Social Enterprise @ Lehigh University

Lisa Boyd, Lehigh University, '10, is founder of "Jamiiwater: Improving Access to Sustainable Water in Rural Tanzania." The mission of the non-profit organization is to improve and sustain clean water systems. She hopes to educate people on how community involvement can leave a positive impact on Africa.

From an interview with Lisa Boyd, published in Lehigh's newspaper Brown & White:

It all started from an International Relations class with Professor Bruce Moon, who teaches International Relations 322, on all aspects of poverty and development in Tanzania . In my class group, we focused on what we thought was the biggest problem and ways to solve it. Over the past two years, I have done extensive research on water access in rural central Tanzania, specifically focusing on the sustainability of water systems.

During my grant research at the end of my junior year semester abroad in Tanzania, I biked to 23 different rural villages around the central area, slept in the villages, ate what people fed me and really got a sense of the communities. Living there and meeting these people really inspired me to keep going. It wasn't until I was actually there that I knew I wanted to continue the project after graduation.

(Read more about Lisa's research here.)

Jamii means "community" in Kiswahili, which is the local language in Tanzania. I am in the process of starting a formal non-profit organization called JamiiWater, which will work to repair clean water systems and provide the intensive community with the development to make their systems sustainable in the long run. Community involvement, interest and commitment are the most important factors in sustainable development. In rural Tanzania, two years after a water system installation, which usually costs about $80,000, already a quarter of water points were no longer working due to lack of parts, money or organization.

In the fall of 2008, I proposed to the Lehigh Eureka! Social Venture Creation Competition a plan to do research on these issues following my semester abroad in Tanzania. I won grand prize in the competition and received $5,000 of funding for a month of research last summer, with help from Jason Kramer, '10. I also applied for the Davis Projects for Peace grant and earned $10,000. These grants total $15,000 and should enable me to repair four to five broken water systems, as well as hire a full-time staff member to work with me.

I was excited to learn that Lisa presented at the 2010 Unite for Sight, Global Health & Innovation conference, held at Yale University, which I previously blogged about here. Lisa presented during the 5 minute Social Enterprise Pitch session.

Lisa and her sister are competing in a contest to win an Olympus camera and $5,000 ... check out their video submission here, and then go here to vote for them. (You'll need to log into your free YouTube account to vote.)




More social enterprise at Lehigh ... I stumbled upon this news in a Lehigh Field Hockey press release, too:

After graduating from Lehigh in 2006, Long Island native Melissa Fricke, who double majored in International Relations and French, and played in 55+ games for Lehigh's field hockey team, spent four months in Gganda, a village outside Kampala, Uganda’s capital. She volunteered in a children’s home for 24 children, and taught at the local primary school.

“During my senior year I took a strong interest in development and poverty issues and the severity of it in Africa,” said Fricke. “It was an international relations course on Ethical Dilemmas in World Politics that brought it all to light for me. The class discussions on poverty issues had me captivated with the debates what could and should be done. That is how I ended up in Africa a few months after graduation. What I intended to be learning experience quickly evolved into what it is today.”

After returning to the USA, she founded BULA - Better Understanding of Life in Africa. Through community supports and various fundraising efforts nearly $45,000 was raised prior to Fricke’s return to Uganda in December 2007. Upon her return she met Andrea Procopio, who arrived in Uganda in September, taking on many of Melissa’s responsibilities, and would eventually become Vice-President of the organization. Several other key volunteers emerged, and Fricke also encountered Tom Harrison, an architect from London who managed the construction project. On January 14, 2008 ground was broken for the reconstruction of St. Kizito Primary School.

Among the features of the new school building were eight cheerful, brightly-painted classrooms, spanning Nursery School to grade Primary 7, two teacher offices and a staff room, a water tank, solar lighting, windows and doors, toilet facilities, quality roofing and flooring, desks and chalk boards. Architects utilized several innovative building tactics, including the use of a foundation pad, and the use of Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks, the bricks that were used to build the school walls, which also become one of eight examples used in a case study for the United Nations.

