Youth Venture Blog

Turning passion into action

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

YSA’s List of the 25 Most Powerful and Influential Young People in the world is hot off the press and seven are Youth Venturers! Congratulations to Dylan Mahalingham, Cassandra Lin, Jonny Cohen, Christopher Yao, Zander Srodes, Grace Li, and Mohammad Barry! Read blog posts from each awardee on the Huffington Post.

Hip Hoppin' for Changemakin'

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:05:00 +0000

It’s about time someone made a changemaking tune! Check out this music video created by the Youth Venture team Think Big featuring world-famous artist Shaggy. Their song World Citizen will get you shaking and grooving to inspirational lyrics about change.

Lead Venturer Salahdin Said from Berlin joined us at Youth Venture Summit, Miami back in 2010. Watch this video to learn more about the inspiration behind his first venture, Youth Without Drugs.

Documentary 'Three Minutes to Change the World' premieres May 20th!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

TV Special Follows Four Young Entrepreneurs Competing to Change the World

(Seattle, Washington) May 14, 2012 – Three hundred young entrepreneurs entered. Four finalists were chosen. And now they have three minutes to change the world. This is one television event you won’t want to miss, as the Emmy Award-winning Public TV series Biz Kid$ presents a one-hour special, Biz Kid$ - Three Minutes to Change the World, presented by The Lemelson Foundation.

Biz Kid$ - Three Minutes to Change the World gives you a front row seat to the Staples/Ashoka Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition and a backstage pass into the days leading up to the big competition at the prestigious Techonomy conference in Tucson, Arizona. Viewers will experience the gut-wrenching nerves and epic thrills that accompany such a high stakes competition as they meet the four entrepreneurs who have caught the eyes of the judges.

Spend the day with Eden, a budding solar power inventor working to reduce the cost of electrifying the developing world. Practice making a pitch with Karthik, creator of a website working to connect blood donors with their matches to save lives. Step onto stage with Vineet as he tries to break the cycle of chronic, preventable diseases among high-need populations through interactive health education applications. And join Vivek as he presents his plan for reducing harmful carbon emissions in front of some of the world’s most influential technology leaders. Biz Kid$ - Three Minutes to Change the World is one power-packed hour of entrepreneurial innovation, daring determination, and thrilling victory.

Which entrepreneur will master their three minutes and become the crowned champion of the Staples/Ashoka Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition? Tune in to find out.

Biz Kid$ - Three Minutes to Change the World premieres Sunday, May 20, 2012 on public television stations across the United States. Meet the winners at http://ashokayouthcompetition.org/.

Watch the trailer!

The Lemelson Foundation is inspiring and enabling the next generation of inventors and invention-based enterprises in order to build a stronger US economy and create social and economic change for the poor in developing countries. For more information, visit http://lemelson.org.

Ashoka is the pioneer of the social entrepreneurship movement. Ashoka builds communities of innovators who work collectively to help every part of society become more successful by having more changemakers to take initiative and bring about positive change. For more information, please visit www.ashoka.org.

Biz Kid$ is the fun, fast-paced public television series that teaches viewers how to use credit wisely and shows the importance of saving, budgeting, investing, and giving back to the community. In every episode, young business owners inspire viewers to turn their passions into profit. Educational segments based on national financial literacy standards and spoofs of popular movies make the series a hit with teachers, parents, and kids.

The series, produced by the creative team behind Bill Nye the Science Guy, premiered in January 2008. Since then, Biz Kid$ has been broadcast to more than 111 million households and aired in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, on more than 330 public television stations. In 2010, Biz Kid$ won a Silver Telly Award for Outstanding Children's Financial Literacy Education Television and Education Materials. The series has received seven National Daytime Emmy Award nominations and one Emmy in 2009, and the Environmental Media Award. Biz Kid$ features a website, www.bizkids.com, with free activities and lesson plans for educators and parents.

1 Banking On Youth Competition + 1 YV Summit = 2 Opportunities that make CENTS for CHANGE

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:02:00 +0000

Youth Venture wants to make your ideas for social change a reality. That's why we're calling for youth leaders and changemakers to apply for the Banking On Youth Competition and to join us this summer for the Youth Venture Summit!

The Banking On Youth Competition is for young people with big ideas for social change or for those who have already launched a social venture! Any youth age 13-20 in the US can apply for prizes ranging from $1,000 project funding to the grand prize of $15,000 and the opportunity to take a course with the University of Florida on social entrepreneurship. Plus, six entrants will win an all expenses paid trip to the Youth Venture Summit. Submissions are in the form of 90-second videos, plus an entry form describing the idea or venture. For more information, please visit bankingonyouth.org before June 10th!

