Blog Action Day 2012: The Power of We

“At the heart of StartSomeGood is a fundamental belief that an inspired community united behind an entrepreneur’s vision is how we will ultimately change the world. Social change won’t come from a single individual or from a single venture but rather from all of us—the “we”—coming together to innovate, inspire, and impact the world.”
-Alex Budak, co-founder, StartSomeGood

The Power of We…

Once a year, Blog Action Day brings together bloggers from around the world to discuss one important global topic. This year, Blog Action Day is all about the Power of We. Since the Power of We is all about community, we reached out to the StartSomeGood community and asked, “What does the Power of We mean to you?”

Wecyclers
Raised $3,895 for launching a recycling pilot in Lagos, Nigeria

“For Wecyclers, the Power of We is manifested in our current pilot which was funded by an international group of supporters that galvanized around our StartSomeGood campaign. It’s demonstrated by the 500 households in Lagos who have joined our network of recyclers and it’s shown in the 2 tons of material that we have collected. We also hope to see it as we improve our current cargo bike design to meet our skyrocketing demand. Let’s see if it works again—get in touch at founders@wecyclers.com if you want to help us design our ‘wecycle 2.0’.”

-Alex Fallon and Bilikiss Adebiyi, co-founders, Wecyclers

Do Good Bus
Raised $101,781 for a Do Good Bus Tour with Foster the People

“At the beginning of a Do Good project, the end goal seems nearly impossible sometimes. But our team, as well as our volunteers, are continually amazed at what WE can accomplish as a group. There is true power in bringing many hands together to reach one goal.”

-Rebecca Pontius, co-founder, Do Good Bus

Youth Awareness Resource Network (Y.A.R.N)
Raised $2,340 to establish Y.A.R.N’s Website and Marketing Brand

“It is the Power of We that inspires and activates people to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves. Here at Y.A.R.N, together We believe in Building Relationships through the Power of a Story. We want to be a part of the Dream to inspire all Australians to share the Stories and Culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.”
-Warren Roberts, CEO and Founder, Y.A.R.N

One Degree
Raised $4,684 to officially launch One Degree

“We, at One Degree, believe that communities have the power, will, and the assets to lift themselves out of poverty. While, the internet is filled with tools that extol the “Power of Me” (like status updates, tweets, and pins that are myopically used to bolster an individual’s internet identity), we envision a world where families use the Power of We to drive social change and actively build stronger communities. We empower families not only with increased access to services in the community, but more importantly, we make families the drivers of social change by allowing them to share their experiences with services they have used. We enable neighbors to share vital information with neighbors, which bolsters the Power of We.”
-Rey Faustino, CEO and Founder, One Degree

And the winner of our Blog Action Day Challenge is…

Shawn Kelley!

We asked the StartSomeGood online community to describe what the Power of We means to them in three words. Shawn eloquently responded with:

“Fair, Share, Care.”

Shawn, your words truly inspire.

This post is part of a global effort that includes thousands of bloggers from across the world—Blog Action Day 2012. Now that you’ve heard from us, we’d love to hear from you:

What does the Power of We mean to you?