Have Fun • Do Good

Zen Under Fire: Big Vision Podcast Interview with Marianne Elliott

2013-06-12T06:31:00.001-07:00

"The difference that I could make was really much less grand than saving the world, but it was in many ways much more powerful because it was actually something that all of us can do. All of us always have the opportunity to serve the person who is right in front of us." ~ Marianne Elliott

This month's Big Vision Podcast features the lovely Marianne Elliott. Marianne is a writer, human rights advocate, and international yoga instructor. Trained as a lawyer, Marianne helped develop human rights strategies for the governments of New Zealand and Timor-Leste, has worked as a Policy Advisor for Oxfam, and spent two years working in human rights in the Gaza Strip prior to her time in Afghanistan, where she served in the United Nations mission (2005-2007).

Her memoir Zen Under Fire, tells the story of her work and life in Afghanistan. Marianne writes and teaches on creating, developing and sustaining real change in personal life, work and the world. Marianne lives in a converted church above the zoo in Wellington, New Zealand, where she writes to the sound of roaring lions and singing monkeys.

You can learn more about Marianne and her work on her website, marianne-elliott.com, follow her on Twitter at @zenpeacekeeper, and see if she is coming to your town on her book tour at marianne-elliott.com/book/events.

You can listen and subscribe to the Big Vision Podcast via iTunes, or on the player below (if you're reading this via email, or rss and can't see the player click here to go to the original post). If you like the show, I'd really appreciate it if you took a moment to rate and review it on iTunes.

If you have suggestions for people I should interview, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com.

Wanna Give a Free $25 Loan to an Entrepreneur on Kiva?

2013-06-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

When some friends got married recently, they didn't set up a registry because, "We are in our 40s and already have lots of stuff." Instead, they asked that we do something kind for someone else. I decided to make a loan to Kiva.org, a nonprofit organization that facilitates regular people (like you and me) making micro-loans to entrepreneurs across the globe.

I liked the idea of giving a Kiva loan as a wedding gift because once the loan is repaid, it can be re-loaned to another entrepreneur, and another and another, so it's a wedding gift that will keep on giving. I've made 14 loans over the past 6 years, and they've all been repaid 100%, except of course, my newest loans, which are in the process of either being funding, or repaid.

As a Kiva lender, I can invite new lenders to make a free $25 loan. If you've never used Kiva before, and want to try it out, just click on the link below, and you'll be able to make a $25 micro-loan to an entrepreneur for free:

http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/brittbravo

And here's the *really* cool part. If you use the link above to join Kiva, and make the free $25 loan, then I get $25 to loan too! It doesn't get more have fun, do good than that, does it?

Photo: Sophea Chum. A loan of $600 helped Sophea to purchase silk materials for weaving.

News Media: Take Responsibility for Your Influence

2013-06-03T10:38:00.001-07:00

I'm tired of the news.

Browsing the headlines on The New York Times, CNN, USA Today, and Google News' sites is one long litany of horror: Murder. Rape. Cruelty. Lies. Selfishness. Riots. Fighting in Congress. Natural disasters.

I used to watch The Daily Show to feel better about the world, but even Jon Stewart has had enough, and is taking a break.

Why does positive news about people being kind, problems being solved, and hope being rekindled have to be allocated to a separate site, like Positive News, Good News Network, and Happy News, or to its own section, like HuffPost Good News?

So many of the people I've talked with lately seem overwhelmed by the amount of challenges our world is facing. Things will not get better unless we see news stories that describe our challenges and possible solutions. We need to document moments of despair and of hope. Together. Integrated. Not on a separate site, or in its own section, like it is a special interest.

I keep thinking about the recent March Against Monsanto to prevent the spread of genetically modified food. I think we need a March for Mature Media to protest the spread of only fear-based, negative, and violence-oriented news, and to promote the reporting of both good and bad news stories.

According to a Pew Research study, Americans are spending more time following the news. It's time for the news media to take responsibility for its profound influence as the storyteller of our time.

Photo by cloudzilla.

