Ideas with Impact

StartSomeGood: The Blog: StartSomeGood News

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:47:09 -0600

StartSomeGood: The Blog: StartSomeGood News:

Chuck Massey wants to provide mobile tents for disaster victims. He is seeking funds to produce a short run of 15 prototype units of an inflatable bed tent. These inflatable bed tent units will be used in disaster relief where victims are provided water and food but are required to provide…

thinkahead: The latest civic engagment app to make a splash is...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:45:29 -0600

thinkahead:

The latest civic engagment app to make a splash is from the Columbian not-for-profit Fundacion Telefonica. Fundacion Telefonica hopes the app will reduce child labor by enabling citizens to quickly take a photo of under age workers and geo-tag their location. The information is sent to a database so Fundacion Telefonica can act on the results. Pretty impressive, if we as citizens can demonstrate that we will actually use such apps, the potential to solve social issues, or at least begin reporting them more precisely is limitless.

-David Beiner

StartSomeGood: The Blog: The Development of a Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:44:00 -0600

StartSomeGood: The Blog: The Development of a Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem:

startsomegood:

Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka and social entrepreneurship visionary, is fond of asking parents, firstly, “what would you do if your child was failing maths?” Parents instinctively have an answer for this. They would spend more time with them doing their home, get them a tutor, buy a math training program. Then he asked, “what would you do if your child was failing to develop as a changemaker?” and the answers come much less readily.

How do we create a culture of changemaking in young people? By giving them opportunities to share their ideas and participate in creating change of course! You get better at maths by doing more maths. You get better at sport by joining a team, practicing and playing. We have clear pathways for gaining expertise in academics and sports but it’s only more recently that we’ve begun to see a focus on providing changemaking experiences for people at a younger age and preparing them for active citizenship.

This is something Ashoka has understood for some time, having launchedAshoka Youth Venture over ten years ago to support 16-20 year-olds to develop their own initiatives, and more recently establishing AshokaU to foster a culture of entrepreneurship on college campuses.

In Australia we’ve seen the establishment of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, who run year-long courses supporting emerging social entrepreneurs of all ages to launch and scale social impact ventures and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, of Social Startup 48, a startup weekend-style event for aspiring changemakers. I’m proud to say all the above organisations are partners ofStartSomeGood.

(Click link for more from this article)

PLANET EARNED: Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation: Not the Same Thing

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:43:46 -0600

PLANET EARNED: Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation: Not the Same Thing:

planet-earned:

Social entrepreneurs are obsessed, quirky, and disruptive – and that’s why they can be so effective in creating major change.

Submitted by:David Wilcox

Posted:Jul 16, 2012 – 10:56 AM EST

Tags:social innovation, social entrepreneurship, innovation, csr, business

drewlittle: Here’s a video of me talking with residents in...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:42:42 -0600

drewlittle:

Here’s a video of me talking with residents in Asheville, NC during my time at the DIY Economy Event.

It was SUPER FUN! Looking to do more of this in Richmond, VA & beyond!

DIY Economy Street Talk (by invisible sessions)

InVenture is Top 5!

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:42:00 -0600

inventurefund:

Bloomberg Businessweek announced InVenture among the Top 5 of America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs: 2012 !

gobemore: An excellent post by Lara Galinsky about helping...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:41:05 -0600

gobemore:

An excellent post by Lara Galinsky about helping young adults find their passion! via @HarvardBiz

“I want to be a social entrepreneur.” I hear it nearly every day. Not just from those applying for Echoing Green’s social entrepreneurship fellowship, but from high school students, college students, and young professionals. They excitedly tell me that they want to launch organizations to improve education in Africa, to better the livelihood of women in inner city Chicago, or solve any number of other big problems. It’s clear that this field has captured the imagination of the Millennial generation. From Babson to Berkeley, students today can take a variety of courses on social entrepreneurship, minor in the subject, and will soon be able to major in it. Today, more than 30 business schools offer substantive programs at the graduate level, when just a few years ago such a thing was unheard of.

