This Care2.com post I wrote went up yesterday. Re-posting here!
I got to meet social entrepreneur Boris Bulayev while covering SOCAP11 for Care2. I loved hearing this story.
In 2002, Boris and Eric Glustrom co-founded Educate!, a Boulder, CO based nonprofit that is developing the next generation of Ugandan leaders. The organization’s Ugandan Mentors spend two hours per week in each classroom, reaching a total of 1,400 students at 24 partner high schools across Uganda. The mentors are all implementing the organization’s leadership-focused curriculum which involves classroom learning and experiential learning. In addition to the classroom instruction, the students, known as Educate! Scholars, create and implement community projects with the support of their Educate! Mentors.
At the conclusion of the two-year Educate! curriculum, the Educate! Scholars and Educate! Mentors become members of a nationwide alumni program. The network and Educate! continues to serve as a resource to these amazing young people as they scale their ventures and build their careers. Educate! Scholars have already created 100+ businesses and community initiatives, impacting 15,000+ lives in Uganda.
To read the rest of the post click here - you'll be taken to the original post on the Care2.com website.
Echoing Green is about to start accepting applications for the 2012 Echoing Green Fellowship - Monday, December 5th!
The nonprofit has invested a lot of energy into preparing prospective applicants for the application process. Staff recently ran a webinar that provided participants with detailed information about the fellowship and the application process. I really liked that viewers could submit questions for a Q&A held at the end of the webinar.
Echoing Green followed this up with a series of webinars geared towards specific audiences. I participated in all of these webinars "just for fun" - enjoyed this one the most! It features Fellow Anthony Jewett of Bardoli Global Initiative. Enjoy!
An additional note from Echoing Green: If you are interested in the Black Male Achievement (BMA) Fellowship – a new, parallel fellowship managed by Echoing Green that will invest in 8 individuals (of any ethnic or gender background) with passion and an innovative approach to supporting black men and boys in the United States, check out the full details here.
Here are the links for the recordings of the other Echoing Green webinars. The beginning of each webinar is essentially the same - the real value in watching the additional webinars are the remarks given by Echoing Green Fellows.
Looking forward to this webinar! Thanks to fellow HeadCount volunteer, Melissa Brennan for letting me know about it.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM EST
Join author and Echoing Green senior vice president, Lara Galinsky, for a free and interactive webinar on how you can take practical steps to move your career forward in a way that is both good for you and good for the world.
In case you are not familiar with this fantastic organization, Echoing Green unleashes the next generation of talent to solve the world's biggest problems. Each year, through their world-renowned Fellowship program, they provide more than $1 million in seed funding to a diverse group of 40-50 of the world's most promising social entrepreneurs- dynamic visionaries focused on solving the world's most intractable social problems.
Over 25 years of working with these inspiring Fellows, Echoing Green has gleaned some of the best practices on social impact career creation, which they are now disseminating through their Work on Purpose program. The cornerstone of the program is the Work on Purpose book, co-written by webinar presenter, Lara Galinsky, who is also the author Be Bold: Create a Career with Impact. In this engaging webinar, Galinsky will also lead you in exercises to help you uncover your next career steps.
If so then check out this video. Echoing Green team members give an overview of the organization's programs and delve deep into the application process. The application period opens on December 5 2011. Sign up here to receive updates from Echoing Green about the fellowship application process.
With a per capita income of $788, the approximate $1,000 it costs to fund a year’s tuition, fees, uniforms and books at a top quality public high school is well beyond the reach of many Kenyan families.
Once I'd arrived at the Do Good Lab event, I discovered that it was a fundraiser for an org I was unfamiliar with, Akili Dada. I learned a little bit about the org last night, and did additional research today. I was excited to see that Akili Dada lists Zawadi as a partner org - I discovered and then blogged about Zawadi just the other day:)
Akili Dada was founded by University of San Francisco Professor Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, who came to the USA from Nairobi, Kenya when she was fourteen for educational opportunities. The organization, the heart of which is in Nairobi, provides exceptional young Kenyan women with secondary school scholarships, leadership training, coordinated community service projects, and mentors. LOVE IT!
Loved it even more when I came across this on the org's website:
Akili Dada is changing lives!
* In 2011 we are providing critical and in-depth support to 40 brilliant young women who represent Africa's future. * Thus far we have mobilized more than U.S.$200,000 to support Africa's brightest young women. * 100% of our alumnae have earned full scholarships to universities around the world! (Check out this beautiful example!) * Our alumnae give back serving as Akili Dada Fellows, and by mentoring current scholars. Some have joined the leadership of the organization. * We provide invaluable networking and lifelong learning to our oversubscribed network of professional women who volunteer to serve as mentors through our exclusive mentor-only events. * We are mobilizing Africa's emerging middle class by providing opportunities for professional African women to make personal connections and investments in the next generation of African women leaders by serving as mentors. * By eagerly sharing our award-winning model, we are transforming the way our partner high schools and other organizations around the world do business and invest in young women.
