Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
Since I’m not teaching this week (or next!) I thought now would be a good time to mention the work Lokahi has been doing after school this fall. I’ve been teaching at Longfellow Elementary School in Pasadena the past several months, in addition to the other campaign and tour work I do. Lokahi has long been involved with the after school community – we’ve been working with the Pasadena Unified School District (under our after school program name of Turning Tables) for nearly five years now. Our curriculum specializes in project based learning that teaches our students about community service, global issues, and civics while also building their science, literary arts and artistic skills.
This past fall, I’ve partnered with my good friend Elizabeth Converse, and her program, California Living Histories, or ‘CLH’ as it’s known by our students! We’ve been introducing our students to art from all around the world, teaching them about lesser known artists that used their work to make a social statement, and in some cases, change the world.
I’ll be blogging more about our student art work in the upcoming weeks, as Lokahi starts to roll out it’s new curriculum. In the meantime, feel free to email us for more info on our after school program, and check out some of our photos of our students work and them in action!
after school
Lokahi outreach
curriculum
teaching social justice
education
teaching
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Interesting article about poverty and philanthropy...
Check out this interesting article from last weeks New York Times magazine. A comment on the ONE.org blog mentioned it, definitely worth checking out - poses some interesting questions about wealth, poverty and philanthropy, as well as a fascinating history of philanthropy itself.
If you’re still looking for some places to make end of year donations, check out what some ONE Campaign partners are doing. Oxfam has a unique ’Oxfam unwrapped’ charity giving program this season, and Heifer International is always one of my favorite places to go for socially conscious gifts.
Happy Holidays!
global poverty
oxfam
one campaign
Lokahi outreach
heifer international
philanthropy
If you’re still looking for some places to make end of year donations, check out what some ONE Campaign partners are doing. Oxfam has a unique ’Oxfam unwrapped’ charity giving program this season, and Heifer International is always one of my favorite places to go for socially conscious gifts.
Happy Holidays!
global poverty
oxfam
one campaign
Lokahi outreach
heifer international
philanthropy
Monday, December 18, 2006
We Can Put Poverty in the Museums
" I believe that we can create a poverty-free world because poverty is not created by poor people. It has been created and sustained by the economic and social system that we have designed for ourselves; the institutions and concepts that make up that system; the policies that we pursue.
Poverty is created because we built our theoretical framework on assumptions which under-estimates human capacity, by designing concepts, which are too narrow (such as concept of business, credit- worthiness, entrepreneurship, employment) or developing institutions, which remain half-done (such as financial institutions, where poor are left out). Poverty is caused by the failure at the conceptual level, rather than any lack of capability on the part of people."
Check out the speech that this years Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus recently gave upon accepting his award.
It’s interesting to feel the ‘cultural zeitgeist’ come to fruition, to read a speech from a Nobel Peace Prize winner that reflects what you yourself have been reading and thinking for years, assuming it would forever remain a pipe dream, a long lofty goal, and now all of this – this push to end poverty, to fight for equality, etc – is suddenly a part of the mainstream culture. (By the way, I’m in the midst of writing my comp exams for my MA in American Studies, so excuse the academic leanings today…)
In particular, being an entrepreneur that is very interested in the idea of creating businesses that focus on creating what I think of as an ‘equilibrium’ in their operations, (ie: the company does well, it produces a good that is of sustainable value to society, it treats those that work for and with it well, etc.) I found what Yunus had to saw about social entrepreneurship particularly interesting:
“By defining "entrepreneur" in a broader way we can change the character of capitalism radically, and solve many of the unresolved social and economic problems within the scope of the free market. Let us suppose an entrepreneur, instead of having a single source of motivation (such as, maximizing profit), now has two sources of motivation, which are mutually exclusive, but equally compelling—a) maximization of profit and b) doing good to people and the world.
Each type of motivation will lead to a separate kind of business. Let us call the first type of business a profit-maximizing business, and the second type of business as social business.