You would think as someone who works in an organization that promotes the social entrepreneurship movement, I would be happy about this explosion in popularity. And I am. But, it is not without its dangers.

There is something alluring about being a social entrepreneur. Echoing Green’s fellowship, along with other similar programs, shines a bright light on social entrepreneurs, often making them stars. At Echoing Green, we pull about 20-30 of these stars from 3,500 applications each year.

But social entrepreneurs alone cannot change the world.They need artists, volunteers, development directors, communications specialists, donors, and advocates across all sectors to turn their groundbreaking ideas into reality. They need fundraisers, supporters who can change policies, someone to create a brochure describing their work. If everyone wants to start a new organization, who is going to do all the work?

It’s time for those of us in this field to help young people see the variety of ways and venues in which they can have a social impact. This is precisely why Echoing Green, an organization that has been exclusively focused on social entrepreneurs for the past 25 years, is now cutting the spotlight and raising the house lights to expose the entire ecosystem it takes to solve the world’s biggest problems.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I want to go back to the not-so-distant past — to eight years ago, the first time I heard someone tell me that they wanted to be a social entrepreneur.

Her name was Ripa. She was a young, energetic college freshman at NYU who knew just what she wanted. She approached me after I spoke on a panel about social enterprise and said those magic words: “I want to be a social entrepreneur.”

I was shocked. I had been in the field for nearly a decade, and had never heard social entrepreneurship referred to as an occupation, let alone a desirable one. Even Echoing Green’s Fellows resisted the title.

Ripa told me that she had read about social entrepreneurship on NYU’s business school’s website, and the unique combination of business and social change moved her. Something clicked. She said to herself, This is why I am studying business! This is what I am supposed to do with my life!

I thought Ripa was an anomaly and I took her under my wing. We formed a close relationship. When the NYU Reynolds Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship was launched in 2006, I helped her prepare her application and she became a member of the fellowship’s inaugural class. It was a transformative experience for her.

And yet, Ripa isn’t a social entrepreneur. At least, not by Echoing Green’s definition. She hasn’t launched a ground-breaking new social business, nonprofit or hybrid. Instead, she is thinking like a social entrepreneur and applying that lens to everything she does, turning that which moves her most deeply into opportunities to serve others. She is organizing the San Francisco leg of theEkatva tour, a dance drama about Gandhi and King’s non-violence ideals that features sixteen children from the slums of India. She is also studying Ayurvedic medicine and yoga, exploring the possibility of launching a program that uses those principles to help children trapped in the juvenile justice system.

Watching Ripa’s life unfold, I, too, felt something click. I realized that most members of this generation will not be social entrepreneurs, and they shouldn’t be. But if we can channel their altruistic energy and give them the tools, methodologies, and frameworks from the most successful social entrepreneurs, they will be changemakers, champions, and supporters of the work. They will make meaningful contributions to the world not by founding organizations but by bringing their best selves — their heart and head — to their work. And they will do this in all sectors, not just in nonprofit organizations but also in government agencies, family businesses, and major corporations.

What may happen in two or three generations is even brighter. When these employees become employers, they will naturally strengthen the social change axis in the majority of our institutions so community impact is imbedded into their missions.

This may sound idealistic but we are already on the way. According to Net Impact’s recent Talent Report: What Workers Want in 2012, the Millennial generation wants, and expects, to do good and do well in their paid work. In fact, a majority of students (65 percent) expect to make a difference in the world through their work, and 53 percent would take a 15 percent pay cut to work for an organization whose values matched their own.

However, in my experience, too few of these students know the kind of difference they want to make, and how to make it. And that is the real opportunity.

In order to harness this generation’s desire to create change, we must move away from the antiquated concept of vocation, which emphasizes what’s in it for the individual: whether it will sustain their interest or bring them fame or fortune.

Instead, we need to help young people start their professional lives by asking questions. What issues, ideas, people, and projects move them deeply? What problems are theirs to own? How can they combine their heads and hearts to address those problems? What is their unique genius and how can it be of use to the world beyond themselves?

They needn’t be founders of new organizations to have an impact on the world. But they should be founders of their careers.

