This Week in Social Entrepreneurship
- Only 9 tickets remain for Lean Startup for Social Good, a 4 class series beginning April 10th and concluding May 1st. Join Be Social change and Lean Startup Machine to make measurable progress over 4 weeks with your social good startup. You will learn many quality skills through hands-on classes and get assigned to a mentor who will provide guidance and support. Priced at $199 this course is a real NYC bargain designed for anybody in the midst of creating a new venture for change.
- OxfordJam is taking place in tandem with the Skoll World Forum on social entrepreneurship this year on April 10th through April 12th. This fringe event will be located in the heart of Oxford, just minutes from the Skoll World Forum, but will offer OPEN ACCESS and will be completely FREE. It is offering a participatory environment of discussion, inspirational break out sessions, and networking opportunities. The brightest and most innovative minds in the social economy will be there socializing, learning, and getting excited about all the great work being done at grassroots level.
- The Kiva New York Lending Team is hosting Give Back Saturday on April 13th at Pera SOHO. The night will start off right with a DJ at 9:30 indicating Give Back Saturday has officially begun. 10% of all bar proceeds for the night will be donated directly to Kiva.org and all attendees will receive a voucher allowing them to dine at Pera SOHO within 30 days for 10% off their total bill. There will also be a sweet book giveaway—Bob Harris’ “The International Bank of Bob”. Join Kiva.org for a night of dancing, mingling, and, most importantly, giving back.
- Join Professor Edward LaPorte for a panel discussion about Social Finance and Impact Investing on April 9th in Piscataway, NJ, hosted by The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. Some of the confirmed panelists include representatives from noted companies like Deutsche Bank, Prudential, Arc Finance, MelArbit Caital, and Barclays. Seats are limited and an RSVP is required for this free event at the Rutgers University Livingston Campus.
- Good music, good brews, good cocktails, and, most importantly, good people will be gathering at Luscious Garage in San Francisco to raise funds for the B the Change cycling team. The team will be biking from the top of California to San Francisco to support organizations fighting climate change. There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door and occupancy is only 250 so RSVP soon to be part of this amazing event.
Shawn D. Ross
I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites: sdrinspire.tumblr.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com.
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Do you have a social entrepreneurship news story or an event you’d like to see on the StartSomeGood Blog? Email the details to Nicole or find her on Twitter @nricchio and she’ll be happy to review it.
StartSomeGood News
Brand New Good! StartSomeGood’s Newest Campaigns…
Bangladesh Peasant Solidarity Network is helping Bangladesh’s climate vulnerable people through two projects: Jaago Foundation and Bangladesh Krishok Federation. They support and give aide to the urban slum populations and rural peasants who are extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts. Through donations and the purchase of a photo book by Michael Chew, an environmentalist, photographer, and founder of Bangladesh Peasant Solidarity Network, up to five children will be given five years of education. In addition, a group of up to ten rural organizers will be trained for six months and the project will be able to support international volunteers.
Jennifer started Sock Monkeys Against Cancer (SMAC!) for her mother who lives 1,200 miles away from her and has lung cancer. Because of the distance, Jennifer wanted to make sure her mother would have a “buddy” she could hug and remind her that Jennifer is always with her, especially during her treatments. SMAC! is a gang of monkeys that provides tangible support to those with cancer, reminding them that no one fights it alone. Two prototypes are complete with many more designs planned to help battle all types of cancer. Following the model set forth by such companies as TOMS shoes and Warby Parker Eyewear, every monkey purchased will ensure a second monkey will go to someone else with cancer. In addition, a portion of the proceeds will go to cancer research and programs. SMAC! seeks funding to launch the program and mass produce the first two prototypes—NoMo, who fights all cancers and Pheonix who is dedicated to SMAC!-ing lung cancer. This campaign is one of the fastest growing campaigns ever on StartSomeGood, already raising over $9,000 in less than a week! Funds will cover production, packaging and shipping of approximately 500 monkeys.
La Poderosa Media Project promotes youth empowerment, cultural empathy, and collaborative learning through visual arts programs. This project is fundraising for its next international program, which will take place in Chile in January 2013. Targeted at developing empathy and collaborative learning with a four-week artistic intervention for 40 at-risk teens in Santiago, La Pederosa Media Project has become a platform for egalitarian exchange, transforming communities one film at a time. Funds raised through this campaign will be used to cover transportation costs for instructors and the production costs for up to three short films.
Shawn D. Ross
I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites:sdrinspire.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com.
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Are you inspired by all this good? What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.