Each year the Youth Venture Summit brings together over 100 young changemakers in a one-of-a-kind peer learning conference. This year it will be in Washington, DC at George Washington University July 26-29. It's the only youth-led conference on social entrepreneurship where youth participate in and lead workshops, give keynote speeches, contribute to panels, and much more. It is an amazing opportunity for passionate young leaders to network and exchange ideas. Looking for fundraising ideas to pay for registration and travel? Use prize money from the Banking On Youth Competition for Summit costs! Visit youthventure summit.org to register and apply to be a workshop presenter!

A New Brand of Social Entrepreneurship?

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:58:00 +0000

The article below originally appeared in Stanford Social Innovation Review on 4/9/2012.

Each year 900 distinguished social entrepreneurs gather in Oxford for three days and nights and work toward finding innovating, accelerating and scaling solutions to social challenges.

This conference, known as the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, brings together representatives from virtually every field including finance, private and public sectors. Recent attendee and consultant Jason Saul recently wrote a thoughtful piece in which he discusses what he took away from the conference. Read his article below and then tell us what you think in the comments section!

Catch some of the highlight of the 2012 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship!

Flux to Flex: Takeaways from the 2012 Skoll World Forum

The Skoll World Forum—an amazing alchemy of the world’s greatest social entrepreneurs, big thinkers, financiers, philanthropists, and academics—is often a zeitgeist of the latest thinking in the social sector, and this year didn’t disappoint. While the officially programmed theme of the conference was “flux,” the real themes played out in informal hallway chatter, over drinks with colleagues at the Oxford Retreat pub, and in the Twittersphere.

Having participated in a number of these informal “sessions”—in addition to moderating a formal one—I sat down to consider what I heard. Here are my five main takeaways:

1. It’s OK to make an economic return from solving social problems. There was a sea change in thinking this year; social entrepreneurs seemed increasingly fascinated by the market as a mechanism to advance their social agendas. Scott Gilmore at Peace Dividend Trust (PDT) is a case in point. PDT renamed itself Building Markets (the name transition says it all) and even created a spin-out for-profit affiliate called Anchor Chain to leverage the private sector in advancing its mission of building local supply chains. I also spoke to the founder of a leading nonprofit consultancy who confided that he wished he had founded his organization as a for-profit instead, admitting “It really doesn’t matter these days, and the transparency is a real problem for us.”

Heidi Kuhn, Roots of Peace founder, and her daughter Kyleigh are the perfect inter-generational metaphor of the times: Both aim to impact the quality of life for Afghanistan’s poor, but in very different ways. Heidi founded a nonprofit to remove landmines and help Afghan farmers tap into the market by teaching new, higher-value agricultural practices; Kyleigh created a for-profit business called Twenty Four Suns to help local artisans in Afghanistan by creating a market for them in the US.

Also, funders themselves seemed increasingly open to the market as a force for change. One foundation director I spoke with openly contemplated investing in for-profits alongside traditional grants: “Why not?” she asked, “If we’re really about impact, it shouldn’t matter!”

2. Measurement is no longer optional. Measurement had its big coming out party at Skoll this year as the foundation announced its first attempt at portfolio-level measurement. The language and references this year were different too. In past years, there was always talk of “effectiveness” and “accountability,” but this year, I heard more about “returns,” “moving the needle,” and measuring “value.” Foundations and corporations alike appeared universally obsessed with measurement—no doubt due to upstream pressure to demonstrate some ROI.

I had a fascinating conversation with Andrea Coleman of Riders for Health who found the Skoll Foundation’s focus on outcomes liberating from the regime of randomized control trials imposed by other funders. It was good to see Jed Emerson (father of social return on investment) make a return to the forum and say that he was glad to see the measurement conversation finally happening in earnest.

3. We’re in an age of social entrepreneurship 2.0. This year I observed a new breed of social entrepreneur—more entrepreneur than social. These entrepreneurs (mostly nonprofits) have flipped the paradigm; they see social change more as a business strategy than as a charity program. These social entrepreneurs are finding new and creative ways to leverage the market to advance their social agenda.

Kiva.org is a good example. Kiva’s head of development, Bennett Grassano, and I talked about the evolution of Kiva’s strategy—going beyond microfinance to become a source for microlending to other “social markets,” such as education (for example, scholarships) and affordable housing. Ned Breslin from Water for People is another example of social entrepreneurship 2.0. Ned describes his organization’s work as creating new “water economies” in emerging markets like Rwanda and Honduras, and has leveraged the private sector to catalyze his market development efforts.

