Photo Courtesy of Case Foundation.
Today, the Case Foundation launches its “Social Citizen Ambassadors” program by bringing together a diverse group of impassioned and engaged leaders who are boldly influencing the nature of social change through their work across sectors and disciplines. When the Social Citizens initiative launched three years ago, it was used as a platform to inspire conversation about how the Millennial Generation was changing the nature of our institutions and nonprofits. Over the course of the last few years, the conversations have spread beyond the blog and white paper and today we take them a step further by recognizing ten leaders who embody what it means to be a social citizen.
While the Ambassadors who were chosen for the inaugural year of the program are as diverse in their makeup as their experiences, they also have a great deal in common -- an appreciation for openness and transparency, a passion for technology, a strong desire to collaborate in new and innovative ways – and all are having a transformative impact in their respective fields.
Too often we see foundations and institutions find themselves stuck in a “this-is-how-we’ve-always-done-it” cycle. The Ambassadors will help change that, and will serve as a sounding board to both inspire new ideas for the Foundation and help keep a pulse on the latest trends and biggest ideas that are impacting the social change sector. Social Citizen Ambassadors were selected by the Case Foundation based on their passion, commitment, visibility, diversity and desire to influence social change. They will serve one year as Ambassadors and receive a small grant to a nonprofit of their choice.
To learn more about our Social Citizen Ambassadors and their inspiring work, please read below and stay tuned to the blog as we roll out some exciting new initiatives and conversations in 2012:
Josh Nesbit is the CEO of Medic Mobile, an nonprofit company using low-cost, mobile technology to create connected, coordinated health systems that save more lives. Josh also founded Hope Phones, a recycling campaign designed to engage millions of Americans in global health efforts. He is an Ashoka Fellow, PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, Rainer Arnhold Fellow, Strauss Scholar, Haas Public Service Fellow, and Case Foundation Social Citizen Ambassador.
Maria Teresa Kumar, founding executive director of Voto Latino, is a dynamic leader and advocate who has dedicated her career to empowering Latino youth and engaging them in the political process. Her strong record of accomplishment has earned her high profile recognitions, including being named as one of the 20 most notable Latinos under 40 by PODER Magazine, and numerous leadership awards including an Emmy nomination, the White House Project, Imagen Foundation and the New York legislature.
Daniel Jae-Won Lee is the Executive Director of the Levi Strauss Foundation, an independent private foundation that conveys the pioneering spirit and enduring values of Levi Strauss & Co.: originality, empathy, integrity and courage. He joined Levi Strauss in 2003 as Community Affairs Manager for the Asia Pacific Division in Singapore, and subsequently served as the Director of Global Grant Making Programs. Daniel has extensive experience with international non-governmental organizations in the fields of human rights, HIV/AIDS and social justice.
Ben Rigby is co-founder and CEO of Sparked.com – the world’s first microvolunteering network. Prior to founding Sparked, Rigby developed Web and mobile software for the likes of Nokia, The North Face, Old Navy, and IBM.
Daniel Kaufman is the Co-Founder of the One Percent Foundation, an organization building a broad-based movement of next generation philanthropists by making giving accessible, engaging, and meaningful. He is also the Co-Founder of Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in designing and implementing innovative next generation philanthropic engagement opportunities for individuals, non-profits, foundations, and businesses.
Erica Williams is Senior Strategist at Citizen Engagement Laboratory, where she helps build tech-savvy, people powered projects that help changemakers build community and power. A noted media commentator and public speaker, she is particularly passionate about advancing the causes most important to young people and underrepresented communities through culture, politics and technology.
Christie George is the Director of New Media Ventures, the first national network of early stage investors supporting startups that create progressive change. A recognized leader at the intersection of media, entrepreneurship and impact investing, she is a Co-Founder of LoudSauce, the crowdfunded media-buying platform for ideas that matter. She received from BA from Yale and her MBA from Oxford, where she was a Skoll Scholar and graduated with the Said Prize.
Jeff Slobotski is the Founder and Chief Community Builder at Silicon Prairie News, an Omaha-based company dedicated to highlighting and supporting entrepreneurs and creatives, and a emerging model for grassroots entrepreneurial ecosystem development within Omaha, Des Moines and Kansas City.
Jonny Dorsey co-founded Global Health Corps, a fellowship program that aims to mobilize a global community of emerging leaders to build the movement for health equity. Prior to that Jonny co-founded FACE AIDS, and student campaign to fight AIDS that has been active on over 200 campuses and raised $2.3 million for comprehensive health care to the poor. Jonny graduated from Stanford in 2009, and is currently a dual degree student pursuing an MPA at Harvard and an MBA at Stanford.
Dalila Wilson-Scott is Chief of Staff of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and CFO/COO of the Global Philanthropy Division at JPMorgan Chase & Co. In this role she has oversight for administrative functions for the bank's philanthropic arm including strategic planning, finance, legal, compliance, technology, and operations. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as part of the task force charged with managing the merger integration of JPMorgan Chase and Bank One, one of the largest and most significant mergers in the financial services industry.