Social business will be a new kind of business introduced in the market place with the objective of making a difference in the world. Investors in the social business could get back their investment, but will not take any dividend from the company. Profit would be plowed back into the company to expand its outreach and improve the quality of its product or service. A social business will be a non-loss, non-dividend company.”
Anyway, do check out his entire speech, it’s worth the read, and its reassuring to know that there is a world full of people like him, slowly working away to make things better
one campaign
nobel peace prize
global poverty
activism
volunteering
social entrepreneurship
Poverty is created because we built our theoretical framework on assumptions which under-estimates human capacity, by designing concepts, which are too narrow (such as concept of business, credit- worthiness, entrepreneurship, employment) or developing institutions, which remain half-done (such as financial institutions, where poor are left out). Poverty is caused by the failure at the conceptual level, rather than any lack of capability on the part of people."
Check out the speech that this years Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus recently gave upon accepting his award.
It’s interesting to feel the ‘cultural zeitgeist’ come to fruition, to read a speech from a Nobel Peace Prize winner that reflects what you yourself have been reading and thinking for years, assuming it would forever remain a pipe dream, a long lofty goal, and now all of this – this push to end poverty, to fight for equality, etc – is suddenly a part of the mainstream culture. (By the way, I’m in the midst of writing my comp exams for my MA in American Studies, so excuse the academic leanings today…)
In particular, being an entrepreneur that is very interested in the idea of creating businesses that focus on creating what I think of as an ‘equilibrium’ in their operations, (ie: the company does well, it produces a good that is of sustainable value to society, it treats those that work for and with it well, etc.) I found what Yunus had to saw about social entrepreneurship particularly interesting:
“By defining "entrepreneur" in a broader way we can change the character of capitalism radically, and solve many of the unresolved social and economic problems within the scope of the free market. Let us suppose an entrepreneur, instead of having a single source of motivation (such as, maximizing profit), now has two sources of motivation, which are mutually exclusive, but equally compelling—a) maximization of profit and b) doing good to people and the world.
Each type of motivation will lead to a separate kind of business. Let us call the first type of business a profit-maximizing business, and the second type of business as social business.
Social business will be a new kind of business introduced in the market place with the objective of making a difference in the world. Investors in the social business could get back their investment, but will not take any dividend from the company. Profit would be plowed back into the company to expand its outreach and improve the quality of its product or service. A social business will be a non-loss, non-dividend company.”
Anyway, do check out his entire speech, it’s worth the read, and its reassuring to know that there is a world full of people like him, slowly working away to make things better
one campaign
nobel peace prize
global poverty
activism
volunteering
social entrepreneurship
Friday, December 15, 2006
Video from the ONE booth in Hawaii
Check out the mini video that Lokahi's Arron took from the end of the night at the U2 show in Hawaii. You'll notice me running around with a bucket of white bands, and our hard working volunteers trying to talk to as many people as they can. It's not as chaotic as it normally gets post show - Arron couldn't have recorded it if it was! - but it gives you a good idea as to what it's like most evenings! I'll post more video from the last few years as we slowly upload it all to our You Tube page....
one campaign
U2
global poverty
activism
volunteering
one campaign
U2
global poverty
activism
volunteering
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Keep on rockin' in the free world...
“You gotta trust your vision of visibility
if you wanna make poverty history -
Keep on rockin' in the free world”
And with that, U2 ended a 130 plus date tour, 80 nights of which ONE had a big presence at! Initially it seemed strange to suddenly be back at a U2 show nearly a year after our last date in December 2005. But we quickly fell back into place, getting over 1800 more people to join ONE (and another 4000 texted to join as well!) and spreading the word about making poverty history across the Aloha state! Judging by the amount of people I saw wearing white bands across the island the next day, I could tell that our reach was pretty massive!
