The Real Food Challenge :: Making Waves Around the USA

I got involved in the Real Food Challenge's California student network after first learning about it from its co-founder, Hai Vo, a 2009 Brower Youth Award winner. I got to attend a workshop that Hai co-led at the 2009 California Student Sustainability Coalition Convergence at UC Santa Cruz.

From the Real Food Challenge Facebook page -

RFC is a nation-wide network of college students who want to see more food that is community based, fair, ecologically sound, and humane in our dining halls - food that we call "real." We are creating more student farms on our campuses, and demanding curriculum that educates about the importance of Real Food. We are working in solidarity with farmworkers and food service workers for fair working conditions and living wages. We are fighting to reduce the carbon footprint of our campus dining halls.

Here's the RFC's latest update - got this email message the other day:

The past month has been quite a whirlwind - 7 amazing Real Food events in just 3 weeks. In Montana, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, California, Massachusetts and Vermont, close to 600 young real food activists came together to learn, network, and plan campaigns that will reshape their communites' food landscape.


photo: SYFAS

Our first report is back: The Southeast Real Food Summit (aka the Southeast Youth Food Activist Summit, or SYFAS--pronounced "sigh-fess") was a big success. On a weekend with record-breaking snowfall, over 150 youth and allies made their way to UNC Chapel Hill. The big question: how do you get schools with thousands of students, spending millions of dollars on food, to invest in a truly just and sustainable food system?


photo: SYFAS

Watch your inboxes over the next week for highlights from our other events, and more about what's next for the youth food movement. For now: SYFAS!

Faithfully Yours,
The Real Food Challenge Administrative Team

p.s. Two friends from SYFAS were just in the news! Rob Jones of CROP MOB was in the New York Times. The entire University of Central Florida crew got the attention of a Florida newspaper for their hot "Honest Eats" campaign. Check 'em out!


photo: Crop Mob

From the New York Times article - The Crop Mob, a monthly word-of-mouth (and -Web) event in which landless farmers and the agricurious descend on a farm for an afternoon, has taken its traveling work party to 15 small, sustainable farms. Together, volunteers have contributed more than 2,000 person-hours, doing tasks like mulching, building greenhouses and pulling rocks out of fields.

“The more tedious the work we have, the better,” Jones said, smiling. “Because part of Crop Mob is about community and camaraderie, you find there’s nothing like picking rocks out of fields to bring people together.”

The affable, articulate Jones, 27, is part of the group’s grass-roots core, organizing events and keeping them moving. The Mob was formed during a meeting about issues facing young farmers, during which an intern declared that better relationships are built working side by side than by sitting around a table. So one day, 19 people went to Piedmont Biofarm and harvested, sorted and boxed 1,600 pounds of sweet potatoes in two and a half hours. A year later, the Crop Mob e-mail list has nearly 400 subscribers, and the farm fests now draw 40 to 50 volunteers.


For more info about the Real Food Challenge and how you can get involved in your community, go here

HeadCount Newsletter :: Climate Change Digs Itself Out Of The Snow

This is the latest HeadCount Sustainability & Climate Change e-newsletter. This one came out on Tuesday, February 23rd. Read it online here.

My name is on it, but the e-newsletters are a group effort - BIG thanks to Andy, Jacey, Kelley, Priya and Sebastian:)

Help "Define Our Decade" :: Nationwide Events in March 2010

Got this email today from Pete Griffin of the Energy Action Coalition. Please join the Define Our Decade Campaign - I've participated in two conference calls recently with youth leaders around the country, and this is going to be a BIG year! Don't miss it!



In 2010, through a set of strategically coordinated local actions, we will Define Our Decade with a unified vision for the clean and just energy future we will collectively create.

For two weeks in March (15th-28th), campuses and communities across the country will take part in the Define Our Decade Weeks of Action.

Communities like yours will host events that are most relevant to your work, whether it be a community forum, a demonstration outside a dirty energy facility, a service project, or an event with your elected officials. All of the events will have one unifying element: voting on our clean energy vision for the next 10 years. We will define clean energy on our own terms, engage thousands of new people, and grow our movement in the process.

Go here to see if a March 2010 event is already planned for your community; if not, then sign up to host a Define Our Decade event in your community!

This spring, you'll be able to sign up to participate in a series of 10 summer programs across the country, where we'll fight dirty energy and build the green economy.

At the end of the summer, we'll come together to celebrate our hard work at a smokin' hot party that will kick off an aggressive voter engagement initiative in the fall. We'll prove that young voters will show up to the polls during mid-term elections because important issues are at stake.

We need you to help us by signing up to participate in, or organize an event in March.

In Solidarity,
Pete Griffin
Campaign Director
Energy Action Coalition


OK, this isn't exactly related to the above message, but I stumbled upon this video while looking for something else, and wanted to share - Danny Marx, from the Energy Action Coalition, explains how he uses more Google products than we can name to accomplish EAC's mission.

Where's your No Dirty Air Act mask?

photo: Gabe Elsner, Student PIRG Global Warming Solutions Coordinator and Coordinator of the Clean Energy Works Youth Table, and students from the Clean Energy Works Campaign preparing to enter Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office

Excerpts from today's It's Getting Hot In Here blog post:

Alaska’s US Senator Lisa Murkowski has been working to build support for a bill that would take away the US EPA's ability to require reductions in global warming pollution.