SocEnt Book Club Review: ‘Madlands’ by Anna Rose
Madlands: A Journey to Change the Mind of a Climate Sceptic
by Anna Rose
I’ll admit it. I started reading this book with a bit of scepticism. Not because I disagree with the concept of climate change—far from it—but because I wasn’t sure how a book about the journey to change someone’s mind could in any way be meshed coherently with climate theory.
My first impressions of the book were good. The writing style was fluid and the different terms were explained in an understandable, non-patronizing way (which is a problem for a lot of reads in this general genre). I wasn’t prepared for the semi-autobiographical nature of the book, though perhaps I should have been. It was nice to break from climate theory every now and then, though I felt a lot of it was used as filler, but again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! In fact, a number of instances (such as planning a wedding using Google docs) had me actually chuckling, and let me engage with the author.
The use of graphs (which I had been looking forward to) was meshed into the book fairly well. Due to the flow of writing, the graphs were often on different pages to the place they had been referenced from—usually also after the story had moved forward slightly. I felt that while they were visually pleasing as a method to break the text, they could have—for the most part—all been put in an index in the back of the book. I did find myself actually studying the graphs and charts, however, which shows how engaging (okay okay, and simple enough for even me to understand) they were.
I just want to talk very briefly about who this book is aimed at. Primarily because I’m not sure of the answer myself. In a lot of ways, the book seems to appeal to a wide variety of people, all of which can be huddled together under the wide heading of ‘people interested in climate change, whether they believe in it or not’. Do I think the book was trying to target too wide an audience? Not really—its seeming determination to have a wide appeal is probably the reason the flow of writing was made to be so accessible (and the more scientific terms were explained so well).
Overall, I really liked this book. The writing style was nice, the facts were put forward in a very interesting way, and for the most part, the different elements of data, journey, and biography were weaved together in a complementary, coherent manner. As I mentioned before, I don’t feel as though I could describe an ‘ideal reader’ for this title, but I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is interested in both Climate Change and the people who are passionate about what it’s doing to our planet.
Sara Slack
A self confessed tea-and-book addict, I’ve always been a ‘Jack of all Trades’. My hobbies range from cycling, to woodworking and participating within the theatre. My passion for the written word led not only to postgraduate degree in English, but also to becoming the volunteer director of the non-profit publishing house Inspired Quill. I love my day job (shockhorror!), where I work as the Marketing Manager for the ethical investment Platform ‘Ethex’, here in the UK. (I also hold the belief that ‘to-do’ lists breed when you’re not looking).
SocEnt Book Club—Madlands: A Journey to Change the Mind of a Climate Sceptic
The month of July brings with it not only a new book, but a new reviewer as well! My name’s Sara, and I’m your reviewer for this month’s SocEnt Book Club read along.
Madlands: A Journey To Change The Mind Of A Climate Sceptic, by Anna Rose, tells the (true) story of a twenty-something environmentalist and a retired right-wing finance minister. The novel outlines Anna and Nick’s journey around the world as they challenge one another’s views about climate change, provoking each other to confront previous assumptions about our responsibilities as individuals in a rapidly changing world.
This novel is written in first-person, from Anna’s point of view, and (at a very brief first glance) even includes some tables and data she presented to Nick sometime along their journey. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how all the facts and figures integrate within the narrative of the book.
If you have any interest in climate change or our responsibility toward our planet (from either side of the fence, even!), please pick up a copy of this book, read along, and let us know your thoughts on Twitter or Facebook. My brief flick-through the pages has revealed some very interesting paragraphs (I’m not cheating, I promise!), and I have a gut feeling that the contents of this book could cause some lively debate, so don’t miss out!
About the Author: Anna Rose is the co-founder of the Australia Youth Climate Coalition, a movement of over 70,000 young people working to solve climate change. She is joint recipient of the 2009 Environment Minister’s Young Environmentalist of the Year Award, and a Fellow of the International Youth Foundation. The Sydney Morning Herald named her one of Sydney’s most influential people (2009), and one of the top five most powerful grassroots organizers in New South Wales (2011).
Book Availability:
Sara Slack
A self confessed tea-and-book addict, I’ve always been a ‘Jack of all Trades’. My hobbies range from cycling, to woodworking and participating within the theatre. My passion for the written word led not only to postgraduate degree in English, but also to becoming the volunteer director of the non-profit publishing house Inspired Quill. I love my day job (shockhorror!), where I work as the Marketing Manager for the ethical investment Platform ‘Ethex’, here in the UK. (I also hold the belief that ‘to-do’ lists breed when you’re not looking).