Why "Be the Change That You Wish to See in the World” Really Works

2013-05-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

You've probably seen the Gandhi quote, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world,” somewhere. You might even have it tacked up on the wall of your office, or home.

Well, guess what? It really works.

Last week, I started a (free) Coursera class, Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence, which I'm loving. One of the modules is about emotional contagion. Basically, how you feel and manage your feelings affects other people. If you go into work feeling sad, or angry, your co-workers may start to feel the same way. Even if you put on a happy face, if you're feeling down or discouraged inside, they will pick up on it.

In the same module, they talked about social contagion, which means that if you change your behavior, there is a good chance that someone you know will change his, or her behavior. Also, your behaviorial change has the potential to impact one of your friend's friends, or a member of her social network, even if you've never met him. There is also some evidence that your behavior change could influence behavior change three relationships out!

How cool is that?

So, let's all think about the change we'd like to see in the world, and figure out how our behavior can be part of the change. It will make a difference!

Celebrating Grandmother Power: Interview with my Gram

2013-05-07T11:38:00.003-07:00

The Grandmother Power Blogging Campaign is a collaborative effort of hundreds of bloggers writing about how grandmothers are changing the world from May 7-14, 2013. It's being organized by Tara Mohr (creator of the Ten Rules for Brilliant Women Workbook), and Paola Gianturco (author of Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon). You can read all of the Grandmother Power posts, and add your own on taramohr.com.

"Some people don't even begin to use all the power they have." ~ my Gram

"I think the answer to everything is education. You can try to re-educate some of the older people, but it's not an easy task. When people are older, and have established ideas, it's pretty hard to re-learn. It's better to learn to begin with, than to have to re-learn." ~ my Gram

My grandma is one of my favorite people in this world. She's ridiculously fun, and she's always doing good (e.g. driving friends to doctor appointments, taking care of friends who are sick, building community in her apartment complex by organizing parties). To celebrate Grandmother Power, I asked her about how she thinks the world has changed, and what it needs in order to be better today.

How do you think the world is worse, or more challenged than it was when you were growing up, or a young adult?

Well, I think some of the value systems have changed, and people are not held to quite as high standards as they used to be. I think the fact that there is a greater population makes it harder to keep things under control. As a result, I don't think the world is in as good a place as it was when I was younger.

In what ways?

I think there's more crime. I think a lot more young people are not living up to their potential, like they could.

What do you mean, that they're not living up to their potential?

I think many of them could go on, and go to school, and use their talents. A lot of them are doing that, but a lot of them aren't.

What do you think is better in the world than it was when you were growing up, or as a young adult?

Well, I think communication is tremendously better. Everyone is able to be connected easily because of the communication we have today. It's easier for everyone to get information.

How are we going to make the world better?

I think making the world better starts with the family. The value system in the family. It goes back to being good parents, mothers and fathers giving out value systems in the formative years, when it's important for children to learn the difference between right and wrong, and what's good and bad.

What are some of the values that you think have changed over the years that need to be passed on?

Respect. Young people today are not quite as respectful, or listen to their parents as they used to. I think young people today are a lot more independent. They go ahead and do what they want to do despite, sometimes, whether their families agree with them.

From what I see, there are a lot of adults, like in Congress, who are disrespectful, so is it necessarily the young people whose fault it is?

I agree with you one hundred percent. It goes into industry, and like you said, Congress, and different places where value systems have changed.

We need to change how we educate young people, but it's going to be a long time till they are going to be making the decisions. What do you think has to change with how adults are doing things today?

Unfortunately, sometimes, by the time you're an adult, your behavior, your ideas and what you do is pretty well established, and sometimes pretty hard to change.

We're out of luck, unless we educate the next generation differently?

I think the answer to everything is education. You can try to re-educate some of the older people, but it's not an easy task. When people are older, and have established ideas, it's pretty hard to re-learn. It's better to learn to begin with, than to have to re-learn.

So, you think what we need is to have better education so that young people learn to respect other people's needs as much as their own, and become more of who they're meant to be?

Absolutely. Understand their abilities and make use of them, which I think a lot of young people do today, but I still think there's more room for others to do it.

