 2

  Julie Fahnestock

  15 May 2012 | 2:19 am

  "Don't we want to democratize fair trade? Don't we want fair trade to be more than a white,middle-class movement? Don't we want consumers, no matter where they shop, to have [...]

• Kimberly-Clark Recognized for Sustainability Leadership

  3BL Media

  14 May 2012 | 8:34 pm

  (3BL Media) Dallas, TX - May 10, 2012 - Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) today announced it has received the 2012 Circle of Excellence award from the Distribution Business Management Association (DBMA), [...]

• 

  Africa Rural Connect

• Agribusiness in Africa with Social Network

  Africa Rural Connect

  9 May 2012 | 3:14 pm

  Africa Rural Connect was built as a collaboration space for people who have lived on the ground in Africa to share their ideas. Now you can listen to Africa Rural Connect project manager discuss wh read more

• Africa Rural Connect: My First Step as a Micro Venture Capitalist

  Africa Rural Connect

  26 Apr 2012 | 12:55 pm

  Writen by Steve Amara       Is there any way someone can say he cannot access the good information nowadays if he is provided with the good tools and platforms? I do read more

• Africa Rural Connect on Voice of America

  Africa Rural Connect

  26 Apr 2012 | 12:38 pm

  Africa Rural Connect (www.AfricaRuralConnect.org), recently launched a new contest, the Young Fa read more

• Success Stories: Christopher Thompson and Beekeeping Possibilities in Togo

  Africa Rural Connect

  19 Apr 2012 | 4:05 pm

  Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Christopher Thompson served in the small, West African nation of Togo from June 2006 to December 2008. read more

• Success Stories: George Okumu and Charcoal Briquettes, Cooking Stoves, and Carbon Credits from Cell Phones

  Africa Rural Connect

  19 Apr 2012 | 1:56 pm

  A 2010 round 3 prize winner, read more

• 

  Sasha Dichter's Blog

• Your idea

  Sasha

  16 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  At the start it’s just smoke, a wisp. It has no substance or form. You can take it around to people for help shaping it, so you can better understand what it could be. But the thing is, at the start it has no mass, and until it does it’s impossible for people to really do much of anything about it.  They can talk and you can talk, and that’s about it. Mass gives it the ability to go places.  Mass means that with a push it can break through things. Talk is fine, but the real work is giving your idea some mass.

• Tech for India and Generosity Day

  Sasha

  15 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  Every time Generosity Day comes full circle, I know I’m the lucky one. So many actions, great and small, will go unregistered by all but those who take part in them, but every so often we get a glimpse of what the greater whole looks like and the power of a simple idea that spreads.  It grows, it evolves, it strengthens in the hands of others. Recently, two teachers from Teach for India decided to bring Generosity Day into their classroom.  To see these kids talk about what generosity means to them is a lesson for all of us, and a real gift. (if the video doesn’t appear below you can…

• Peter Drucker – Managing Oneself

  Sasha

  10 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  A little while ago, a colleague of mine sent around Peter Drucker’s Managing Oneself article from Harvard Business Review.  He described it as “something to read and re-read over time,” and having read the piece a few times now I’ve put it on my “reread this one annually” list. The whole piece is about self-knowledge, probably the most important lever in sustained and longstanding professional and personal success. From the opening, just to give you a flavor of both the content and Drucker’s direct, no-nonsense writing style: History’s great achievers – a Napoleon,…

• The London Meditation Project

  Sasha

  9 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  After meeting at the DO Lectures, I was trading notes with Catherine Powell about her wonderful talk on the London Meditation Project, and she shared some wisdom that she kindly has agreed to let me share on this blog: It is such a precious thing to be able to give, and we can all give something. In the Buddhist tradition giving is one of the ‘Six Perfections,’ (we practice them a lot on the way towards perfection!) along with ethical conduct, patience/tolerance, energy and vigour, one-pointed concentration, and wisdom. Giving is the first of the six. If there is nothing else we…

• Most of the time

  Sasha

  8 May 2012 | 5:00 am

  You can’t make people care. You can make people act. How does knowing this change what you say and do?

• 

  High Impact Philanthropy

• News and Events 5-12-12: Children, Employment, and Mother’s Day

  impactsp2

  12 May 2012 | 7:54 am

  Education Notes from Kate Hovde Kate Hovde, Senior Analyst Two studies mentioned in EdWeek had us thinking about the importance of thinking (and acting) across sectors: The Ongoing Impact of Foreclosures on Children, from First Focus, a Washington advocacy group and written by a Brookings scholar, looks at the ongoing and potential educational effects of home foreclosures. According the report, one in ten children in the U.S. are being directly affected by foreclosures. The stress and dislocation associated with moving, and in some cases homelessness, has been shown to negatively affect…

• Mother’s Day: Finding the perfect gift

  impactsp2carol

  10 May 2012 | 7:30 am

  Carol McLaughlin, Research Director Gift giving can be tricky. Do I give her something she needs? Or something she wants, but won’t—or can’t—ask for? At a recent TEDxChange event, Melinda Gates made the “uncontroversial” statement that all parents want what’s best for their children. What mothers around the world want is exactly what we all need to prosper: safe, healthy environments where mothers and their children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. So this Mother’s Day, consider one of the following high impact philanthropic gifts.

• News and Events 5-4-12: Communities, Children, Chinese Philanthropy, and College

  impactsp2

  4 May 2012 | 10:35 am

  May the Fourth Be With You… Community Health and Well-Being U.S. health centers for poor, uninsured see ranks swell: New report shows that nonprofit community health centers continue to see rising numbers of needy patients up from 17 million to 20 million in the last four years. These safety net clinics meet a critical need for low-income and uninsured Americans. See our analysis for how this model delivers care effectively and cost-efficiently. Science in Action—Teen Violence Prevention Keeps It Real: The Briana and Damon project out of Penn’s School of Nursing is focused on…

• Graduating Impact: Six years of preparing emerging leaders

  impactsp2

  3 May 2012 | 10:59 am

  “I had my most fulfilling on-campus job experience at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy.”- Melanie Lei, Health & Societies/English, Penn SAS Class of 2012 “Through my work at CHIP I have learned that simply giving philanthropic dollars is not enough; it is imperative that donors and nonprofits alike think in terms of impact. I’ve especially enjoyed exploring the dynamic between individual and institutional funders and designing forums to foster mutual learning between the two. I am attending NYU Law School beginning this fall and hope to combine my interest in…

• News and Events 4-27-12: Finding Good Teachers, Scaling Local Impact, Food Deserts, and More

  impactsp2

  27 Apr 2012 | 1:48 pm

  Center Highlights Fewer people registering for Susan G. Komen races: Article explores why some longtime nonprofit supporters chose to leave, with comments from our executive director, Kat Rosqueta. What constitutes good evidence? On Freedom from Hunger’s The Evidence Project blog, Chris Dunford discusses evaluation methodology and how it must extend beyond the standard of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and incorporate more mixed methods approaches, mentioning our 3 circles approach of research, field experience, and informed opinion. Not all who wander are lost: Every year,…

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  In Search of Sanuk - Charity and Volunteering in Bangkok

• Could You Help Someone Whose Face You Couldn’t See?

  Dwight Turner

  13 May 2012 | 11:05 pm

  The biggest obstacle to fundraising for refugees is the responsibility to do your best to protect their identities. I have to be careful about the photos and videos I post. If I can include them in pictures I share online, I have to use obscure angles or blurs. I’m even more selective about the volunteers who can participate in our work in Bangkok. And I can’t let them speak for themselves, no matter how loveable and articulate they are. Are they still worth helping? Yes, just like Ryan who now lives in the US, they have dreams of one day not living in fear. Dreams of being able…

• Sunshine Makes Me High: 7 Volunteering Photos to Inspire

  Dwight Turner

  5 May 2012 | 4:46 am

  It’s been super hot in Bangkok lately and as much I love the heat when it’s constantly 100 degrees it wears you down. The same is true of the things we decide to give our time, money and energy to no matter how worthwhile. As much as I love working with kids and families, when the emails pile up and the donations don’t seem to be coming in, fatigue sets in. I’m fortunate that it’s a holiday weekend in Thailand and to take advantage of not having Saturday school today, I’m relaxing and playing catch up on the week’s work. It’s important to take a…

• Extra Help and the April Fun Raising Report

  Dwight Turner

  29 Apr 2012 | 2:50 am

  “If I go home now I’ll just sleep the rest of the day, I don’t have anything to do,” says the young woman watching Tom & Jerry. She receives about $70 each month to help her survive living in Bangkok. She’s unable to work and often struggles with finding a sense of purpose while she bides her time waiting to hear back from the UN. “One year, nine months exactly,” she startles me with her accuracy when I ask how long she’s been in the country. “…still waiting…” She pauses and looks thoughtfully and confesses,…

• 7 Photos From Our Volunteer Led Culture Exchange in Bangkok

  Dwight Turner

  2 Apr 2012 | 7:43 am

  I’ve revamped the way we run volunteering to integrate volunteers better into the project. In the new format volunteers who commit themselves to our project, no matter the length of their time in Bangkok, can make a difference by helping us fundraise and pump new energy into each of our initiatives. If you’re interested in joining, please revisit the guidelines on our volunteer page. Many of our recent volunteers have been funneled into a culture exchange activity on the outskirts of Bangkok. Instead of only teaching English, the volunteers exchange instruction in English for…

• Video Game Saturday and Volunteering Program Changes

  Dwight Turner

  18 Mar 2012 | 3:26 pm

  This week I’ve been restructuring our volunteer  program, so I’m able to focus my efforts on finding sponsors for the other half of the thirteen families we support. The changes include hiring help and implementing a some fees to help cover costs. If you’re volunteering with us in Bangkok or planning to, read the new guidelines for participation on our volunteer page. Also happy to report a good time with the kids from Saturday school this weekend. They joined their high school mentors for a few hours of crafts, video games and pizza! Next week, we’re back on track…

• 

  Asian Philanthropy Forum

• For Fun: Philanthropy Jargon Generator

  Dien Yuen

  12 May 2012 | 1:51 am

  The field of philanthropy needs a bit more humor. What better way to laugh at ourselves than to create silly phrases that no one can decipher? Check out the Philanthropy Jargon Generator. Their instructions are simple: 1.  Click the "Create Jargon" button.2.  Watch useful phrases appear in the box.3.  Repeat as needed, until grant application or annual report is completed. Here are some of my favorite ones: * develop coalition-based policymaking networks * extend high-bandwidth strategic alliances * extrapolate philanthropic collaborations * drill down on impactful capacity…

• Wokai Shuts Down: A Setback for Microfinance in China

  Dien Yuen

  4 May 2012 | 12:43 am

  Casey Wilson, co-founder of Wokai ("I Start") announced earlier this week that Wokai started the process of winding down and concluding its operations. Started five years ago, the non-profit's goal was to alleviate poverty in China one loan at a time. They had built a microfinance website that connected contributors with borrowers in China. Wokai contributors could choose the borrowers they wish to support and see the progress of repayments being made online. As a 501c3 non-profit organization in the U.S., those supporting Wokai received a charitable tax deduction and became…

• Philanthropy Advising Series: Influences from the West

  Dien Yuen

  1 May 2012 | 2:21 am

  The existing philanthropic consulting landscape is still highly immature.  However, with the growing interest to participate in philanthropy and the explosion of new wealth being created in Asia, many firms are popping up to meet these opportunities. But the field lacks well-developed business models to sustain or drive growth. The main challenges they face seem to be demand, compensation, and talent. I will explore some of these issues and the trends I am seeing in the next several posts. In the U.S. last year, three major changes took place in the field that may signal where the market is…

• International Corporate Measurement Framework

  Dien Yuen

  6 Apr 2012 | 12:30 pm

  I am participating in the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy's Global Initiative to create an internationally relevant measurement framework for corporate giving. If you have time this weekend, it would be great to get your feedback on the concepts and language of the proposed valuation guidance. The initial phases of the work included extensive tax, finance, and legal research to understand the areas of consensus and disagreement across nations as to what organization and contribution types are recognized as charitable giving.  There is much confusion and lack of alignment…

• Impact Form: Igniting Capital Markets for Social Good

  Dien Yuen

  28 Mar 2012 | 12:43 pm

  Asia is leading the growth of social capital markets in part thanks to IIX and Shujog. Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX) is the home of Asia's first private and public platform for social enterprises to raise capital efficiently. Shujog is a nonprofit that is affiliated with IIX to support the work of social enterprises in the form of advocacy, research, and capacity-building. Together, these two groups are not only creating a space for social enterprises to grow and mature in Asia. IIX and Shujog are hosting the Impact Forum 2012 in Singapore, to be held June 25-26.  The theme of…

• 

  What Do You Stand For?

• Microsoft to Business Units: Reduce or Pay Up

  10 May 2012 | 11:00 pm

  In less than two months, all direct operations divisions of Microsoft will be forced to reduce emissions or pay the price. But it's not a government organization or NGO who's enforcing the mandate it's the company itself.  Microsoft announced this week it is committed to going carbon neutral by July 1 and is extending this responsibility throughout its company. Through what Microsoft deems the "accountability model," each division within the company will be responsible for its own carbon emissions, which will not only raise internal awareness, but will also send a strong message to…

• Status Update: Facebook Promotes Organ Donation

  3 May 2012 | 11:00 pm

  For years, the Department of Motor Vehicles has inquired whether we'd like to be an organ donor, but Facebook has posed a more direct question: Are you?The world's leading social network announced Tuesday it will now allow users to include organ donor status among other biographical information on member profiles, marking perhaps the first time an individual's donor status has been shared in such a public way. Yet, the outcome is much more than a timeline milestone. The New York Times reports nearly 7,000 people die each year waiting for an organ transplant; Facebook reaches 161 million users…

• Burger Kings Big Commitment

  26 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  Burger King, the world's second largest fast food chain, signaled bold change this week when it announced it will source 100 percent of its eggs and pork from cage-free chickens and crate-free pigs by 2017. The company, which purchases hundreds of millions of eggs and millions of pounds of pork annually, currently sources just nine percent of eggs and 20 percent of pork from cage-free vendors. Burger King joins a number of other brands making cage-free egg purchasing decisions, but according to Matthew Prescott, a spokesperson for the Humane Society of the United States, this is the first…

• Earth Day Roundup

  19 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  As Earth Day supporters look to "Mobilize the Earth" on the National Mall on Sunday, companies are mobilizing consumers to take part in Earth Day promotions. Here's a sampling of programs you can expect to see as you do your part to reduce, reuse and recycle this weekend:   Target is celebrating "Earth Month" by offering special discounts on environmentally friendly products throughout the month of April, in addition to giving out 1.5 million reusable bags on Sunday. The retailer has also partnered with Recyclebank, a B Corp that doles out points and discounts at major retailers to…

• Sustainability: No Secret Sauce

  12 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm

  It's no secret most companies prefer to keep their proprietary tools and processes under wraps for competitive reasons. Yet in the age of transparency, companies have become more willing to open their doors to inspection. One company has taken this a step further by allowing anyone even its competitors to view an essential aspect of its supplier assessment process, all in the name of sustainability.  Bart King recently reported for Sustainable Brands on P&G's newest innovation in sustainability, its Supplier Scorecard Analysis Tool. The scorecard measures supplier improvement year…

• 

  Travelanthropist

• Living It Up in Rio with a Volunteer Vacation

  travelanthropist

  2 May 2012 | 4:43 pm

  Traveling to Cidade Maravilhosa in Rio and looking for a rich experience? A number of non-profit organizations (NGOs) giving travelers the ability to volunteer their skills during their vacations have cropped up to meet the community’s needs...