Getting to go to Hawaii was of course a nice perk, but even more fun was talking to so many fans from across the country and world who had come to Honolulu for this special show. As always, we had a stellar crew of volunteers to join us in making the night a big success. Among those volunteers were Beth and Susan, sisters from southern California who joined us. Susan is currently a nurse who now lives in Hawaii, and Beth had to wake up some three hours after the show to run in the AIDS marathon Sunday AM! LA volunteer Sheri was also there, along with her sister and two friends, ‘the other’ Sheri and Sean are ONE Hawaii members who are hosting an exciting event in Oahu later this week (contact us for more info on this!), Linsey and Laura work with the local Salvation Army, Riley is a Hawaii native, and Lori, a tried (or tired?) and true San Francisco volunteer rounded out our crew. It was especially great to see Lori – she was among the very first ONE volunteers we ever got to work with, way back in April of 05 when she joined us at a U2 show in San Jose. My buddy Jamie, a veteran volunteer at this point, and her husband James also joined us in helping out at the very busy booths - we don't think poor James really knew what he was getting himself into! In fact, the night was full of familiar faces from the last two years!
If anything really stood out on Saturday night, it was the REDness of the crowd – there were countless fans sporting the new RED product tee’s, the ONE Edun tee’s (Bono himself was wearing the Edun ONE shirt most of the night!) and the black ONE tee’s. It’s hard for me to believe in that in March of 2005, when the tour began, there were only 50 or so ONE shirts in existence, (for my staff and our volunteers!) and now literally tens of thousands of fans are helping to fight poverty with their fashion choices! All in all, it’s been an amazing journey watching this campaign grow and expand and really make an impact over the past two years.
It’s always bittersweet to have something that was as amazing as the U2 tour was for us come to an end, but it’s good to know that we got over 100,000 fans to join us in that time, and were able to take great strides in spreading the word about ONE. A special thanks to all of those volunteers that have joined us on the Vertigo tour, and to the Vertigo crew for the endless support of ONE!
Keep on the lookout for exciting volunteer opportunities to come in 2007!
PS: check out more U2 Hawaii photos!
one campaign
U2
global poverty
activism
volunteering
Friday, December 01, 2006
Okay, so our blog is sadly out of date
But a big backlog of updates will be posted soon, and then we can just act like this six month lapse in posting never happened, okay? It's been a busy second half of 2006: Pearl Jam, Warped Tour, Dave Matthews, a bunch of festivals, our after school program, an upcoming U2 show....excuses, excuses, but trust us, our updates will be worth the wait!
Monday, June 12, 2006
We normally don't have the interns push the rental car...
...but we don't usually run out of gas either. Look how HAPPY Intern Haley is to push though - she later told us it was the highlight of her internship thus far, as they don't really have cars in the part of Texas she's from. Watch for profiles of all of our Lokahi summer interns to be posted soon!
Monday, June 05, 2006
Jersey joins as ONE...again!
This past weekend in NJ was great ! These shows were our last few dates with Pearl Jam before they go on a break - watch for us to start up again in about two weeks, including dates with Tom Petty! - and we definately made the most of our time in the Garden State.
Cool to see the legacy of our outreach last year - lots of fans came by to tell us they joined with us or saw us at a U2 or DMB show last year, and that they were eager to stay involved. We had a LOT of people sign up to be a volunteer in the NYC/NJ area (and don't forget, if you want to do the same, just click here!) which is great - we love seeing ONE continue to grow the way that it is!
We had one of our strongest nights of the tour while in East Rutherford – PJ fans are really starting to become more and more interested in the campaign, and it seems that the word is spreading that we are taking part in the tour.
We had a lot of fun with our volunteers in Jersey, and I want to take a second to spot light this amazing team! First off, we had Bob who helps just about any time we are in the NJ/NYC vicinity – only he never seems to end up in any of our photos, so we were excited to capture him in action! Keith and Jeff both learned about the campaign as Oxfam Make Trade Fair campaigners - it was Keith’s first time volunteering and he pretty much blew us all away! Jeff, who is a junior in high school, had joined us at Warped Tour last summer, and after getting a ride to the venue from his dad, he rocked out, getting lots of and lots of people to sign up! We also had Mary and Enrique, both grad students at Columbia. Enrique is a friend of Mary’s, he called to see if he could join at the last minute (we were short on volunteers so it worked out perfect!) – he had never volunteered before, his bus dumped him at the Convention Center (a long way from the Continental Arena) so we expected him to be frazzled by the time he came in, and in the midst of the chaos and training we noticed he disappeared. We thought we lost Enrique, but as it turns out, he was ready to go and was already out there talking to PJ fans! Rounding out our crew was Matisse, who works for the organization Witness, which does some amazing human rights work.