I feel like these days young people are very smart, they have a lots of ideas, they've grown up in a society where people invent things, and they come up with companies, or they make an app, and it turns into something. Is that what you mean, or is it that they need to learn to make the most of their potential to change their community?

I think they need to learn to make the most of their potential, and then out of that potential often comes the results that you want. They need to find out what abilities they have, and use them. Some people don't even begin to use all the power they have.

My last question is to complete this sentence (taken from Oprah's Super Soul Sunday interviews), The world needs _________________________.

More peacemakers and more understanding of each other.

I think so too.

***

You can read all of the Grandmother Power posts, and add your own on taramohr.com.

Out of the Spiritual Closet: Organizers Transforming the Practice of Social Justice. Big Vision Podcast Interview with co-author, Kristen Zimmerman

2013-04-29T09:02:00.001-07:00

This month's Big Vision Podcast guest is Kristen Zimmerman, one of four co-authors of the Movement Strategy Center report, "Out of the Spiritual Closet: Organizers Transforming the Path of Social Justice," along with Neelam Pathikonda, Brenda Salgado, and Taj James.

As a Senior Fellow at the Movement Strategy Center, Kristen leads the development of the Center's movement building practice and methodology. Her primary focus is the integration of transformative practice with strategy, movement building and alliance building technologies, and the use of story and narrative for movement building. She currently serves on the design team and faculty of the NoVo Foundation's Move to End Violence — a 10-year movement building initiative to end gender-based violence. She lives in Oakland with her 8-year-old son, Jonah Ravi, and her partner, Adrienn.

Below are links to the organizations Kristen mentioned during our conversation:

Forward Together
Movement Generation and their Resilience-Based Organizing Program
National Domestic Workers Alliance and their work with Generative Somatics and Social Justice Leadership

You can download a free copy of "Out of the Spiritual Closet: Organizers Transforming the Path of Social Justice," from the Movement Strategy Center website, and connect with three of the report's authors on Twitter and Facebook:

Brenda Salgado: @BrendaSalgado33 * Facebook
Kristen Zimmerman: * Facebook
Taj James: @tajjames * Facebook

You can listen and subscribe to the Big Vision Podcast via iTunes, or on the player below (if you are reading this via email, or rss and can't see the player click here to go to the original post). If you like the show, I'd really appreciate it if you took a moment to rate and review it on iTunes.

If you have suggestions for people I should interview, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com.

Respectful Revolution's Video Portrait of My Do-Good Dad: Tom Aageson, Co-Founder, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship

2013-04-17T10:27:00.001-07:00

Shout out for my Do-Good Dad! He's one of the Respectful Revolution's video portraits. He is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship, founded a program for homeless veterans in conjunction with the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, and is involved with Santa Fe for Students / Communities In Schools of New Mexico. And that's only in the last 10 years. You'd need a feature film to document everything he has done to make the world a better place in his lifetime.

You can watch the 5:40 video on vimeo, or on the player below.

Tom Aageson and the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship from Respectful Revolution on Vimeo.

How It All Vegan: Cook with the VegCookbook Club in April!

2013-04-02T09:19:00.002-07:00

On March 14th, VegCookbook author, Sarah Kramer, announced on her blog that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. I felt so sad when I read her post. As if I’d received bad news from a good friend. I’ve been cooking from How It All Vegan! and Garden of Vegan, that Sarah co-wrote with Tanya Barnard, for over a decade. Her cookbooks are a part of my daily life.

I want to support Sarah during this challenging time, so the VegCookbook Club will be cooking from her first cookbook, How It All Vegan! in April. I hope you'll join us.

You can read about how to participate on the VegCookbook Club About page. You can also check out the VegNews article we were featured in, 3 Ways to Share Your Love of Veg Food, my interview about the VegCookbook Club with Kimberly Wilson on the Tranquility du Jour podcast, and the ♥love notes♥ from VegCookbook Club members

How many of you got one of Sarah's cookbooks as your first VegCookbook?

P.S. My new e-course, Blogging to Inspire starts this week (April 4th). Click here to download a free sample Blogging to Inspire lesson.