• Forget Bali, 3 Islands That Offer The Ultimate Escape

  travelanthropist

  28 Mar 2012 | 5:10 pm

  Crazy traffic jams, noisy Bluebird taxis, and terrorist threats have all detracted from Bali’s status as an island paradise. What’s a traveler to do for a little tropical R&R now? These three island destinations...

• Travel to the Philippines to Help Rebuild the Batad Rice Terraces

  travelanthropist

  2 Feb 2012 | 1:12 pm

  As a result of a series of typhoons, the Batad Rice Terraces in Ifugao, a World Heritage site since 1995, are in danger. The Batad community will be open to voluntourists, who will be able to help as well as have a taste of traditional Ifugao life and culture.

• Places to Go and Not Go in 2012

  travelanthropist

  10 Jan 2012 | 12:41 am

  Looking for the ultimate travel experience for 2012? Here are a few destinations to add to your list or keep off your list!

• How to Find 500,000 Places to Stay in Over 175 Countries

  travelanthropist

  13 Dec 2011 | 8:34 am

  Social travel site Tripping.com, which connects travelers with local people for tips or even homestays in over 175 countries, recently announced the launch of a new search engine that aggregates listings from the world's top vacation and short-term rental sites.

• 

  The Change Blog

• How To Break Free Of Limiting Cultural Beliefs

  Thomas Maurer

  14 May 2012 | 9:30 am

  Photo by Fayez By Thomas Maurer “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” – Mark Twain Limiting cultural beliefs operate in much the same way to limiting personal beliefs. A lot has been written in the personal development and self help fields about overcoming perceptions in the mind that hold you back from achieving your goals. Negative self talk such as “I’m not brave enough, strong enough, beautiful enough, dedicated enough…” Self imposed limitations are self…

• Right Rejection and Happy Acceptance

  Om Swami

  12 May 2012 | 9:28 am

  By Om Swami Once upon a time, Buddha, with his monk disciples, stopped by a village. His intentions were to deliver sermons and spread the message of righteousness and liberation. Some of the villagers however did not receive him well. They called him an atheist, used abusive language and asked him to leave the village. Buddha, however, remained quiet and peaceful as ever. He did not respond to any of the verbal abuse. His face expression did not change. His disciples could not bear their master being abused, they could not see him treated that way. They felt bad and hurt. Taking cue from…

• Saying Yes to Change: An Interview with Alex Blackwell (+Book Giveaway)

  Peter Clemens

  10 May 2012 | 8:23 am

  By Peter Clemens Today I’m very happy to feature one of my longtime blogging friends, Alex Blackwell. Alex is the founder of the popular blog, The Bridgemaker, and has just released his first book, Saying Yes to Change: 10 Timeless Life Lessons for Creating Positive Change. I have two hard copies of the book to give away, but first I would like to share with you an interview I recently did with Alex: 1. Alex, what led you to write this book? It’s been a story in the making for the past nine years. In 2003, my life was at a crossroads. On the verge of losing my wife, I decided it was…

• Nothing Lasts, But Suffering Makes It Worse

  Larry Wharton

  8 May 2012 | 7:30 am

  Photo by h.koppdelaney By Larry Wharton The Buddha spoke of impermanence, that nothing lasts, and that failing to understand the real nature of impermanence means suffering. Most of us would agree that impermanence, or change, is a fact of life. If I ask if the weather, a river, or a mountain will always be the same, most will say no. If I ask if we as individuals will never change, again most will say no. But here is the rub. Our sensitivity to impermanence shows up in our attachments to wishing for the world to be other than it is, unchanging. We exist in a conflicted state where…

• 7 Reasons You’re Not Reaching Your Goals

  George P.H.

  5 May 2012 | 8:59 am

  Photo by Mizrak By George P.H. If goals were easy to reach we’d all be rockstars, billionaires and rocket scientists. But having dreams isn’t enough; to make them come true, you’ve got to walk the walk. And that walk can be real tough. That’s why 92% of Americans fail to achieve their New Year’s resolutions. They know what to do – the popular resolutions are all straightforward – but something holds them back from succeeding. You’ve probably experienced the same problem. You had a goal, you knew what had to be done but you couldn’t manage to do it. Don’t worry; you’re…

• 

  Charitable Gift Giving Blog: Gifts That Help

• Help Charity By Watching TV with Viggle

  steve

  14 May 2012 | 12:50 pm

  Have you heard of Viggle yet? If you own an iPhone and watch TV, you’re going to want it. The best way to describe Viggle is that it’s like Foursquare for your TV. Every time you sit down to watch a TV show, you “check in”. The Viggle app will actually listen to your TV, identify the show you’re watching, and then give you points. You’ll get points for any show you watch (as long as it’s on the list they maintain of the most popular channels…you may not get points for watching your buddy juggling on public access TV), and they have promotions…

• Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Bar that Helps Provide Bikes to Needy Areas

  steve

  7 May 2012 | 11:34 pm

  On Sunday, I had the pleasure (and the pain) of riding on the annual Five Boro Bike Tour in New York, a 40-mile bike ride that goes through all five boroughs of New York, from Manhattan to the Bronx to Queens to Brooklyn to Staten Island. It’s probably one of the coolest ways to see the City, as the City will close off a lot of New York’s major roads to make room for the 30,000 bikers (to the ire of some motorists who didn’t get the memo). Moreover, a lot of riders raise money for charity as well. It was a spectacular day for a ride (although some parts of me would beg to…

• I Support Chen Guangcheng. Do you?

  steve

  2 May 2012 | 10:55 pm

  This week’s post isn’t about a product to buy nor a gift to give. But I felt compelled to write about something that’s been in the news lately. For the last few days, we’ve been hearing about Chen Guangcheng. All the major news outlets here in the United States refer to him as the “The Blind Activist”, as if he’s some kind of odd character in a book or curiosity to entertain us for 5 minutes on the evening news before we watch our reality TV shows. Chen Guangcheng is a very real person. Perhaps his story strikes home with me because he’s about…

• Forget Wine Tasting, Have a Cheese Tasting Party with Cheese that Helps an Amazing Cause

  steve

  24 Apr 2012 | 11:43 pm

  Since around the time the movie “Sideways” came out in 2004, it seems that wine tasting has been all the rage. The “cool” thing to do is to build yourself a wine cellar, buy a couple bottles of expensive wine, and show off your knowledge of the subtleties of a pinot vs. a merlot (or whatever). Funny thing is, while everyone has been paying so much attention to the wine, cheese has almost become a second banana. People enjoy and pontificate their fine wines, and then obligingly pop in the cheddar or Monterey Jack cubes that are sitting next to the wine on crackers. What…

• Download Jim Gaffigan’s Latest Album, Help a Great Cause, Screw the Middleman #hotpockets

  steve

  19 Apr 2012 | 12:16 pm

  I’ve been a huge fan of Jim Gaffigan since before the days he was fighting crime with Conan O’Brien and his freakish pale-white skin. Since then, I’ve seen him in concert in 2008 and 2010 and even saw him on Broadway last year. While my friend Jack and I used to attend a lot of comedy shows in 80s and 90s, lately it seems that most stand-up has gotten either too political or too raunchy for my tastes. But Gaffigan bucks the trend. He’s just about the only stand-up act these days that can make me guffaw till tears come out of my eyes, and he does it all without…

• 

  The GiveWell Blog

• GiveWell Labs Update and Priority Causes

  Holden

  9 May 2012 | 1:43 pm

  Over the past few months, the main focus of GiveWell Labs has been strategic cause selection. Before diving into a particular cause, we want to make sure we’ve done a reasonable amount of work looking at all our options and picking our causes strategically. We’ve published our take on what information we can find on philanthropy’s past successes and our observations on what foundations work on today (both with spreadsheets so others can examine our data), and we’ve published our framework for identifying a good cause. With these in mind, this post lists causes…

• What Large-Scale Philanthropy Focuses On Today

  Holden

  8 May 2012 | 2:19 pm

  We think there are two key questions for someone trying to do strategic cause selection: (1) What is the history of philanthropy - what’s worked and what hasn’t? (2) What is the current state of philanthropy - what are philanthropists focused on and what might they be overlooking? We started to answer (1) in our discussion of foundation “success stories.” This post addresses (2). We first discuss the data sets we have used, which we are making publicly available and linking from this post. We then make some observations from these data sets. The data sets we’ve…

• Strategic Cause Selection

  Holden

  2 May 2012 | 8:52 am

  Our picture of how most major foundations work is as follows: First, broad program areas or “causes” - such as “U.S. education” and “environment” - are chosen. This step is almost entirely “from the heart” - no systematic review is conducted, but rather the philanthropist (or foundation President) chooses areas s/he is passionate about. Foundation staff speak to relevant people in the field and lay out a foundation strategy. This process may lead to direct identification of potential grantees or to RFPs/guidelines for open applications.

• Microfinance and cookstoves

  Holden

  26 Apr 2012 | 11:24 am

  Two interventions that command a lot of attention are microfinance (financial services, particularly small loans, for the very poor) and improved cookstoves (with the hope of reducing air pollution). We’ve recently seen a couple of helpful summaries of relevant research: David Roodman summarizes the most rigorous research on microfinance. There are now five randomized controlled trials on microlending that have at least published some preliminary results; it looks like there is very little in the way of direct poverty reduction or wellbeing improvements, though there is positive impact…

• Update on the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative: our current #2-ranked charity

  Natalie

  19 Apr 2012 | 10:45 am

  Since GiveWell recommended the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) in November 2011, SCI has received about $1.4 million in unrestricted funds ($500,000 of which we directly attribute to GiveWell’s recommendation), of which $1.1 million remains to be spent. We have spoken with and met with SCI to discuss its plans for using these funds. Funds spent to date SCI has made grants of $100,000 and $80,000 to Yemen and Senegal respectively for deworming drug delivery. SCI has granted about $25,000 to Tanzania to treat 153,000 children in one region. As part of discussions with the…

• 

  Everyday Giving Blog

• Three Surprising Facts About The Science Of Giving

  Roger Carr

  14 May 2012 | 9:43 pm

  There have been many studies recently that strive to determine the root cause and psychology behind the act of charitable giving. People's attitudes towards altruism and their perceived social responsibility are affected so many different environmental and emotional factors, it's often difficult to ascertain their precise reasoning. But, thanks to a series of studies published by the Journal Of Experimental Social Psychology, we're able to get an insight into the complex motivations people have when engaging in a philanthropic or charitable act. However, it's not as common sense-based as…

• Funny Ways To Raise Cash For Charity

  Roger Carr

  5 Apr 2012 | 10:30 pm

  Raising cash for charity is a great thing to do and the more funny your method of doing it the more likely you are to gather oodles of moola! What I've created below are some simple variations on regular methods of fund raising to increase the funny factor and hopefully your bank. Which means everyone is a winner! A Race... OK, not the most inventive, but it's how you pitch it. And what you race. Basically everyone likes a flutter. So embrace this and get people gambling. What better way to soften the blow of incurred losses, by knowing your cash is heading to charity rather than the pocket…

• Tips For An Effective Silent Auction For Charity

  Roger Carr

  24 Mar 2012 | 10:16 am

  How to Get the Most Out of a Charity Silent Auction Silent auctions can be a great fundraising opportunity for any charity. Pay close attention to the details surrounding the auction to obtain the most benefit. Choosing the venue Contact the local chamber of commerce to obtain a calendar of events. Many craft fairs, home shows, and other community events offer free space to non-profit and charitable organizations. Contact each one for space availability and event rules. Choose which events to attend carefully. Longer events tend to have higher attendance. Home shows tend to have less charity…

• How to Get Involved with Microfinance

  Roger Carr

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:16 pm

  As a form of socially conscious investment, microfinance is an increasingly popular option for people who want to do something good – and there is plenty of scope to get involved. One study by Unitus found that up to 80% of the potential microfinance market had still not been reached, so there is clearly still a lot of work to be done. A lot of this is due to the fact that the key targets of microfinance charity are primarily poor, rural and often hard to reach. So, if you are interested in micro loans as a means of helping some of the world’s most disadvantaged people, how can you get…

• Wacky Ways to Raise Money for Charity

  Roger Carr

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:47 pm

  If there's a charity that's close to your heart, you've probably put at least some thought into raising money for it.  Sadly, in today's economic climate, it's hard to find people willing to donate to good causes.  It's not that people don't want to help - but there's not much in the way of spare money floating around these days, and people are constantly being bombarded with requests to sponsor charity runs, donate to raffles, pledge on someone's JustGiving page, or sign up for a monthly direct debit to donate to a specific cause. If you want to persuade people that your cause is…

• 

  Asian American Giving

• For Fun: Philanthropy Jargon Generator

  Dien Yuen

  13 May 2012 | 1:20 am

  The field of philanthropy needs a bit more humor. What better way to laugh at ourselves than to create silly phrases that no one can decipher? Check out the Philanthropy Jargon Generator. Their instructions are simple: 1.  Click the "Create Jargon" button.2.  Watch useful phrases appear in the box.3.  Repeat as needed, until grant application or annual report is completed. Here are some of my favorite ones: * develop coalition-based policymaking networks * extend high-bandwidth strategic alliances * extrapolate philanthropic collaborations * drill down on impactful capacity building

• Asian American Philanthropy in Silicon Valley

  Dien Yuen

  28 Mar 2012 | 12:31 pm

  AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy) is releasing the report, Emerging Opportunities: Giving and Participation by Silicon Valley Asian American Communities this Thursday. Learn more about recent research on the motivation and inspiration that drives giving among the fast-growing Asian American community in the Silicon Valley. Thursday, March 29, 20125:00 pm – Reception / Dinner5:30 pm – Program & Livestream Broadcast [link below]LinkedInCorporate Headquarters, Unite Room2025 Steirlin Court • Mountain View, CA The program will include opening remarks from Peggy…

• Asian Pacific Fund Names New Executive Director

  Dien Yuen

  14 Feb 2012 | 3:42 pm

  Audrey Yamamoto will join the Asian Pacific Fund as its new President and Executive Director. Excerpted from the announcement is Audrey's background: Audrey comes to the Fund from her current position as Executive Director of the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco, an organization where she has worked since 2003, starting as Director of Marketing and Development, then becoming Director  of Programs and Experience before stepping into the Executive Director position in 2008.  Prior to her work at the Museum, Audrey was Director of Development and then Chief Operating…

• Asian Americans Encouraged to Apply 02/12/2012

  Dien Yuen

  12 Feb 2012 | 1:53 pm

  Grade 2 Mandarin Immersion Teachers, Yu Ming Charter School (Bay Area). Mandarin immersion public charter school in the San Francisco Bay Area seeks experienced and dynamic teachers to provide a variety of instructional techniques to second grade students.  Yu Ming Charter School opened Fall 2011 with K-1, and will serve 150 students in grades K-2 in School Year 2012-13. We are growing into a K-8 school.  Program Officer, David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Bay Area). The Local Program Officer Position presents the right candidate with a dynamic opportunity to provide both day-to-day…

• Philanthropy News Digest 01/30/2012

  Dien Yuen

  30 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

  An Executive Director's Guide to Financial Leadership. There is a difference between financial management and financial leadership but do most executive directors understand this? Financial management is the collecting of financial data, production of financial reports, and solution of near-term financial issues. Financial leadership is guiding a nonprofit organization to sustainability. The ED is responsible for developing and maintaining a business model that produces exceptional mission impact and sustained financial health. This should be required reading for all EDs. Executive…

• 

  Kiva Loans

• Huyen : Viet Nam

  16 May 2012 | 12:30 am

  $425 of $975 raised. Started raising funds on May 15, 2012 Huyen is 38 years old and is married. She has two children and lives with them and her husband in Ho Chi Minh City. Huyen and her husband have run a general store at their house for ten years. She sells milk, beverages, stationery, confectionery, etc. She intends to use her loan to buy many kinds of products to sell such as eggs, sugar, and sanitation items. Huyen hopes her business runs smoothly and will help her to improve her family's living conditions and save money for her children's education.