4. It’s cool to be corporate. “I never thought we’d have a McDonald’s representative sitting at the Skoll World Forum … and I’m massively excited!” So said Pamela Hartigan, who directs the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford and moderated a panel on partnerships between social entrepreneurs and big business. In opening the panel, Pamela observed that there is an exciting movement inside companies led by social "intrapreneurs" who are leveraging the core business to make positive social change and profits. McDonald’s presented together with the Marine Stewardship Council to discuss the rollout of sustainable fisheries and eco-labeling Filet-O-Fish sandwiches in Europe.

McDonald’s was just one of 150 companies at Skoll this year—more than double the companies who attended in 2011. Corporations have crossed over into the mainstream of social change. It’s no wonder: Last year, corporations in the US. generated $1.6 trillion in profits, representing the single largest potential source of funding for social agendas. In the session I moderated, Beyond Charity: from Reporting to Returns, Cisco made a presentation about its new approach to market development partnerships (MDPs).

5. People want to move the needle. This year, the dialogue seemed more elevated and urgent than in the past. Entrepreneurs and funders are increasingly impatient with the pace of change; the conversations seemed much more focused on transformation, scalability, and sustainability than ever before. There appears to be a growing distinction between those who are content to “do good” versus those who are committed to “solving social problems” within our lifetime. Some of this urgency is driven by the growing number of living mega-donors, including Jeff Skoll, Gordon Moore, and Bill Gates, and others who are increasingly impatient with the charitable approach of funding nonprofit programs and hoping they add up to something. Questions I heard time and again were: “Are we really moving the needle?” and “How do I answer the 'so what' question?”

It's clear that there is a "new" brand of social entrepreneurship emerging - one that is more market driven, measurement-oriented, and corporate-friendly than before. The question is: Will these trends lead to greater social impact?

We're Banking on YOUth!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:10:00 +0000

The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) Foundation and banks from all across the country have partnered with YV to bring you the Banking on Youth competition! Banking on Youth is an exciting opportunity to showcase your great idea for a venture that directly benefits society.

If you are age 13-20, show us your venture idea through a creative and fun 90-second video and entry form to compete to win one of 33 different $1,000 seed money prizes provided by our sponsoring banks to bring your idea to life. Check out the map below and see how many $1,000 seed money prizes are available where you live!

And, it gets even better! The top six entrants, chosen by the CBA Foundation and Youth Venture, will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the annual Global Youth Venture Summit in Washington, D.C. in July to compete in a “pitch-off” for the chance to win the Audience Choice Award of $5,000 or the grand prize of $15,000!

Whether you have a new idea or one you launched years ago, we want to hear from YOU! APPLY NOW!

Injaz al-Arab named amongst the Top 100 Best NGOs in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:42:00 +0000

Earlier this year the Global Journal released its inaugural list of the “Top 100 Best NGOs.” On this list, alongside our very own parent organization, Ashoka, was Injaz al-Arab, another remarkable NGC that is paving the way for social entrepreneurs in the Middle East.

In 2008, PBS and Frontline released a documentary showcasing the work of Injaz al-Arab in Egpyt. The 20 minute documentary focuses on Injaz al-Arab’s annual competition to find the best student-run company and their quest to “instill in Engypt’s youth the entrepreneurial spirit and the entrepreneurial skill-set so that they can create their employment opportunity.”

Click here to watch the short documentary on the PBS website or watch it below!

Clinton Initiative Launches Student Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:50:00 +0000

The following blogpost originally appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek on 3/30/2012

Every spring, the Clinton Global Initiative University meeting brings together some of the world’s most promising student entrepreneurs, who come to the group’s annual meeting with ideas they hope will bring about social change. This year will be no different, with 1,000 college students from more than 75 countries and 300 colleges and universities convening for the event, starting today at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

President Bill Clinton founded the program five years ago to inspire students to make a “commitment to action” to tackle a problem in their community, and give them the skills necessary to implement the idea. This year one of the sessions on the meeting’s packed agenda will focus on the global economic crisis and the impact it has had on recent college graduates. With few jobs to go around, many have started their own companies. According to the Clinton Global Initiative University’s website, 20 percent of Millennials have started their own businesses, and 40 percent envision doing so in the future.