Why Hate on a Giver?

2013-03-29T09:43:00.001-07:00

"The greatest untapped source of motivation, he [Adam Grant] argues, is a sense of service to others; focusing on the contribution of our work to other peoples’ lives has the potential to make us more productive than thinking about helping ourselves."

This week's New York Times Magazine will feature the article, Is Giving the Secret to Getting Ahead? by Susan Dominus. The article explores the work of Adam Grant, a Wharton professor, and author of the forthcoming, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.

As the title and quote (above) suggest, the book is about how people's productivity at work increases when they are motivated by being of service to others, no matter the field. According to the article, "The most successful givers... are those who rate high in concern for others but also in self-interest."

I enjoyed the article and look forward to reading the book. What astonished me was the amount of vitriol directed at Grant, and his work from the (at this writing) 145 commenters. Grant seems like an extreme giver, but he acknowledges it and recognizes that some of his giving comes from anxiety, and his fear of death. He's not perfect (no one is), so why in the world do people have to be so mean to someone who enjoys helping others? It made me sad.

After you read the article, I'd love to know:

What do you think made people direct so much anger towards this man and his work?

P.S. Blogging to Inspire starts next week!

Flickr photo credit: Just Give Me Water by Peter Korsh

Blogging to Inspire: Filling Up and Pouring Out

2013-03-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

When I recently surveyed my Juicy Blogging eNews readers, I was moved by how many of them completed the sentence, "My big vision for my blog is:" with "to inspire others." The frequency of the response made me look up what to "to inspire," really means:

to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration
to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on
to spur on: impel, motivate

I also looked up the etymology of inspire: enspiren:

to fill (the mind, heart, etc., with grace, etc.)
to prompt, or induce (someone to do something)

I realized that if we, myself included, want to be inspiring bloggers, we need to seek out experiences that inspire us, and create space in our lives to let inspiration move through us, into our posts, and out to our readers.

To help create that space, and to facilitate the bringing in, and sharing of inspiration, I've created a new e-course, Blogging to Inspire: Filling Up and Pouring Out, that will start on April 4th. If you know anyone who has a blog, and is struggling with figuring out what to write about, posting consistently, or feeling excited about their blogging, I hope you'll pass the course on to them.

If you're interested in the class for yourself, feel free to contact me with questions.

Cooking Matters

2013-03-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite quotes comes from an episode of the TV show, Brothers and Sisters.
One of the daughters, Sarah (Rachel Griffiths), tells the mom, Nora (Sally Field), to stop chopping carrots for the family dinner as if everything is OK, and to instead focus on all of the bad things that are happening to their family.

Sarah says, "Carrots are not important right now."

Nora replies, "Sarah, you're wrong. You have to care about the carrots. It's the carrots and the onions and the celery that ground us. Nothing is more basic than that. When the whole world is shifting and changing, you've got to hold onto your carrots."

In a world that does feel a bit out of control (a Pope retiring, an asteroid falling, Congressmen who are unable to act like adults, mass shootings of little children, super storms), cooking is a simple and grounding pleasure for me.

Upwell lunch made from the office CSA box.

I've been wondering lately about the healing power of cooking, and if it can heal not just individuals' health, but also the health of communities, big and small.

I wonder what would happen if Congress had to cook and eat lunch together each day. I bet they would work better together.

They would have to negotiate what to make, purchase groceries (and see how much they cost and where they came from), figure out who would make what, work around dietary restrictions, and try each others' favorite regional dishes. And if they didn't do all of that, they would go hungry. No lunch for them! I bet that would motivate them to be more tolerant and to work together.

Just the other day at Upwell we were discussing, over a yummy lunch made by Upwell's Director, Rachel Weidinger, that we feel like we know each other better than some of the other teams we've worked with because we often cook and eat lunch together. Upwell's office has a full kitchen, and we receive a weekly CSA box. Rachel does most of the cooking, but team members take turns on occasion helping her to prep vegetables and stir beans while simultaneously discussing the day's work.