On Tuesday, two-dozen Student PIRG leaders passed out ‘No Dirty Air Act’ Masks and stickers to all 100 Senate offices as well as several House targets. The action was covered in Roll Call Magazine.

Later that day, the students gained entry to a Senate Budget hearing and lining up behind her in masks, supported EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson as she defended her determination earlier this year that global warming poses a threat to the planet.

Student leaders with the PIRGs, Alliance for Climate Protection and Southern Energy Network then converged on the office of Senator Lisa Murkowski to deliver their message opposing the ‘Dirty Air Act’ directly to the Senator. While the students weren’t able to meet with the Senator, they met with Republican Staff Director for the Environment and Natural Resources Committee and engaged in an intensive discussion about the benefits of comprehensive global warming legislation.

Help Save California's State Parks :: Take The Survey

photo: one of my favorite California State Parks - the Bay Area's Montara State Beach

In the last several years, California's state park system has been proposed to be shut down to the public - first in January 2008 and again in May 2009.

The California State Parks Foundation is launching a new Park Excellence Project, along with the Save the Redwoods League, as part of their campaign to save California's state parks.

A key element of this project is engaging the public – both frequent park users and non-users alike – to collect their thoughts about the most important features of an excellent state park system, as well as the kinds of programs, services, resources, activities or amenities you think should be offered, barriers to visiting state parks, and much more.

Take the online survey here. Your responses to the survey are anonymous and confidential and will help the organizations create a statewide picture of excellence that comes directly from the California public.

VP Biden's plans for Student Loan Debt Relief

Vice President Joe Biden released the Annual Report of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class today. The report contains the findings of a committee that has spent the past year researching ways to improve the living conditions of working and middle class families.

The Task Force concluded that among the most effective ways to help American families secure economic stability is increasing college access and affordability.

The Task Force's February 15th blog post states that:

Over the past three decades, college tuition has grown ten times faster than real median incomes for families with children. So it’s no surprise that about two-thirds of graduates take out loans to pay for college and their average debt is over $23,000. But we didn’t need statistics to understand how challenging it can be to pay for college; the Vice President and other members of the Task Force heard about it directly from students, parents, faculty and administrators when we held meetings at Syracuse University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Task Force’s findings include budget recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2011, including:

* Capping student loan payments at 10% of a borrower’s income and forgiving debt after twenty years, shifting all federal lending to the Direct Loan program, which would allocate $80+ billion to need-based aid and access and retention programs.

* Extending the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and making historic investments in community colleges and Minority Serving Institutions.

It's encouraging that the recommendation to shift lending to the Direct Loan program is the key feature in the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed the US House of Representatives in September and is currently pending in the US Senate.

Celebrate International Womens Day on March 4 @ a Half The Sky event

I learned about this from the band State Radio's activism organization Calling All Crows Facebook page today.

State Radio and Calling All Crows are amazing! I participated in a State Radio service event and did outreach at State Radio's recent Fillmore show, on behalf of HeadCount's San Francisco Team. Tomorrow, the Surfrider Foundation's Washington, DC Chapter is hosting the Calling All Crows DC service event, and will have an outreach table at the State Radio 9:30 Club show.

More info about State Radio's activism here.


photo: State Radio

Back to the topic on hand -


On Thursday, March 4th at 7:30pm (local time) 450+ American and Canadian movie theaters will hold CARE-sponsored "Half the Sky" events in celebration of International Womens Day.

Inspired by moving stories from the critically-acclaimed book "Half the Sky" by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the March 4th event will feature an uplifting night of music, celebrity discussion and the world premiere of "Woinshet," a powerful short film directed by Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone that chronicles the struggles of an Ethiopian woman who triumphs over violence and discrimination.

The event was originally recorded on February 11th in NYC; these March 4th events are a re-broadcast of that event.

Here's the trailer for the event -



To locate a March 4th "Half The Sky" event/film screening near you - there are TONS of them - go here. Ticket prices vary by location, but are in the $10 - $12 range. A percentage of ticket sales will support CARE's work in more than 70 countries.

If you are in NYC, then you have the option of attending a screening that'll feature 2 special guests - "Half The Sky" authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South.)
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here or in person at the box office Tuesday-Thursday, 12-6pm.

Also check out the Half The Sky Movement to learn more about upcoming events and organizations that aid women worldwide.

Slow Death By Rubber Duck

An excerpt from this Feb 20, 2010 NPR story -

Inspired by Morgan Spurlock's fast-food gluttony in the movie Super Size Me, two environmental activists from Canada devised their own experiment. Instead of fast food, Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie absorbed themselves in everyday products like shampoos, soaps and cleaners to find out what kind of damage might be done to their health.

The authors didn't need to take baths in mercury or eat tuna for a whole year to see the chemical levels in their bodies skyrocket. After just two days of eating only canned food microwaved in plastic containers and drinking from one of his son's old baby bottles, Smith saw a major rise in the levels of BPA in his body.

"My levels increased over eight times," he says. "You can only imagine what the levels in an infant would look like if after two or three years of their sole source of nutrition being a BPA baby bottle. Their levels would just be through the roof."

