Journeys for Change is offering the chance to win a fully-paid nine-day tour of leading Social Entrepreneurs in India. The winner will join a select group of senior leaders from some of the world’s top private, public and civil society organisations, and will get first-hand lessons in innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership from some of Bangalore and Mumbai’s leading social entrepreneurs.

Thank you to those who have already voted or commented!  I’m so honored by your support and really look forward to a chance at sharing all the work from this network of changemakers with those on this journey!

Please support me by voting and commenting here.

Here is a copy of the application narrative; you can read it and vote for me on the competition site here.

Part of my role as the Global Community Development Manager at NetSquared is to support and grow our offline organizers from around the world. This offline network, called Net Tuesdays, balances the work we do online to connect all those working at the intersection of technology and social impact. We now have over 50 cities globally hosting monthly events with many more getting started. On a daily basis, I work with the organizers in all these cities as well as those interested in organizing in their community, to connect them to each other, share information and ideas, and create innovative ways to link the global network.

I also work closely with our innovator community, those who have submitted Projects on our platform and participated in open innovation Challenges. NetSquared’s hosted Challenges for 3 years now, surfacing hundreds of innovative technologies for social impact. We highlight and support their work by connecting teams with local Net Tuesday groups (for feedback, presentations), foundation and nonprofit organizations (to help implement technologies in the real world), and the larger community (for new ideas and collaborations).

Outside of NetSquared, I am a trainer, blogger and facilitator as well as the co-author of Social by Social: a practical guide to using technology for social impact. I’m also a contributor to Socialbrite, NTEN, Women Who Tech and other industry leading collaborations.

I cannot wait for the experiences ahead for all those chosen to participate in this journey. As someone enmeshed in the innovation and social impact sector, this would be an incredible opportunity to understand the issues and options facing those in communities in India as well as connect with individuals who are ready to do more. I am always happy to share any experiences or knowledge I have, extend any resources or connections, and support the work of valuable projects. I have to believe that all those participating in the one-of-a-kind journey probably feel the same way and view this opportunity as a chance to create synergies throughout our work during and after the trip.

I hope to help those groups already getting started in India and elsewhere by personally understanding the context they work in every day, as well as creating new relationships to help bridge local barriers to participation in a global conversation about social impact. I hope that I can extend my personal community-driven model of development to aid both the colleagues on the trip as well as those we meet. An journey like this opens doors to new partnerships, relationships, and networks in a unique way.

Like I said, I cannot wait!

What do you think?

Would love to hear ideas from you about how I could help or highlight a project your are working on if I have the chance to go! Leave a comment on the application here.

I’m quite interested to see how this combination works out, especially as it relates to the number of submissions, participation of non-submitted parties (others who comment or vote for an idea but haven’t submitted one themselves), and the influence of the public voting over the final grant awards.

Do you have a guess at how it will play out?  I’d love to hear it!

Change Climage Change: Grant Proposals Open

(Originally posted on the NetSquared blog.)

Green Mountain Coffee will provide four grants for $200,000 each (payable over 5 years) to support the work of reducing climate change.  To participate in this contest, you need to submit your idea on JustMeans and fill out the full grant proposal from Green Mountain Coffee.

Learn more and get started now!

Contest Details:

Climate change is not a problem that can be solved by a single entity – be it government, business, civil society, or individuals. We believe that long term solutions will come from the combined efforts of all of the above.  While government will play an important role, we need not wait for government direction to take steps to understand, reduce, and mitigate our share of GHG emissions.

One grant will be made in each of the four categories of: Threats to Coffee-Growing Communities, Transportation-Related Emissions, Building Political Will, and Empowering Individual Action.  Submissions close March 21st.

Key Dates:

• February 16th: Call for idea submissions and full proposals.
  
• February 16th – March 21st: Public comments on ideas.
• March 21st: Deadlines to submit grant applications – 12:00 AM EST
• March 28th: Finalists announced and reposted on JustMeans.com.
  
• March 28th – April 3rd: Public comments on ideas.
• April 3rd: The public challenge ends and the final judging begins.
• April 22nd: Winners announced on Earth Day

Next Steps:

The Changing Climate Change contest requires submitters to post ideas to JustMeans as well as submit a complete grant proposal.

• Submit your idea to JustMeans
• Comment on other ideas and support your favorites
• Submit your grant proposal to Green Mountain Coffee
• Find out more about the four areas of focus