“The ISSBs are an innovative technology that creates each block through the use of a machine that compacts a mixture of soil, cement and water,” Fricke explained. “Making the bricks on site with this technology allowed us to put to use the soil excavated for the tank and the pit latrines. These bricks are not only aesthetically pleasing and structurally superior, but they have tremendous environmental appeal.”

Five months later, St. Kizito Primary School re-opened its doors to the children of Gganda. BULA’s work was far from complete however. Fricke and Procopio returned to Uganda in January 2009 to supervise additions to the school, which included a kitchen, water tanks, water filters, shutters and textbooks. In addition, late in 2008, BULA developed a youth art exchange, titled Connecting Classrooms through Creativity, where American students are creating artwork to be displayed in BULA Schools and artwork by African students has in turn been displayed in American schools.

Additionally, Fricke spearheaded BULA’s second project, the improvement of a poorly run children’s home in Gganda. More recently, a fellowship program was created, allowing a recent college graduate to live at the children’s home and teach at St. Kizito Primary School.

As for the future, Fricke and her organization will look to continue doing what they can to help the children in Africa. BULA has selected its next school project, and is focused on branches out to the villages that neighbor Gganda to try and enhance the educational experience of those children. “The vision is to continue to build schools for those that are struggling,” Fricke said.


Also stumbled upon this:

Colin Sloand '09 spoke at Lehigh University's Expanding Financial Access in Africa conference on April 19, 2010. The first president of Lehigh's microfinance club, he launched his career in South Africa working for Mecene Investments studying the burgeoning African microfinance sector.



When Colin was at Lehigh, the Microfinance Club started a Lehigh Microcredit Fund, giving the university community the opportunity to make charitable donations to help the people of western Kenya. Donors received periodic updates on what their loans were being used for, repayment rates, and financial snapshots of the recipients and their communities.

The fund was developed through a partnership with Reach the Children, Inc., a non-profit organization operating in over a dozen countries throughout Africa. The group is seeking to alleviate poverty across the continent by focusing on such things as AIDS prevention, education, microenterprise, orphan care, and water and agriculture.


Another partnership at Lehigh ... saw this in a Lehigh alumni e-newsletter:

Lehigh and Caring for Cambodia, a nonprofit headquartered in Siem Reap, Cambodia (the gateway to Angkor Wat) have announced a 3 year partnership.

Caring for Cambodia gives Siem Reap children an opportunity to learn in seven safe, well-equipped schools. Using UNICEF’s “Child Friendly” school concept, children not only earn a quality education, but life skills as well. They serve 66,500 Food for Thought lunches monthly, have handed out 15,000 toothbrushes to encourage personal hygiene, and have purchased more than 1,250 bicycles to help their students get to school.

The partnership with Lehigh will give the students of Lehigh's College of Education's Comparative and International Education program the opportunity to conduct ongoing field work in Siem Reap, where they will work with the NGO on teacher training, curriculum development, and community outreach initiatives.

And though the new three-year program is tied to the College of Education, there likely will be cross-disciplinary opportunities for Iveta Silova, the Frank Hook Assistant Professor, and her team to partner with other programs across Lehigh to assist with local economic assessments, job market surveys, micro-finance opportunities, and other initiatives.

Lehigh will hire a professor of practice to manage the relationship. The College of Education has already hired a new graduate assistant, Harry Morra, to help with the transition.

The Life Cycle of a Single Pair of Blue Jeans

So you have your favorite pair of jeans that you acquired somewhere ... maybe they're second-hand, maybe you got them on sale ...



But where did your favorite pair of jeans originally come from? Who made them for you?



And what are the impacts on the local environment where the jeans are made, and the workers' health? Check it out here, in this recent CNN report.


And then where are your favorite jeans going, once you've outgrown and donated them? Not back to China ...

Eric Hutchinson & Barefoot Wine joins Surfrider for 2010 Beach Cleanups

Barefoot Wine and Surfrider have teamed up again this year to host 20+ beach cleanup and restoration events. Afterwards, join them for a post-cleanup celebration - 4 of the cleanups will feature a "thank you" concert with Eric Hutchinson for volunteers, and Eric will help out at those 4 cleanups.



Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Events featuring Eric Hutchinson:
Rockaway Beach (New York, NY) --Saturday, June 12
Lady Bird Lake (Austin, TX) --Saturday, July 10
Willamette River (Portland, OR) --Saturday, August 7
North Miami Beach (Miami, FL) --Saturday, August 28


Additional Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project Events:
Pacific Beach (San Diego) -- Saturday, June 26
Chattahoochee River Park (Atlanta) --Saturday, July 10
Folly Beach (Charleston, SC) -- Saturday, July 10
Boston, MA --Saturday, July 24
Corpus Christi, TX -- Saturday, July 31
New Haven, CT -- Saturday, July 31
Alki Beach (Seattle, WA) --Saturday, August 7
Lake Harriet (Minneapolis, MN) -- Saturday, August 7
Hampton Beach (Portsmouth) -- Saturday, August 7
Ala Moana Beach (Honolulu) --Saturday, August 14
Venice Beach (Los Angeles) --Saturday, August 14
Old Orchard Beach (Portland, ME) --Saturday, August 14
Cocoa Beach, FL --Saturday, August 21
Newport, RI --Saturday, September 11

TO RSVP for a cleanup go here.

There is only room for Hope

All Rebel Rockers, you gotta let go of Remote Control

Earth Day 2009 :: Green Apple Festival Recap

This is old ... Earth Day 2009 - but I never posted it.



I was a Green Apple Festival San Francisco volunteer Site Coordinator, during Earth Day Weekend 2009. I ran an event at the Koshland Community Garden, and another event at the International Bird Rescue Research Center.


photo: Koshland Community Garden's Barbara & Nora, and me

Here's an interview I did, which was posted here on Treehugger, along with extra photos and commentary from the Koshland Community Garden event.




photo: Koshland Community Garden site volunteers

We later celebrated the weekend with all of the San Francisco site volunteers at a free Bassnectar concert hosted by Slim's.

I am so proud ... moved ... I don't know. Resolve Uganda.

I emailed President Obama sometime within the past week, upon the request of either Resolve Uganda or the Invisible Children (don't remember which) asking President Obama to make a public statement on his support for the bill.

He did it! Check out the statement from Invisible Children here.

Then the video summary of the day here:



Read Obama's statement on the occasion of the bill signing here.

It's a Muhammad Yunus Monday in San Francisco!

Again, I could have posted this earlier, but I just found out on Friday:

Today: Monday, May 24 @ 12noon:

For the last stop of his US tour, Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the author of "Banker to the Poor" will speak at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club. Professor Yunus will discuss his new book, "BUILDING SOCIAL BUSINESS: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs" (PublicAffairs, May 11, 2010), and sign copies. Tickets and more information is available at www.commonwealthclub.org
Tickets are $30


photo: Muhammad Yunus


Today: Monday, May 24 @ 2:45pm:

Screening of the film "To Catch A Dollar" - same place as the 12noon lecture!
Tickets are $20



Trailer:

Half the Sky author Sheryl WuDunn & Global Fund for Women ED Kavita Ramdas Tonight :: San Francisco, CA. May 24.

Should have posted this earlier ... woops!

Community Conversations: Author Sheryl WuDunn in conversation with Global Fund for Women Executive Director Kavita Ramdas

TODAY! Monday, May 24th, 2010
6:30-8:00 pm
Palace of Fine Arts - 3301 Lyon St., San Francisco

RSVP by 3 PM to Reserve your Seat!



Asylum Access partners with Facing History and Ourselves to present a heartwarming, thought-provoking evening with Sheryl WuDunn, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and co-author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

WuDunn will share stories of resilience, innovation, and empowerment from women around the world in the course of her conversation with Kavita Ramdas, the President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women.

Through her work in the interests of vulnerable populations around the world, WuDunn presents us all with a call not only to protect the world's vulnerable populations, but to actively fight injustice.

In Memory of DREAM Act Student Leaders Tam & Cinthya

Tam Tran and Cinthya Felix Perez, two UCLA alumni and leaders of the student movement on immigration, were tragically killed in an auto accident on May 15. A Ford pick-up driven by 23 yr old Jon Dow crossed the center line of Maine’s Route 3 and struck the vehicle driven by one of Tam and Cinthya's friends. At their time of death Tam, UCLA '06, was 27 yrs old, and Cinthya, UCLA '07, was 26.

