We're in The Toronto Star!

Earlier this summer, Journalists for Human Rights sent ten Canadian journalists to work in various newsrooms and j-schools in Ghana and Malawi, educating and empowering local journalists there to produce Rights Media (media that creates the imperative societal dialogue on human rights issues). Now, these ten remarkable individuals are blogging in the Toronto Star to provide Canadians a unique, on-the-ground perspective on the human rights violations that occur everyday in these countries. Read their stories today and learn more about the work that we do in some of the toughest conditions in the world - http://thestar.blogs.com/africa/.

Tech for Change - August Round Up!

Technology in and of itself is no panacea for positive transformative change. It is the people who create the opportunities and who leverage these technologies for the betterment of society. Though still a work in progress, there are tons of charities and non-profit organizations who are working towards this.

Earlier this month, Red Cross hosted the Emergency Social Data Summit in Washington D.C., bringing together government agencies, humanitarian and disaster response organizations, and tech companies to address how technology can be used to respond more effectively during crisis situations. From the Red Cross blog:

"Social media has changed how people communicate, including their calls for help. Now, people Tweet, update Facebook statuses, and text about natural disasters. Emergency and disaster response organizations are working to develop a process to address this and harness the communication power of new media."

Tutus for Tanner originated when an influential blogger in Toronto, Catherine Conners, (HerBadMother.com), posted an entry telling the story of her nephew, Tanner, who suffers from Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy. The blog post soon went viral and people began taking action and holding their own fundraisers for him. As a quick example, Scott Stratten (another big kahuna in the social media world) hosted and managed the #TutusforTanner tweet-a-thon auction, which called his 65,000+ followers to tweet about the contest and donate. He set out to raise $25,000 in just 30 hours and guess what? Over $29,000 were raised! Incredible stuff! Just goes to show the importance of having not just a large, but engaged following online.

crowdrise is the funky, hip, and hilarious web platform that brings together a community of online givers and volunteers. Here, anyone can start their own fundraising/volunteer projects or donate their time/money for the causes that they feel most passionate about. It makes giving in all shapes and forms so easy! Check out their website at www.crowdrise.com.  If not to donate, at least to read their cheeky copywriting, which in itself deserves a prize of some sort!

"Magellan This City" or rather, this campus!

For awhile now, I (as a rep for blogUT), along with some friends, have been working behind the scenes with My City Lives to film a video series exploring the University of Toronto, St. George Campus. For those of you who don't already know (and take note, cuz you'll be hearing this name more often!), My City Lives is an online platform that gives us, the citizens, the opportunity to capture and share our daily experiences around the city on video. If you check out their website, you'll see that the web stories are presented on an interactive map that shows exactly where each video was filmed so you can learn more about our city based on the narratives of others. It's a simple yet incredibly powerful idea...

Now the idea to shoot on campus arose out of the need to create and build an accessible resource for first-year students who often find themselves lost during those first few weeks of university, both physically and socially. It's a terrifying and potentially alienating experience to find yourself out of your comfort zone in a totally different environment with people you don't know. It's overwhelming. I know because I've been there myself.

Those physical, antiquated maps with grids and street names that the university provides its froshies are no longer enough. They don't even begin to scratch the surface of what the campus is all about. As my friends at MCL say, "Ordinary maps are lifeless...we present a view of a city by the people who make it breathe". So here's to hoping these videos breathe life into this lovely, historically rich and vibrant campus!

**Thanks again to Adil, Coleman, and Saleema who made this all happen. Below are some sample videos but you can view the entire series here.

Tech for Change - July Round Up!

As I wrote a month ago, in an attempt to inspire my co-workers at jhr to take on and embrace social media, I've started a sharing program where I highlight how various non-profit organizations are successfully using social media. Take a look at this month's picks!

 

Epic Change started "TweetsGiving" in 2008 with the aim of raising over $10,000 to build a classroom in Tanzania. How? By getting their networks to mass tweet about it! People were asked to tweet about something they were thankful for and include a link to the campaign's website where they could donate. And bam! 48 hours later, they got themselves $10,000 to build their classroom. And today, the kids educated in that classroom are tweeting too (read their tweets here). Pretty cool, I think. A prime example of how Twitter can be used to exponentially leverage word of mouth!

 

350.org, an international campaign that is working to find solutions for the climate crisis, has been actively using videos to convey their message to the public. I had a chance to speak to Jon Warner, 350.org's Internet Director, and he told me that with all the different languages in the world, they wanted to come up with something that was truly universal and inclusive. That's why their promo video was made entirely out of symbols that anyone anywhere would be able to understand.

Global Voices is a community of more than 300 bloggers and translators from around the world who "aggregate, curate, and amplify the global conversation online" by emphasizing voices that are not traditionally heard in mainstream media. They cover all sorts of topics from around the world in an attempt to make the Internet a more even playing field. Browse their website to get an alternative view on some of today's major issues. And while you're at it, watch this TED Talk by Co-Founder Ethan Zuckerman to gain a better understanding of his vision for this community and for the Internet as a whole. It's one of my favourite TED Talks and it's incredibly fascinating, I promise!