Their book about the adventure is called Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things.

Here's a video about the authors' campaign to ban BPA - What You Can Do:



Need More Info about BPA? Check out this excellent PBS Bill Moyers video -

One Campus. One Weekend. 2 Conferences :: Papua New Guinea Development & Social Entrepreneurship

I'll be hoping around Stanford's campus this weekend, dropping into the following two conferences. Looking forward to it!


photo: Papua New Guinea

Stanford - Papua New Guinea Conference on Development
Taking place on Stanford's campus from February 26 - 28th, the conference will bring together students, faculty, and experts from Stanford, as well as institutions across Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The conference aims to look at the many challenges of international development – and the intersection of health, environmental, governance and education concerns and policies – through the case study of a single country, and to inspire discussion and research on the future development of Papua New Guinea.

Panels include:
* Challenges in Public Health: Infectious Disease and Community Solutions
* Education as Empowerment: Creating Infrastructure for Universal Access and Achievement
* Conservation and Corruption: Toward Environmentally Sustainable Development
* Building A State: Governance, Civil Society, and the Rule of Law

More info about the schedule here.

Register here. The conference is free for Stanford Community Members, and $15 for members of the public.

The conference will be streaming live online, here. Viewers will be able to type questions for panelists to be read aloud by the moderator. For viewers in PNG, do note that PNG time is 18 hours AHEAD of California time. Viewing requires internet access and a free, quick registration; no additional programs or drivers necessary. All videos will be archived on the website.




The Annual Entrepreneurship Week @ Stanford
This is a chance to bring the Stanford community together for a week (February 21 - 28) and focus on a theme that is taken rather for granted around here - the importance of entrepreneurial leadership and the role it must play in helping to solve some of the world's most pressing problems.

Most E-Week events are free and open to all students, parents, alumni and members of the public. No RSVP's needed, but arrive early - the organizers expect the events to fill up, and they must follow the fire code regarding room capacity.

Of the conference's weekend events, this one interests me the most. I'm also psyched about the showcase -

Structures for Social Enterprise: Panel and Showcase
Sunday - 3:00-5:00 PM, Wallenberg Hall Learning Theater, Building 160

Sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation, this lively panel discussion features social entrepreneurs Kjerstin Erickson (FORGEnow.org), Eve Blossom (Lulan.com), and Esther Kim (REDF.org). Moderated by Kriss Deiglmeier, executive director for the Center for Social Innovation, the panel will discuss nonprofit, for-profit and hybrid models for starting and growing a social enterprise. From 4-5 p.m., mingle with entrepreneurs at a fair showcasing their intriguing early-stage social ventures, sponsored by Neerja Raman of Media X at Stanford University.

Social entrepreneurs available for interaction during the showcase are:

* Lloyd Nimetz: Blitz Bazaar: Starting and Creating a Movement
* Akshay Kothari, Kapeesh Saraf: Design for Extreme Affordability Workshop
* Varun Jain: E4SI: Engineers for Social Impact
* Anu Mahal: Development Alternatives
* Carlos Miranda Levy, Margarita Quihuis: How Social Media Allows Us to Instantly Organize for Crisis Intervention
* Viji Dilip: Bookshare International: Reaching Out to the Print Disabled in Developing Nations
* DC Jayasundera: Rural Returns: Better Value Chains for the Rural Poor
* Rodrigo Santibanez: Puentes Global: Non-Profit International Employment Agency for Low-Income Workers

Hosts: Center for Social Innovation, GSB, and Neerja Raman of Media X at Stanford University

Twitter & Activism? Yep! Meet Act.ly.

Act.ly allows you to directly petition a Twitter user to do something.

Here's an example of a Twitter petition addressed to US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Senator Reid has not yet responded to this petition.



Interview with Act.ly's founder Jim Gilliam. The sound quality isn't great, but this is the best YouTube video on this subject.




Jim's story - good stuff:)

The Professor Who Changed My Life

I have not yet submitted my 300-word "report" to Lehigh yet (how do you pick just one professor?), but I really enjoyed the ones already listed on the Lehigh "The Professor Who Changed My Life" web page.



We asked our alumni to tell us about the professors they had at Lehigh who really made a difference in their lives. The response was great!

In the coming months, we’ll continue to post more of your stories, so be sure to check back.

If you haven’t shared your story yet, there’s still time: Please take a few minutes to write an essay (maximum: 300 words) about the professor who had the greatest influence on your life and e-mail your essay to: letters(@)lehigh.edu. Please attach your essay as a standard Word document or include it in the body of your e-mail.




This one is my favorite alumni story thus far:

George Kane, professor of industrial engineering
By Donna Pitonak Bigley '78

That is an easy answer for me: Professor George Kane.

I met him when I was transferring into the Industrial Engineering Department and he was the chairman. He later became my advisor so I had reason to interface with him frequently (in those days, you had to physically see your advisor when you scheduled your next semester as opposed to doing everything on-line).

When I transferred into his department, he told me to always make sure I was running to something instead of from something, which in retrospect was truly sage advice! I also was privileged to be a student in several classes he taught. No matter what the topic, he always made it interesting and I looked forward to his classes. He recognized the importance of his engineers being able to confidently speak in front of groups and many of his classes required oral presentations, which was truly invaluable. He critiqued every oral presentation complete with a written sheet of suggestions on how to improve.

