Photo courtesy of Carianoff
In this special series, we’ll take a brief look at various different fearless inspirations from the past week or so. Whether it’s a fearless young change maker who is taking risks, a new publication that expresses bold and innovative ideas, or an organization that is promoting change and that is not afraid to fail forward—we want to shine a spotlight on them and their work in the hope that it will spark a new movement to Be Fearless.
As Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation wrote in a recent thought piece http://www.casefoundation.org/blog/world-needs-us-be-fearless], “The old way of doing things is simply no longer effective in this new world. It’s time for us all to take risks on new ideas, approaches, and initiatives. It’s time for us to be bold, to act with urgency, and to resist the tendency to let caution be our guide. It’s time for us to Be Fearless.” Will you join us?
#FixYoungAmerica
For the growing number of young Americans who are looking for jobs and employment the search for many has been difficult at best. A recent New York Times article by Hannah Seligson noted that, “joblessness among the young remains at crisis levels, economists say. In April, the unemployment rate for workers under age 25 was 16.4 percent, compared with 8.1 percent over all.”
So what can and should we do to address this situation? Who is going to take the lead on changing things? After all, as Seligson states,
No one wants to see millions of young people sitting idle... Can policies and programs be created to channel them into full-time jobs?
"Those questions are entangled in certain truths about the political process. Teachers have the American Federation of Teachers. Gun owners have the N.R.A. The older population has AARP. But where are the advocacy groups for jobless youth?
They are coming. Two movements have sprouted to fight for this generation’s right to move out of the parental basement (or avoid it altogether): the Campaign for Young America and Fix Young America.”
It’s a daunting task, trying to shift the unemployment situation in America today, but that’s exactly what these two groups are seeking to achieve through entrepreneurial action and education specifically.
We’ve been following the work of these two innovative groups for some time now and are excited to see how their efforts manifest into a shift in policy, mindsets and ultimately… jobs. Find out how you can support Campaign for Young America and #FixYoungAmerica.
Just How Much “Good” Do You Think You Can Achieve?
The University of Maryland challenged students to “Do Good” through a special video challenge from Kevin Bacon. Kevin invited students to find creative ways to use social media to raise money and awareness for their favorite causes. The American Idol-style Challenge was a unique prize competition coordinated by the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, the UMD School of Public Policy, the Motorola Mobility Foundation, Kevin Bacon’s charitable organization Six Degrees, Network for Good, and the Smith School’s Center for Social Value Creation to stimulate "social entrepreneurship" and student philanthropy on campus.
More than 100 teams signed up for the challenge with the six teams that “Do the most Good” making it to the finals where a panel of celebrity judges-including Kevin Bacon awarded an assortment of prizes that included $5,000 for their official causes and other incentives.
The Food Recovery Network team won the overall challenge – here’s how!
“Inspired to address the dual issues of food waste and hunger, students founded The Food Recovery Network (FRN). This is a network of student groups and individuals that recover the surplus food from campus and donate it to hungry men, women, and children at local shelters. The Do Good Challenge inspired FRN to increase its capacity and step up its efforts. The group collected food from on-campus catered events, all the men’s and women’s basketball games, and weekday meals at the South Campus Diner and the 251 North buffet. During the competition period, FRN recovered approximately 6,700 meals, which, at $4 per meal, is the equivalent of raising $26,800. During the challenge, the group also raised over $5,000 from grants, pitch competitions, and donations. FRN will use this money to purchase a commercial fridge, enabling it to recover food daily from about 25 more locations around campus, which should ultimately double its impact – from collecting 30,000 meals per year to about 60,000 meals per year. FRN also recruited two other college campuses to adopt its food recovery model during the Do Good Challenge period.”
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh shared a similar sentiment:
"It is possible to do well and do good at the same time - as these students have so emphatically demonstrated with a tsunami of creativity, entrepreneurship and heart."
Click here to read all about the Do Good Challenge finalists.