"By all accounts, Tam Tran and Cinthya Felix Perez were outstanding students and beloved leaders who touched many lives with their courage, passion and intellect," said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block in a statement earlier today. "As undocumented immigrant students, they surmounted exceptional hurdles to earn their UCLA degrees, and together with others in a tight-knit community dedicated themselves to helping others in similar circumstances."


photo: Cinthya

Under California's AB 540 legislation, enacted in 2001, undocumented immigrant students are eligible to pay student fees as California residents; however, they are not eligible to receive financial aid or any scholarship funds donated directly to UCLA. Most of the approximately 200 undocumented immigrant students at UCLA are from poor families.

While undergrads, Tam and Cinthya were leaders of UCLA's student club IDEAS (Improving Dreams Equality Access and Success). Tam was a filmmaker, and made films like this one ...



Tam also testified before Congress in 2007, advocating on behalf of the DREAM Act. You can read her testimony here. Two days after her appearance before Congress, the INS tried to detain Tam's family.


photo: Tam

When Tam and Cynthia died, they were both in grad school. Tam was at Brown, in her second year of a Ph.D program in American Civilization. In 2008 she had helped found the Brown Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. Cinthya was at Columbia, finishing her second year in Public Health and on her way to medical school. Cinthya was the first undocumented student to attend Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

On Monday, May 17, the UCLA community held a memorial service, with more than 500 people in attendance. Brown held one for Tam on Wednesday evening, April 19 in the Manning Chapel on campus. The university invited both her mother and brother to attend as well as faculty, fellow students, local activists in the Immigration Rights movement, and innumerable friends.

In addition to caring and providing for Cinthya’s three siblings, Cynthia’s parents are struggling financially to cover the costs of the funeral services, including bringing their daughter back to California. Tam is survived by her parents and her younger brother, Lolly, and appreciate any and all support available. If you can help them out then visit their memorial page for more info.

Mmm ... were you already planning to shave your head?

Just saw this note from the pen manufacturer BIC on the Do Something website:

BIC will make a donation to DoSomething.org on behalf of every head shaved (for real or virtual) – up to a total of $60,000. We will guarantee a donation of at least $50,000.

If you upload a video of your head being shaved, BIC will give $444 to DoSomething.org. Upload a photo instead, and we’ll donate $44. Or do a “virtual head shave” and we’ll donate $4.

Plus…no matter how you do it, enter between 4/15 – 6/24 and you’ll automatically be eligible for a chance to win $4,000!

While you're at it, why not gather that hair up off of the floor and donate it to the San Francisco-based organization Matter of Trust, to help clean up the oil in the Gulf Coast? Seriously.

Check out this awesome high school student who shaved her head, donated the hair to Matter of Trust, and had her dad do some lettering ... all to generate some conversation in her high school. How cool is SHE? :)

Vodacom Challenges You to create Mobile Tech Innovations for South Africa :: Apps due May 31

Saw this in the Net Squared e-newsletter that I received this AM:

Vodacom is hosting three challenges to support people who are using mobile technology to solve problems dealing with education, health, or community information that are deployable in South Africa. Their hope is to find projects that can demonstrate value for users, ease of use and deployment, scalablability, sustainability, and innovation. The winning teams will receive R20,000 ($2,646) and the winner with the most promise will receive an additional R20,000.

All entries are due by May 31, so be sure to click through and apply if you think you've got the solution!

New Forum for Change Makers in the Communications Tech Space

Could this be you?

Change Connections :: Presented by The Feast + Nokia from Change Connections on Vimeo.

If so, then check this out -- launched recently by Nokia and The Feast, Change Connections is an open forum that offers a space to exchange, connect and collaborate on ideas for social good and to foster thinking around groundbreaking social innovation.

The goal is to define major problems and opportunities for solutions to major societal issues that build on the massive power and potential of communication technology to do good in the world.

Besides idea incubation, the site also features quotes from a series of more than 40 expert interviews, and case studies of existing work. For example, Samasource, which I recently blogged about here:)

Follow them on Twitter.