"More than 70% of college students and 50% of workers are looking for jobs with social impact. Nearly..."

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:39:20 -0600

“More than 70% of college students and 50% of workers are looking for jobs with social impact. Nearly 60% of students are even willing to take pay cut in order to work for a company that represents their values.”

- The Economist (via catalystparadigm)

startsomegood: The Inner Harbor Project: Creating More...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:39:00 -0600

startsomegood:

The Inner Harbor Project: Creating More Inclusive Communities

Even in today’s technological and increasingly globalized world that enables us to instantly be exposed to people thousands of miles away, from vastly different cultures, many times the very media that leads to understanding can construe an incomplete image of a community. Having attended international schools in multiple countries, I’ve also noticed that in certain cases, not even the actual, daily interaction of people of varied races and backgrounds is enough to counter the stereotypes of ethnic and other groups that are proliferating. Letting these tensions simmer, especially when one is in such close contact with those whom the misconceptions and/or fear are related to, results in a less cohesive network of individuals, as well as less tolerance. Fortunately, the Inner Harbor Project in Baltimore, MD plans to utilize the minds and skills of inner harbor youth to instigate social change among local policy makers and clear up misconceptions about “black youth and their intentions in the Inner Harbour.”

How does campaign founder Celia Newstadt plan to do this? Her vision is through qualitative research and a summer camp. Sound a bit like science camp? Well in a way it is—10 selected high school students will work with Celia to conduct ethnographic research into the history of public spaces in the Harbour and other areas, and will be helped in analyzing competition for public space by guest speakers and experiments. By viewing tensions between harbour youth and local authorities through a sociological lens, new and constructive solutions can be found in order to “decrease crime in the area and build a more inclusive space.” The funds collected for the campaign will be used to provide the necessary research tools, transportation, and food, along with helping realize individual projects. Money is also needed to finish the July through August camp, and to develop a plan to lessen problems and tension between police, officials, and youth regarding local crime.

Currently the venture has received a Napier Award Grant of $10,000, which is being slotted towards paying the students for their participation. The tipping point of $2,500 has also been reached and exceeded and the campaign has $5,400, more than halfway to the total funding goal! With this much funding, Celia will be able to organize a public event at the end of the camp to showcase the students’ achievements, which includes purchasing an event permit. Again, the money is needed to buy research tools like recording devices, and for food and transport. There are only 11 days left till the end of the campaign, so spread the word through social media, word of mouth etc, to help Celia make her project a success. You can also choose to donate to the cause. Let’s create more inclusive communities!

Shaakya Vembar

I’m an incoming senior at the American School of Bombay, India. Living and traveling around the world and staying in Bombay for 5 years has provided me with incredible insight into the dissimilar lifestyles humans can maintain while sustaining a functional society. Currently I’m president of the V-Care organization in my school, (which provides care and education to underprivileged children affected by cancer) and am involved in other community service projects. My passions lie in trying to reduce the prominent financial gap in Bombay’s society through literacy and bringing about a progressive change in rigid social norms (such as oppressive gender roles, foeticide, etc.). I’ll major in English lit and evolutionary bio in college, but one of my ‘life goals’ is to open up hygienic and academically stimulating shelters for the homeless in Bombay.

_____________________________________________________________

What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.

csistarrettlehigh: The Pivot That Changed The World. Ben...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:38:34 -0600

csistarrettlehigh:

The Pivot That Changed The World.

Ben Rattray’s Change.org has been credited with everything from convincing a bank to drop its ATM fees to influencing the South African government to crack down on “corrective” rape. First, the company had to overcome failure.

thinkahead: How do you solve for noise pollution, poor air...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:34:48 -0600

thinkahead:

How do you solve for noise pollution, poor air quality, high city temperatures and general city beauty all in one? In Mexico City you build five vertical gardens. Verdmx and Nissan Mexicana teamed up to do just that and the results are beautiful as you can see in the video above. Hopefully ideas like this can continue to evolve and expand to other cities.