Great video summary about the org's work:
For more, check out the press and awards that the organization and its founder have received - including the note that they are Echoing Green semi-finalists this year!!! Keep up with their good news via Facebook.
One World Children's Fund (OWCF) is Akili Dada’s fiscal and legal home. To make a donation directly to Akili Dada go here, or to contribute to Akili Dada via Do Good Lab's campaign, go here.
Malaria. I've been there, though indirectly. If you ran into me in San Francisco in April 2009, then I'm sure I talked your ear off about the disease - and would have elaborated upon the problem of counterfeit drugs.
photo: counterfeit drugs seized in Tanzania and Uganda
I first came across the startup PharmaSecure a while ago, but just stumbled upon them again. Wanted to share, because in addition to the company's mission, I love that it was founded by two Millennials - Nathan Sigworth and Taylor Thompson.
Check out Nathan & Taylor's PopTech presentation:
For some background, I grabbed this from their Echoing Green profile page:
During his first year at Dartmouth College, an invention introduced Nathan to the world of entrepreneurship, while a visit to a rural hospital in India introduced him to a world of poverty and public health problems. Nathan spent the next three years taking classes on economics and doing research on issues of health access intending to use entrepreneurship to address major health issues. Taylor Thompson spent sixteen months of his time at Dartmouth in East Africa, doing work on health access and research projects. With complementary skills, a common vision, and a year as college roommates, Nathan and Taylor decided to team up and address the problem of counterfeit drugs.
Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?You must (so we’re told) be dogged. You must latch onto your goals like a child to his mother’s neck and not let go until they are safely accomplished, but–all the while—you also must submit yourself, your goals, to the evidence. Never be too rigid to stop something that is failing; never be so proud to acknowledge your mistakes; always apply the strictest standards to that which you like best.
What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
PharmaSecure operates in India. However, from this Wired article: As you might expect, people working to fight counterfeit drugs don’t make a lot of friends among the illegal racket, so some of Sigworth and Thompson’s plans — and their whereabouts — remain secret, but they are planning to be operating in eight countries across Asia and Africa over the next few years.
Here's an example of how the PharmaSource system works:
For more info see the company's FAQ's page. Partner organizations - like Echoing Green - are listed here.
While reading about PharmaSecure I came across another like-minded startup also incubated at Dartmouth, Sproxil. More info in this article. The article mentions that there's another company in this field - MPedigree. They work in Ghana.
Check out this super interesting & brief video from MPedigree:
I'm so glad to see so much innovation happening around the problem of counterfeit drugs.
Since 1987, Echoing Green has provided seed funding and support to nearly 500 social entrepreneurs – including the founders of Teach For America, City Year, College Summit, SKS Microfinance, and Genocide Intervention Network.
In Spring 2011 Echoing Green will award between 12 and 20 fellowships to early-stage social entrepreneurs. Fellows receive up to $90,000 in seed funding over two years, technical support, and access to a powerful global community of fellows and alumni.
The online application will open in October 2010. Right now, potential applicants should review the application questions and sign up for application updates from us. Complete details are available here.
Got home from Sparkseed's awesome ARE YOU DANGEROUSLY AMBITIOUS? Happy Hour last night and after turning on my laptop, first thing I did was look up the video for The Script's "Breakeven." (If you listen to pop radio then you know it; currently #15 on Billboards Pop Singles chart.) Took me a while to locate the video because I thought it was an Adam Lambert song. My excuse? I haven't followed American Idol since the night in May 2008 that my favorite, David Archuleta lost to David Cook:)
But I digress.
After bopping along to Katy Perry's video for "California Gurls" I moved onto an email thanking me for volunteering at Do Something's Social Action Boot Camp this past Saturday. The email mentioned that Do Something will be announcing the winner of their $100k grant, as a part of a live show on VH1 on July 19th at 6 pm. I clicked on a link in the email, and a few clicks later found myself on a Do Something website reading about The Kibera School for Girls and Shining Hope Community Center, founded by Jessica Posner, Wesleyan '09 and Kennedy Odede, '12.
Here's an interview Wesleyan did with Jessica and Kennedy, where they talk about their venture and how it came to fruition:
I like this from Jessica: "We have a responsibility to the world because we went to Wesleyan, you know we got this type of education and we should use that to reinvent, reimagine how things are."
I found Jessica and Kennedy's organization on Facebook and saw that Jessica and Kennedy are in Echoing Green's 2010 fellows class! How did I miss them when I was blogging about the fellows 24 hours ago?