Cooking and sharing our cooking can connect us. In an Edible East Bay review of Michael Pollan's new book, Cooked, Kristina Sepetys writes (emphasis added),

"Using a wealth of historical detail, literary examples, artisan profiles, scientific study, personal anecdote, and references ranging from Homer to Claude Levi-Strauss, Pollan explains how cooking knits us up in a web of social and ecological relationships."

If as a country we worked together so that all people would have the time, skills, and access to the ingredients needed to cook real food (not processed), and to share it, we could transform our "health" on all levels.

****

If you want to jump start your VegCooking, join the VegCookbook Club as we cook through Vegan Brunch together in March. You can learn more about the VegCookbook Club on its about page, and in my recent interview on the Tranquility du Jour Podcast.

Raising Diapers with Social Media: Help a Mother Out Co-Founder, Lisa Truong

2013-03-02T09:30:00.003-08:00

This month's Big Vision Podcast guest is Lisa Truong, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Help a Mother Out. Help a Mother Out is a grassroots organization that raises diapers and awareness, and advocates for long term change in the social safety net.

Lisa is a social entrepreneur with over 12 years experience in technology and nonprofit sectors. Her work has been featured in media outlets including Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, KQED's The California Report, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The San Jose Mercury News, as well as in national blogs including The Nation and The Huffington Post.

She is passionate about social innovation and technology used to change the world. Learn more about Lisa, and Help a Mother Out at helpamotherout.org, and follow her on Twitter at @helpamotherout.

If you have suggestions for people I should interview, or for an organization that would like to sponsor the show, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com.

Music: "Mango Delight," by Kenya Masala. Connect with Kenya through CD Baby and Source Consulting Group.

Why Do You, or Don't You Eat Meat?

2013-02-21T10:32:00.001-08:00

Avo Toasts I made from the VegCookbook
Club's January VegCookbook, Crazy Sexy Kitchen

Over the last 43 years, I've been a vegan, a vegetarian, and a meat-eater. Now I think of myself as vegan-ish. Because of how animals are treated in factory farms, the connection between meat-eating, climate change and poverty, and for health reasons, I want to eat a more plant-based diet.

I say I'm vegan-ish because I often fall short of my aspirations. Sometimes I get really hungry, and the only thing that will fill me up is an egg, or cheese. And then there is my monthly PMS pepperoni pizza craving, which cannot be ignored.

I'm also a social gal, and I don't like asking my host to make something special for me, plus, because I had a childhood full of food allergies and restrictions, I hate bringing my own food.

Hawaiian "plate lunch" I ate on our honeymoon

Finally, I like to try new food, in particular, food that is the specialty of a restaurant, region, or culture. For example, when we went to Spain last fall, I ate more meat and cheese than I've probably eaten in my life.

And then, I'll read a book, or see a movie that reminds me of why I need to try harder not to eat animal products. Last week, when I went to see Samsara, I was deeply disturbed by a scene from a poultry farm. The Atlantic describes it in its article, The Stories Behind the 5 Most Difficult-to-Film Scenes in Samsara: "At the Mariesminde Poultry Farm in Denmark, we watch a bizarre vehicle sucking up live chickens with a vacuuming snout; seconds later we watch an automated kill line slitting poultry throats."

Horrible.

I don't want to support that kind of treatment of animals.

And yet, I stumble.

So, I continue on my vegan-ish journey. I use the VegCookbook Club community to keep me VegCooking on a regular basis, and I struggle between doing what I know is right for the planet, and my cravings, culinary curiosities, and social niceness.

I share this story because I'm wondering if any of you have had a similar experience. I would also love to hear why you eat, or don't eat meat, and other animal projects.

I've been holding onto this post for three days because I'm afraid to out myself as an imperfect VegEater. I know that talking about eating, or not eating meat can be a hot button issue for people. I would love to have a discussion about this, but not a shouting match. Please be a considerate commenter (:

Host an ARTBreak in your community

2013-02-14T10:40:00.002-08:00

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." ~ Pablo Picasso

Do you think you get more done if you focus, nose-to-the-grindstone, or if you take lots of breaks?