OK, now I'm off to watch the live webcast of the Microfinance USA Conference taking place in San Francisco today and tomorrow ...

New documentary about the Acumen Fund on PBS June 15

The New Recruits is a Skoll Foundation-funded film being broadcast on June 15th on PBS about three Acumen Fellows who are working to bring a new approach to tackling poverty through business.

From an interview with Seth Kramer of Ironbound Films, who produced and directed the film:

KRAMER: We wanted to see if we could represent this [Acumen Fund Fellows] program well, and really get sort of the diversity of the participants. So we ended up choosing three of the fellows. There's a guy named Suraj who is from India, and he finds himself in the middle of Kenya working for a company that's trying to build pay-per-use toilets in the slums, where you have a million-and-a-half people that are living without sanitation systems. Then you have a guy named Joel. He is a bonafide member of the religious right from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who finds himself in, of all places, Pakistan trying to help this company that's selling drip irrigation systems to poor farmers who have no idea about this new technology. And then there's Heidi. She's a Stanford business-school graduate. A tall, blonde, Californian, who finds herself in a string of remote Indian villages trying to sell solar-powered lights to people who don't have electricity.

Trailer:



To stay up to date, become a fan on Facebook.

get up girl & let them know you're free

Reposted from Huffington Post -

State Radio has released a human rights-centered video for their song "Calling All Crows," also the title of their humanitarian organization that aims to end violence against women.

State Radio and Calling All Crows raised $100,000 in 2009 to provide fuel-efficient stoves to women in Darfur. This campaign allowed many of these women to remain in IDP camps, thus preventing them from becoming victims of violence in the more violent regions of Sudan.

"Calling All Crows" is the third track off State Radio's third album, "Let It Go." They're touring with the John Butler Trio this summer.

Tour dates here.



Did that go a little too fast for you? :) Here are the lyrics:

Cause I come from the land of the shaman
Where the innocent are taken to the pavement
Won’t somebody just tell them
Won’t somebody oh, won’t somebody oh oh oh oh oh...

Won’t you please look after my children
All the words that are coming from the mouths of the women
From the northland down to the rio grande
New England town to Oregon
Wont somebody oh oh oh oh oh

So we’re calling all the crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary come with me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement
Then get up girl and let them know you're free

Cause I come from the land of the shaman
Where the world is looking up you know it's changing
Won't somebody just tell them
Won't somebody oh, won't somebody oh oh oh oh oh…

So we're calling all the crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary come with me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement
Then get up girl and let them know you're free

Said the rebel to the rebel
I will go if you come with me
I'm tired of living in a fable
Blue sky I'd love to see
The journey must continue and does not stop in me, no
Cause the rivers wide
but with all of us we can reach from side to side
and it is here that we must all ?

So we're calling all the crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary come with me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement
Then get up girl and let them know you're free

It's just a murder of crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary follow me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement
Then get up girl and let them know you're free
You got to get up girl and let them know you're free
You got to get up girl and girl let them know you're free

Coach Coop : "Saying Goodbye is the Toughest Part of My Job."

To read the article that goes with this video, go here.

The org that Coach Coop works for, Playworks, is hiring Coaches.

Forever. Diamonds & Plastics.

If you're still with me, then check out this news story about the latest whale rescue.

US Senate Climate Bill - Cheat Sheet :: If you support US Climate Change Legislation then Call your Senators Today.

Received this in an email from Ocean Champions this AM:

Yesterday, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) released their version of a Climate Bill, called the American Power Act.

The bill is "balanced" to improve its chances, but by setting a path to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop renewable energy, it still represents a paradigm shift that would promote healthier oceans, drive economic and job growth and enable independence from foreign oil.

What we like:
* It mandates a 17% reduction in carbon pollution from 2005 levels by 2020, 42% by 2030 and 83% by 2050. Not as fast as many would like, but in line with the Climate Change bill (Waxman-Markey) passed by the US House of Representatives last year.

* It sets a price for carbon, with a $12 floor and a $25 ceiling (with each set to grow over time), which will improve investment in renewable energy.