-David Beiner

JAZ MARKETING LLC: Social Enterprises as Agencies of Change

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:32:31 -0600

JAZ MARKETING LLC: Social Enterprises as Agencies of Change:

jazmarketingllc:

David Bornstein and Susan Davis authored a book titled Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 2010). They explained that social entrepreneurship has become a global movement that continues to gain momentum. As an emerging sector, it’s also…

"It is only those who never do anything who never make mistakes."

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:24:07 -0600

“It is only those who never do anything who never make mistakes.”

- A. Favre

bitchville: A Canopy of Colorful Umbrellas Spotted in Portugal...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:18:28 -0600

bitchville:

A Canopy of Colorful Umbrellas Spotted in Portugal by Vento-na-praia

bitchville: Life by http://originalmoxie.net/

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:16:17 -0600

bitchville:

Life by http://originalmoxie.net/

Pop Chart Lab brings order to a swirling chaos, that is, to render the world as charts.

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:30:40 -0600

Pop Chart Lab brings order to a swirling chaos, that is, to render the world as charts. :

Pop Chart Lab was founded in August 2010 by a book editor and a graphic designer who joined forces for one reason: to bring order to a swirling chaos, that is, to render the world as charts. Since the launch, Pop Chart Lab has tackled everything from beer to culinary devices to the story of a boy’s migration to a town called Bel Air.

Pop Chart Lab has been featured on “The Today Show”, in Food & Wine, and on websites such as Boing Boing, Uncrate, New York, Good, The New Yorker, Fast Company, Design Sponge, and Laughing Squid.

Patrick Mulligan

Co-Founder and
Editorial Director

Ben Gibson

Co-Founder and
Art Director

Prints Division

Research Division

Apparel Division

Wholesale Division

Retail Locations ° Wholesale Inquiries ° FAQ ° Contact Us

© Copyright Pop Chart Lab, 2011

The Peace & Justice Academy uses Kiva as a teaching tool

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:28:00 -0600

The Peace & Justice Academy uses Kiva as a teaching tool:

This week, Kiva is feeling inspired by a story from one of our lending teams! Kiva’s Lending Team, The Peace & Justice Academy has been lending through Kiva since 2009 and to this date they have funded 60 loans totaling $1,475!

Randy Christopher and Kimberly Medendorp started the school in 2009, and shortly began implementing Kiva in the classroom. In the beginning, Randy asked each of the students – and there were only ten that first year – to bring in $2.50. He made it clear that they were not to ask their parents for the money. They could scrounge it out of the couch cushions, use their birthday money or sell bottles and cans to raise it, but they could not ask mom. The students got their $25 together and all of them contributed to the discussion of who should benefit from their first loan. That was 60 loans ago!

The school found that Kiva is the perfect teaching tool. Every loan recipient’s story teaches a lesson in geography, culture, finance, history, economics and more. Kiva loves these students’ entrepreneurial spirit and their creativity around fund-raising. This year, as part of a lesson on the ins and outs of business, the boys and girls built competing lemonade stands and raised another $200 for Kiva.
To lend on Kiva visit kiva.org/lend or to start your own lending team, visit kiva.org/community

The Society for Visual Anthropology

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:40:32 -0600

The Society for Visual Anthropology:

The Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) is a section of the American Anthropological Association. We promote the study of visual representation and media. Both research methods and teaching strategies fall within the scope of the society. SVA members are involved in all aspects of production, dissemination, and analysis of visual forms. Works in film, video, photography, and computer-based multimedia explore signification, perception, and communication-in-context, as well as a multitude of other anthropological and ethnographic themes.

Founded in 1984, the Society for Visual Anthropology promotes the use of images for the description, analysis, communication and interpretation of human [and sometimes nonhuman) behavior. Members have interests in all visual aspects of culture, including art, architecture and material artifacts, as well as kinesics, proxemics and related forms of body motion communication (e.g. gesture, emotion, dance, sign language).

