Interviews with 38 Social Changemakers: 3rd Anniversary of the Big Vision Podcast

February 18, 2009 was the 3rd anniversary of the Big Vision Podcast! Wahoo! A big thanks to everyone who listens to the program, and reads the interview transcripts here on Have Fun * Do Good.

I've listed all of the interviews below with links to the audio and the transcripts. Please note that because the interviews take place over three years, some people's work has changed. They may have new job titles, or be working somewhere new now.

If you're not a listener, you can listen to the show on the Big Vision Podcast site, or subscribe via iTunes or another podcatcher.

2006

Alli Chagi-Starr, Co-Founder, Art in Action / Art & Media Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights’ Reclaim the Future Program. (Alli is now the Business Partners & Events Manager at Green For All and Art in Action Youth Leadership Program).
Listen
Read

Eric Fenster & Ari Derfel, Co-owners, Back to Earth
Listen
Read


Brahm Ahmadi, Executive Director, People's Grocery
Listen
Read


Mei-ying Ho (now Williams), Co-Director of SOUL. (Mei-ying is now the Operations Director for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network).
Listen
Read

Abby Rosenheck (now Jaramillo), Founder and Executive Director, Urban Sprouts
Listen
Read



Ilyse Hogue, Global Finance Campaign Director, Rainforest Action Network. (Ilyse is now the Communications Director for MoveOn.org)
Listen
Read



Steve Williams, Co-founder and Executive Director of POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights)
Listen
Read

Anna Lappé, co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen and co-founder of the Small Planet Fund.
Listen
Read


Nola Brantley, Parenting and Youth Enrichment Director, and the Coordinator of the Sexually Abused and Commercially Exploited Youth Program at the George P. Scotland Youth Program in West Oakland. (Nola is now the Executive Director of Missey: Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth).

Listen
Read

Lisa Russ, Associate Director of the Movement Strategy Center
Listen
Read


Jonah Sachs, Principal of Free Range Studios
Listen
Read



Jessica Jackley Flannery, Co-Founder and Board Member of Kiva.org
Listen
Read


Ingrid Severson, Lead Organizer of the Rooftop Resources Project, a project of Bay Localize
Listen
Read


Melinda Kramer, Founder & Director, Women's Global Green Action Network (Melinda is now the Founder and Director of Women’s Earth Alliance).
Listen
Read

Kevin Danaher, Co-founder of Global Exchange and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center
Listen
Read

2007

Reem Rahim, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Numi Tea
Listen
Read


Jodie van Horn, Campaigner for Rainforest Action Network's Freedom From Oil campaign, and the Coordinator for Plug-In Bay Area
Listen
Read

Priya Haji, CEO and Co-founder of World of Good.
Listen
Read



Paul Rice, founding President & CEO of TransFair USA
Listen
Read


Van Jones, co-founder and President of the Ella Baker Center (Van is now the President and Founder of Green for All)
Listen
Read


Chris Messina of Citizen Agency and Ivan Storck of SustainableMarketing.com and SustainableWebsites.com talk about how to start a green coworking space based on their experience with Citizen Space in San Francisco, CA.
Listen / Read


Elizabeth Pomada Co-Founder of the Writing for Change Conference
Listen
Read





Marsha Wallace, Founder of Dining for Women
Listen
Read




Shalini Kantayya, Filmmaker, A Drop of Life.
Listen
Read




Paola Gianturco, photojournalist, Women Who Light the Dark
Listen
Read


Andre Carothers, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Rockwood Leadership Program
Listen
Read

2008

Christina Arnold, Founder of Prevent Human Trafficking
Listen
Read


Cristi Hegranes, Executive Director and Founder, Press Institute for Women
Listen
Read




Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women.
Listen
Read





Anisha Desai, Executive Director of the Women of Color Resource Center.
Listen
Read




Janessa Goldbeck, Director of Membership at the Genocide Intervention Network
Listen
Read


Ari Derfel, Co-founder of Back to Earth Catering and Outdoor Adventure, talks about his year of saving trash.
Listen
Read


Martin Fisher, Co-founder and CEO of KickStart
Listen
Read



Marisa Handler, author, Loyal to the Sky: Notes from an Activist
Listen
Read





Cami Walker, Founder, 29-Day Giving Challenge
Listen
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Marianne Manilov, National Team Leader, The Engage Network
Listen
Read




Favianna Rodriguez, Political Digital Artist and Printmaker. Co-Editor, Reproduce and Revolt!
Listen
Read



2009

Jennifer Lee, Founder, Artizen Coaching
Listen
Read





Coming soon . . .
Bryant Terry, author of Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine.