* It allows carbon trading, but by a limited set of entities on a regulated exchange, allowing market forces to create pricing efficiency while limiting speculation.


What we don't like:
* It pre-empts states from implementing mandatory greenhouse gas reductions.

* It restricts the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

* Like the House Bill, it has the USDA, not the EPA regulating agriculture offsets.

* The biggest flaw - it doesn't ban new offshore drilling; disappointing, but not surprising, given national politics. (In response to the BP oil spill, the bill was changed to give "impacted" states the right to veto oil drilling plans of neighboring states, and allow states to veto any drilling within 75 miles off their coast.)


I also like (and trust) the Natural Resource Defense Council's analysis of the bill.

One of today's New York Times stories about the bill talks about "next steps".

If you support the concept of US climate change legislation (however imperfect the draft bill that Senators Kerry and Lieberman released yesterday may be), then please call your US Senators with the simple message - "pass the Kerry-Lieberman climate change bill." The Capitol Hill main switchboard number is 202.224.3121. Give the operator the name of your US Senator and ask to be transfered to their office.

One Day Training - How to Get Out the Youth Vote. Washington, DC. June 21

Campus Progress' upcoming campaign training event, How to Win in 2010: Mobilizing Young Voters taking place on June 21st at the Center for American Progress.

This nonpartisan day of trainings, which is being co-sponsored by Rock the Vote, the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, and the American University Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, will focus on equipping campaign staff, candidates and members of the media with tools to help them effectively engage, utilize, and turn out young voters.

Great speakers include Steve Hildebrand (former Obama for America Deputy Campaign Manager), Karen Hicks, and trainers from Rock the Vote, PEW, the Fair Elections Legal Network, and many other organizations.

The training day is free and limited travel and housing scholarships are also available.

Additional info & registration is here.

Apply for Netroots Nation 2010 Conference Scholarship :: Apps due ASAP

Netroots Nation and DFA just announced the first round of winners for the DFA Netroots Nation 2010 scholarship.

Netroots Nation amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. Through our annual convention (this year held in Las Vegas July 22 - 25) and a series of regional salons held throughout the year, we strengthen our community, inspire action and serve as an incubator for ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere.

I just checked out the 12 Netroots Nation 2010 Conference Scholarship winners' profiles, and was really inspired.

Here's one reason why:

From Zerlina's profile - I lived in NYC in 2004 when John Kerry lost the election. Riding the subway to work the morning after the election was like riding to someone's funeral. Everyone was silent and visibly shaken. I decided I never wanted to have that feeling again. When the 2008 cycle came around I picked two toss up states (the yellow ones on Chuck Todd's map on MSNBC) and applied to work as a field organizer. You can't complain unless you take action and try to bring about change yourself. I didn't want to have any regrets. A Democrat HAD to win the White House in 2008 and I had to help. For me it was basically put up or shut up time and we ended up winning the state of Virginia for a Democrat for the first time in 44 years!

They will announce two more rounds of winners in the coming weeks. Round 2 is on! If you want to apply, go here.

Apply for Youth Delegation to next International Climate Change Meeting in Cancun, Mexico :: Apps due June 4

This is a fantastic opportunity. When I was covering COP15 I came across this organization's work a lot - I was really impressed.

SustainUS is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers 26 years of age or younger. Founded in 2001 to prepare U.S. youth for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the organization has since expanded to include local chapters in six cities, as well as two national programs engaging young scientists and future policymakers.

Interested in attending the UNFCCC COP16 and COP/MOP6 negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, November 29-December 10?

Applicants for SustainUS's Agents of Change delegation must be 18-26 years old at the start of the negotiations, and must be either U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or have been studying or working in the United States for at least six months at the time of application.

Selected applicants will join a diverse delegation of youth, including those both familiar with and new to the youth climate movement; from across the United States and beyond; including young scientists and engineers, policy specialists, grassroots activists, media and communications specialists; students, young professionals, and community volunteers; and more.

We have limited, need-based scholarship money for youth from climate change-impacted communities (requires separate application; see below).