Their Echoing Green video:
By reading about Jessica and Kennedy, I learned that Kibera, the home of their venture, is the largest slum in Nairobi, Kenya and the second largest urban slum in the world. It's home to 1.5 million people, yet it's smaller than the size of NYC's Central Park.
Kibera seems to be everywhere, this week.
Last Tuesday PBS showed the Acumen Fund documentary "The Recruits", which I recently blogged about. I watched it online this past weekend. It profiles 3 Acumen Fund fellows, including Suraj Sudhakar, a native of Mumbai, India. As an Acumen Fund fellow, Suraj worked with Ecotact, a Nairobi, Kenya-based sanitation company. In "The Recruits" Suraj visits Kibera and encourages Ecotact founder David Kuria (an Ashoka Fellow himself, I just discovered) to build toilets in Kibera. It was a great eye opening film, and the first time I'd gotten that close to Kibera.
While I had never seen a video tour of Kibera, I was recently involved with a community project that benefits the community.
While attending my friend Lesley's baby shower three weekends ago in Monterey County, I learned that one of her fellow teachers, Caitie Ireland, was about to leave for Kenya, to volunteer at the Daraja Academy of Kenya. Caitie and I caught up at the party, and a few minutes into our conversation I found myself volunteering to collect women's running shoes for the secondary students at the private boarding school for girls - Kenya's first. Some of the students at the school are from Kibera.
After emailing a few select Bay Area fellow runners, and posting it as my "status update" on Facebook, I collected 50+ pairs of women's running shoes in less than 2 weeks from many friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends' co-workers!
Caitie and I met up for a hike at Big Basin Redwood State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California on Sunday, so that I could give her the shoes I'd collected. She shipped them to Kenya a few days ago, and is now enroute to the Daraja Academy of Kenya.
photo: myself and Caitie with some of the shoes destined for the Daraja Academy
photo: me with some of the shoes
So that was my tiny contribution and brush with Kibera.
But now, Kibera is everywhere - late last night, thanks to Facebook, I stumbled upon an article about a solar power project set for Kibera, related to the World Cup.
Also thanks to Facebook yesterday I learned about this TED video: Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums. I admit I haven't had a chance to watch it, yet.
Also just found out that Suraj organized a TEDx for Kibera last fall. Check it out here.
I am certain that there are many other ventures either already underway or planned for Kibera ... Jessica, Kennedy, Caitie, and Suraj just got me started:)
Meet Echoing Green's 2010 Fellows! This is the intro video that explains a little bit about Echoing Green, and introduces viewers to a few of the fellows:
In universities around the world, students explore countless ideas every day, including solutions to tackle social problems — and help people in need reach their fullest potential. If you have a world-changing idea, the University of Texas and Dell want you to share it by entering The Dell Social Innovation Competition.
The Dell Social Innovation Competition operates like a business-plan competition, awarding seed funding directly to the student-led venture that best meets the judges’ criteria.
For the student applicants - the competition has 4 stages: * College students from around the world enter the competition online, each with a brief description of his or her innovation.
* Competition judges invite a small group of semifinalists to develop their ideas into detailed venture plans. Each semifinalist records a 3-minute video pitch of his or her plan.
* Judges select 3 finalists to travel to Austin, Texas, to present their plans to a committee comprised of leaders from the business, non-profit and government sectors.
* During the final event, held at The University of Texas at Austin, all finalists receives prizes, and the overall winner receives $50,000 to launch his or her venture.
For the mentors out there: Feedback is a vital step in the development of an idea. Share your knowledge and experience with students who may be addressing an issue for the first time. Can your experience guide them to resources, references, and information that helps refine their idea? Constructive criticism offers something more than whether you like or dislike the idea. Be part of the collaboration to strengthen a solution. Log in and leave your constructive feedback and encouragement.
Both applicants and mentors need to register here.
Gardens For Health Yale University, Brown University Team Members: Emma Clippinger, Emily Morell, Ben Mandelkern
Gardens for Health is dedicated to enabling people living with HIV/AIDS to improve their nutrition, health and treatment adherence through sustainable agriculture. Gardens for Health was founded on the belief that a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment plan requires access to adequate, nutritious food. The Gardens for Health team is currently working in Rwanda in partnership with cooperatives of people living with HIV/AIDS.
I just saw on their website that the org won one of the fourteen 2009 Echoing Green Fellowships!
To drive transformative social change, Echoing Green identifies and assists some of the world’s best emerging social entrepreneurs who are launching new high-impact organizations. Through our fellowship program, we support this community of visionaries as they develop new solutions to society’s toughest problems. Founded by the leadership of the private equity firm General Atlantic in 1987, Echoing Green has supported more than 450 leaders sparking change in 40 countries and 41 states.