During a conference call this Wednesday, Clinton highlighted what he thought were some of the more promising student ideas to come out of the program. Some of these students’ “commitments” have become businesses, such as Triple Thread Apparel, a promising startup with a social entrepreneurship bent launched by Kyle Lloyd McCollom Jr., who came up with the idea while attending Vanderbilt University in 2010. Today, the custom T-shirt company employs former criminal offenders and has been able to raise more than $65,000 in capital, Clinton said. Another promising idea came from Christine Schindler, an engineering student at Duke University who’ll be starting a mentorship program in 2013 to educate teenage girls in her community about the benefits of an engineering career, and help them build low-cost medical devices for hospitals in developing countries.

In the past few years, many business schools have been putting more of a focus on entrepreneurship in the curriculum, but is there really enough support at universities to enable students to take their business ideas to the next level? I asked President Clinton if he thought schools need to do more to make entrepreneurship a more feasible career path for today’s students.

Clinton said he believes colleges and universities can do more in this area, from creating small business labs for students to helping them find ways to start their own companies if they can’t find a job after graduation. “It’s an opportune time for colleges that don’t do it now to think about setting up office space and other kinds of support systems for small business and startups among their graduates,” he said.

Another crucial element for these students is funding, and new “crowdfunding” legislation could soon make it easier for startups to raise capital in small amounts from investors, Clinton said. He’s also eager to help students with promising ideas. For example, he said if Schindler’s engineering mentorship program is a success, he’d like to help raise funds at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting to scale her project, a move that could go a long way to getting more women to consider careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

Clinton added: “If we can get 40 or 50 colleges or universities to say they’ll do the same thing, then we can go out and try to raise the money necessary to support this on a larger scale.”

DSIC Announces its Semi-Finalists!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

This post was written by YV intern Stephanie Arzate

Winners of the 2011 Dell Social Innovation Challenge

Back in February, in one of my very first blog posts, I wrote about the Dell Social Innovation Challenge, an annual competition that since 2007 has identified and enabled promising entrepreneurs that are solving some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Since January, changemakers from over 100 countries have submitted over 1,700 innovative solutions and DSIC has just announced the 200 projects selected to move on to the Semi-Final Round.

While I was browsing through pages and pages of submissions, it was hard to pick just one submission to highlight for today. Finally, however, I narrowed it down to three. Check out some of my favorite submissions below!

The Zuia Project

The Project: The Zuia Project seeks to empower the youth and women of Ugenya to take charge of their livelihoods and their community through capacity building, economic empowerment, education, civic engagement, and art. Founded in July, 2011 by Colorado College students in collaboration with citizens of Ugenya, the Zuia Project offers four, interdisciplinary programs. The project includes a Civic Engagement program for women; an Information Technology center; a vocational training center for disenfranchised young girls; and an HIV Health Outreach Program. The overall goal of the Zuia Project is to create a sustainable, interdisciplinary program for the community of Ugenya, that will achieve gains presently on an individual level, and have long term social and community impacts.

Why I love it: I will always strongly assert my belief that awakening the hidden potential of women in the developing world is the key to a better and brighter tomorrow. This is exactly what the Zuia Project is doing. Nothing is more sustaible than the gift of education and through its four, interdiplinary programs the Zuia Project manages to educate not just the mind, but the body and soul as well.

The Humanure Power Project

The Project: Indians lack access to two critical pieces of infrastructure, toilets and electricity. The Humanure Power Project (HPP), aims to alleviate both of these issues by connecting existing and proven technologies. It involves connecting organic waste with electricity. HPP can reduce outdoor defecation and bring power to a community with one solution. Organic waste is converted to methane gas in a digester, which can be combusted to generate electricity.

Why I love It: Catchy name aside, the Humanure Power Project hits two birds with one stone. It makes use of local resources and, as a positive consequence, empowers the people of India in an unconceivable amount of ways. It just goes to show that with a little creative thinking two seemingly different problems can be connected to create one solution, and an endless amount of possibilities.

Woven Wind

The Project: The people living in Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán (NSCI), Guatemala are among those living in poverty and do not have access to a reliable source of electricity. The goal of the Woven Wind team to work with the Guatemalan natives to create a sustainable source of clean, consistent energy for use throughout the country as well as initiate an entrepreneurial spirit among the Guatemalan women. This is being done by working with women in NSCI who are expert weavers to create a woven wind turbine blade. Through collaboration with a Guatemalan women's weaving cooperative and Guatemalan technicians Woven Winds has designed a wind turbine that has blades made of woven material.