A big thanks to all of our amazing volunteers for their help last night – again, the work we wouldn’t work if not for your ongoing support!
Cool to see the legacy of our outreach last year - lots of fans came by to tell us they joined with us or saw us at a U2 or DMB show last year, and that they were eager to stay involved. We had a LOT of people sign up to be a volunteer in the NYC/NJ area (and don't forget, if you want to do the same, just click here!) which is great - we love seeing ONE continue to grow the way that it is!
We had one of our strongest nights of the tour while in East Rutherford – PJ fans are really starting to become more and more interested in the campaign, and it seems that the word is spreading that we are taking part in the tour.
We had a lot of fun with our volunteers in Jersey, and I want to take a second to spot light this amazing team! First off, we had Bob who helps just about any time we are in the NJ/NYC vicinity – only he never seems to end up in any of our photos, so we were excited to capture him in action! Keith and Jeff both learned about the campaign as Oxfam Make Trade Fair campaigners - it was Keith’s first time volunteering and he pretty much blew us all away! Jeff, who is a junior in high school, had joined us at Warped Tour last summer, and after getting a ride to the venue from his dad, he rocked out, getting lots of and lots of people to sign up! We also had Mary and Enrique, both grad students at Columbia. Enrique is a friend of Mary’s, he called to see if he could join at the last minute (we were short on volunteers so it worked out perfect!) – he had never volunteered before, his bus dumped him at the Convention Center (a long way from the Continental Arena) so we expected him to be frazzled by the time he came in, and in the midst of the chaos and training we noticed he disappeared. We thought we lost Enrique, but as it turns out, he was ready to go and was already out there talking to PJ fans! Rounding out our crew was Matisse, who works for the organization Witness, which does some amazing human rights work.
A big thanks to all of our amazing volunteers for their help last night – again, the work we wouldn’t work if not for your ongoing support!
Friday, June 02, 2006
Back out with the Dave Matthews Band this summer!
We are very proud to be taking the ONE Campaign back out with the Dave Matthews Band again this summer! DMB has been a big supporter of ONE - you can even see Dave in the ONE click video
- and we are very excited to get another chance to talk to the band's fans about the ONE Campaign.
Our second night of the tour - in Kansas City - was AMAZING! We got nearly 1,000 fans to join the campaign through the efforts of a small but mighty volunteer crew from the local Kansas City ONE Chapter.
Keeping check back for updates from myself, our DMB Tour Campaign Leader Josh and his crew of mighty interns!
And don't forget: if you are interested in this campaign, want to help and learn more, then we want you to VOLUNTEER!
- and we are very excited to get another chance to talk to the band's fans about the ONE Campaign.
Our second night of the tour - in Kansas City - was AMAZING! We got nearly 1,000 fans to join the campaign through the efforts of a small but mighty volunteer crew from the local Kansas City ONE Chapter.
Keeping check back for updates from myself, our DMB Tour Campaign Leader Josh and his crew of mighty interns!
And don't forget: if you are interested in this campaign, want to help and learn more, then we want you to VOLUNTEER!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Pearl Jam in Philly
Wow, Philadelphian's really take their tailgating seriously! There was no shortage of partying going on in the parking lots at Tweeter Center this past weekend, but thankfully it didn't stop Pearl Jam fans from also supporting the ONE Campaign!