According to a recent New York Times article, Relax! You'll Be More Productive, taking frequent breaks, naps, vacations, and sleeping longer help us to do more, not less. I'd love to see a study about if you're more productive after making art during your break. I bet you are.

September 6, 2013 is ARTBreak Day, a project of Art is Moving. During ARTBreak Day, Art Sites are set up in cities for people to take a break, and make art for free.

To facilitate more cities' participating in ARTBreak Day, Art is Moving is offering an Artist in Residence program for artists to bring ARTBreak Day to their communities. Each Artist in Residence will receive $500 in art supplies, guidance from Art is Moving's co-founders, and promotional materials to help them create an Art Site on ARTBreak Day in their city. Click here for more information about how to apply. The application deadline is April 1, 2013.

Do you take ARTbreaks?

Pollination Project: $1,000 seed grants to individual change makers

2013-02-04T14:16:00.001-08:00

Do you have an idea for a world-changing project that could bloom with some seed money?

The new Pollination Project
is giving $1,000 seed grants to individual changemakers, every day, 365 days a year.

You can find information about how to apply on the Pollination Project website, follow them on Twitter at @Pollinationproj, and like them on Facebook.

The issues they fund include:

Compassion towards all life (people, planet, animals)
Environmental sustainability
Justice in all forms
Community health and wellness
Putting consciousness into action
Social change-oriented arts and culture

I've compiled a list people they funded in January 2013 below, and created a PollinationProject Twitter list so that you can browse through all of these inspiring projects.

Adam Sugalski, CircusProtest.com @CircusProtest
Adela Raffa, Women in AWE, Bread for the Journey, Atlanta @BFJ_Intl
Carolyn Mullin, National Museum of Animals and Society Oral History Project @AnimalMuseum
Chloe Falkenheim, Youth Vegetarian Alliance
Dana Mahon, Child’s Pose Yoga
Elizabeth Rider, International Charter for Human Values in Healthcare @charter4values
Emily Hime, Ke Kontan English Class @HimeForHelp
Greg Singer, Vegtoons @vegtoons
Gwen Sofer, The Women’s Circle
Heather Laurie, Olly the Activist Dog @OllyActivistDog
Ingrid Cordes, Neighborhood Cat Advocates
Janet McKee, Bethany’s Story @BethanysStory
Jennie Kay, Detroit Sanctuary Project @DetroitSnctry
José Ramon, Edible Ahmedabad
Keith McHenry, Food Not Bombs Free Skool @NikRye
Laura Henderson, Growing Places Indy @GrowingPlacesIN
Leah Lamb, My Planet @_myplanet_
Lisa Benham, Gardening and Environmental Literacy at San Quentin Prison
Melody Moore, The (Inner) Beauty Shop
Megan Lipsett, Copia Health
Megan Pincus Kajitani, Giraffe Revolution @thinkgiraffe
Meg Stockdale, Imagine Yoga Project
Michael Meng, Paint the World @paint_theworld
Mina Girgis, The Nile Project @nileproject
Nawal Basheer, Promoting Community Service
Nikki Myers, Yoga for 12 Step Recovery @Y12SR
Nora Kramer, Protecting Playas
Sarah Hanson, Labyrinthine @LabyrinthineOrg
Shital Mehta, Generosity at Shantivan Gardens
Steven Prussack, VegWorld Magazine @vegworld1
Vandana Agarwal, Happy Hospitals

Full disclosure: I am a Pollination Project Ambassador.

A Pep Talk from Kid President to You

2013-01-31T12:31:00.001-08:00

Need a little pick me up? Watch A Pep Talk from Kid President from SoulPancake.

If you've already seen it, watch it again (:

Hat tip to Matt Fitzgerald & Rachel Weidinger for sharing it with me.

Read with Me: The Ocean of Life

2013-01-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

"A Silent Spring for oceans, written by 'the Rachel Carson of the fish world.'"

For the past 9 months, I've been working with Upwell, a nonprofit social media PR firm with one client: the ocean. Their Online Ocean Activists Goodreads Group (that I'm facilitating) is reading its first book, The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea by Callum Roberts

We'll have a tweetchat about it on February 21st at 11 AM PT using the hashtag #oceanoflife.