• Lamzira : Georgia

  15 May 2012 | 11:50 pm

  $1,125 of $1,250 raised. Started raising funds on May 15, 2012 Lamzira is a 47-year-old farmer from Martvili District. She lives with her mother (a pensioner). Lamzira earns a living through an agricultural business. She has 2 milk cows. Lamzira milks the cows 2 times a day and collects the milk for cheese production. With the collected milk, Lamzira produces on average 40 kg of cheese per month and sells it on local open market. Along with the dairy farm, Lamzira is busy with beekeeping. She has 30 beehives with bee colonies. Lamzira harvests honey twice a year and sells it on local market…

• Junneh : Liberia

  15 May 2012 | 11:50 pm

  $200 of $275 raised. Started raising funds on May 15, 2012 Junneh is 40 years old and lives in Bardnesville. She is married and has 7 children with ages between 10 to 24. She stopped her education in 9th grade. Her husband is a contractor. Since 2009 Junneh has been selling sugar, rice, butter, and palm oil in the local market. She is requesting a loan to purchase more rice, butter, sugar and palm oil for her business. She started this business with money that she received from her husband. Her plan is to build a house and educate her children.

• Liliana Isabel : Colombia

  15 May 2012 | 11:20 pm

  $1,000 of $1,425 raised. Started raising funds on May 15, 2012 With her previous loan, Liliana purchased natural medicine and other products from natural laboratories. She also bought other types of merchandise, like clothing and handbags, which she sold, thereby earning a little more money. She is currently requesting her second loan to purchase various merchandise in response to the Mother's Day orders that create a rapid turnover of inventory. She will also use her loan to make improvements to her shop so that she and her customers will feel more comfortable in her facility and come back.

• Sarepta Group : The Democratic Republic of the Congo

  15 May 2012 | 6:50 pm

  $2,125 of $5,000 raised. Started raising funds on May 15, 2012 This client’s name is Akwabela. She is the leader of the Sarepta business group. She is a dynamic, indefatigable entrepreneur 40 years of age. She is divorced and the mother of eight young children. She sells small gift items and cosmetics (jewelry, necklaces, chain bracelets, rings, lipstick, makeup base, hair extensions). She sets up her wares on the street, selecting a strategic location to attract the attention of customers, particularly Congolese women used to the contemporary global fashions. She launched her business with…

• 

  BP Claims

• BP Settlement News: Quick Pays and the Deadly Catch

  Bill

  15 May 2012 | 8:33 am

  BP Settlement News from the Gulf:     Shrimpers Stories   BP Settlement News from the Bayou. We have been hearing recently from shrimpers that are coming back in from the Gulf of Mexico and the Bays about the Health of the Gulf, the news is not good. Shrimp catches are down, way down. They are picking oil up in their nets more often then not. The shrimp and killfish they are finding in their nets have lesions, they are missing eye sockets, and they have a myriad of other issues. The FDA says it`s fine to eat, we all know better. We have been told by numerous sources they just raised the…

• Deepwater Horizon Settlements News

  Bill

  8 May 2012 | 7:13 am

  Deepwater Horizon Settlements and You Deepwater Horizon Settlements will be the mechanism for you to settle your BP Claims. The Deepwater Court Supervised Settlement Program will cover economic and medical claims associated with the BP Oil Spill. The only reason there is a Deepwater Horizons Settlements Program, is because of the dismal failure of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. The track record of the GCCF was shameful for many as they preyed upon the fishermen, crabbers, and shrimpers of the Gulf Coast. Many others were starved into taking Quick Pays, and the buzz around creating a Class…

• BP Settlement Multipliers and More

  Bill

  6 May 2012 | 10:34 am

  BP Settlement Calculations.   Many people are having a hard time understanding the BP Settlement multipliers, we will try to help you understand your baseline payment under the BP Settlement. Mind you this is just how you figure your baseline there are other factors and multipliers that will be added to complete your Settlement equation. There are various multipliers for various types of claims and the zones those claimants inhabit. BP Settlement Zone A Example Here is how you would find your baseline under the BP Settlement for a Zone A Business under the BP Settlement. Take 3 consecutive…

• BP Settlement has Been Approved

  Bill

  3 May 2012 | 1:39 pm

  BP Settlement Judge Barbier Signs the Settlement The Court Supervised BP Claims Settlement is officially moving forward. Judge Barbier signed off yesterday. There were no major changes to the BP Settlement leaving seafood processors, and people who were forced into quick pays holding the proverbial bag. The Seafood Settlement is also still capped at 2.3 Billion. The BP Settlement Bonanza The Settlement for some is incredible news, property owners that border the gulf of Mexico can file claims for a number of reasons, especially if there is or was oil along the shore. Individuals and Business…

• BP Settlement News and BP Oil Spill Claims Issues

  Bill

  2 May 2012 | 10:04 am

  The BP Settlement and Our Concerns The BP Settlement under some scenarios is not as near as fruitful for many businesses as the initial GCCF was. In some instances it may actually pay to take a Quick Pay, I never thought I would be saying that, in other instance the future trending allowed under the GCCF was much more favorable then under the BP Settlement for some claims. It really is a case by case issue. BP Settlement and other Issues Medical/Quick Pays/Oystermen The BP Settlement has addressed a lot of issues, we are hearing from may of you that you took Quick Pays after being starved…

• 

  Pamela Grow's Grantwriting Blog

• Fundraising in the Trenches | The year of the individual donor

  Pamela Grow

  15 May 2012 | 4:19 pm

  Today, as part of our Fundraising in the Trenches interview series, I’m talking with Leslie White Clay.  Leslie is the Chief Development Officer of Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center in Dallas, Texas.  When Leslie mentioned in a tweet that Hope Cottage had deemed 2012 “The Year of the Individual Donor” I knew that we had to talk.  Small (and mid-sized and large as well) development shops can learn much from Leslie. 1.     Leslie, tell us a little bit about your job at Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center.  When did you begin as DD there? In August 2009…

• Fundraising in the Trenches | Surveying

  Pamela Grow

  9 May 2012 | 5:19 am

  Today’s guest post comes by way of Mary Cahalane. Mary is Development Manager/Individual Giving for Riverfront Recapture, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “leading the effort to reconnect metropolitan Hartford with the Connecticut River and provide community access to the waterfront through four beautiful parks in Hartford and East Hartford.” Mary has learned the value of listening to her donors by way of surveying and shares some of her tips. I have just mailed my second donor survey, and I’m pretty excited. I thought I’d share with you why I’ve added these to my calendar,…

• Where’s My Million Dollar Grant?

  Pamela Grow

  7 May 2012 | 5:27 am

  Today’s guest post comes from the Wildwoman of Fundraising, Mazarine Treyz, who relates a situation that many of us can relate to. So, you just came into a new nonprofit. In your interview, your potential boss said, “We’re making $500,000 a year now, and I want to ramp up to $1 Million this year.” And even though you were going to be the only development staff person, you said, okay. You’re walking to your desk, it’s now month three. Your boss yells, “SO! Where’s my million dollar grant?” (This actually happened to me). What do you say? Managing Up. If…

• 3 questions your donors are asking

  Pamela Grow

  16 Apr 2012 | 10:56 am

  Community Foundations are a great barometer for what donors are looking for when deciding which nonprofits to give to.  In today’s Movie Monday’s video, Mark Hurtubise of the Inland NW Community Foundation talks about the shift from need to outcomes. Do you have a strategic plan? Do you have 100% board giving? What are your outcomes?  Where’s your impact? Remember, donors see themselves as investors.  What kind of difference are they making…through you? Social Bookmarking

• Every Board member should have a copy

  Pamela Grow

  4 Apr 2012 | 2:06 pm

  How appropriate that the dedication in Gayle Gifford’s newest Emerson & Church book, Make Your Board Dramatically More Effective, Starting Today: A Board Member’s Guide to Asking the Right Questions leads off with this quote from Gandhi:  “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”  For I have always admired the author’s gentle, quiet intelligence coupled with a steely determination that could move mountains. Like other books in Emerson & Church’s “1-Hour Book” series, Make Your Board Dramatically More Effective is a short (114 pages) read.  Divided into three…

• 

  Withisms from Lori

• Accountability - Who is Responsible for Fund Development Outcomes?

  15 May 2012 | 12:49 pm

  In the fundraising action planning sessions I conduct with organizations across the country one of my main goals is to shift the lens of awareness and responsibility for fund development to the entire board and staff. Development, as defined by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP): The total process by which an organization increases public understanding of its mission and acquires financial support for its programs. While not everyone in an organization needs to ASK for money, I believe it’s everyone’s job to increase awareness about the impact of the work while…

• Asking Wisdom

  9 May 2012 | 2:35 pm

  I’ve gathered some thoughts, quotes, and comments about asking for you today. I’m passionate about making sure our work has ease and joy infused into it. One way to do that is to come from a perspective of giving others the OPPORTUNITY to be of support and be a part of your community. The goal is to allow donors to be a part of something greater, in whatever way they choose; and they feel great about whatever it is they choose. If they feel like a superhero and want to experience that feeling again and again, you’ve done great work. Words of wisdom from my recent Art of…

• Lessons from The Art & Science of Fund Development

  1 May 2012 | 9:54 am

  I recently had the honor and fun of co-presenting a day-long session with Richard Tollefson of The Phoenix Philanthropy Group and Brian Saber of Asking Matters. We delivered a session for Social Venture Partners International (SVPI) staff and board members called The Art and Science of Fund Development. It’s not a simple task to combine three strong personalities into a seamless experience for the participants. With a bit of pre-planning, the assistance of technology, and graciousness to really work together we were able to share some of the best of what each of us has to offer to a…

• You CAN Raise Money Without Asking

  26 Apr 2012 | 9:31 am

  In the world of fundraising it’s not the norm to receive financial gifts without asking but I believe it IS possible. And don’t get me wrong, I do believe there is a time and place to make those all important one-on-one asks. I do. The truth is I see a bit of laziness in our profession. There is an expectation that because we send you our newsletter and invite you to attend the golf tournament or you attend the annual meeting you SHOULD give your money. Even if we haven’t made it clear what the impact of your gift will be. Join me for a chance to change how you communicate…

• Visual Displays Get Your Board to Take Action

  23 Apr 2012 | 10:27 am

  One of the easiest ways to cause others to take action is to provide graphical displays of what you want them to know or what you want them to focus on with their own behavior. I coach organizations to create dashboards for their board meetings and committee meetings rather than providing reams of paper reports that most board members don’t read. I’ve watched organizations that monitor activity and provide easy to understand visual displays of the activity get more accomplished, raise more money, and they find everyone is clear about what is expected of them. Authentic…

• 

  ApplaUSe For A Cause

• `How Not To Give Foolishly

  Cynthia Coleman

  5 May 2012 | 12:57 pm

          Don't Give to Organizations You Don't Know           If you don't know anything about a charity, do some research first before you give. You're less likely to be scammed that way. Check out the charity's website, check out the charity through Charity Navigator or the Better Business Bureau, and ask friends and relatives what they think of the charity. Overall, it will give you a good picture of the cause and weed out the fakes and scam artists. If it's local, you might want to check out the local office or…

• Support Great Organizations in Hixson, Tennessee

  Cynthia Coleman

  3 May 2012 | 10:11 pm

  Support Great Organizations in Hixson, Tennessee Google+Pin ItSeed Newsvine Chime.in

• A campaign to make giving go viral - CNN.com

  Cynthia Coleman

  17 Apr 2012 | 12:52 pm

  A campaign to make giving go viral - CNN.com `Google+Pin ItFreeWebSubmission.com Related articles 44 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed Reddit user goes viral for showing make-up and make-up less video

• Video: Reader Input Needed, Please

  Cynthia Coleman

  7 Apr 2012 | 9:30 am

  Image via CrunchBase Image via CrunchBase Image via CrunchBase Image via CrunchBase Whether you are famous or not, I really would appreciate your answers to the questions in this video by Xtranormal.   These questions are the basis for this blog. I appreciate your opinions.   I prefer a video response, either through Xtranormal,Youtube or ApplaUSe4ACause's Photobucket page and the best answers will be published in an upcoming post along with the names/usernames and/or websites.  I will give a Kiva card for the very best answer. Comments at the bottom of this post are welcomed,…

• Gaming that Gives Back

  Cynthia Coleman

  5 Apr 2012 | 1:55 pm

                                 From Free Rice to Child's Play, there are a lot of ways on the web that gamers can give back . Most of them free and others can cost anywhere from a few dollars to much more(depending on the donor's choice. ) ;  Free…

• 

  The Levity Institute

• The Levity Institute in the Washington Post

  levity

  19 Apr 2012 | 7:57 pm

  On April 14, the Washington-based organization SPACIOUS, hosted a “Be/Bring Your Own Kid Adult Recess,” event in Washington’s Meridian Hill Park. The pie throwing party was the highlight, allowing stressed out Washingtonians to play. The group hopes to trick out decommissioned ice cream trucks and deploy them to cruise the city offering services such as on-the-spot hairdressing, chefs serving up cookies and milk or “recess teams” that will bring line-dancing flash mobs to downtown sidewalks. They’d be called Spacious mobiles, and you’d able to follow their routes on Twitter.

• Live Your Yes! The Levity Project’s next Micromovement

  levity

  15 Mar 2012 | 12:48 pm

  The new Micro-movement from The Levity Project is here! (And we are really excited about this one!) We are asking you to LIVE YOUR YES! Sound fun? YES! What is it?  A micro-movement is when we at The Levity Project send out a mission to Levity Project Players around the world that you can do in your own town or city with yourself or with friends and family (or strangers!). The idea of The Levity Project is that when we live in our own true joy and radiance it inspires those around us. We believe we are agents of change by who we are not just in what we do.  So we begin within with our own…

• Deep Fun: Bernie DeKoven, A Master on The Playful Path

  levity

  16 Feb 2012 | 12:04 pm

  I had the pleasure of sharing a chat with Bernie DeKoven of Deep Fun.  Bernie and I met at a conference almost two years ago. Immediately I was in awe of his sense of wonder and playfulness while being considered “an expert” about play and the flow state.  He has such a wisdom that emanates from him. Here is a link to our conversation: Bernie DeKoven and Katie West enjoy a chat about fun and the Playful Path Also, below is a blog post of his that I love.  You can find more Bernie’s wisdom at Deepfun.com   Fun Is Easy by BERNIE on JUNE 27, 2011 Fun is easy. It’s…

• Being here now: The Levity Project’s Bubbles of Joy Micro-movement

  levity

  16 Feb 2012 | 11:22 am

  We are so delighted to share with you the latest micro-movement video from the Levity Project!   Thank you to all for being a part of this!   BLOWING BUBBLES OF JOY What is it?  A micro-movement is when we at The Levity Project send out a mission to Levity Project Players around the world that you can do in your own town or city with yourself or with friends and family (or strangers!). The idea of The Levity Project is that when we live in our own true joy and radiance it inspires those around us. We believe we are agents of change by who we are not just in what we do.  So we begin…

• Bubbles of Joy! (Videos due by Feb 10th)

  levity

  6 Feb 2012 | 10:21 am

  (Reposted from January) The Levity Project is asking for your help with our new micro-movement. BLOWING BUBBLES OF JOY  What is it?  A micro-movement is when we at The Levity Project send out a mission to Levity Project Players around the world that you can do in your own town or city with yourself or with friends and family (or strangers!). The idea of The Levity Project is that when we live in our own true joy and radiance it inspires those around us. We believe we are agents of change by who we are not just in what we do.  So we begin within with our own inner levity, and then we…

• 

  Shareable - Sharing by design

• Who Wants a Free Copy of Share or Die?