He always had time to talk to you when you were scheduling courses for next semester. He treated his students like they were a part of his family and he always had a smile and a cigar close by when you entered his office. At the time I graduated, there weren't a lot of women engineers and when he asked me about upcoming job interviews he advised, "Make them visualize you as an engineer ... don't wear eye shadow!"

He also taught me a very meaningful lesson that I have never forgotten during my career: that people are naturally going to resist change. An engineer is an agent of change—streamlining processes, introducing tools, etc. So it is up to the engineer to find a way to make changes "palatable" in order to be successful.

I had the pleasure of seeing him at a Lehigh-Lafayette game several years after graduation and he walked over and shook my hand and asked how my job was going at GE. I was amazed he remembered my name and even more impressed he knew where I was working! It was just one more example of how much he valued his students and I was lucky to have been one of them.

Summer 2010 Think Impact Global Development Internship :: Apps Due Feb 28

As a Global Development Intern with Think Impact you could could incubate your social venture while living in an African village, receiving mentorship, training, funding, and working with the local community to get your venture off the ground.

Sound good to you, too? :)

Think Impact connects American college students and young adults with developing countries to alleviate poverty. The organization aims for its alumni to make a career in development or as America’s next generation of entrepreneurs, policymakers, CEOs and philanthropists who personally understand the potential for development by leveraging local community resources.

Think Impact’s Global Development Internship is an 8-week village homestay and social venture incubation program for top social entrepreneurs.

Applications for the Global Development Internship close on February 28, 2010 for this summer.

Interviewing the Founder of Think Impact: Incubating Social Ventures in African Villages from Teju Ravilochan on Vimeo.

Then once you've returned to the USA at the end of your internship, you can apply for a Think Impact Global Development Fellowship. Think Impact provides each fellow with a stipend that will cover travel and living costs for 6 months to 1 year in South Africa while projects are being implemented.

Check out the 2009 Funded Fellows here.

Ben Harper Headlining Reverb's Campus Consciousness Tour

Finally catching up on my old emails from Ben Harper & Relentless7, and saw this info. If you've never seen Ben live, then you're missing out!


photo: Ben

Ben Harper and Relentless7 will headline this year's Campus Consciousness Tour.

Created by non-profit group Reverb, Campus Consciousness Tour is half music, half environmental campaign aiming to inspire and activate students in a fun and exciting atmosphere while leaving a positive impact on each community and college that the tour reaches.

This video is a recap of the 2006 Campus Consciousness Tour. It features a fellow Lehigh University alum, Grady, who is now a grad student at Yale:)




Ben Harper and Relentless7 2010 Campus Consciousness Tour Dates:

04/15/10 - Thu 7:30pm - DeKalb, IL United States - Northern Illinois University Campus Consciousness

04/16/10 - Fri 7:00pm - Athens, OH United States - Ohio University Campus Consciousness

04/17/10 - Sat 7:00pm - Williamsport, PA United States - Lycoming College Campus Consciousness

04/20/10 - Tue 7:00pm - Baltimore, MD United States - Pier Six Pavilion Campus Consciousness

04/21/10 - Wed 7:00pm - Winston-Salem, NC United States - Wake Forest University Campus Consciousness

04/24/10 - Sat 3:00pm - Nashville, TN United States - Rites of Spring Campus Consciousness

See Tour Dates for more info.


Here's a video of Ben singing a beautiful song "With My Own Two Hands." -



Watch the new music video for "Lay There & Hate Me" here.


Here's a video for the song "My Father's House". Buy the song now at iTunes and AmazonMP3 to benefit Artists for Peace and Justice Haiti Relief. This single is part of a split digital single released with Eddie Vedder's version of "My City of Ruins." The song, written by Bruce Springsteen, was performed live at the Kennedy Center Honors, Dec 6 2009. Ben Harper and Relentless7 will be opening for Pearl Jam in Europe this summer.

Ben also autographed a guitar along with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez and Ry Cooder, and donated some of his merch for a raffle, with proceeds going towards Haiti relief.

If you check out Ben's "activism" page on his website, the first nonprofit listed that he supports is the Surfrider Foundation. YEAH, Ben:)

Nationwide March 4th Day of Action in Defense of Public Education

The March 4th Day of Action in Defense of Public Education was inspired by the demonstration of student power during the University of California Board of Regents vote to increase fees 32%, tripling the cost of a UC education from a decade ago.

I've posted this video before, but in case you missed it ... it was made for an Intro to Communication class at the University of California San Diego, and was filmed on campus at UCSD.



Organizers of the March 4th Day of Action are working to expand this California energy to a national campaign to fight for increased educational access.

To participate visit the Day of Action's website in order to find the contact information for your local organizer. Actions have been planned around the USA.


Two pieces of federal legislation that might interest student advocates:
* A companion bill to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act needs to be passed in the Senate to help ensure that the student loan industry works for students instead of big lenders.

* The DREAM Act must pass, throwing open the college doors for thousands of deserving undocumented students.