Why I love it: After coming back from Guatemala this summer, I returned with a suitcase full of beautiful handcrafted huipils, a traditional shirt worn by men and women of the indigenous community. The Guatemalan culture is one that is rich and vast with centuries and centuries of history under its belt. The point that stands out the most about Woven Winds is that it understands the local culture of the country and used a skill set that is so engrained in the Guatemalan identity to solve pressing issues facing the communities.

Semi-Finalist teams will now compete for a Finalist spot by submitting a video pitch and a detailed Roadmap to Success. In order to vote for your favorite project you will first have to create a profile. There are hundreds of great projects and unfortunately I could not highlight all of them. To find your favorites, click here!

Documentary about YV team is released

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:12:00 +0000

Last August, YV team What's Good in the Hood (WGITH) participated in a competition by Storytellers for Good and won the opportunity to be featured in a pro bono documentary filmed by Emmy award-winning producer, Cara Jones. After months of hard work and filming, the final product is complete. A huge congratulations goes out to the staff of WGITH and the city of Lawrence, MA!

The Reality of Unreasonable Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

They are crazy, idealistic, and above all unreasonable; but it's actually these qualities that give them the strength and initiative to change the world.

Each year, for six weeks, the Unreasonable Institute brings together 25 of the world’s leading entrepreneurs to live under the same roof in a house in Boulder, Colorado. The plot may sound like something out of the Jersey Shore but it is different. Much, much different.

The Unreasonable Institute's web series "Unreasonable TV" documents the lives of these emerging entrepreneurs as they live side-by-side. During six weeks they receive guidance from 50 world-class mentors on how to better their ventures. By the end of the show the Unreasonable Fellows come out with the skills and connections to launch their venture.

Unreasonable TV is television tailor-made for entrepreneurs and, not to mention, highly addictive. After you watch the trailer, click here to watch seasons 1 and 2!

10,000 Names in 100 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The following blogpost originally appeared in Huffington Post's, The Blog on 3/20/2012 and was written by YV venturer, Sejal Hathi, founder and president of Girls Helping Girls.

Today, I serve as a proud statistic. A significant number. A new data point in a sea of figures so rapidly expanding that it will soon become almost impossible to keep count -- that is, if the world begins to take notice. I am a young woman changemaker: an ordinary girl with the moxie to believe that I can change the world, and then change it. A realist, but also a dreamer -- a shamelessly big thinker. And I am not alone. I am just one of a swelling movement of courageous young women working worldwide to transform their lives and their communities.

As Cofounder of girltank -- a global social enterprise that is building a dynamic community of young women social entrepreneurs everywhere -- I have seen, and I truly believe, that all young women are a movement: A united and unstoppable force that can solve the world's most intractable of problems, if we only recognized our common potential. Already, individually, the young women that girltank partners with are starting movements and uprooting antiquated traditions. I am inspired by women like Jasmeen Patheja, who as a college student in Kolkata, India transformed personal threats of eve-teasing into a nationwide call to action -- founding the burgeoning network of activists and artists, The Blank Noise Project, to spark public dialogue and stop street sexual harassment. I am moved by young women like Inna Hudaya from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, who after suffering her own botched abortion, birthed grassroots nonprofit Samsara to provide pre- and post-abortion counseling, reproductive rights trainings, and sex education classes to women and girls facing unwanted pregnancies.

Yet the miracle of this movement is that Inna and Jasmeen are not just isolated changemakers. Theirs are the stories of thousands -- yes, thousands -- across the globe who are proving with their grit and fortitude that every young women on this planet has something deep, and tangible and valuable to offer, and we can empower their truths by simply offering to listen. These girls' stories will become the world's potential. And it is my quest at girltank to demonstrate the exponential social change we can catalyze if we trust, celebrate and proclaim proudly their solutions to the world so that they can be learned from and built upon progressively.

This is the mission of girltank's newest campaign, 10,000 Names in 100 Days. In partnership with MTV Voices, we have launched a worldwide search to find 10,000 young women who are designing powerful ideas and spearheading bold efforts to solve important challenges in their communities. Our goal with #10000names is to share these girls' stories, to illustrate how brilliantly and creatively young women are driving social change all across the globe. To begin this sharing, each week on our blog we will feature some of the most exceptional stories from this campaign, and we hope you will join us and contribute your own.

So if you know an inspiring young woman, or you are one yourself, please nominate her! It's as easy as sending us her name and contact info. Young women leaders are reshaping the world's destiny in ways never before imagined possible. What is happening is unprecedented. And each one of us, each one of you, holds the unique opportunity now to be a part of the global movement. So speak up, reach out, step up to the podium -- don't let that chance pass you by.