  SethSchneider

  15 May 2012 | 5:47 pm

  All this week you can win a copy of Share or Die,  the new book from Shareable In the book, young people tell the story of a new lifestyle based on sharing instead of shopping. New Society Publishers is giving away a copy every day this week as part of their "Book a Day for the Month of May". Visit New Society for instructions on how to get a chance to win.

• Cooperative Leaders Meet with White House

  Ambika

  15 May 2012 | 4:35 pm

  While the current narrative of the American economy is far from hopeful, cooperatives are setting a more uplifting tone. According to the National Cooperative Business Association in Washington, D.C., 29,000 cooperatives operate in the nation’s economy, and these democratically governed businesses generate two million jobs each year. The group’s interim president and chief executive officer, Liz Bailey, steered a delegation of 150 leaders and advocates of cooperatives to the White House on May 4th to spark a dialogue with federal officials about the critical role that cooperatives…

• Shareable's Top Biking Tips for National Bike Month

  Kelly McCartney

  15 May 2012 | 3:22 pm

  Get your pedals turning – May is National Bike Month. Not only that, but this week is Bike to Work Week with Friday, May 18, singled out as Bike to Work Day for those who can't commit to the whole five-day spread. The League of America Bicyclists has listings for bike events happening all over the country this month, along with commuter data, bike maintenance information, and safety rules. At Shareable, biking is a hot topic every month. Here are some of our best bike-related articles: The Precariat's Guide to Biking Across Europe Feeling adventurous in honor of National Bike…

• Birthday Eyes: A Twitter Fairytale

  mpharris

  15 May 2012 | 2:07 pm

  It's not a stretch to say the tweet is a new poetic form, I would go so far as to say it's the dominant form of contemporary poetry. A writer can go from unknown to internet-famous with a handful of precisely chosen words. Fan communities can burst out of nowhere, creating poets out of robots or musing atheletes. But there's a structural problem: when poets sell books or get commissioned for readings, they (in theory) get material support in exchange for their work. In other words: even pro poets get paid. Tweeters, on the other hand, are making money for the blue bird alone.

• Shareable's Top 'How to Share' Guides for Spring

  Kelly McCartney

  15 May 2012 | 12:29 pm

  Many people consider the throes of May to be a great time to do their annual spring cleaning. This year, why not add a healthy dose of sharing to the mix? As you clean out your closets, prep your garden, and plan your summer activities, consider doing it all shareable-style. Here are Shareable.net's most helpful guides to doing just that: Swappers show off their finds at Eat, Drink, and Be Mary. Photo credit: SharonaGott. Used under Creative Commons license. How to Throw a Toy Exchange Kids tire of toys almost as fast as they outgrow their shoes. By culling through and trading their…

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  Shareable: Cities

• Global Award Helps Cities Find Shareable Solutions

  Kelly McCartney

  7 May 2012 | 5:12 pm

  The Living Labs Global Award was established in 2009 to address some of the sizable problems that cities and populations face across the globe, from Asia to Africa to the Americas. To support the 125 million people affected by these various societal challenges, some 800 minds – from both the private and public sectors – have set to creating solutions, competing for the Living Labs Global Award in the process. Winners are afforded an opportunity to test a pilot program of their idea. Some of the issues include waste management in Barcelona, venture capital in Cape Town, and…

• Hacking New Tools for a New Economy

  Milicent J

  4 May 2012 | 4:14 pm

  “It’s time to prototype tools for a new Economy!” was the rally cry on a Friday night at 8pm. Creative Currency, a Hackathon put together by GAFFTA, the Hub, American Express, and the City and County of San Francisco, brought together 150 people committed to spending their weekend creating tools that could illuminate and make accessible invisible systems of currency in Mid Market, the city’s most dense, dynamic, and economically impoverished community, located in the heart of the city.  Creative Currency: New Tools for a New Economy from GAFFTA on Vimeo. Generally…

• How Required Parking Harmed Cities & How to Fix It

  toddjersey

  30 Apr 2012 | 10:29 am

  Cross posted with permission from UrbDeZine San Francisco.  The Problem Few ideas turned ubiquitous and entrenched public policy have done more harm to our urban centers than municipal codes requiring minimum off-street parking spaces for all building projects. Donald Shoup, in his book The High Cost of Free Parking, calls this policy a “great planning disaster.” This practice has led to the destruction of massive numbers of historic buildings in order to create parking lots. It has made many remaining historic buildings economically irrelevant by not allowing the uses of…

• A Global E-Platform For Lending Cargo Bikes

  Ambika

  24 Apr 2012 | 7:08 pm

  Cargo bikes, which can be thought of as smaller and versatile counterparts of the pedicab, are bicycles designed to carry everything from bags of groceries to pots of plants. These utilitarian bikes have been in vogue in Denmark for years, and in its capital city Copenhagen, this nature-friendly mode of transportation is rapidly replacing cars. Photo courtesy: Mikael Colville-Andersen, via Flickr As the video below on Copenhagen’s cargo bike culture reveals, cargo bikes are especially alluring to parents seeking to shuttle their children around the city with ease. Some of the…

• New Social Network Crowdsources Better Neighborhoods

  BethB

  23 Apr 2012 | 2:58 pm

  Do you love your neighborhood? Or do you dream about moving away?  When I was younger, my neighborhood was my life. My family didn't have much money, so it wasn't a white-pickett-fence, manicured-lawn type of neighborhood, but to me, it was home. I knew every tree and crack in the pavement. The other kids who lived there were my built-in community, and we spent every possible minute playing outside together. Fast forward 20 years, and I can't tell you the last time I had a conversation with a neighbor. In fact, I don't know a single one of them by their first name. I use…

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  Shareable: CivicSystem

• Shareable Chicago: A Primer

  Paul M. Davis

  14 May 2012 | 7:49 pm

  By any relevant metric, Chicago is an immense metropolis with tremendous global influence. Claiming 227 square miles of Illinois prairie land, Chicago was ranked the third most populous city in the United States in the 2010 U.S. Census, boasting a highly diverse, though segregated, population. The nation’s pulsating heart of culture and commerce, Chicago was named the sixth Most Influential City in the World in the 2010 A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index, (PDF) based upon business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement, ahead of…

• Shareable's Malcolm Harris on Russia Today

  Paul M. Davis

  11 May 2012 | 3:28 pm

  For this week's Shareable Friday video, we have our own editor Malcolm Harris on Russia Today's The Alyona Show discussing the Manhattan prosecutor's office's attempts to use his Twitter records in connection with an Occupy Wall Street arrest in October. Last time Malcolm wrote about the case for Shareable, he was fighting to intervene despite the district attorney's claim that he had no rights to his tweets. SInce then, the judge took the prosecution's side. But this week, Twitter Inc. decided to take a stand and back Malcolm's claim. Hear all about it from him…

• When Bad Data Happens to Good Hackers

  Matthew Hall

  8 May 2012 | 6:40 am

  Open government data (OGD) is the main platform for emerging civic technology applications developed to facilitate civic improvement. Josh Tauberer, one of the founders of civic tech company PopVox, wrote that OGD “is a sort of civic capital, a raw material that can be transformed like a diamond in the rough into something far different and much more powerful.” Civic Commons provides an entire “marketplace” of applications built on OGD and this data is absolutely vital to projects like the Civic Data Challenge, which seeks to turn “the raw data of ‘civic…

• Almere Oosterwold, a Vision of Collaborative DIY Urban Design

  Paul M. Davis

  2 May 2012 | 8:04 pm

  If the term "DIY" hasn't been applied to every conceivable human endeavor yet, give it a few months. Thanks to technologies like 3D printers and nearly-ubiquitous connectivity, enterprises that were once the province of large corporations can now be realized by an individual, ensuring use of the term in ever-more-unlikely contexts. But can a process so diffuse and complicated as urban planning go DIY? Dutch architecture company MVRDV is betting that it can with its proposal for Almere Oosterwold, a development built on the principle of "do-it-yourself urbanism." MVRDV…

• Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Open Data

  Jim Craner

  25 Apr 2012 | 10:33 am

  As organizations like Code for America encourage government transparency and the concept of Open Data at multiple levels of government in the US, I think it’s useful for us to take a look at how Open Data is handled in other countries. Given my non-existent skills in other languages and my distrust of Google Translate, I’ll focus on English-speaking countries first. A couple of years ago I wrote an article for my personal blog entitled “Breaking Through Canada’s Data Wall,” pointing out the status of government-generated data in Canada. At the time I cited David…

• 

  Shareable: Community

• Would Gandhi Use Social Media?

  Nipun Mehta

  10 May 2012 | 3:45 pm

  If Gandhi were alive today, would he use social media? He was never anti-technology, or even anti-changing with the times. Quite the opposite, actually. If Internet technologies and social networks were around, he would certainly have embraced them -- but with a conscious mindfulness of their strengths and weaknesses. Any social-change hero succeeds in doing three fundamental things -- raising awareness, creating impact, and transforming the heart. For awareness, the Internet has been absolutely remarkable. We have trillions of online new friendships; FaceBook releases daily numbers of how…

• How to Start a Tool Library

  Patrick Dunn

  9 May 2012 | 6:25 pm

  It might seem a little risky to lend out a bunch of power tools to those who probably don’t know how to use them. After all, tools can be dangerous, people can be idiots, and we live in an exceptionally litigious society. For some strange but very understandable reason, those concerns alone have been more than enough to effectively end many community tool libraries before they even start.  As the sharing economy continues to blossom, however, more communities are overcoming that inherent fear and establishing lending libraries to embrace the beautiful benefits of sharing with…

• Hack The Law

  Lea Rosen

  24 Apr 2012 | 9:49 am

  On Sunday, April 15, Brooklyn Law School's Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) hosted its first "Legal Hackathon." Describing lawyers as "traditionally conservative wallflowers and naysayers," Jonathan Askin, the founder of the BLIP Clinic, urged the crowd of lawyers, law students, coders, and entrepreneurs to join a "common mission to apply the law to pave the way for technological, civic, social, and cultural progress." The Legal Hackathon was conceived as a way to get lawyers and law students to work collaboratively with coders, policymakers, and…

• Proposal to Create Shareable 2.0 Advances to Top 5%

  SethSchneider

  13 Apr 2012 | 1:22 pm

  On March 15th we asked for your support for Shareable's entry into the Knight News Challenge for a $300,000 grant to redo our site using an open design process and create Shareable 2.0. The competition was intense, with over 1,000 entries received during a one-month period. Our community stepped up and gave Shareable's project over 450 likes and comments, making the proposal one of the most popular in the entire Knight News Challenge. And it made a difference—we found out late yesterday that Shareable's entry made it past the first round of screening! Right now, as I…

• Collaborative Funding is the New Collaborative Consumption

  NathanielJames

  9 Apr 2012 | 8:15 pm

  Platforms and tools for sharing goods and service are laying the groundwork for a new, fairer economy. The next frontier for this shareable economy is the collaborative distribution of financial capital itself. With the success of Kickstarter and the rise of hundreds of distinct platforms, crowdfunding is now a readily available method for generating the resources needed for many creative and social change endeavors.  And crowdfunding is only one side of the story. All over the world, people – with or without individual wealth – are taking philanthropy into their hands,…

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  Shareable: Life & Art

• Who Wants a Free Copy of Share or Die?

  SethSchneider

  15 May 2012 | 5:47 pm

  All this week you can win a copy of Share or Die,  the new book from Shareable In the book, young people tell the story of a new lifestyle based on sharing instead of shopping. New Society Publishers is giving away a copy every day this week as part of their "Book a Day for the Month of May". Visit New Society for instructions on how to get a chance to win.

• Shareable's Top Biking Tips for National Bike Month

  Kelly McCartney

  15 May 2012 | 3:22 pm

  Get your pedals turning – May is National Bike Month. Not only that, but this week is Bike to Work Week with Friday, May 18, singled out as Bike to Work Day for those who can't commit to the whole five-day spread. The League of America Bicyclists has listings for bike events happening all over the country this month, along with commuter data, bike maintenance information, and safety rules. At Shareable, biking is a hot topic every month. Here are some of our best bike-related articles: The Precariat's Guide to Biking Across Europe Feeling adventurous in honor of National Bike…

• Birthday Eyes: A Twitter Fairytale

  mpharris

  15 May 2012 | 2:07 pm

  It's not a stretch to say the tweet is a new poetic form, I would go so far as to say it's the dominant form of contemporary poetry. A writer can go from unknown to internet-famous with a handful of precisely chosen words. Fan communities can burst out of nowhere, creating poets out of robots or musing atheletes. But there's a structural problem: when poets sell books or get commissioned for readings, they (in theory) get material support in exchange for their work. In other words: even pro poets get paid. Tweeters, on the other hand, are making money for the blue bird alone.

• Shareable's Top 'How to Share' Guides for Spring

  Kelly McCartney

  15 May 2012 | 12:29 pm

  Many people consider the throes of May to be a great time to do their annual spring cleaning. This year, why not add a healthy dose of sharing to the mix? As you clean out your closets, prep your garden, and plan your summer activities, consider doing it all shareable-style. Here are Shareable.net's most helpful guides to doing just that: Swappers show off their finds at Eat, Drink, and Be Mary. Photo credit: SharonaGott. Used under Creative Commons license. How to Throw a Toy Exchange Kids tire of toys almost as fast as they outgrow their shoes. By culling through and trading their…

• Building a Beta World

  jaycousins

  14 May 2012 | 11:38 am

  Recently I had the pleasure of speaking at the re:publica event (http://re-publica.de/12/). The frame of the event was action. This presentation was designed to inspire action. No matter how insurmountable the problems we apparently face. I urge you to start something small today. This presentation should hopefully highlight for you how simple it can be, and what big things from small and playful experiments emerge. When we look back we see complexity, we see the outcome and assume a plan, it's our nature. But in truth things never go to plan, one action triggers another which snowballs…

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  Shareable: Science & Tech

• Building A National Digital Library

  Cat Johnson

  9 May 2012 | 10:18 am

  At the heart of the public library mission is a commitment to providing free and open access to information. Yet in an increasingly digital world, mountains of hard copy library materials remain undigitized, distributed across various systems, or otherwise inaccessible online. The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) project aims to change that. Formed in 2010, the goal of the DPLA is to get the wealth of the country’s library resources into one centralized database. What that means in practical terms is that, if all goes according to plan, we will have one enormous national digital…

• Factor E Holiday: Worklife on an Open Source Farm

  BenjaminB

  7 May 2012 | 5:36 pm

  Open Source Ecology (OSE) is a distributed movement (growing quickly in Europe and elsewhere) of collaborative designers, tinkerers, fabricators, and perpetual-beta-testers of the ambitiously outlined Global Village Construction Set (GVCS). It has grown up from humble—and some have surely thought quixotic—beginnings, on a small bare plot of land in the Midwest, throughout almost a decade. The project has recently hit an inflection point of sorts, with the strong influence of three factors: publicity (a highly regarded TED Talk), funding (Kauffman Foundation grant), and…

• Defying Disposable Design

  Paul M. Davis

  27 Apr 2012 | 5:45 pm

  Planned obsolescence is the hallmark of many businesses: incandescent light bulbs, disposable razors, even textbooks. But the most egregious contemporary offender is the consumer electronics industry, perhaps reaching a new height of absurdity with Ikea's recently-announced Uppleva, an all-in-one product that weds a soon-to-be-outdated television to the company's flimsy particle-board furniture: Whether obsolescence is enforced through fashion and design, lack of support, or subpar components, quickly-discarded consumer electronics are often exported to the…

• What is The Future of Mobility?