I hope you'll join us!

Hurricane Sandy Art Relief: An Interview with Elana Haviv

2013-01-22T11:48:00.002-08:00

As some of you know, in addition to producing my own podcast, The Big Vision Podcast, I also produce the Arts and Healing Network's Podcast, where I recently interviewed Elana Haviv, the Founder and Executive Director of the Children's Movement for Creative Education (CMCE) about their Hurricane Sandy Art Relief Caravan Project which was featured in The Huffington Post article, Art Heals Heartache for Sandy Kids.

CMCE creates academic and artistic programs to help children and youth understand and overcome violent world events. Elana designed The Telling History Project: Understanding the Past to Create the Future, a curriculum to teach students about human rights. After 9/11, she spearheaded an art-based CMCE 9/11 Trauma Relief Project in the New York City schools. She also pioneered art-based healing programs in post-war Bosnia.

You can listen to the interview on the Arts and Healing Network's website, or on the player (below). Enjoy!

Transformative Leadership for Social Change: Akaya Windwood, Rockwood Leadership Institute

2013-01-08T06:01:00.001-08:00

"I believe that if we're going to really make change in the world, and we're going to make the world be what we want it to be, it's going to require that we love each other."
~ Akaya Windwood

Akaya Windwood, President of Rockwood Leadership Institute, is internationally recognized for elevating the effectiveness of leadership and collaboration in the nonprofit and social benefit sectors. Her vision for our global community includes infusing a sense of purpose, delight and wonder into everything we do. She brings her skills as an organizational consultant and executive coach to her lifetime commitment to working for a fair and equitable society and to Rockwood's network of 4,000 powerful, collaborative, and interconnected leaders. You can follow Akaya on Twitter at @AkayaWindwood. You can connect with Rockwood on Twitter at @rockwoodleaders and check out their blog at blog.rockwoodleadership.org.

You can listen and subscribe to the Big Vision Podcast via iTunes, or on the player above. If you like the show, I'd really appreciate it if you took a moment to rate and review it on iTunes.

If you have suggestions for people I should interview, or for a do-good organization that would like to sponsor the show, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com.

Full disclosure: Rockwood Leadeship Institute is a client.

Someone needs your blog

2013-01-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

Someone needs your blog.

Don't wait.

Write it.

Share it.

Really.

If you need someone to be your blogging cheerleader, the next Juicy Blogging E-Course is running from January 11-February 1, 2013. I also have a few spaces open for personal blog coaching.

We're all in it together.

2012-12-30T10:10:00.001-08:00

Sandy Hook.

Hurricane Sandy.

Fiscal Cliff.

With each disturbing event of 2012, it feels like we've been hit with the same reminder:

We're all in it together.

Everything we do touches someone. Sometimes it's close to home. Other times, it reaches across the globe.

My 2013 wish is that we, myself included, remember that just like in nature, we're interconnected.

Photos by me and edited with Instagram and PicMonkey.

60+ Vegan and Vegetarian Cookbooks

2012-12-21T09:11:00.001-08:00

Do you want to eat a little more like a vegetarian, or vegan in 2013? Or do you already eat that way, but have fallen into a cooking, or non-cooking rut? Or are you looking for a last minute gift for a vegetarian, or vegan friend?

I figure some of you answered yes to at least one of those questions, so I thought I'd share a big ole list of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks with you. Over at the VegCookbook Club, we've been swapping ideas for vegetarian and vegan cookbooks that we'd like to cook from together in 2013.

In 2012, we cooked from:

Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (January)
The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (February)
The Inspired Vegan by Bryant Terry (March)
Blissful Bites by Christy Morgan (April)
Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (May)
Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay S. Nixon (June)
Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas (July)
Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton (August)
The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester (September)
Chloe’s Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli (October)
Forks Over Knives by Del Sroufe (November)
Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas (December)

And here's the list of VegCookbooks that folks have said they would like to cook from in 2013.