Submit an inspiring woman on our Facebook page.

You can follow Sejal at @sejalhathi and girltank at @girltankorg on Twitter.

Happy World Water Day 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Written by YV intern, Stephanie Arzate

It’s a fact: We take water for granted.

Perhaps that is why in 1992, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, formally proposed creating a holiday for water. The first World Water Day was officially celebrated a year later on March 22, 1993 and has been held annually on the same day ever since.

Now in its 19th year, World Water Day has brought some much needed attention to the importance of freshwater. This year’s theme, Water and Security: The World is Hungry Because We are Thirsty, focuses on the relationship between both subjects. According to unwater.org, “Food security exists when all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs for an active and healthy life.” Today, over 40 percent of the world’s population lives in conditions of water scarcity.

So how can you celebrate World Water Day this year? Here are some recommendations from Water.org on how to celebrate all month long:

Donate Your Voice to the cause using your Facebook or Twitter status. Sign up now! The campaign runs March 19 - 24.
Give one person clean water. $25 brings one person clean water for life. Our goal is to help 200 people this year in the spirit of World Water Day. Pass it on!
Water.org is active participant in developing and supporting World Water Day activities in Washington DC. Advocacy and learning events will be held in DC on March 21 and 22nd. If you are in the area, this is a good opportunity to learn more, engage, show support for critical WASH Issues, and urge engagement from Congress. Learn more about these or how you can participate at waterday.org/events.
Change out your Facebook Timeline Cover Photo on your profile with one of ours in celebration of Water Day:  
Pin one of these posters to your Pinterest board to show your celebratory spirit for Water Day
Change out your Twitter background in honor of Water Day.

So let’s raise our (water) cups in the air and make a toast. Here’s to water!

Happy World Water Day from everyone in the YV staff!

Leading entrepreneurs gather for Change Nation in Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Written by YV intern, Stephanie Arzate

Change Nation, an initiative started by Ashoka, is a three day “social innovation platform” bringing together leading innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world to tackle some of the greatest challenges Ireland is facing today. Participants at the event each represent one on the 50 proven solutions in social change. Change Nation aims at bringing together talented and dedicated innovators as well as providing participants with the financial resources to accelerate innovations in areas such as environment, health, education, civic participation, and economic development.

Enda Kenny, prime minister of Ireland, applauded the initiative saying, "By working together, Ireland can not only emerge from its problems, but emerge stronger and better. Social innovation is especially valuable because it can create radical new alliances between communities, government and business to address fundamental social and economic challenges.

Change Nation was officially launched on February 23rd, 2012 at the Little Museum of Dublin will culminate in the Change Nation "Festival of Solutions on March 22nd – 24th in Dublin, Ireland.

Change Nation is hosted by Ashoka Ireland. To learn more, check out their blog!

New York students wrap up Dream It. Do It Challenge for healtheir communities

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Last November Ashoka’s Youth Venture, in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim and New York University’s Stern School of Business, began an initiative that challenged high school students from greater New York region with one question: How can we make our communities healthier?

The following video shows the journey of these students as they discover their potential as changemakers. On November 13, 2011 participants convened for the first of a series of workshops of the Dream It. Do It. high school challenge that continued through February 2012. The event culminated with a community panel during which teams presented their ideas for Youth Venture seed funding and fellowship.

For more information, please visit www.dreamitdoitnewyork.org!

Register now for YV's event of the year!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:23:00 +0000

That's right, it's Youth Venture Global Summit time! Mark your calendars for July 26-29, 2012 in Washington, DC.

The Youth Venture Summit is an annual gathering that brings together over 100 Youth Venturers and any other young leaders interested in creating change, as well as the adult allies and professionals who support young changemakers.

What's this all about?

It's the only peer-to-peer learning conference! (it's completely youth-led)
There's skill building and Venture-strengthening workshops
You'll network with other youth who want to change the world
Get feedback, support, and collaboration for your social enterprise
Join the Youth Venture Global Community

For the very first time, we're offering a University Track for students out of high school and YV University Teams. Other workshop tracks are for new changemakers, intermediate and advanced Venturers, and adults. Participants also have the opportunity to register for an extra day - a Pre-Conference DC Tour of the nation's capitol.

Registration is now open! Go to YouthVentureSummit.org for more information

Kohl's Care Scholarship Program

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Kohl’s is more than just a store with great clothes. Each year, the Kohl’s Care Scholarship Program recognizes volunteers ages 6-18 who have made outstanding contributions to their communities.