  SethSchneider

  20 Apr 2012 | 2:53 am

  Collaborative Chats held a panel discussion on April 19 about the future of mobility. The event was held at Zimride’s headquarters in San Francisco and included industry representatives, planners, and policy experts: Avery Lewis, Head of Product, Getaround John Zimmer, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Zimride Timothy Papandreou, Deputy Director of Sustainable Streets Planning for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency William Baumgardner, Associate Principal, ARUP The moderator, Emily Castor, kicked off the panel by asking about the greatest challenges in the…

• Can Sharing Wi-fi Help Bridge the Digital Divide?

  Shelby Ahern

  17 Apr 2012 | 3:32 pm

  Few of us could imagine life without Internet access. Accessing the Internet for information, entertainment, and functions like banking are now well integrated in Americans’ daily lives. In March, the Pew Internet & American Life Project released results from a February 2012 survey indicating that 46% of Americans over 18 years own a smartphone, a 31% increase in less than 12 months. However, almost one-third of Americans do not subscribe to high-speed Internet services at home, which is now the primary metric used to segment the digital divide. This translates to a projected…

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  Shareable: Work & Enterprise

• Cooperative Leaders Meet with White House

  Ambika

  15 May 2012 | 4:35 pm

  While the current narrative of the American economy is far from hopeful, cooperatives are setting a more uplifting tone. According to the National Cooperative Business Association in Washington, D.C., 29,000 cooperatives operate in the nation’s economy, and these democratically governed businesses generate two million jobs each year. The group’s interim president and chief executive officer, Liz Bailey, steered a delegation of 150 leaders and advocates of cooperatives to the White House on May 4th to spark a dialogue with federal officials about the critical role that cooperatives…

• Against the Crisis: P2P Reindustrialization!

  deugarte

  15 May 2012 | 7:09 am

  "A paper can change the present if it allows people to see a new world at hand" says Natalia Fernández. The paper she talks about is the core of a campaign and a blog post entitled "Against the Crisis: P2P Industrial Revolution!" which is being discussed right now across dozens of towns and communities around Spain and Portugal. Its English translation is also quickly spreading around the world. Natalia is probably the best known member of Las Indias, a transnational community that organizes its economy through a workers' cooperative group.

• Expanding the Sharing Market to Aid Economy & Planet

  MichelleKHardy

  9 May 2012 | 1:37 pm

  Good green marketers push the innovation of different products. Better products. But can we profit from making less products in the first place? “Swap Don’t Shop,” the most recent of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club’s Making Green from Green events, explored this very dilemma. The panel began with a sobering point. Moderator Cameron Tonkinwise of the Parsons School of Design Strategies reminded his audience of green business advocates that for all the sustainable sourcing, the holistic manufacturing, the reusable materials, and whatever else constitutes our…

• What Happens When Coworking Spaces Stop Competing?

  BethB

  9 May 2012 | 10:23 am

  Coworking spaces can be a lot of different things depending on where they are and the community they exist to serve. Some are startup incubators or event centers, while others are hubs for all types of sharing. Some coworking spaces are free, though most charge monthly membership fees.  No matter what shape or size, the mission of most coworking spaces is the same: to facilitate collaboration and success among a community of talented people who believe they are better when working in close proximity with their peers. What's funny is that coworking spaces sometimes forget to excercise…

• 10 Lessons from a Sharing Economy Organizer

  Mira Luna

  27 Apr 2012 | 3:57 pm

  I frequently talk with amazing social innovators that have great ideas, but don’t know how to implement them through community organizing. It’s something that you learn by doing and takes years of on the ground experience, self-reflection and feedback. I also studied community organizing in school and with groups who do trainings, which was helpful in getting a framework to examine why and how what I do  is effective or not. After 10 years as a practitioner, it seems community organizing is more important than ever. Occupy Wall Street is powered by participatory organizing…

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  Donate a Car to Charity - CharityCar.us blog

• Charity Shake Up in Iowa

  admin

  1 May 2012 | 10:33 am

  The state of Iowa has suspended payments to a taxpayer-funded Des Moines charity that provides counseling for children and families. The charity, A New Beginning, was the subject of a March 29 Des Moines Register report that said the organization was the subject of examinations by the Iowa Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. attorney’s office. Last week, the Iowa Department of Human Services notified the charity’s chief executive officer, Kenneth Cameron, that it was suspending all Medicaid payments to A New Beginning because of credible allegations that it was billing taxpayers for…

• A Human Transformer!

  admin

  1 Apr 2012 | 5:28 am

  Love it!

• Gaga Announces New Charity at Harvard

  admin

  1 Mar 2012 | 9:31 am

  Pop star Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga, stepped out of a limo at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater to announce the launch of a new nonprofit, the Born This Way Foundation (BTWF), aimed at combating childhood bullying, especially among young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans-gendered (LGBT). Read the full story here.

• Books for Troops Charity is Great!

  admin

  1 Feb 2012 | 11:44 am

  The car dealership has been selecting a handful of charities each month, then allowing Facebook fans to vote on their favorite charity. The charity with the most votes at the end of the month will receive a $1,000 donation. Fans can vote once per day. “I can’t  believe we have been invited to participate because our project was kinda little compared to all the other charities that have been competing, but we are also the first New Tampa charity to compete,” Patricia Murphy, of the woman’s club, wrote to New Tampa Patch when she learned Books For Troops would be included. “I…

• Monster Jam Sponsorship

  admin

  23 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  We had a chance to do a little promotion at the Monster Jam Tour Toronto with our founding member (Standard Auto Wreckers).  This show was so much fun!!!

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  Charity Car Donation News

• Leaving Some of Your Estate to Charity?

  jg

  1 May 2012 | 10:35 am

  Nice article on this topic over at the Vancouver Sun, check-it-out! You can create your own legacy by leaving all or a portion of your estate to charity. Such a gift can reflect your personal values and beliefs while making a difference in the lives of others. Here are five things to consider when leaving an estate gift to charity: MAKE A WILL To leave an estate gift to charity, you must make a will. Otherwise, your estate will pass on intestacy to your next of kin. ENSURE THAT YOUR WILL MAKES ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR YOUR DEPENDENTS Before you can make an estate gift to charity, your will must…

• $15k Prize Added to Tire Take Back Event

  jg

  18 Apr 2012 | 1:42 pm

  Great news and more excitement for this years Tire Take Back Event!  Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS), as part of the 2012 Tire Take Back event, is offering a Community Prize to create excitement about this important recycling event, encourage community participation and underscore the connection between high value, green products and responsible tire disposal. The Community Prize is a gift in kind of up to $15,000 worth of tire-derived products (such as, but not limited to, recycled rubber mulch, playground surfacing, patio tiles, and sidewalk pavers) from OTS registered Recycled Product…

• Total Nerd Car Spotted at UBC

  jg

  1 Apr 2012 | 12:30 am

  Pi is cool, but not that cool!

• Boston Pizza Raises Money for Charities

  jg

  1 Mar 2012 | 9:35 am

  Boston Pizza (in Richmond, BC) guests shared the love this Valentine’s Day through the restaurant’s 20th annual heart-shaped pizza charity event, which raised more than $614,000 for the Boston Pizza Foundation. The Boston Pizza Foundation raises funds for a variety of local, regional and national charities across Canada, including the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, Kids Help Phone and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Since 1993, the Boston Pizza Valentine’s Day program has raised more than $4.6 million. “We are grateful to all of our guests across the…

• Come On Folks, this is for Charity

  jg

  1 Feb 2012 | 11:46 am

  Charity donation bins in Windsor and Essex County are being used as garbage dumps. The St. Vincent de Paul society has issued a call to stop the illegal dumping at its 35 bins. It’s a problem that costs the charity more than $5,000 last year. General manager Alexis Strahl said she often finds — and is grateful for — usable donations. But she also finds garbage in the bins. Read the full article here.

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  Peter Larson & Blue Design

• Wholeness

  Peter Larson

  10 May 2012 | 10:25 am

  Life seems impossibly fragmented, like a defective puzzle. The pieces won’t fit. Cognitive dissonance. Maybe the puzzle isn’t defective; maybe it’s actually 2 or 3 or 12 different puzzles; pieces all mixed together. Sort it out. Balance. Balance = schizophrenia. The compartmentalization of things is not healthy. I think I believe this, but I’m afraid of its implication: there is only one puzzle. Synthesis. Have I painted myself into a corner; has logic sent me to an impossible end? Emotion tells me NO. Synthesis is very important. But not at once, not over years, not in absolute…

• Conscious Capitalism

  Peter Larson

  9 May 2012 | 8:02 am

  I will be at the Conscious Capitalism conference at Bentley University in Waltham, MA May 22nd and 23rd. Great format, great speakers, and great company with Deborah Rhea and Ed McGraw from Ashley McGraw! Hope to see you there!

• Coloring in the Box

  Peter Larson

  4 May 2012 | 10:54 am

  Wow it’s been a busy spring! As you can see in the News & Resources section, I’ve been doing some traveling, but mainly my time has been taken up by new philosophy development, and creative endeavors associated with that. So this post is one of the “here’s what I’m up to” variety, along with a bit of deeper thinking at the end. Things are busy at home. We started raising chickens this spring, and we learned the hard way: NEVER buy chicks BEFORE you have built a coop! (as in, “I’ll just keep them in the brooder until the coop is ready.”)They grow too fast! This is the…

• Speaking at the Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference

  Peter Larson

  5 Apr 2012 | 10:17 am

  Rex Giardine, Assistant Director for Capital Projects at Syracuse University, Calvin Ahn, Project Manager  at Ashley McGraw Architects, and I will be speaking at the Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference hosted by the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland on April 16. The title of our talk is “Lifecycle: A Holistic Conversation.” It’s ostensibly about sustainable construction materials, but as you can guess, we’re using this topic as an opportunity to talk about big ideas: the Blue Design concept of synthesis, the disconnect between today’s qualitative and…

• The Old Normal

  Peter Larson

  29 Mar 2012 | 1:21 pm

  My Grandfather was a thrifty man, as were many of his generation. When his boots leaked, he put bread bags in them. When rats ate holes in his farm’s wooden corn cribs, he patched them with tin can lids. He never had much money, and his happiness didn’t depend on it. Clichéd and true. I admire my grandfather’s life, through the filter of my knowing him as a child (he died when I was nine). He taught me more than his thriftiness. He also taught me how to be still and listen to the world, and to know it by getting my hands dirty.  I find the things he taught me have great relevance to…

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  Beth’s Blog

• Social Media, Networking, and African Women’s Leadership Training in Rwanda

  Beth

  15 May 2012 | 10:00 am

  For the past ten days, I’ve been in Rwanda, Africa.  I was honored to be a trainer as part of the launch of the ACE Leaders Project, a program developed by the Institute of International Education Sub-Saharan Regional Office and supported by the Packard Foundation.   The project is under the visionary leadership of Cheryl Francisconi who is the director of IIE’s office in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and has vast expertise in developing, designing, and implementing transformative leadership programs for several decades. The project mobilizes leading women’s organizations and…

• Need Answers: LinkedIn Has Them

  Beth

  14 May 2012 | 10:44 am

    Note from Beth: I’m just finishing up an intensive training here in Rwanda.   I was out in a rural area where Internet connectivity was a huge challenge, so was not able to blog,   But now that I’m back in Kigali with a good Internet connection, expect to hear more about my experience teaching social media and the Networked NGO.     Right before I left for this trip, Geri Stengel, shared a guest post about nonprofits and use of LinkedIn that was of interest to many folks.   So, when Geri offered up this second post about nonprofits and LinkedIn, I couldn’t…

• Are You Being Left Behind as Technology Ushers In a Whole New Approach to Philanthropy? #CoFLA

  Beth

  4 May 2012 | 9:25 am

  Note From Beth: Just before I left for Rwanda, I caught some interesting discussion threads about organizational adoption of networked ways of working on Twitter coming from the #COFLA hashtag as a result of the Council on Foundations gathering in Los Angeles.   I discovered that it was Larry Eason from DotOrgPower and his colleague, Shelley Wenk, offered to write this summary of the discussion as a guest post. When I landed,  I was able to get the guest post from Shelley via email and publish it because Rwanda has one of the better Internet connectivity infrastructures for the countries…

• Attention Data Nerds: Nonprofits Miss Out on the Power of LinkedIn: Learn How to Tap It

  Beth

  3 May 2012 | 10:02 am

  Note from Beth: By the time you are reading, I’ll probably have been on a jet plane for far longer than I want to be and maybe have landed in Rwanda.   Once I recover from the journey, expect read reports about the Networked NGO in Rwanda and use of social media to support Women’s Rights organizations.   If you’re motivated to go deeper on LinkedIn after reading this summary,  you will want to check out my curated list of nonprofit and LinkedIn resources here. Nonprofits Miss Out on the Power of LinkedIn: Learn How to Tap It – Guest Post by Geri Stengel  …

• Three Reasons Kids Need Digital Literacy and Citizenship Education

  Beth

  2 May 2012 | 9:49 am

  Photo by WhiteAfrican Note from Beth: By the time you read this post,  I’ll be in the air enroute to Rwanda for a training project.   As a parent of wired kids, I think teaching digital literacy is very important for parents to do.  Here’s some great advice from my colleagues at CommonSense Media.   Three reasons kids need digital literacy and citizenship education — and three ways to provide it – Guest Post by Emily Esch If you’re reading this blog, it’s probably because you’re a huge fan of social media and believe that it empowers all of…

• 

  The Forgiveness Project

• Stories that heal, stories that harm

  simon

  15 May 2012 | 11:36 am

  We’re excited to be running a joint event with St Ethelburgas. In an attempt to draw on expertise and experience we want to explore why telling and sharing a personal story can have such a powerful impact. This participatory day of cross-disciplinary dialogue and discussion, held in NW London, is open to anyone who works with live stories. The aim is to pool learning and build a more complete picture of the field of transformative storytelling, Our latest contributor, Kelly Connor along with Professor Papadopoulos, who teaches on our Diploma will be taking part in the event. Friday,…

• Making Sense of Evil

  marina

  9 May 2012 | 10:22 am

  This week sees the publication of an outstanding and beautifully crafted redemptive memoir by Marian Partington, whose sister was murdered by two of Britain’s most notorious serial killers – Frederick and Rosemary West. Since founding The Forgiveness Project some eight years ago I am frequently sent novels, poems, memoirs, first-person accounts, critiques and sermons on the subject of forgiveness. I’m sorry to say that I find the majority either so proselytizing as to be unpalatable or so badly written as to be unreadable. Even the books which are not like this are often…

• Annual Lecture Tickets Now on Sale

  simon

  26 Apr 2012 | 4:44 am

  The Forgiveness Project annual lecture this year is on 3rd July at 6.45pm at the Royal Geographical Society (London). The title of the lecture is ‘The Line Dividing Good and Evil’ and it will be given by Dr Gwen Adshead, Forensic Psychotherapist, of Broadmoor Hospital. Joining a panel discussion after the lecture and sharing some of their story will be Marian Partington, Erwin James and Kemal Pervanic. Tickets, priced at £10 each (plus online booking fee) can be purchased here online. Tickets can also be purchased directly from the Forgiveness Project. Please send a cheque made payable…

• Diploma in Group Facilitation, Conflict Resolution and Counselling Skills

  simon

  30 Mar 2012 | 4:29 am

  We will once again be running our Diploma in Group Facilitation, Conflict Resolution and Counselling Skills from October 2012 – 2013. The course is run in conjunction with NAOS and lasts one year, from October 2012 until October 2013. The course flyer can be downloaded here: http://theforgivenessproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Diploma-Brochure-2012-2013.pdf Dates and location will be confirmed very shortly but the course consists of 13 days throughout the year plus four 2-day weekend sessions and will be held in central London. To register or to find out more information email…

• The Forgiveness Project Annual Lecture 2012

  simon

  22 Mar 2012 | 5:05 am

  The Forgiveness Project annual lecture 2012 will take place at 6.45pm, on Tuesday July 3rd in London, at the Royal Geographical Society. ‘The Line Dividing Good and Evil’ will be delivered by Dr Gwen Adshead, Forensic Psychotherapist, Broadmoor Hospital. Dr Adshead will be joined for a panel discussion and Q&A by: Marian Partington – author of ‘If You Sit Very Still’, a memoir (to be published in April) which chronicles Marian’s journey of healing following the murder of her sister Lucy at the hands of Frederick and Rosemary West. Erwin James –…

• 

  The Glamorous Life Association » Adtalk

• AdTalk: So Sexy. So relaxed.