The Society encourages the use of media, including still photography, film, video and non-camera generated images, in the recording of ethnographic, archaeological and other anthropological genres. Members examine how aspects of culture can be pictorially/visually interpreted and expressed, and how images can be understood as artifacts of culture. Historical photographs, in particular, are seen as a source of ethnographic data, expanding our horizons beyond the reach of memory culture. The society also supports the study of indigenous media and their grounding in personal, social, cultural and ideological contexts, and how anthropological productions can be exhibited and used more effectively in classrooms, museums and television.

The Society for Visual Anthropology offers a core focus for all of anthropology. We welcome contributions from linguists and archaeologists, as well as physical and cultural anthropologists. Come join us.

10 useless résumé words – and 10 eye-catching ones

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:43:13 -0600

10 useless résumé words – and 10 eye-catching ones :

“Generic hyperbole belongs on cereal boxes, not on résumés,” says Duncan Mathison, a career consultant and co-author of “Unlock the Hidden Job Market: 6 Steps to a Successful Job Search When Times Are Tough.” “If it does not pass the ‘So what, anybody can make that claim’ test, leave it off.”

Instead of being another candidate professing to be a “hard worker,” revitalize your application with a little seek-and-replace exercise. Scan your résumé for empty, overused words such as the following:

1. Outstanding

2. Effective

3. Strong

4. Exceptional

5. Good

6. Excellent

7. Driven

8. Motivated

9. Seasoned

10. Energetic

“Watch out for words that are unsupported claims of greatness,” Mathison says. Adds David Couper, a career coach and author of “Outsiders on the Inside: How to Create a Winning Career … Even When You Don’t Fit In,” “If you call yourself an ‘excellent manager,’ how do we know?”

The nouns following those subjective adjectives can be equally meaningless. Anyone who has ever had a co-worker can claim to be a “team player.”

A better route to take is describing accomplishments and letting the hirer make his own judgment. Give specific, and preferably quantifiable, accounts of what you’ve done that makes you an “outstanding salesperson.” Likewise, peruse your performance reviews for quotable material from supervisors that demonstrates why they consider you a “strong leader.” Listing awards or other forms of recognition also can be used as support.

Some words should be avoided because they convey traits that employers consider standard for anybody who wants to be hired. “You’re motivated? Hope so. A good worker? So happy to hear that; I didn’t want to hire a bad worker,” Couper says. Don’t take up precious résumé space with unnecessary items.

Also on the “don’t” side: words that seek to overcome what you might think are your shortcomings. “Using ‘seasoned’ for ‘over 50’ or ‘energetic’ for ‘inexperienced’ looks like spin and smells like spin,” Mathison says. Keep the focus on what makes you right for the job.

On the flip side, certain words can make hiring managers do a double take. Light up their eyes with these 10 words and phrases:

1. Created

2. Increased

3. Reduced

4. Improved

5. Developed

6. Researched

7. Accomplished

8. Won

9. on time

10. Under budget

“We suggest that résumé writers include action words to describe their jobs,” says Susan Ach, a career counselor at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. Verbs project the image of someone who has the background and initiative to get things done. Employers can clearly comprehend what you’ve accomplished and can use that as a basis for envisioning future success with their company. Think about it: If you were hiring, would you rather take on someone who calls himself a “productive manager” or somebody who states that at his last job he “increased company profit by 3 percent,” “reduced employee turnover in his department to the best level in five years” and “improved brand awareness by implementing a new social media strategy”?

Lastly, it can be beneficial to use verbs and nouns that are common to your specific industry. This shows your familiarity with the language of your field and optimizes the chances of getting past an automatic scan for keywords. But remember, too, that all companies tend to speak a universal language: money.

“Terms such as ‘on time’ and ‘under budget’ are often good. Hiring managers want to know you can get things done with minimum fuss,” Mathison says. Tell them what makes you the most profitable choice for the job and employers will tell you the best word of all: “hired.”

By Beth Braccio Hering, Special to CareerBuilder
Beth Braccio Hering researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues for CareerBuilder. Follow @Careerbuilder on Twitter.

The LOLbrary | First world problems

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:17:49 -0600

The LOLbrary | First world problems