Full delegation details and application materials are here.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. EDT on June 4th to agents(@)sustainus.org

Microfinance USA Conference Kick-Off Party :: San Francisco, CA. Wed May 19

Can't make it to the Thursday May 19 & Fri May 20 Microfinance USA Conference in San Francisco, but want to meet like-minded people? Check this out:



RSVP here.

For more info about the Microfinance USA Conference check out my Feb 19 blog post.


Also some additional good news for people who can't attend the full Microfinance USA Conference. This info came to me in an email: Tickets for single sessions at Microfinance USA now available! $50 per session. Register here.

Thursday, May 20th
10:00 - 11:45am -Sign up now!
Opening Session: Conversation with Maria Shriver, First Lady of California
& Premal Shah, President of Kiva
Opening Address: Martin Eakes, Self-Help

1:15 - 2:30pm - Sign up now!
Breakout Sessions
+ A Living History: U.S. Microfinance: Past, Present and Future
+ Scaling Global Microfinance: Funder Perspectives
+ Outsourcing: Improving underwriting and Portfolio Management

2:45 - 4:00pm - Sign up now!
Breakout Sessions
+ Growing Microlending in a Challenging Economy
+ Where Does All That Loan Capital Come From Anyway?
+ Leveraging Partnerships to Reach Millions

4:15 - 5:30pm - Sign up now!
Breakout Sessions
+ Inside the SBA Microenterprise Program
+ The Rise of P2P Lending
+ What is a Fair Price to Pay for Good Credit?

5:30 - 7:30pm
Taste of Microentrepreneurship Food Festival & Cocktail Reception
Microentrepreneurs representing some of the Bay Area's most popular and cutting-edge kitchens will delight guests with a "food festival" sampling of their culinary delights. Live music, hors d'œuvre, and cocktails. ($35 with conference registration/$45 at the door)


Friday, May 21st
9:00 - 10:30am -Sign up now!
Opening Remarks: Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco
Opening Address: Andrea Levere
General Plenary: Is Savings More Important than Credit?

11:00 - 12:30pm - Sign up now!
Breakout Sessions
+ Innovations in Microfinance Worldwide
+ Funding U.S. Microenterprise: Why Now? (for Donors and Funders only)
+ Policy Efforts to Promote Responsible and Appropriate Financial Products
+ Student Led Microfinance Clubs

12:30 - 2:00pm - Sign up now!
Lunch Sessions
+ Microfinance Careers Roundtables (Only a few spots available)
+ Microloan Client Tours (Only a few spots available)
+ Kiva Lender-Borrower Meet-Up

2:30 - 3:45pm - Sign up now!
Breakout Sessions
+ Proven Technology Trends for the Developing World
+ US Innovations: Serving the Unbanked
+ (Ir)Rational: Applying Behavioral Economics to Microfinance
+ Connecting Retail Banking and Microfinance

Guardians of the Pacific - have you seen their stickers yet?

From today's Surfrider Foundation e-newsletter SOUP:

Devastated by the amount of plastics in our oceans, a bunch of Australian surfers have started a sticker campaign that aims to eliminate the use of single use plastics. The group, who calls themselves the Guardians of the Pacific, have targeted billboards, grocery stores, and vending machines encouraging shoppers to choose an ocean-friendly beverage. Visit their site to check out their guerrilla activity, or to download some stickers/glue-ons of your own!

Tracking the Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Saltwater Buddha

Surfrider San Francisco Chapter member and author Jamail Yogis sent this video to his Facebook friends. Check out the video - and his book, which has gotten fantastic reviews.



Surf for Life just made me their spokesman and I decided to donate all my Saltwater Buddha author’s profits from now until next May to this project. For those of you who have read Saltwater Buddha, you know that if I hadn’t had a supportive family that encouraged me to stay in school I probably would’ve ended up, who knows, living in van down by the river.

This project allows me to give the opportunity that saved me to a group of high school kids who currently don’t even have a classroom. And if we can pull this school off, Surf for Life will be able to keep doing similar projects all over the world.

Get involved. Come on Surf for Life Trip, Donate, or buy Saltwater Buddha. Share this video with your friends.