  Marcy

  7 May 2012 | 8:15 pm

    Say it with me people. SEXY EXERCISE. Looks like Mr. Hunky-Hairy-Chest-Sits-Provocatively-In-Chairs is about to get some sexy exercise real soon from Ms. Hug –from-Beyond.

• AdTalk: Oh the suffering.

  Marcy

  30 Mar 2012 | 3:35 pm

  Being happy is hard for Annie. And there is nothing worse than being trapped in a happy marriage. Especially when your drinks match your table cloth and your hair scarf. It’s a living hell.

• Adtalk: I don’t feel so smart.

  Marcy

  26 Mar 2012 | 5:20 am

  Yes, but to smart girls know that all the aqua net, and crimping and curling and teasing and basically destroying your hair is gonna take its toll 20 years later? DO they? I am guessing no. Not that I would know of course : )

• Isn’t that Skippy from Family Ties?

  Marcy

  3 Mar 2012 | 10:27 am

    I will not tell you that I had those earrings. I had that hair. I wore gloves with jewelry over them. I owned an attache’ case  and I will not tell you that I may or may not have dated a artsy guy who wore that shirt. “Bags of Color! But not in the [...]

• AdTalk: Subtle but effective.

  Marcy

  22 Feb 2012 | 6:24 pm

  “Oh why yes. It is new. Just a little something I picked up today. Thought you could keep the credit card receipt to remind you of our anniversary next year. Guessing you won’t forget again.”

• 

  Pledging for Change

• Top Four Teaching Aids to Fit In Your Rucksack

  Guest Author

  15 May 2012 | 4:14 am

    If you’ve passed your TEFL, got a degree or just fancy volunteering then this article provides essential info as to what to take that will help you teach abroad. The English language is the ultimate travel aid. Not only is it becoming more and more accepted as the world’s lingua franca, it’s also the most taught second language in the world. So deciding to teach English abroad is becoming an increasingly popular choice amongst native English speakers, especially with the ever-fragile economic situation at home. In addition to the life-changing decision of leaving…

• How to Retain Your Top Talent

  Guest Author

  14 May 2012 | 1:33 pm

  As a company, one of the best records you can have is high retention of employees. When talented prospects see that you have a high turnover in employees, they become concerned and cautious about why. On top of that, training new employees can be costly and time-consuming. Once you find a talented worker, you should strive to keep him or her. You’ll enjoy more productive workers, able to accomplish great things for your company, and even possibly move up in the company. How do you keep your talent happy and your company on top at the same time? 1. Offer an environment that takes…

• The Continuing Saga of E-Commerce Sales Taxes

  Cherrell Tarantino

  13 May 2012 | 4:17 am

  If you’re wondering whether or not you should be collecting sales tax for your online transactions – you’re not alone.   Are you responsible for tax collection, and if so, how do you stay compliant with thousands of jurisdictions having their own rules and rates? This debate is swirling around the globe at the speed of light.  Unfortunately, the resolution is still dragging on interminably because of the many sides to this controversial subject. Currently there are three separate bills in front of the U.S. Congress on this very issue; the Main Street Fairness Act, the Marketplace…

• Getting Government Grants for Green Businesses

  Guest Author

  12 May 2012 | 2:35 pm

  Government grants are funds that the government provides to certain organizations that are considered “not-for-profit”. These are given for free, unlike business loans that require the funds to be paid back. The sound of it would make almost every company out there want to have its own government grant, of course. But getting one is a lot easier said than done. The government has a number of requirements in order for a company to be eligible for the special funding. There are two important things to consider when applying for a government grant: Writing a grant request Writing one might…

• The Greenest Natural Locations On The Planet

  Guest Author

  11 May 2012 | 8:07 am

  Planet Earth is a medley of natural tones, from the deep blues of the oceans and the blinding whites of the Arctic ice caps to the grey slate of mountain rock. Yet perhaps the most comforting and energising of all our planet’s hues is green, to be found in just about every last corner of the globe. Here is a look at the greenest and lushest natural locations known to man.   Iceland Photo by Genevieveromier on Flickr.com. Used under Creative Commons Licence. Once, a long time ago, when the Vikings started conquering windswept lands up near the northernmost reaches of the globe, they…

• 

  Hearts Around The World

• Fresh Eyes

  michele

  14 May 2012 | 8:07 pm

      Have you ever driven down the same street a million times, but then one day you find yourself walking or riding your bike down that same street having a completely different experience? And, by the way, I’m not talking about a huffing and puffing exercise type of experience, more of a, “Wow, that shop looks pretty darn cool.” Or ‘”That tree is gigantic, and those flowers smell delicious.”  You probably did notice things that caught your eye as you blasted by in a car, like the amazing architecture of a specific building, or the unique color…

• Meet me where I am today

  michele

  26 Apr 2012 | 5:45 pm

                                                 Meet me where I am today. There are times in life when the journey takes us or a loved one on a path we can hardly recognize or even accept. Suddenly you find yourself asking questions like; Who am I? or What happened to the person I once knew? Whether we are returning from war, facing the diagnosis of disease or an addiction, suffering a mid-life crisis, or experiencing a sudden change in lifestyle – or simply growing old, the person before us may no longer be the person we once knew them to be. We are all going…

• Playa El Zonte and El Tunco El Salvador

  michele

  14 Apr 2012 | 5:59 pm

  Once again, we did not get a photo of these hearts but had such a wonderful time we hung one in each beach town. Playa El Zonte is where we spent our last evening enjoying dinner on the cliffs overlooking the ocean below. The restaurant owner was so friendly and this was the most beautiful beach we saw.    Playa El Tunco is known for its gigantic, long tubular surfing waves. Surfers from all over the world come to this spot. The river and ocean meet at high tide   The famous rocks of Playa El Tunco They may not look big, but these rollers were indeed The people and country of El…

• Another heart in Juayua, El Salvador

  michele

  14 Apr 2012 | 4:50 pm

  We had such a lovely time in Juayua that I had to hang a heart in a tree walking home from dinner one night. Below are some random photos of this little town. (You can click on the photo to make it bigger) Thank you to the people of Juayua for making our stay special. Amazing murals everywhere Smoothie Stand Palm Sunday Flowers lined the streets, unbelievable!   Hiking the 7 Waterfalls Tour

• The Power of ‘Knowing’ and Committing

  michele

  14 Apr 2012 | 1:54 pm

  There is power in ‘knowing’ and I’m not speaking of knowing something from an ego state, like “I know more than you” but rather from the knowing that pulses deep within. Really, it’s simply a strong intuition that no matter what the circumstance, that ‘knowing’ feeling doesn’t change, nor is it easily explained, which can be frustrating, like it was for my husband, when the ‘knowing’ involved an actual lifestyle change like moving. It wasn’t until recently that I put 2+2 together and realized I have had experiences of…

• 

  Tiny Buddha: Wisdom Quotes, Letting Go, Letting Happiness In

• Tiny Wisdom: This Moment Is Worth Savoring

  Lori Deschene

  15 May 2012 | 11:58 pm

  by Lori Deschene “The journey is the reward.” ~Chinese Proverb So much of our language about the things we enjoy in life revolves around getting ahead. We wonder where our relationships are going. We plan to move forward in our careers. We talk about maintaining momentum with new projects. None of these things are necessarily bad. We naturally crave growth to feel a sense of purpose and progress. But sometimes we put so much energy into pushing and striving that we miss out on the joy of being where we are. When we visualize ourselves taking a pause to fully absorb and appreciate our…

• Releasing Judgment and Allowing Others to Have Their Process

  Tiela Garnett

  15 May 2012 | 11:58 pm

  by Tiela Garnett  “Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest.”  ~Sri Chinmoy We live in a world of judgment. We qualify everything in varying degrees of right and wrong, good and bad, pretty and ugly. We are taught from earliest childhood to judge everything and everyone. We label our days consistently, using adjectives like “beautiful” or “horrible.” Even the weather is not immune! The presence of judgment is pervasive in our lives, yet subtle enough in some cases to pass unnoticed.  I have worked for years…

• Start the Climb: Take One Purposeful Step

  Kirsten Tulsian

  15 May 2012 | 1:10 am

  Editor’s Note: This is a contribution by Kirsten Tulsian “Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” ~H. Jackson Browne When I close my eyes and ponder the dreams that I have, the hopes and wishes that I cradle in my heart, I wonder what has prevented me from reaching for and achieving them. Oh, I come up with a whole slew of excuses, sometimes disguised as “reasons.” The seeker of my truth fires back with a rebuttal most of the time. “It is better to attempt and fail than fail to make any attempt at all,” it says in response to my ego’s ramblings…

• What Does It Mean to Have Enough and Tiny Buddha Book Giveaway

  Lori Deschene

  15 May 2012 | 1:05 am

  by Lori Deschene IMPORTANT NOTE: This post contains two poll questions and a giveaway for an autographed copy of the Tiny Buddha book. If you’re reading this in your inbox, you may want to click through to participate on the site. This is the 7th post in a 10-part series. If you’ve been following this series since I launched it, much of this post will be redundant for you. Scroll to the bottom to read today’s two questions! If you didn’t read the other posts, allow me to explain: Throughout May, I am going to publish ten blog posts, each with two poll questions. I plan to gather all…

• Tiny Wisdom: The Pain of Fighting Our Feelings

  Lori Deschene

  13 May 2012 | 10:06 pm

  by Lori Deschene “Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.” ~Eckhart Tolle Have you ever exacerbated difficult feelings by responding to them with resistance? Although I made peace with my recent burglary shortly after it happened, I started feeling down and anxious at the end of last week. In retrospect, I think there was a connection between that and the painkillers my doctor prescribed when my surgical site started hurting again. But I suspect I was also feeling the residual effects of everything that’s happened over these past two months. At the time, I…

• 

  The Positive Day

• The Origin of Mother's Day

  The Positive Day

  11 May 2012 | 7:29 pm

  This Mother’s Day, the World of Children Award reminds us of the original meaning and message of this special day. For nearly a century, we have recognized Mother’s Day as a national holiday that celebrates the special bond between mother and child. It began in 1870 as the Mother’s Day Proclamation, an attempt to call women together in support of disarmament. Later on, a woman named Anna Jarvis took up the cause to fulfill her mother’s dream of creating a celebration of mothers. President Woodrow Wilson finally declared it an official holiday in 1914. – from Taking the…

• The Road To Pixar

  The Positive Day

  27 Apr 2012 | 5:25 pm

  A group of Orange County college students who are huge Pixar fans created a working replica of the Pizza Planet truck that has appeared in every Pixar feature film except for The Incredibles. Pixar found out about their project and invited them, and the truck, to visit Pixar’s Emeryville, CA studio. We are a rag-tag team of artist, film students and movie buffs determined to complete our dream; visit Pixar.   After countless hours of research and labor, we have built a real-life working replica of Pixar’s iconic Pizza Planet truck. Armed with a few cameras, some maps and fair…

• The Great Paper Airplane Project

  The Positive Day

  26 Mar 2012 | 7:32 pm

  Inspired by the enthusiasm of the kids that participated in The Great Paper Airplane Fly-Off, the PIMA Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ constructed and launched a 45-foot long paper airplane. After it was lifted off the ground by its nose, our giant paper airplane rose and rose until it began swaying pretty heavily in the wind (a product of our having to delay the launch until the evening instead the calmer morning). Aaron, our helicopter pilot then gave the order to cut the plane loose from the cable when it began to pull the chopper itself in a strong gust. But after it was released,…

• The Most Astounding Fact

  The Positive Day

  6 Mar 2012 | 11:45 am

  Max Schlickenmeyer has put together a beautiful and inspiring video mashup that reminds us that we are all interconnected. In 2008 Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by TIME magazine a series of ten reader-submitted questions. One of the questions was “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. – Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson As Carl Sagan…

• The Nicest Place on the Internet

  The Positive Day

  1 Mar 2012 | 6:15 pm

  Need a hug? Well The Nicest Place on the Internet has you covered. Creators Lauren Perlow and Jeff Lam came up with the idea after having “one of those days” at work. They took to the streets of San Francisco one weekend with a camera and a tripod and filmed the first batch of videos. What we craved was something honest and good, unhappiness-offsetting, fail-proof and grin-inducing. – Lauren Perlow & Jeff Lam, co-creators Since launching last November they’ve received hug video submissions from around the world from places like Argentina, the Baltic Sea, Moscow, Brazil…

• 

  Have Impact !

• New loans to women groups

  Peter

  8 May 2012 | 9:50 am

  Jamila (L) and her microfinance entrepreneural group  Today, we issued a new batch of microfinance loans. This batch contained only loans for groups, mainly consisting of women. In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan, as a part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure. Groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee, where members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.

• 70 more loans to women, working in agriculture

  Peter

  18 Mar 2012 | 6:15 pm

  Zaripakhon in Kyrgyzstan Would you even know where Kyrgyzstan is? Leave alone, been there? And would you even have thought to finance an entrepreneur there? Ever? Well we did. On all three accounts: “Knew”, “Visited”, and “Financed”… We just financed our 1,666th loan (that is one thousands six hundred and sixtysixthththth) loan with our Kiva micro financing team. The loan went to Zaripakhon, 52 years and mother of three children. She is a cattle farmer since 2000 selling milk and dairy products. To order further develop her business, Zaripakhon…

• Start 2012 well!