HeadCount Presents: Bisco Power Mission

AW YEAH! And it launches! I helped out with this a tiny bit.


photo: The Disco Biscuits




The Disco Biscuits have teamed up with HeadCount for Bisco Power Mission to help outfit a school from the band's hometown of Philadelphia with solar power.




Check out this Bisco Power Mission (BPM) promo video featuring Marc and Jon from The Disco Biscuits, and Andy from HeadCount -



The Disco Biscuits will be at the Brooklyn Bowl on March 21, 2010 for a special benefit concert to raise funds for Bisco Power Mission. Brooklyn Bowl is the only bowling alley or large music club in America to have “LEED Certification” recognizing its sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

Half the proceeds from Bisco Power Mission will go directly toward the purchase of a solar installation for a Philadelphia school. The other half will help fund HeadCount’s ongoing nonprofit civic engagement activity, including voter registration, issue education and organizing community-oriented projects like Bisco Power Mission.

Benefit Details:
Sunday, March 21
Brooklyn Bowl - Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Doors 7 PM | Show 9 PM
18+

Buy Tickets
* General Event Tickets - $40 General Admission. $75 VIP/Bowling Tickets.

* Adopt-a-Watt Tickets -(Includes limited print - see below - by Ian Millard) - $75 General Admission. $110 VIP/Bowling Tickets.

Note: "VIP/Bowling Tickets" grant access to the elevated VIP viewing/bowling platform. Free bowling all night. Lanes are assigned on a first come, first serve basis. Minimum 6 people per lane.

BiscoTix on sale today - Thurs, February 25 at 12 PM EST.
Ticketfly on sale Fri, February 26 at 12 PM EST.

Bowling Tournament
Bowl the high score of the night and win two free VIP tickets to Camp Bisco, courtesy of CID Entertainment and MCP Presents. VIP/Bowling ticket holders also get to enjoy the show from the elevated bowling and viewing area, with comfy couches and waitress service.

For additional info info go here.

Informally RSVP for the Berkeley Bowl benefit show on Facebook, and help promote the event and the cause!


photo: Support Bisco Power Mission (BPM) by purchasing this poster by Ian Millard for $35 here. T-shirts available, too.

Dr. No, Please Say Yes! :: Join the Invisible Children Oklahoma Campaign ASAP

This is an open call to US Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) asking him to meet with Invisible Children in Oklahoma City this February to re-consider his hold on the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

Coburn Say Yes from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

How You Can Help:

* Sign the petition addressed to Senator Coburn here.

* Join the Facebook group here and help spread the word.

* If you can make it to OK on Friday, February 26th, then join this event "OK Says Yes" -

We are gathering at the Oklahoma State Capitol Building, where we will hear from a handful of speakers including Papito Francis, a young man from northern Uganda whose life have been severely affected by LRA violence and who is featured in Invisible Children's documentary GO!

From the State Capitol Building, we will march 2 miles to Senator Coburn's Oklahoma City office downtown and hand-deliver all of our letters.

From that point on, we wait. For the few crazy and brave individuals willing to hold out, we will wait at Senator Coburn's OKC office until he removes his hold on the bill. Yes, that may take days. Yes, it will be cold. And yes, this is crazy. But we believe sincere commitent and sacrifice of comfort is the strongest way to tell our leaders that this crisis is unacceptable. So join us if you are willing.

This event is for Oklahomans and non-Oklahomans alike. If you are willing to make the trek - and if you are willing to hold strong with us - we are honored to have you join us.


This film will be screening at the Invisible Children's Legacy Tour Oklahoma tour stops. If you live outside of OK, then check the tour dates for your state here.
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?

Cooperation After Copenhagen: Climate Change & World (Dis)Order - Yale Campus, March 2

If I was still in the NYC area ...

Cooperation After Copenhagen: Climate Change & World (Dis)Order

Tuesday March 2nd, 4:15pm

Room 129, Yale Law School's Sterling law building, 127 Wall St, New Haven, CT



A panel discussion with:

Moderator: Doug Kysar, Yale Law School

Panelists:
* Ambassador Phillip Muller and Caleb Christopher, UN Mission of the Marshall Islands
* David Doniger, Natural Resources Defense Council
* Dan Esty, Yale Law School
* Steven Ferrey, Suffolk University

International climate change negotiations are in disarray. Criticism against the scientific practices of the IPCC has mounted, the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this past December became a "snarling, aggravated, chaotic event" (in the words of U.S. lead negotiator Todd Stern), and recently the head of the UNFCCC announced that he will step down in a move widely perceived to reflect the insider's dim outlook for upcoming negotiation meetings. Against this tumultuous backdrop, speakers from a variety of perspectives and areas of expertise will discuss the present state and likely future of international climate change regulation.

This lecture is free and open to the public.

This lecture is sponsored by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and the Yale Environmental Law Association.

Environmental Refugees Documentary :: Sun Comes Up

"This is one of the first stories of climate change refugees. It will not be the last."

The film "Sun Come Up" documents the relocation of the Carteret Islanders – a community living on a remote island chain 50 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea.



The filmmakers' latest news is that Abigail E. Disney has joined the team as executive producer! Abigail is the producer of "Pray the Devil Back to Hell", a film that just screened in San Francisco last night - see my post of a few days ago.


photo: Children of the Carteret Islands

The film is not yet completed. The latest news on the film's Facebook page is that the filmmakers hope to screen the film for the first time in NYC this spring.