The Kohl’s Care Scholarship Program is awarding over $440,000 in scholarships to winners on three levels:

Store Winners will receive a $50 Kohl’s Gift Card.
Regional Winners will each be awarded a $1,000 scholarship for post-secondary education.
National Winners will each be awarded a total of $10,000 in scholarships for post-secondary education and Kohl's will donate $1,000 to a non-profit organization on each winner's behalf.

In order to be eligible, students must meet the following criteria as of March 15, 2012

Be between the ages of 6 – 18 and not yet a high school graduate
Actions must be described in detail and should document efforts above and beyond what is expected of a child his or her age.
Volunteer efforts must have occurred in the last year.
Winners are chosen based on the project, benefits, and outcome.

Nominations will be accepted until March 15, 2012 and must come from an adult over the age of 21. For official rules, click here. To nominate a young person, click below!

Take a social entrepreneurship course on the Costa Rican Pacific Coast

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:02:00 +0000

What’s better than studying the nuts and bolts of social entrepreneurship… in Costa Rica?

Changemakers, this is an amazing opportunity to spend your summer on a world-changing adventure! The Sullivan Foundation and Ashoka U are sponsoring an eight-week social entrepreneurship course in Costa Rica. Participants will spend the first two weeks studying on the beautiful Costa Rican Pacific coast, followed by 6 weeks of supervised internships working with social ventures. Students earn 3 graduate-level credit hours in economics and may qualify for 3 hours at the undergraduate 300-level in business.

Applications are due March 15. For more information, click here.

Viralistas: "Can an unusual idea generate a chain reaction? "

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:55:00 +0000

This post was written by YV intern, Stephanie Arzate

In 2009, over 1.4 million people in Latin America were reported to be living with HIV/AIDS, a disease that can ultimately halt the immune system. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has changed the lives of many teens in the Latin American region, but it has not caused them to give up hope that one day this devastating disease will be eliminated from their countries.

This past year, Ashoka’s Youth Venture and MTV Latin America launched “Agents of Change: Take the Lead, a campaign that looked for the best youth-led solutions to educate, prevent, and confront the HIV/AIDS pandemic in their respective communities. Fifty winners were chosen amongst all the submissions.

In addition to the seed grants, mentorships, sponsorships many ventures received, some were also featured in Viralistas. Viralistas, a documentary produced in conjunction with Ashoka’s Youth Venture and MTV Tr3s, tells the stories of creative and ambitious Latin American youth looking to educate their communities about safe sex and stop the prejudice and stigma surrounding those who live with HIV/AIDS.

Viralistas was released last December 1st on World AIDS Day. Watch the short, twenty minute long documentary here.

Is your cell phone fueling conflict?

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:30:00 +0000

This post was written by YV intern Marcela Onyango

The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the major global suppliers of coltan and cassiterite which are vital for the production of technological devices like your cell phones and mp3 players. Yet, most of the country’s population lives in absolute poverty lacking access to basic amenities such as food and water. Instead of having a positive impact on the country’s population, profits generated from these minerals intensify the conflict in DR Congo. According to BBC, the coltan and cassiterite mines are often militarized; soldiers protect the mines for pay. These soldiers often rape and pillage villages neighboring the mines. For example, as of 2006 the rape count for Shabunda territory, home to one of the mines had reached 2,883. Furthermore, the revenue obtained from these minerals is used by rebels to buy weapons which continue to sustain the conflict in DR Congo.

If one of the country’s most profitable resource continues to cause pain instead prosperity, then the people of DR Congo will never experience the peace and security which we experience everyday. So what can you do? The first step is to spread awareness about this issue. Most people know about blood diamonds yet know little about conflict technological devices. You can also vote with your wallet. Find out which technological devices are conflict free on www.raisehopeforcongo.org and make a commitment to only buy these devices. Raise Hope For Congo offers other mechanism for involvement. Check it out!

With elections around the corner, get involved with Service Vote!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:30:00 +0000

This blog post is from the YSA.org website!

ServiceVote is YSA's U.S. election-year campaign to engage young people, ages 5-25, in the electoral process. ServiceVote challenges young people to learn more about our government and political system and to think critically about how they can affect the issues that they work to address through service during elections.

Since 2012 is a presidential election year in the United States, Global Youth Service Day 2012 is a great opportunity for U.S. project organizers to plan a ServiceVote 2012 project.