  Peter

  31 Dec 2011 | 2:32 pm

  Since we kicked off our Kiva microfinance project “Change Starts Here” in November 2008, our Kiva Lending Team has already funded over 1,500 projects, for a total value of US$54,000. Check out our project score card on our Have Impact! blog. In 2011, I had a wide range of sponsors for the blogs I manage. After deducting the running costs for my blogs, I want to invest the left-over funds in our microfinance project “Change Starts Here” . Seems like a good way to start 2012 off on a good footing! So, from January 1 to 15, I will run a promotion campaign for AidJobs, my…

• Horn of Africa: Want to have impact? Help us spreading the message!

  Peter

  24 Aug 2011 | 4:11 pm

  After 17 years in the field, working in front line humanitarian emergency response, of which 15 years in food aid relief, I took a sabbatical break. Taking a distance allowed me to discover an other side of the humanitarian work, something more longer term, but with no less impact: agricultural development. Over the past sabbatical year, I had the opportunity to work with a team at CGIAR, mostly on social media related projects. That work brought me to the field, talking to farmers about ways they adapt (or don’t) to the economic and climatic changes, their needs, their wishes,… I wrote…

• New loans to more than 100 women over the whole world

  Peter

  18 Jun 2011 | 7:13 am

  Gakii Mwenda, one of our Kiva lenders from Kenya Gakii Mwenda lives in the Nkubu area of Central Kenya. She has been a farmer for 13 years. Gakii has been producing french beans, potatoes and milk. She sells her produce on the local market. Gakii has made a loan request to Kiva so she could buy dairy goats and construct a barn on her farm. She intends to expand her dairy goat farming and keep cows in the future. She says she will fully rely on the farming income for the upkeep of her children. When I read Gakii’s request, it made me think of many Kenya’s women I met during my…

• 

  Farnam Street

• How To Find Work You Love

  admin

  15 May 2012 | 6:33 pm

  It’s possible to love your job and hate it at the same time: On one side of the equation, there are the elements of work that, if not done right, will cause us to be dissatisfied. These are the hygiene factors: status, compensation, job security, work conditions, company policies, and supervisory practices. It matters, for example, that you don’t have a manager who manipulates you for his own purposes–or who doesn’t hold you accountable for things over which you don’t have responsibility. Bad hygiene causes dissatisfaction. But even if you instantly improve the hygiene…

• Why Your Boss Is Such an Ape

  admin

  15 May 2012 | 8:00 am

  When a subordinate chimpanzee grooms a dominant one, it often does so for a long time and unsolicited. When it then requests to be groomed in turn, it receives only a brief grooming and usually after having to ask a second time. This gorgeous little juxtaposition of tales comes from a new book by Dario Maestripieri of the University of Chicago, who is both a professor and a primatologist (and a primate). His book, called “Games Primates Play,” is devoted to ramming home a lesson that we all seem very reluctant to learn: that much of our behavior, however steeped in technology, is…

• Metaphorical Expressions Are Merely The Visible Tip Of The Iceberg

  admin

  14 May 2012 | 8:00 am

  When you look closely at how we use language, you find that a lot of what we say is metaphorical—we talk about certain things as though they were other things. We describe political campaigns as horse races: “Senator Jones has pulled ahead.” Morality is cleanliness: “That was a dirty trick.” And understanding is seeing: “New finding illuminates the structure of the universe.” People have known about metaphor for a very long time. Until the end of the 20th century, most everyone agreed on one particular explanation, neatly articulated by Aristotle and…

• Does Thinking About God Make it Easier to Exert Self-control?

  admin

  13 May 2012 | 8:00 am

  Jonah Lehrer on religious thoughts and self-control: People are better able to resist their desires when thinking about God. In a series of clever experiments, Canadian scientists demonstrated that triggering subconscious thoughts of faith increased self-control. We still don’t know why inklings of religion increase self-control. The scientists describe thoughts of God as providing the mind with “important psychological nutrients” that “refuel” our inner resources, much like Gatorade replenishes the body after a long run. But how does religion do this? The…

• I Had No Idea

  admin

  13 May 2012 | 7:01 am

  Poring through Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel’s new book, “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,” I found myself over and over again turning pages and saying, “I had no idea.” I had no idea that in the year 2000, as Sandel notes, “a Russian rocket emblazoned with a giant Pizza Hut logo carried advertising into outer space,” or that in 2001, the British novelist Fay Weldon wrote a book commissioned by the jewelry company Bulgari and that, in exchange for payment, “the author agreed to mention Bulgari jewelry in the novel at least a dozen times.” I knew that…

• 

  LoveLivfe

• LOVELIFE Documentry

  LoveLivfe

  14 May 2012 | 7:46 am

  1 hour, 2 minutes and 22 seconds of LOVELIFE documentry. 13th May 2012. 2 years worth of LOVELIFE project. 3 strong angels who taught us to respect our lives, love our lives and cherish our lives. I don’t believe in Gods but I believe in Faith. Think life’s hard and you cannot continue any more? [...] Related posts: The lawsuit on LoveLife Project in Taiwan Not for the Pantang You think your life sucks? Think again…

• Photolog: Maybelline New (York) Me

  LoveLivfe

  9 May 2012 | 11:33 pm

  27th April 2012, Maybelline New (York) Me event @ Zouk. Thank you Nylon Singapore for the event invites! Thank you Shuqing for accompanying me! Related posts: Style Magazine Fashion X-treme Lingerie Show Photolog: LOUD Festival Singapore 2011 Related posts: Style Magazine Fashion X-treme Lingerie Show Photolog: LOUD Festival Singapore 2011

• StarHub Entertainment: Sunsilk Acadamy Fantasia

  LoveLivfe

  9 May 2012 | 3:35 am

  Do you Love Mando pop? Do you want to be famous and are you ready to sing? You’re in luck because Sunsilk Academy Fantasia’s hitting Singapore this July! Auditions can be submitted online NOW via Academy’s website (www.sunsilkacademyfantasia.com) Sunsilk Academy Fantasia auditions will be held at Square 2 shopping mall (Novena) on 19 – 20 [...] Related posts: Sunsilk Weather Defense Bloggers Event

• 9 May 2012 | 1:31 am

  LoveLivfe

  9 May 2012 | 1:31 am

  No related posts. No related posts.

• SO WHAZZ UP!

  LoveLivfe

  3 May 2012 | 1:01 am

  [Advertorial] https://www.facebook.com/BePositive Were you at Orchard last week, spotting us in Reds and Whites on the streets giving out information cards about HIV testing? Along with the other G+ members, we walked from Wisma Atria to Plaza Singapura and back to Orchard again just to spread the message of the importance of HIV tests. Action [...] No related posts.

• 

  Lifestyle goods, designed with a conscience | The Holstee Blog

• My Life Highlights

  15 May 2012 | 7:56 am

  The stories pouring in for the My Life project are amazing. So many different experiences, places in life, reflections, and powerful inspirations are included among these posts. We could not be more honored to share them on this site. Thank you to everyone who has graciously shared a piece of their lives with us.  A few highlighted stories: These weird, mundane moments that we embrace with our Holstee promise are the stuff of life. They aren’t the most glamorous moments, but they are ours. - Kristen Kane I now know life is for sharing, and appreciating every last bite of…

• Holstee Featured on Mashable!

  9 May 2012 | 8:22 am

  “For every big decision, we make sure that we don’t only look at the numbers but also think about why we’re doing it in the first place." -Fabian Pfortmüller. Many thanks to the wonderful people at Mashable for this awesome feature!  Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• My Life!

  7 May 2012 | 6:31 am

  We could not be more excited by the overwhelming response to the launch of My Life. Thank you to everyone who has shared their story with us for this project! The most beautiful thing about the spread of the Holstee Manifesto has been the stories that it has helped to create. We have been honored and amazed by the most powerful response we have received since we put these words to paper: "Hey! This is me."  This is our response. We have collected these stories and hope that the telling of them empowers both the storyteller and the reader. We hope that you will read through these…

• Meaningful Gifts for Mother's Day

  3 May 2012 | 10:38 am

  Mother's Day is only ten days away and what better way to celebrate Mom than with a gift that does good? We are pleased to feature the Somaly Mam Foundation and the amazing work that they are doing to empower survivors of slavery throughout the world. See how you can make a difference this Mother's Day and learn more about SMF: The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to the eradication of sex trafficking and the empowerment of its survivors as part of the solution. Founded by two 24-year old American men and Cambodian survivor and activist Somaly Mam, the foundation takes a…

• Holstee Jams.

  1 May 2012 | 3:34 pm

  What are you listening to these days? Here's a bit of what we're getting into at the office: Mike: Beastie Boys Ill Communications--the first album I purchased that I remember really getting into and Sabatoge is still my all time favorite music video. Dave: This jam is all me today. Mary: A rainy day in NYC calls for Jazz. Also, I continue to be obsessed with this song and am loving this gem of a collaboration. Tylea: Santigold kills it. And this video is a current favorite. Thomas: Ronald's music has a profound effect on me, mainly when I watch him play. I'm really moved by the…

• 

  Renjie Butalid

• Pilipino Renaissance in NYC

  renjie

  16 May 2012 | 1:49 am

  Im looking forward to being in New York City early next month to speak at the upcoming Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro) Summit on June 2, 2012 at NYU. The UniPro Summit is described as a “multinational forum for Pilipino young adults, students and youth,” where the goal is to reach out to the multinational Pilipino community in order to create a safe space and open forum to discuss regional issues and facilitate cultural workshops. This year, the theme of the Summit is the “Pilipino Renaissance”, defined as: The awakening of the individual Pilipino’s…

• Some initial thoughts after three incredible months of TED & TEDx

  renjie

  1 May 2012 | 1:16 am

  I had a great conversation over dinner in uptown Waterloo with one of my best friends earlier this evening. As we talked, it dawned on me that one of the reasons why I felt so wound up and restless these last few weeks, including this past week after coming back from Doha, was because I actually hadn’t given myself the space nor the time to really decompress and reflect on everything that I’d been through these past three months: TEDActive, TEDxWaterloo and TEDxSummit, taking place one after another with a few weeks of downtime in between. All of this while also going through the…

• Embracing Failure

  renjie

  5 Jan 2012 | 9:23 pm

  My friend Ryan Letada gave an incredible talk at the most recent TEDxYouth@Hewitt in New York City in November two months ago. In his talk, Ryan painted a very convincing picture of what failure has meant to him as a social entrepreneur and changemaker when faced with the very real and complex challenges of trying to disrupt the education system in the Philippines with his organization, eKindling. “A mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a flame to be kindled” - eKindling What started initially as a dream to bring magical education opportunities to school kids in rural…

• A Better World Is Possible (Part 3) Opportunities in the BOP-Market

  renjie

  26 Dec 2011 | 11:00 pm

  This blog post is Part 3 of a 3-part series based on a talk I delivered at the C3: Connect. Collaborate. Create. conference at Wilfrid Laurier University on November 20, 2011. A Better World is Possible (Part 1) – Lessons Learned can be found here. A Better World is Possible (Part 2) – A Sense of Careful Optimism can be found here.   Having shared personal lessons learned over the years in Part 1, while painting a realistic picture of a world in the midst of chaos in part 2, Part 3 focuses on the art of possibilities and further elaborates on why I share a sense of careful…

• TEDActive 2012 Full Spectrum

  renjie

  20 Dec 2011 | 5:00 pm

  I am SUPER DUPER EXCITED to share that my application was accepted and I will be heading to Palm Springs in California towards the end of February to attend TEDActive 2012 Full Spectrum. I have been a TED fan for a number of years now, and having been involved with planning TEDxWaterloo, TEDxAlAin and TEDxUW held at the University of Waterloo recently, attending TEDActive will prove to be a dream come true as well as a huge opportunity to connect with and learn from the TED speakers, TEDx organizers and TEDActive delegates in attendance. I look forward to bringing the inspiration and passion…

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  Be Cool. Be Positive.

• Quotes about Positivity #49

  Steve Gonzalez

  15 May 2012 | 12:38 am

  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

• A True Gift for Mother

  Steve Gonzalez

  13 May 2012 | 6:11 am

  Today is the day we are to give thanks to the women in our lives that have given us so much. So to mothers everywhere, we at BCBP wish you a grand Mother’s Day. After all it is our mothers that shape the kind of people we will become. So perhaps in addition to whatever trinket you have managed to find for her, you might consider giving her a real gift. A gift worthy of all of those that she has bestowed upon you. The best gifts are not what you would think of as gifts at all. Think back to your own childhood, are your favorite memories of toys you were give for your birthday or…

• Folk Music via Alan Lomax

  Steve Gonzalez

  12 May 2012 | 9:44 pm

  By Cutter Mitchell – Cutter@BCBP.co Just a little something to listen to while you do what you do. In fact, a study conducted by the Stanford School of Medicine concluded that listening to music while doing anything causes your brain to pay closer attention to detail and concentrate for longer periods of time. So if symphonies by an obscure composer from the 18th century can do that, just imagine what some of Alan Lomax’s folk music recordings can do for you.  

• America’s Soul Archived

  Steve Gonzalez

  10 May 2012 | 6:11 am

  There is one thing central to the American music scene, and that’s folk music. Folk music has long been engrained into the fabric of the soul of this country. It has a way of telling the story of America, and Alan Lomax (pictured right in 1959) has brought this soul into the 21st century. Well perhaps Lomax himself didn’t bring it online, but with the help of the Association for  Cultural Equity his 17,000 recordings spanning from the 1930s to the 1990s are freely available to all. Lomax was born in 1915 and died in 2002, and in those years he experienced at side of America and…

• Quotes about Positivity #48

  Steve Gonzalez

  9 May 2012 | 3:27 pm

  “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Dr. Seuss

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  Tonic - Inspiring News Stories & Social Good

• World’s Most Famous Boxer Decides to Hate the Gays

  Jennifer Birn

  15 May 2012 | 9:58 pm

  The man who may be the best in the world at punching other men in the face has publicly said he disagrees with President Barack Obama’s recently evolved stance on gay marriage. In an interview with the Examiner.com, Pacquiao, now a legislator in the Philippines, said, “God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they so are in love with each other.” America should be the model of morality for other countries to emulate and must have the responsibility to uphold the Scripture to the highest order of God’s command,” Pacquiao continued. This…

• Put Panda Bears on a Slide, Watch What Happens

  Jennifer Birn

  15 May 2012 | 9:32 pm

  How can hilarity not ensue when panda bears visit a playground.  Mind you no one seems to be coercing these baby pandas to enjoy this slide so much. Nope, this is just what baby pandas will do when confronted with a slide at a baby kindergarten in China (How do we know this? We’ve been there!). Our hope for the world is now restored.  

• 9-Year Old Stands Up To Church’s Anti-Gay Campaign

  Jennifer Birn

  15 May 2012 | 9:18 pm

  Plenty of people have stood up to the gross messages of hate spread by the Westboro Baptist Church over the past several years. But rarely do we see a pre-teen boy (who could just as easily be playing video games) speak out against their maddening protests. According to the Augusta Chronicle Nine-year-old Josef Miles was walking with him mom Patty Akrouche,  in Topeka, Kansas over the weekend when they saw a group of Westboro Baptist Church protesters armed with signs saying things like “God Hates Fags”. Patty said that Miles wanted to make his own sign. Using some scrap paper…

• Do Your Part Today – And Your Efforts Will be Doubled!