We met a lot of very cool ONE supporters this past weekend - it's so great to see how the message of ONE has really started to take root. And Philly holds a special place for the Campaign itself - this is where ONE was kicked off in 2004 and where Live 8 happened last summer. I met a lot of PJ fans that told me they were at the Live 8 show, and the Tweeter Center even has a display of photos from the event. It was pretty easy to explain what ONE is to fans when you could just point at the big Live 8 display across the lobby!
We also got to work with some great volunteers this weekend - in particular a big thanks to Rick Young and Adrienne Lehner. These guys have probably been at more shows with us than any other volunteers in the country, they come out with super short notice, aways rock out when they work and they always help us recruit more volunteers when we are in need! Thanks again to all of our volunteers from this past weekend - we really couldn't make this happen without you, and don't forget, if you are interested in volunteering with us for ONE, click here for more info.
We met a lot of very cool ONE supporters this past weekend - it's so great to see how the message of ONE has really started to take root. And Philly holds a special place for the Campaign itself - this is where ONE was kicked off in 2004 and where Live 8 happened last summer. I met a lot of PJ fans that told me they were at the Live 8 show, and the Tweeter Center even has a display of photos from the event. It was pretty easy to explain what ONE is to fans when you could just point at the big Live 8 display across the lobby!
We also got to work with some great volunteers this weekend - in particular a big thanks to Rick Young and Adrienne Lehner. These guys have probably been at more shows with us than any other volunteers in the country, they come out with super short notice, aways rock out when they work and they always help us recruit more volunteers when we are in need! Thanks again to all of our volunteers from this past weekend - we really couldn't make this happen without you, and don't forget, if you are interested in volunteering with us for ONE, click here for more info.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
ONE now on tour with Pearl Jam!
We are very excited and honored to be on the road with Pearl Jam this summer - we just joined the band in Boston on Thursday night with much success! PJ fans are very supportive of the campaign, and we can't wait to get to work with more of them this summer. Keep checking back for more updates as we hit the road full force in the upcoming weeks!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Follow the ONE team in Africa
In case you haven't seen it, the ONE Campaign blog is documenting the travels of member's of the ONE Campaign team and Bono as they take a six nation tour of Africa. Updates have been coming in daily, and offer a great insight into what is happening in Tansania, Lesotho, Rawanda and other nations that are working their way out of extreme poverty. Be sure to check it out!
Not nearly as exciting as traveling Africa is driving cross country to Boston, which is what me and Arron will be up to for the next few days. We're about to kick off our many summer tours - watch for updates and volunteer opportunities and your chance to join us in making poverty history.
Not nearly as exciting as traveling Africa is driving cross country to Boston, which is what me and Arron will be up to for the next few days. We're about to kick off our many summer tours - watch for updates and volunteer opportunities and your chance to join us in making poverty history.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Lokahi recruiting for this summer!
Lokahi is gearing up for this summer in a big way! We'll be continuing our collaboration with ONE, and will also be doing work with environmental campaigns and voter outreach on a whole bunch of summer tours.
We'll be needing lots of volunteers, have spots for interns and even a few opportunities for experienced campaigners to join us. Please click on any of the links for more info.
We'll be needing lots of volunteers, have spots for interns and even a few opportunities for experienced campaigners to join us. Please click on any of the links for more info.
Monday, February 20, 2006
ONE goes to Daytona!
We were very excited to get to kick off our 2006 outreach by joining NASCAR fans at the Daytona races! We were invited by the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, a ONE Campaign partner and supporter, as they wanted us to spread the message of ONE to NASCAR fans. Once again, we rolled out the ONE car, last seen at the N.C. U2 show back in December, and the NASCAR community in turned rolled out to show their support! We signed up lots of new ONE supporters, talked to thousands of NASCAR fans and also got to work with lots and lots of great volunteers, many of whom had never volunteered for ONE before. Special thanks to Dick Baker of the Earnhardt Foundation for his support, and to Jim also of DEI, for giving us the ins and outs of racing culture. I had never really been a fan before, but I have to admit, getting a chance to see the cars blowing by at nearly 200 mph was pretty cool!
Check out our photos from the event!
Check out our photos from the event!
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