30-Day Vegan Challenge

30-Minute Vegan

30-Minute Vegan's Taste of Europe

500 Vegan Recipes (2 mentions)

American Vegan Kitchen

Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen

Artful Vegan

Artisan Vegan Cheese

Asian Vegan Kitchen

Betty Goes Vegan

Big Vegan (2 mentions)

Color Me Vegan

Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitution

Cookin’ Crunk
Crazy Sexy Kitchen

Eat Raw, Eat Well

Eat, Drink and Be Vegan

Everyday Vegan

Fresh at Home

Fresh from the Vegan Slow-Cooker

Happy Herbivore Cookbook

Happy Herbivore Abroad

Heart Healthy Pizza

Indian Vegan Kitchen

Joy of Vegan Baking

Kansha

La Dolce Vegan

Love Soup

Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food

Quick Fix Vegan

RAWvolution

Ripe

Sticky Fingers’ Sweet

Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook

Vegan Brunch

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Vegan Diner

Vegan Eat World

Vegan Feasts

Vegan for the Holidays

Vean Fusion World Cuisine

Vegan Lunch Box

Vegan on the Cheap

Vegan Planet

Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day
Vegan Soul Kitchen

Vegan with a Vengeance

Vegetarian with a Vengeance

Vive le Vegan

World Vegan Feast

Yellow Rose Recipes

Yes, I realize that we have enough to last us for 4 years (: If you have more suggestions, please leave a comment here, or better yet, over on VegCookbook Club. We've love for you to join us in 2013!

Winter 2013 Juicy Blogging E-Course + Gift Certificates

2012-12-18T10:05:00.001-08:00

Hello Have Fun, Do Gooders!

Just wanted to let you know that the Winter 2013 Juicy Blogging E-Course will be happening January 11-February 1, 2013. You can learn more about the class on my website, brittbravo.com, and read 13 blogging success stories from past students in the September 2012 issue of the Juicy Blogging News.

If you want to give the e-course as a gift, just purchase the class for yourself, and then email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com with:

Your gift recipient's first and last name
Your gift recipient's email
The date I can contact the gift recipient with more information about the class ( I don't want to ruin the surprise!)

I'll email the gift certificate to you as a PDF so you can mail, or email it to them. It will look similar to last year's gift certificate (pictured above). Gift certificates for one-on-one blog coaching and creative career consulting are available too.

Water Wednesday: Lots of Blogs About the Ocean!

2012-12-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just put up a BIG list of blogs about the ocean on the Upwell blog:

Big Blue Blogs: 88 Ocean Conservation Blogs

Give 'em a look.

Spread the word to your ocean-loving pals.

And please let me know what ocean-y blogs I missed in the comments, or email me at britt AT upwell DOT us.

Enjoy!

Flickr photo credit: Ocean Trigger Fish by Greg Grimes
Full disclosure: Upwell is a client.

Living Plastic-Free with Beth Terry (Big Vision Podcast)

2012-12-03T09:48:00.002-08:00

Beth Terry is the author of Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too. She writes the popular blog, My Plastic-Free Life, and is a founding member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.

Beth gives presentations on living plastic-free, and why our personal changes *do* make a difference. She spearheaded the successful Take Back the Filter Brita recycling campaign in 2008, and her life and work have been profiled in Susan Freinkel's book, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story, in Captain Charles Moore's book, Plastic Ocean, and in the award-winning film, Bag It.

When she's not out fighting plastic pollution, she spends her time with her husband, and two rascally kitties in Oakland, CA. You can follow her on Twitter at @PlasticfreeBeth.

You can listen and subscribe to the Big Vision Podcast via iTunes, or on the player above. If you have suggestions for people I should interview, or a do-good organization that would like to sponsor the show, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com.

Below are links to some of the things Beth mentioned during our chat:

Abeego (fabric infused with beeswax, tree resin and jojoba oil that can be used for food storage)
Anchor Hocking 5-c. Glass Refrigerator Storage Container
ChicoBag
Kanteen Reflect Steel Bottle: No Paint or Plastic, Bamboo, Laser Etched
Life Without Plastic (online store with plastic-free products)
The Plastic-Free Readers Guide
2nd Law by Muse (album by one of Beth's favorite bands)