  Jennifer Birn

  15 May 2012 | 1:59 pm

  The San Diego Rescue Mission has been helping San Diego’s homeless and poor populations create better lives for themselves for more than 50 years. For $1.74 they can feed a homeless person a hot meal, and they say, “To the homeless, one meal can be the ticket to the beginning of a brand-new life. It’s one of the simplest, most effective things you can do to to give homeless back their dignity. Until the end of the day, they’re matching all donations made – so $1.74 donation will feed two people rather than one. It’s part of the “Do My Part” challenge, which stresses, “No one…

• The Voice Finalist Plasters Her Breasts for a Cause

  Jennifer Birn

  15 May 2012 | 11:55 am

  Courtesy of Keep a Breast Founation Last week Team Cee-Lo’s Juliet Simms ran away with second place on the second season of The Voice. This week, the female rocker with the a huge set of pipes is speaking out for a good cause, volunteering to be casted for theKeep A Breast Foundation, a non-profit organization seeks to increase breast cancer awareness by informing young people about methods of prevention, early detection and support. Juliet participated in one of KAB’s initiatives, which includes casting plaster forms of the female torso that are then customized by artists and auctioned…

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  Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit

• Renewable Aviation Fuel: A Market in the Making

  3p Guest Author

  16 May 2012 | 3:23 am

  New technologies and growing demand for staggering quantities of renewable jet fuels make it a sector worth investing in.

• Effective Strategies for Managing Your Employee Volunteer Programs: 9 Steps to Success

  3p Guest Author

  15 May 2012 | 4:30 am

  Volunteer engagements enable your employees to go out in the community, represent your brand, build relationships, and strengthen communities by sharing their skills and passions. Particularly in these difficult times, where the news is dominated by troubling stories, there is perhaps no better way to enhance your image and stand out from the pack than by sharing uplifting stories that demonstrate your company’s social responsibility.

• Iconic Milwaukee Brewing Company Rolls Out First “All Local” Beer

  Leon Kaye

  15 May 2012 | 4:14 am

  Lakefront Brewery recently started serving "Wisconsinite," what it describes as the first truly “local” beer in the U.S.

• Impact Investing Goes Mainstream–Morgan Stanley Jumps on Board

  Scott Cooney

  15 May 2012 | 4:10 am

  Morgan Stanley makes its first foray into impact investing.

• Will London be the Greenest Olympic Games Ever?

  Akhila Vijayaraghavan

  15 May 2012 | 4:08 am

  When London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics, their aim was to make it the greenest, cleanest and most sustainable games ever held. Now with just barely two months left, the host city is scrambling to make good on its promise.

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  Look who Found the Marbles

• Food is Not a Privilege

  Jessica

  14 May 2012 | 7:46 pm

  Over 192,000 people have taken the pledge.  A year ago I took the pledge.  Have you?  Have you pledged to add your voice to the national movement of people committed to ending childhood hunger in America? No child in America should go hungry.  Food should be a right, not a privilege.  I have written about this issue before.  Yet one in five children in this country does not have enough to eat and soon that number could get even larger. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (known as SNAP) is formerly the food stamp program.  Contrary to the old myths about people on food…

• In the NICU Daze

  Jessica

  14 May 2012 | 12:24 pm

  Notorious for having lousy birthdays, it was beginning to look like this one would be no different than the last few.  There were just nine weeks to go in my first pregnancy.  Well, not exactly my first, but my first that had made it this far along.  That morning of my birthday, I woke up with a sudden jolt.  My water had broken. They kept me in the hospital on bed rest for four long weeks.  At 35 weeks my son was born and we got to bring him home with us two days later.  With baby number two, I wasn’t as lucky.  That time my water broke at 26 weeks and we lived in fear with each day…

• On Being Mom Enough

  Jessica

  13 May 2012 | 7:03 am

  On the heels of this week’s hoopla about the now infamous Time magazine article, there has been a lot of talk about the various choices women make as mothers.  Motherhood is not about whether we co-parent or not, whether we breastfeed or not, whether we work full time or not.  Motherhood is about giving it our all and loving with all of our hearts.  Motherhood is about being there while: …. an embryo becomes a fetus, growing inside your womb until it is ready to see the world. …. a fetus becomes a newborn; with sleepless nights, poopie diapers and late night phone calls to the…

• #VlogMom: The Today Show, Please!

  Jessica

  10 May 2012 | 12:41 pm

  What show would you like to be guest on?  The question this week comes from Jennifer at MommyBKnowsBest.com.  As for me, I have two answers.  What’s yours?  Leave it in the comments below.  I can’t wait to hear them! Check out the responses from the other #VlogMoms too: Technorati Tags: ESPN, The Today Show, Today's Professionals, vlogmom

• Thoughtful Thursday Blog Hop: Way to go, Facebook!

  Jessica

  9 May 2012 | 3:39 pm

  Facebook has over 845 million active monthly users and it’s users either “like” or “comment” on the site a whopping 2.7 billion times per day.  In the United States alone there over 161 million Facebook users.  With numbers like that, it is fabulous to see that Facebook is taking it’s social responsibility seriously. In case you were unaware, Facebook recently added organ donor status to its Timeline.  Considering the numbers of people around the world in need of an organ transplant, and how many will die waiting for a donation. this change could have an…

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  B Corporation Blog

• New Leaf Lets the Environment Drive its Success

  B Lab

  9 May 2012 | 11:01 am

  When Jeff Mendelsohn started New York Recycled Paper in 1991, he did so because paper seemed to him to be the industry that was most struggling with change. “Paper is huge, and it’s one of the most energy- and resource- intensive industries in the world,” he said. A decade later Mendelsohn, now the President and [...]

• A Safe Treat for All: Better Know HomeFree

  B Lab

  2 May 2012 | 8:00 am

  Think back to when you were a kid – all those lunch-room food swaps, cookies at little league games, and birthday cakes at parties. Baked goods made events more fun and brought your friends and you together. Now imagine being the only kid who couldn’t take part because you have food allergies and the treats [...]

• Making a Commitment to the Triple Bottom Line: A Perspective from Opticos Design

  B Lab

  25 Apr 2012 | 8:00 am

  Written by Karen Parolek of Opticos Design. I feel like I’m tempting the fates, writing on this topic today. I just got my second biennial email reminding me that it’s time to re-certify as a B Corp. As we have done at least twice before, we must take the B Impact Assessment to evaluate our [...]

• The 100 Year Company and a New Model for Business: Patagonia

  B Lab

  18 Apr 2012 | 8:00 am

    Patagonia is an icon in values-led business and sustainability, and its certification in 2011 elevates the community of B Corps in terms of size and credibility. In his book Let My People Go Surfing, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard says he wants Patagonia to be a company that will last 100 years, and in doing [...]

• Recycling Revolution: Four B Corps Rethink Recycling in Two Innovative Partnerships

  B Lab

  11 Apr 2012 | 8:00 am

  Why send your recycling to waste management when you could get something out of it first? Four B Corps asked themselves this question and recognized the business opportunity in doing good by the planet. They got creative and two partnerships were formed, one between Preserve and Recyclebank, the other between Method and United By Blue, which [...]

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  Blog

• Visiting the new home of Clinic In A Can in South Sudan

  11 May 2012 | 11:13 am

  Our friend Jeanie Tidwell, recently returned from a mission trip to the area of South Sudan where a three unit Clinic In A Can is set to arrive this month.

• PA students provide pediatric care

  8 May 2012 | 12:19 pm

  Wichita State University physician assistant students conducted pediatric checkups while they were in Bolivia

• Shipping container of supplies blesses Burundi

  20 Apr 2012 | 11:52 am

  Twila Flowers writes us with an update from her trip last month to Burundi. Hospitals of Hope sent a container packed with medical equipment

• Young Professionals of Wichita visit Clinic In A Can

  13 Apr 2012 | 12:01 pm

  Jennifer Collins  writes about her time volunteering and learning about Clinic In A Can.

• Making Friends at Movimento Sonrisas

  28 Mar 2012 | 1:32 pm

  Amanda shares some of the touching moments she had in Bolivia while helping outside of the hospital.

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  Benevolent Media | Storytelling and Design for Good

• Q&A with Liz Belfer and Lea Faminiano: Designing Superheroes for Cities

  Andy Prisbylla

  7 May 2012 | 4:00 am

  Guardians of the City at a Union Square pop-up workshop in New York City. Photo by Guardians of the City.   A youth development program located in New York City, Guardians of the City, encourages schoolchildren to become involved in their community by combining social issues with public art. The goal of the project is “to empower children to take ownership of their community and raise awareness for positive change.” (Check out our previous post about the program here.) By drawing fictional superheroes for their neighborhood and embodying them with a superpower specific to…

• Capital Canvases for a Cause: Graphic Illustrator Supports YoungLives

  Claire Sevigny

  30 Apr 2012 | 3:30 am

  Ras' illustrations, such "Brooklyn Metropolis 1986," capture scenes of urban life. Photo via Facebook. Capital Canvases for a Cause is a monthly event in Washington, D.C., organized by Long & Foster on Capitol Hill, that supports local artists and community-based organizations with wine, hors d’oeuvres and networking. Art sales are split evenly between the featured artists and the nonprofit. The latest Capital Canvases event featured the artist known as Ras. The self-described “graphic designer by day and an illustrator at night” originally hails from South…

• Eco Art + Design Depot: Celebrating “Creative Reuse” on Earth Day

  Claire Sevigny

  25 Apr 2012 | 8:11 am

  The Water Street Project warehouse space transformed into a temporary art exhibit in Georgetown. Photo by Steve VanSickle.   In celebration of Earth Day on Sunday, April 22, 2012, Benevolent Media and SCRAP DC presented an afternoon of eco-conscious art and design, featuring a pop-up marketplace of local vendors and interactive workshops led by teaching artists dedicated to inspiring “creative reuse” and environmentally sustainable behavior. This event was scheduled as part of The Water Street Project, a multidisciplinary “flash” exhibition housed in a temporary art…

• Still Life Projects: Building Community with Wangari Gardens

  Still Life Projects

  19 Apr 2012 | 4:48 pm

  Photo by Still Life Projects.   This post was originally published by Still Life Projects, a film production company in Washington, D.C. that creates “new media for social good.” Its team of award-winning filmmakers is working on a piece right now that focuses on a community garden being built in the city’s Ward 5. “It’s going to be a touching piece about building community,” said collaborator Danielle Hill. The finished product is scheduled to be completed in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned! Our favorite stories are about people who dream of ways to…

• Positive Pictures: Germaine Watkins and the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild

  Andy Prisbylla

  17 Apr 2012 | 4:00 am

  Photo by Andy Prisbylla.   As a photography instructor at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, Germaine Watkins explains why it’s essential to connect with his students. “It’s important, because that’s what was done with me when I was a student, and I’m trying to replicate that from my experience,” he said. “It helps them out to see that other people are interested in them and their development within the arts, and as a person too.” Since its inception in 1968, the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, an arm of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation, has been serving…

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  Learning from Dogs

• An interesting year for America!

  Paul Handover

  16 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Whatever the outcome of the US elections, a real change is desperately needed. I stay neutral in terms of American party politics.  As a ‘alien resident’, otherwise known as a Green Card holder, I am not eligible to vote anyway plus I readily admit to neither following nor understanding American politics. But the focus on the late Ernest Callenbach’s words the last two days on Learning from Dogs has left me feeling pretty uncertain about the future for the USA.  In reading those words, despite the many elements of hope and optimism that Callenbach engenders, it is…

• Ernest Callenbach’s last words.

  Paul Handover

  15 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  A moving, insightful postscript to the life of the late Ernest Callenbach. This is a continuation of the republication of a recent TomDispatch Tomgram.  As I explained in Part One published yesterday I have been a follower of Tom Dispatch for some time and frequently find the essays most interesting.  However, reading the words of Ernest Callenbach touched me in many ways, some of which are still evolving.  Callenbach was clearly a man who many years ago not only foresaw how our world was heading but via his writings was able to articulate the solutions.  Today, as the video at the end…

• TomDispatch and Ernest Callenbach

  Paul Handover

  14 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  A remarkable insight into our present world and hopes for the future. As many of you dear readers will know, I am incredibly fond of the essays that Tom Engelhardt of TomDispatch fame publishes on a regular basis.  Indeed, it was just a week ago that I published a Tomgram from Bill McKibben.  Had it not been for Tom querying if I had read his Ernest Callenbach last-words piece I might have missed what, for me, has been one of the most profound ‘mind-stretching’ reads for a very long time. I pondered for most of a morning as to whether to publish Tom’s essay in one piece,…

• Windows on the world of dogs!

  Paul Handover

  13 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  With big thanks to Rich S. for forwarding these to me – enjoy! And a little closer to home …. A picture of Pharaoh as a young puppy in the arms of Sandra Tucker, the owner of Jutone, German Shepherd breeders in Devon, SW England. Pharaoh, aged 9 weeks, picture taken on the 12th August, 2003. Compared to a picture of Cleo as a young puppy in the arms of Jean here in Payson. Cleo, aged 8 weeks, picture taken 4th April, 2012 And closing with a picture of Cleo taken yesterday. Cleo, coming up to 14 weeks.

• It’s the way you tell it!

  Paul Handover

  12 May 2012 | 2:00 am

  Humour at its best! Take a couple of minutes off and bury our crazy world with a laugh.  With big thanks to Dan Gomez for forwarding on what had been sent to him by Greg H.

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  SocialGoodGuide

• Green Talents 2012 – Wanted: Bright Minds with Green Ideas

  Social Good Guide

  15 May 2012 | 11:26 pm

  One pressing issue of high societal relevance is on the minds of young scientists all over the world: “How to raise life quality for a growing world population without wasting resources?” The German Federal Government recognizes global warming, energy shortages, resource scarcity, and massive environmental contamination as some of the biggest global challenges of today. [...]

• Creativity and Innovation for Future Businesses – Bucharest Summer University 2012

  Social Good Guide

  15 May 2012 | 11:17 pm

  The Students’ Senate of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies ASE gladly invites you to take part in one of this summer’s most interesting educational experiences: Bucharest Summer University 2012. This eighth edition of the International Summer School, held annually in Bucharest, gathers professors and specialists from all over the world to discuss the topic of “Creativity and innovation for future businesses”. Themes/Topics 1. CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON [...]

• Energy for Sustainability

  Social Good Guide

  15 May 2012 | 10:20 pm

  This program supports fundamental research and education that will enable innovative processes for the sustainable production of electricity and transportation fuels.  Processes for sustainable energy production must be environmentally benign, reduce greenhouse gas production, and utilize renewable resources.  Current interest areas in sustainable energy technologies are highlighted below. Biomass Conversion, Biofuels & Bioenergy.  Photosynthetic processes [...]

• Global Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner Training Workshops

  Social Good Guide

  15 May 2012 | 9:54 pm

  CSE offers a range of workshops and training courses in the areas of Sustainability, CSR, and Sustainable Development for professionals responsible for the integration of initiatives and best practice within organizations. CSE has trained more than 5,000 professionals from all industry sectors. More than 300 professionals from 5 continents and 25 countries across North America, [...]

• Programme for Social Change and Innovation (PSCI) – New EU Programme Paves the Way for Innovative Thinking

  Social Good Guide

  15 May 2012 | 9:50 pm

  The European Commission has put forward a proposal to develop a new instrument – the Programme for Social Change and Innovation (PSCI) – which will support employment and social policies throughout the EU. The new programme will be used to help tackle some of the EU’s most pressing issues, such as high unemployment rates, poverty [...]