The Purpose Prize for Social Innovators age 60+ :: Nominations due March 5

Civic Ventures is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works to define the second half of adult life as a time of individual and social renewal. Each year the org sponsors The Purpose Prize.

The Purpose Prize provides ten awards of up to $100,000 to community leaders, 60 years and older, who are solving some of our most pressing social issues – from health care to the environment, poverty to education. It is the nation's only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life.

The Purpose Prize is accepting nominations, including self-nominations here, until March 5th.


Check out the 2009 winners -- the five 2009 $100,000 Prize Winners, and the five 2009 $50,000 Winners here. Learn more about the 46 2009 Fellows here.

I particularly like these two $100,000 Prize Winners:

The mission of the Peter C. Alderman Foundation is to heal the emotional wounds of victims of terrorism and mass violence by training health care professionals and establishing clinics in post-conflict countries around the globe.



Judith Broder, a psychiatrist, created The Soldiers Project to support free, confidential, unlimited therapy to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan – and their families.

Jack Johnson & Ozomatli Collaboration :: "It's Only Paper"

photo: Ozomatli

From Spinner.com - "Like most things that Ozomatli create, 'It's Only Paper,' the first single from the band's upcoming album 'Fire Away,' infuses a socially-conscious message with a dance-heavy sonic mosaic of hip-hop, funk and Latin grooves. It's a tapestry that Tony Berg, who produced 'Fire Away,' tells Spinner is "like visiting seven continents simultaneously."

In addition to its apparent ability to transcend the time-space continuum ("musicians without borders?") by traversing across genres, 'It's Only Paper' speaks to the universal issues attached to money. Turns out, money itself isn't the root of all evil. After all, it's "only paper."

Speaking of money, who's that rich kid contributing vocals to this track? Not to worry -- it's only Jack Johnson."

Released by: Mercer Street Records
Album release date: April 20, 2010


Listen to "It's Only Paper" here -

Ozomatli - It's Only Paper by downtownmusic


From a February 18th HI Star Bulletin newspaper article:

“We’ve known Jack for many, many years — way before he’s had the kind of success he has now,” Ozomatli lead singer Raul Pacheco said by phone last week. “Me and his drummer, Adam Topol … I’ve known him since high school. We see each other at festivals all over the world.”

So when Ozomatli spent some time last year at Johnson’s Brushfire Records studio in Los Angeles, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Johnson himself to stop by. What was surprising, however, was his willingness to step in and get involved with the creative proc ess.

“Jack just happened to be there,” Pacheco explained. “He came in and heard some music, he had an idea, put some lyrics down … and from there we kinda just built a song around that.”

The resulting track, “It’s Only Paper,” will serve as the lead single for Ozo matli’s new album, “Fire Away,” set for release on April 20 by Mercer Street Rec ords.

“It’s always good for us as a band to be put in that kind of situation,” Pacheco said. “It’s the type of song that we probably would have never played. It’s an interesting mix for fans of both acts, and more importantly, it’s a good song.”


photo: Jack Johnson

Bootstrap Heroes - Building a Great Company Without Venture Capital

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, this looks like a great event. Too bad I can't make it down to the Peninsula in time to check this out.

“Bootstrap Heroes - Building a Great Company Without Venture Capital”
presented by Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, and co-sponsored by Cooley Godward Kronish LLP

Tuesday, March 2
6:00 – 7:00 pm Networking and hors d’oeuvres
7:00 - 8:15 pm Panel discussion and Q&A
8:15 - 8:30 pm Additional networking

Location: Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, 3175 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304

Some businesses are built on venture capital. Google and eBay come to mind, as does dearly departed Pets.com…. Other businesses are bootstrapped by entrepreneurs, with Dell Computers, Microsoft, Hot or Not and Cataphora as good examples.

Despite the dream of many entrepreneurs to meet investors with deep pockets that will enable them to live in style while they employ teams of experts to build and market their idea, the fact is that 99.9 percent of businesses are bootstrapped. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. With a lot of sweat and the occasional welcome dollop of luck, bootstrapping a business can be both financially and emotionally rewarding. When done well, it can really get a company going fast, and without the founders having to give up much (if any) equity - or bankrupting themselves.

So, what does it mean and how do you bootstrap a company? This lively discussion with our panel of experts who have been there, done that – in some cases several times! – will explore the following questions, and more, to help you figure out if bootstrapping is for you:

· What have you seen as the biggest indicators of future success, or failure, for bootstrapped startups?

· What are the first 2 or 3 key things you should do to help decide if you should bootstrap, or not?

· OK, you’ve decided to bootstrap, but still need SOME money. Where does it come from?

· You need a team to develop your product. Should you round up people you know & pay them with equity, or outsource development somewhere cheap like Eastern Europe?

· You need equipment, even if it’s just a couple of servers. What are some cheap ways to get your hands on the stuff you need?

· It’s tough enough to get first customers if you’re venture funded. How does a scrappy bootstrapped startup get in the door to make its first sales?

· You need legal services to establish the legal entity, set up a stock option plan, create terms & conditions of sales, and so on. You can’t afford $450 an hour attorneys, so how do you get this done?