How to Stay on your Parents' Health Insurance Plan until you are 26 : US Administration released New Info today

Just received this info from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office:

Today, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued new regulations on how to implement new coverage for young adults under age 26. The new regulations build on the news that insurance companies – under pressure from Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration – have agreed to start providing coverage for young adults ahead of schedule.

If you want to learn more, here’s what you should do:

· Check for Immediate Options: Private health insurance companies that cover the majority of Americans have volunteered to provide coverage earlier than the implementation deadline for young adults losing coverage as a result of graduating from college or aging out of dependent coverage on a family policy. This stop-gap coverage, in many cases, is available now. Ask your employer and insurer about this option.

· Watch for Open Enrollment: If early coverage is not an option with your employer or insurance company, then young adults will qualify for an open enrollment period to join their parents’ family plan or policy beginning on or after September 23, 2010. Insurers and employers are required to provide notice for this special open enrollment period. Watch for it or ask about it.

· Expect an Offer of Continued Enrollment: Insurers and employers that sponsor health plans will inform young adults of continued eligibility for coverage until the age of 26. To get the coverage, young adults and their parents need not do anything but sign up and pay for this option.

Immigration Rally ends with the arrest of a US Congressman

In follow up to my April 26 post about the Trail of Dreams ...

On May 1 approx 35 immigrant advocates, including a nun and Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and many young people were handcuffed and arrested at the Immigration Reform Rally in front of the White House.



More info about the DC Rally here.

More info about the rallies that took place around the USA on May 1 here.




To thank Rep Guiterrez call his Capitol Hill office at 202-225-8203 and leave a message for him with the staffer who answers the phone. I just did.

Baby, Baby, Baby ... stuck in my head on repeat

At 122+ million views (and counting), this video is hardly "new" but I finally watched it -



CATCHY! And better than his "older" stuff:) - this song is from the follow up to Justin's first album My World.

I was prompted to look up this video after seeing this song mentioned time and time again in recent issues of Rolling Stone. In one article Rolling Stone notes that Justin's rise to fame is interesting because unlike certain other artists, he did not go the Disney route. In fact, Justin's manager, who is in his late 20's, says that he gets emails daily from people begging him not to "go Disney."

Cage-Free Organic vs. Pasture-Raised Organic Eggs

From today's Organic Consumers Association e-newsletter -

note: videos are not graphic.

The USDA's National Organic Program has animal welfare standards that require egg-laying hens to have access to the outdoors and be able to exhibit their natural behaviors. Unfortunately, because the law isn't being evenly enforced, there are a wide range of conditions for egg-laying hens among certified organic operations.

Some certified organic eggs come from farms that provide plenty of rich green pasture for the hens to forage in for greens, insects and worms.



But the biggest industrial egg producers, who dominate grocery store sales of organic eggs, keep their hens in giant sheds, feeding them a simple corn-soy ration spiked with a synthetic supplement called methionine that keeps the hens appearing healthy even though they aren't getting the sunlight and forage they need.

If you're headed to Louisiana, don't forget your Suit

Stephen Colbert on wind farms and the oil spill:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Wind Farm & Oil Spill
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

Here's another segment on the same topic:

Watch "Age of Stupid" film online free for next 48 Hours or Less

In December 2009 I blogged a little bit on the HeadCount blog about the climate change documentary The Age of Stupid. Check out that post for some background info.

The film is available for streaming for the next 48 hours or less - not sure when the video will be taken off of the web. This is awesome because the last time I looked, the film was difficult to find in US theaters!

Watch it here:

The Age of Stupid from Age of Stupid on Vimeo.

Mugabe & the White African :: San Francisco International Film Festival in progress

I was reading about and watching the trailers for the films included in this year's San Francisco International Film Festival, when I came upon this one - Mugabe and the White African. Bummer that I just missed the screening of the film at the SF International Film Fest.

Here's the trailer:



This film got my attention because I (somewhat fairly recently?) read an article about this conflict in Zimbabwe. I've searched and searched the web and can't find the article ... nor a similar one, anywhere. However check out this NYT Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed, and then this recent bit of news for background to the above film.

While searching for that article I come across this great blog, Border Jumpers, which I plan to sift through.