Thanks for listening and reading! If you have suggestions for people to interview for the Big Vision Podcast, email me at britt@brittbravo.com or leave a comment.

podcast
visionary
nonprofit
activist
social change

Issue Fatigue: What's the Cure?

Jill Finlayson and Hildy Gottlieb's post last week on Social Edge, Issue Fatigue: Fighting for Attention and Funds in an Aware World has stirred up conversations about the sustainability of friendraising and fundraising in these over-networked times. Their post generated over 50 comments.

What do you think nonprofits can do to prevent supporters and potential supporters from deleting/hanging up on all of the asks to donate, advocate and learn that are coming their way during these overly networked times?

In her post, Feeling "Whelmed" in a Cause Driven World on Social Citizens, Kari Dunn Saratovsky says that in the past month she has been inundated with requests to give:

"I have been invited by three friends to donate to their birthday cause on facebook; I was pinged multiple times reminding me to buy my tickets to Twestival; I had one friend running in a cancer race in LA, and another who was racing up the stairs in Indiana to support Riley Children’s Hospital. In addition to all of the ways I’ve been solicited for money – I’ve been asked to vote for a nonprofit who was competing in the IdeaBlob contest, reminded to bring recycled bags the next time I shopped at Trader Joe’s, and I was hit up by my neighbor who is a Girl Scout and bought the obligatory box (or two) of Thin Mints."

In her post, Issue Fatigue, Allison Fine of A.Fine Blog says part of the solution is focusing on growing relationships:

"The solution is to go back to basics: building strong relationships with your supporters. For all of the pinging and poking and clicking and razzle dazzle of cause chatter, social change continues to happen through social connections. For causes it is more important than ever that they focus on how to strengthen those ties, with and without social media, online and on land, to support their efforts. This year, in particular, social capital trumps financial capital - so we better get to building it one person, one connection, one conversation at a time."

In January, Lina Srivastava of Strategy for Social Change Initiatives moderated an online discussion on ArtTribesNetwork about "Preaching to the Converted": Engaging Your Audience and Combating Issue Fatigue. In her summary of the session, she offered a few tips: 1. create a personal and emotional connection to the cause, 2. develop campaigns that unfold slowly and offer continual and creative ways to engage, and 3. provide evidence to supporters' that their work is making a difference.

I've often thought of the explosion of social media as being like the free love movement of the 60s and 70s. Social media tools have opened the doors for anyone and everyone to be an expert, a journalist, a pundit, a filmmaker, an organizer, a fundraiser, and a "friend."

Now, people are examining their new roles and relationships, and asking themselves, "Who and what do I want to commit to?" Perhaps, organizations need to change their focus from how many supporters they can gather, to the quality of their relationships, and how they can get people to commit to their cause for the long run. They need to figure out how they take the "dates" and "one night stands" they've had with their Facebook friends, Twitter followers, YouTube viewers, and blog commenters to the next level of partnership, with all of its ups and downs, where they can work together over time to make the world a better place.

Cross-posted from BlogHer. Britt Bravo is a Big Vision Consultant.
Photo of Laika the Cat by Me.

fatigue
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Blogging and Podcasting for Writers on SlideShare

I've posted my presentation about Marketing and Test Marketing Your Work Online that I gave at the San Francisco Writers Conference, if you want to check it out.

Blogging and Podcasting for Writers

View more presentations from Britt Bravo. (tags: writers podcast)

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writer
author
book
blog
podcast

13 Causes I'd Give to If Friday the 13th Was My Lucky Day

If Friday the 13th was your lucky day, and you won the lottery, what organizations and causes would you support?

In the spirit of the 25 Random Things About Me meme/online chain letter going around Facebook right now, below is a list of 13 causes that are close to my heart.

13 Causes I'd Give to If Friday the 13th Was My Lucky Day

1. Art in Action: Youth Leadership Training Program
   Mission: "Art in Action empowers youth leaders by engaging arts for social change through personal, social, political, and cultural education."
   
   
2. Dining for Women
   Mission: "Dining for Women empowers women living in extreme poverty by funding programs fostering good health, education, and economic self-sufficiency and cultivates educational dinner circles inspiring individuals to make a difference through the power of collective giving."
   Dining for Women's blog
   
   
3. Enough
   Mission: "The Enough Project is helping to build a permanent constituency to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity."
   Enough's blog, Enough Said.
   
   
4. Genocide Intervention Network
   Mission: "The Genocide Intervention Network empowers individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide."
   GI-NET's blog
   
   
5. Global Fund for Women
   Mission: "The Global Fund for women promotes women's economic security, health, education and leadership."
   Global Fund for Women's blog
   
   
6. Maine Coon Adoptions
   They rescued and helped us adopt our Maine Coon cat, Dora!
   
   
   
7. I Love Libraries
   Mission: "Friends of I Love Libraries was created to provide a means for library advocates to strengthen grassroots efforts in support of America’s libraries.
   