The Panel:

· Elizabeth Charnock, CEO & Founder, Cataphora
· Ed Esber, Member, The Angels' Forum & Halo Fund
· Rick Marini, CEO & Founder, SuperFan
· Dan Martell, Co-founder, Flowtown

Moderator: Peter Werner, Partner, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP


Register here.

Pre-Registered Rates (All Rates Include Hors D’oeuvres): Members - $20; Affiliates who advertise this event - $29; General Public - $49. Pre-registration closes at 9 PM the night before the event. Walk-In Rates: Add $10.00 to the listed price.

San Francisco Human Rights Commission Award for HS Students :: Apps Due Feb 28

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is accepting applications for the 2010 San Francisco Human Rights Commission Student Recognition Award.

The HRC hopes to engage the broader community and promote greater awareness of the amazing work that is being done to promote education and learning in San Francisco.



The app deadline is February 28th. Go here to apply.

Hip Hop Caucus' Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour @ US Capitol Tuesday! Be There!

Just received a special request to attend this particular event. I'd be there if I could! Can you make it?


photo: Gloria Reuben playing Jeanie Boulet on ER

A Hip Hop Caucus CLEAN ENERGY NOW! BUS TOUR Washington, DC Event

FEATURING: Rev. Yearwood, President of Hip Hop Caucus, Actress Gloria Reuben, US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, hip hop artists, DJ Biz Markie, Alliance for Climate Protection CEO Maggie Fox, and youth activists and performers

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24th, 11:30 am
US Capitol Building Reflecting Pool
3rd St. and Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC

The event is free and open to the public.


photo: Columbia, MO Tour stop

For more info about Gloria's participation in change movements, go here. I love Causecast. If you are on Facebook then I highly suggest becoming a fan - they share some great stuff!


photo: Bobby Kennedy and Gloria, 2009.

Did your Non-Profit make a video in 2009? :: Enter the 4th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards

Prizes include: $10,000 in grants provided by the Case Foundation, custom designed cameras from Flip Video, free registration to Nonprofit Technology Conference 2011, and get your video on the YouTube homepage.

Organizations of all sizes are encourage to submit their best videos of 2009.

More info here.

Women in Leadership Conference :: Cal Campus, March 13

The Young Women Social Entrepreneurs San Francisco Chapter leaders say that this conference is fantastic. Wish I could go, but I'm committed to another conference taking place on the same day.


14th annual Women in Leadership Conference at Haas School of Business.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley

The 2010 conference is dedicated to trailblazers -- women who have created their own paths, become pioneers in their fields, and achieved both professional and personal successes. It includes industry panels, issues panels, networking lunch, personal development workshops, networking reception, and 3 keynotes.

YWSE-SF community member Emily Arnold-Fernandez of Asylum Access is a panelist, speaking on the panel "A Growing Industry: Nonprofits in a Competitive World."

This panel also sounds really good - Empowering Women Around the Globe.

Did you know that 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty are women? Or that women perform 66% of the world's work and produce 50% of the food, yet earn only 10% of the income and own just 1% of the property? Studies show that investing in women creates some of the highest economic impacts and largest returns on investment. There are many ways that women can empower and enable other women around the globe. This panel will take a cross-sectional approach to discuss educational, health-related, financial and social avenues of empowerment. During our time together, we will also hear about the inspirations that led our panelists to embark on their career paths and the impacts they have made. Learn about the joys, opportunities, and challenges of women helping other women.

Moderator: Kimberly Dasher Tripp, Program Officer, Skoll Foundation

Panelists:
Elizabeth Blase, Director of Business Development, Wokai
Molly Christiansen, Manager of Health Practices and Business Development, Living Goods
Maame Aba Yelbert-Obeng, Global Fund for Women

The Conference fee is $85, with significant discounts for students and non-profit professionals. EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS FEBRUARY 22!

Banff Mountain Film Festival & Africa Revolutions Tour

Haven't gotten to the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival yet ... hopefully this year!

It'll be at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on March 10th & 11th - details here. For info about the other stops on the Banff Film Fesival World Tour, go here.

Info about this year's films here. I checked the films out - fingers crossed that I get to see the below film at the SF event:)

Africa Revolutions Tour
USA, 2009, 20 minutes
Directed by Rush Sturges, Produced by Tyler Bradt

From the crocodile-infested White Nile in Uganda to big-water first descents in Madagascar, a group of friends seek adventure on African rivers. Accompanying the team is Rita Riewerts, the founder of the Sun Catchers Project, a non-profit that installs solar cooking facilities in orphanages, hospitals and communities.



More info about the film here, on the film's official website.

The Sun Catchers Project works primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Malawi. The org has a list of interesting upcoming events on their website, here. For example -

Columbia River Experience: In March of 2009 a group of 4 paddlers will embark on the longest self-support journey of their lives. The focus of the trip is to raise awareness of a once free flowing river that currently holds more dams than any other river drainage in the world and to document the impact on the Columbia River from previous ways of life to present day water quality throughout the 1,243 miles of river. The itinerary is expected to take almost 2 months from the source of Columbia River, in Canada, to Astoria, OR at the Pacific Ocean. The entire trip will be supported by solar energy. Sun Catchers Project will be lending one of our solar ovens for use during the trip. Our founder, Rita Riewerts, will also be attending 2 weeks of the trip to show support. Donations raised will be given in part to Sun Catchers Project.