There are a variety of ways for both voting age and non-voting age youth to get involved in the elections and to make a difference on GYSD:

Raise public awareness about and advocate for the issues you care about.
    Organize debates and town halls
    Host a Service Stop
    Educate voters
    Develop voter guides
    Engage candidates
    Lead issue awareness campaigns
    Become a citizen journalist or generate your own media

Learn about the political process and serve during the election.
    Organize Get-Out-The-Vote activities
    Conduct voter registration drives
    Host debate watches
    Hold mock elections
    Serve as poll workers
    Volunteer for campaigns
    Prepare to vote

Find ServiceVote 2012 resources at www.GYSD.org/ServiceVote

Register for Global Youth Service Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:02:00 +0000

In less than two months, young people from all corners of the world will gather together for Global Youth Service Day to be a part of the largest, longest-running day of service. Since 1988, Global Youth Service Day has mobilized millions of children and youth from over 100 countries to come together to address some of the most critical issues we face today and create a project to address those issues.

As Jane Goodall said, “I have often said that every individual counts, every individual has a role to play, and every individual makes a difference. Global Youth Service Day proves it”

This year, Global Youth Service Day will be held on April 20-22, 2012. If you are interested in being a part of GSYD, register your project here.

Video: YSA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pAFmairi93I

Youth Venture "steels" ArcelorMittal Support

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:56:00 +0000

Originally posted on Ashoka.org blog on 2/16/2012

A new partnership between the business and social worlds is set to make (positive) waves in the youth entrepreneurship movement.

ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel and mining company with a presence in more than 60 countries, has joined forces with Ashoka to support a groundswell of interest in the needs of tomorrow’s most innovative young leaders.

Felicidad Cristobal, the ArcelorMittal Foundation’s managing director, and Ashoka’s Bill Drayton signed a partnership to back Ashoka’s Youth Venture initiative in Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.

For half a decade, the ArcelorMittal Foundation has supported social projects and programs that maximize the potential of communities around the world, particularly in education, health, and economic development.

“We started our collaboration with Ashoka in Argentina in 2007 and decided to extend this partnership due to its great success,” Cristobal said.

Youth Venture, Ashoka’s program creating and supporting a global movement of young changemakers, will provide participants with financing support and resources to scale-up their initiatives, while also building fundamental leadership skills such as emotional intelligence and empathy.

“Bill Drayton says that ‘everyone is capable of changing the world’ and we fully agree with this idea,” Cristobal said. “We are extremely glad to collaborate in promoting the development of young talent. It is also important to underline that this program will give ArcelorMittal employees the chance to be involved in a Foundation project, sharing their expertise with youngsters who dream of a better world.”

Calling all young heroes!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Each year, the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes recognizes 25 outstanding young people for their contribution to people or the environment. Founded on the premise that "young people need real, heroic role models who have made a meaningful difference in the world," the Barron Prize makes young heroes' stories accessible to the world.

The twenty-five winners receive $2,500 for their project or for higher education, a hero's study guide, documentary, and other print materials on leadership and social change, plus access to a young heroes network and media opportunities!

Adults, nominate a young person (between the ages of 8 and 18) by by April 30, 2012!

Meet other Youth Venturers who have won the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes in the past!

2011

Rujul - A 501c3 non-profit, Drinking Water for India is run by a group of students seeking to bring safe, clean drinking water to villagers in India by installing tube wells in rural communities.

Jonny - Jonny invented GreenShields, polycarbonate shields that attach to the front of school buses, making them more aerodynamic and more fuel efficient.

2010

Chloe - The student-run high school club Climate Action Club helps residents fight global warming in Maine and influenced the state to launch a state-wide reusable bag campaign.

2009

Sejal - Sejal founded Girls Helping Girls, a non-profit organization that trains girls around the world to become problem solvers in their communities.

Becca - At the age of 10, Becca sought to share her passion for science with other girls and founded AstroTots Space Camp for Little Dippers, a free science camp for disadvantaged girls that is offered in cities across the U.S. and in several foreign countries.

Read about winners from 2001-2009.

Rack up some cash for a J-Serve project!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacqui, YV Staff) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

In an effort to proliferate the impact of community projects in conjunction with International Day of Jewish Youth Service, J-Serve is providing a limited number of micro-grants of up to $500 for the April 22nd event. J-Serve is looking for youth-led projects that are both innovative and creative and unite individuals outside the Jewish community in an effort to change their community and the world.

Those interested in applying must complete a cover letter, project proposal, and project budget to Rae Krucoff. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and grants will be awarded until funds run out. For more information on how to apply, click here.