   
8. People's Grocery
   Mission: "Our mission is to build a local food system that improves the health and economy of the West Oakland community."
   People's Grocery blog, Brahm's Blog.
   
   
9. Spot.us
   Mission: "Spot.Us is a nonprofit project of the Center for Media Change. We are an open source project, to pioneer 'community funded reporting.'”
   Spot.us blog
   
   
10. Streetside Stories
    Mission: "Through the power of storytelling, Streetside values and cultivates young people’s voices, fostering educational equity and building community, literacy and arts skills."
    Streetside Stories' blog, Street Blog
    
    
11. UNICEF
    Mission: "UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized."
    UNICEF blog, Fieldnotes
    
    
12. Urban Sprouts
    Mission: "Urban Sprouts is a nonprofit using school gardens to help youth actively engage in school, eat better and exercise more, and connect with the environment and each other."
    Urban Sprouts blog is also their website.
    
    
13. Women for Women International
    Mission: "Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies."
    Women for Women International blog
    

What are 13 causes you'd give to if you won the lottery? What causes are close to your heart?

Cross-posted from BlogHer. Britt Bravo is a Big Vision Consultant.

Flickr photo credit: Luck of Summer Rain uploaded by Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic. Photo of Dora the Cat by Me.

philanthropy
donation
nonprofit

Valentines That Give Back

Whether you are single, or attached, why not celebrate Valentines Day with a gift that gives back?

Megan Stohner has a great roundup of ideas in her post, What are you spending on this Valentine's Day - chocolates or charity? on the Case Foundation blog, Let's Talk.

Lots of abandoned dogs and cats could use your love this Valentine's Day. On February 14, The Escondido Humane Society will offer half off the regular adoption fee for all animals older than 6 months with any chocolate brown coloring. You can find animals to adopt near you using Petfinder.

Love animals, but can't adopt one right now? You can purchase a gift from the ASPCA, or Humane Society of Canada's online stores. The Lil Bee blog also has 4 ways you can help animals in her post, The Perfect Valentine's Day Gift.

In, A Valentine’s Day gift of real love on The West Australian, Tiffany Fox writes that this year she will giving, "A very special gift straight from my heart: blood." Fox is hoping it will help some of the victims of the fires in Victoria. If you're American, you can find a blood drive near you on the American Red Cross site.

Giving blood make you squeamish? Why not volunteer with your honey, or a group of pals in your community on Valentine's Day? You can search for volunteer opportunities on VolunteerMatch, Idealist, Social Actions, Network for Good, 1-800 Volunteer.org, Servenet.org, Volunteer Solutions, and GuideStar.

You could also make a donation in your Valentine's honor. Many organizations will provide you with a special card or e-card to let your Valentine know about your donation.

GlobalGiving, an organization that helps you contribute to grassroots charity projects around the world, is celebrating Valentine's Day with, "Operation: Give Love." When you make a donation to any GlobalGiving project, or buy a GlobalGiving Gift Card, after you check out, you can enter you and your friends in a raffle to win one of five floral bouquets from Organic Bouquet.

Finally, there's nothing wrong with gifts and chocolate! Check out what's available on Global Exchange's Fair Trade Store, and Original Good, World of Good's line of Fair Trade products. You can find out where to buy Fair Trade chocolate, wine and flowers on TransFair's Fall in Love with Fair Trade Certified page.

What are some other ideas for valentines that give back?

Cross-posted from BlogHer. Britt Bravo is a Big Vision Consultant.
Photo by Nu Ho from our wedding.

valentine
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6 Ways to Use the Web to Find a Nonprofit Job

Yikes! One of today's New York Times' headlines is, Economy Shed 598,000 Jobs in January. If you're one of the folks looking for a job with a nonprofit right now, here are some ways to use the web to help with your search.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional social network, so it's ripe with job search opportunities. See who in your network knows someone at the organizations you'd like to work for. Ask if they'd introduce you to their contact so you can set up an informational interview. Also, people often share job openings with their LinkedIn network before they post it elsewhere. Check out Guy Kawasaki's Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job for more ideas.

Facebook
Like LinkedIn, you can search for friends who work for, or know someone who works for, an organization that interests you. In her post, Using Social Media to Launch a Job Search, on The Life, Kathy Dodd says she is using Facebook Ads to promote herself as a DC Area marketing expert. In her post, Using Social Media for a Job Search, Rachel Levy says she posts status updates about her job search to remind her Facebook friends she is still looking.