Kiva Overseas Fellowship Opportunities

I just saw the below Kiva.org blog post from February 4th -

Love Kiva? Want to do more on the ground? We are looking for qualified people who want to get into the field to help make the connection even stronger.

Kiva Fellows are short-term volunteers who work with a specific Kiva field partner for three months or more. They help to bridge the gap between Kiva lenders and our field partners throughout the world sending stories and data back to Kiva HQ and the lending community. Kiva Fellows possess travel experience, language skills, enthusiasm for Kiva, and a flexible personality – all of which allow them to conduct field work that strengthen connections between stakeholders in order to alleviate poverty.

Last week, Kiva hosted trainees for the tenth class of Kiva Fellows here at our headquarters in San Francisco. This class will be heading to 51 field partners in 31 countries. In the two years that the Kiva Felllows Program has existed, we have sent 254 fellows from 25 different countries to every country in which Kiva operates except for Iraq.

The Kiva Fellows Program is a vital and strategic asset to Kiva in fulfilling its mission. The fellows are an adaptable, scalable and sustainable resource to innovate at Kiva. Kiva Fellows have helped our field partners to utilize Kiva’s lending platform more effectively and efficiently to enable the organizations rapid growth and to get more funds from lenders to entrepreneurs.

We are still accepting applications for KF11 as well as future classes. We encourage you to apply. For more information and our online application please go here.


Application Deadline Info from the Kiva website:

Although we have “absolute” deadlines for applications, we implement a first-come-first-served rolling admissions method. There are a finite number of placements available for each training class, therefore we encourage applicants to plan ahead and apply early. Ideally, applicants would apply at least six months in advance of their desired training date.

KF12
Absolute Deadline: March 31, 2010
Deadline for Serving Fellows: May 31, 2010
Capacity of Class: 39 (subject to change)
Training: July 12-16, 2010 at Kiva HQ
Deploy to the field: July 17-31, 2010
First day at MFI: Aug. 2, 2010
Last day at MFI no sooner than: Oct. 22, 2010

KF13
Absolute Deadline: June 30, 2010
Deadline for Serving Fellows: August 31, 2010
Capacity of Class: 39 (subject to change)
Training: October 11-15, 2010 at Kiva HQ
Deploy to the field: Oct. 16-31, 2010
First day at MFI: Nov. 1, 2010
Last day at MFI no sonner than: Jan. 21, 2011

KF14
Absolute Deadline: Sept. 30, 2010
Deadline for Serving Fellows: November 30, 2010
Capacity of Class: 50 (subject to change)
Training: January 10-14, 2011 at Kiva HQ
Deploy to the field: Jan. 15-31, 2011
First day at MFI: Feb 1, 2011
Last day at MFI no sooner than: April 22, 2011

We are here in The Now.

photo: Alan

"Plastic bags, styrofoam, littered cigarette butts, dirty energy. They're all already a thing of the past. The past just hasn't come yet. And its our job to ensure it does."

- Alan Honadle, Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter member



photo: Jordy Smith, Yadin Nicol, Dion Agius, Mitch Coleborn

Alan's comment reminds me of an article I read in the July 2009 issue of Surfing Magazine, "Going Live" by Travis Ferre about the 2009 film "Modern Collective." The film features Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith, Dusty Payne, Dion Agius, Mitch Coleborn, and Yadin Nicol.

Trailer here; film now available on DVD and iTunes -


An excerpt from the article: "Everything's backwards now. Upsidedown and in reverse ... with a method grab. The future already happened and the rest of us are just watching the replay. Director Kai Neville is living in this future. He's forward thinking. Forward-moving ... While Kai came up under Taylor Steele's tutelage, filming and editing "Stranger Than Fiction", he's also taken Steele's biggest lesson to heart: You've got to keep evolving. Like how these aerial acrobats approach crumbly lips these days, you've got to keep pushing the medium forward. And sometimes that means going backwards. Or sideways. Or upside down. Or even over-rotating. Whichever direction they're headed, the Modern Collective guys won't be filming any skits. They are a skit.

... Even as we were writing this article, the first sentences fell out of date ... don't feel bad. We blinked too. These guys move fast. They also do full-rotation aerial flips that previous generations didn't dare dream of. So what's next? We'd ask Kai, but he's already gone. Disappeared into the darkness of an editing studio. Five years from now, "Modern Collective" will be as outdated as "Momentum." This magazine will be yellowing in some garage sale "Free" box ... so forget the future. Forget the past. "Modern Collective" is here to inspire you to try something different right now. To get on board and be part of their live moment in time. Backwards. Upside down. With method grabs. It's never too late to try something new.

The beauty of Now is that it never stays, and it's always right here."



photo: Aaron

Which also reminds me of this great song "The Now" by Aaron Katz, formerly of the now-defunct band Percy Hill, and currently of The Dejas. You can listen to "The Now" for free here.

"Isn't it amazing, this gift of life. Don't take it for granted. The beauty that surrounds me suddenly astounds me. We are here in the now, living for the moment."

Then check out Percy Hill with Aaron on drums and vocals, below. I miss Percy Hill!