Twitter
According to the Wall Street Journal article, Twitter Yourself a Job, Alexa Scordato sent out a message to her Twitter followers saying that she was looking for an entry level social media job in Boston. Within two weeks she had a job. I'm sure that isn't the norm, but it can't hurt to ask, right? You might also want to use Twollo, an application that allows you to find and auto-follow people on Twitter who are writing about the issues that interest you (Thanks @engagejoe for the Twollo tip).

Find Networking Events and Conference
E-intros and virtual handshakes are great, but nothing beats making connections face-to-face. Make a commitment to go to at least one live event each week and network. Search for event listings on Meetup, Upcoming, Idealist, Craigslist, Facebook, and Eventful. You should also subscribe to list servs like Progressive Exchange and YNPN (Young Nonprofit Professionals Network), and search on Google Groups and Yahoo Groups for list servs related to the work you want to do. Also, be sure to sign up for newsletters of organizations you'd like to work for, and go to their public events. If you can't afford to attend an event or conference, see if they'll let you volunteer in exchange for a reduced fee.

Find Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering for a nonprofit is not only a chance to make a connection with a group you would eventually like to work for, it can also teach you new skills, and help you determine if working for a nonprofit is a fit for you. It can also provide stress relief during your job search by placing focus away from yourself, and onto someone else. You can search for volunteer opportunities on VolunteerMatch, Idealist, Social Actions, Network for Good, 1-800 Volunteer.org, Servenet.org, Volunteer Solutions, and GuideStar. You can also look on an organization's site, or contact them directly for information about volunteer opportunities.

YouTube.
The post, 7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media, on Mashable suggests creating a video resume. I've never heard of that, have you? According to the post's author, Dan Schawbel, that is one of the benefits, "The key with a video resume is that very few people have actually created one, so they serve as a differentiator in the recruiting process." If you've created one, share the link below. I'd love to see an example of a successful one.

What suggestions do you have for how people can use the web to find a nonprofit job?

Cross-posted from BlogHer. Britt Bravo is a Big Vision Consultant.

nonprofit
web
job
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Buy a Song, Support a Cause

Remember during Christmas 1984 when everyone got the 45, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" recorded by Band Aid? Profits from the record raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia.



The single was quickly followed by the American version, "We Are The World," in the spring of 1985. It also raised money for famine relief in Africa.



Below are some recent examples I found of proceeds from songs, or CDs benefiting a cause or nonprofit. I'd love to hear your examples too.

1. The album Instant Karma, a collection of John Lennon remakes by artists like U2, Ben Harper, and R.E.M., raises money for Amnesty's Darfur work.

2. Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th to raise money for Red Hot, an organization, "dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture." (Thanks @abfdc for the tip). They've produced 14 other albums featuring every genre of music from country, to jazz, to Bossa Nova.

3. Putamayo World Music donates to a range of nonprofits.

4. For each (free) download of Peter Buffett's Christmas album, Star of Wonder, Amie Street and The Robin Hood Foundation will donate enough money to feed 15 people through The Food Bank of New York.

5. Satchmo.com has a list of 35 Hurricane Katrina Benefit CDs.

6. Proceeds from SERVE3: The Hard Rock Benefit Album will benefit WHY (World Hunger Year). There is also a SERVE2 CD, and a SERVE CD.

7. Hopeless Records, in partnership with its nonprofit, Sub City, will release an 8th benefit CD in conjunction with its Take Action Tour. DoSomething.org will receive 10% of the ticket sale proceeds, and 5% of the suggested retail price for each Take Action! Volume 8 CD.

8. In 2004, Band Aid 20 re-recorded, "Do They Know It's Christmas," to fund famine relief in Darfur.

*Addition*
9. Just heard about one more: If you download Jennifer Hudson's Super Bowl rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" from iTunes, the proceeds will go to the Hudson-King Foundation, "a charity Hudson co-founded in the wake of the murders to provide counseling and other needs for families who lost a loved one to a violent crime."

nonprofit
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3 Social Media Speaking Gigs in San Francisco

Hello Have Fun • Do Gooders!

I've got a full speaking calendar in the middle of the month. Come say hi if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, or pass the info on to friends who do!

NTEN’s We Are Media Workshop
I’ll be teaching the “Sharing Your Story” session on Feb 13 with Nina Simon of Museum 2.0
Thursday and Friday, February 12-13, 2009
Marine’s Memorial Club
609 Sutter Street
San Francisco


San Francisco Writers Conference
"Marketing and Test-Marketing Your Work Online with Blogging and Podcasting"
Sunday, February 15, 2009
11-11:45 AM
Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel
1 Nob Hill
San Francisco

eWomen Network "Accelerated Networking" Luncheon
"Blogging: A Free, Fun Way to Market Your Business and Establish Your Value to Potential Customers!"
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
10:00-1:15 PM
Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Oakland Airport
77 Hegenberger Rd.
Oakland

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Oakland
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