Epic Change: Taylor Loves the Kids of Tanzania!

Happy Monday!

The power of social media is a beautiful thing. About a month ago, while I was getting knee depth in learning how to use Twitter to meet people here in Raleigh as well as “Change Makers” around the world, I was contacted by Stacey Monk the Co-Founder of a non-profit organization called Epic Change. See, Stacey has been hard at work, helping others get their stories heard. In this she believes (as well as I) that expressing your stories in creative and innovative ways will lead to financial resources that will otherwise create a positive change within these individuals communities. There is a more definable chart on the right side of the blog to show how this works:

On Stacey’s first trip to Tanzania, She helped a woman named Mama Lucy Kamptoni to expand and rebuild a primary school. When Mama Lucy first started renting the land to teach the young children, there were only 6 children. Now there are 200 children. In addition, the School almost closed last year due to a hotel developer buying the land Mama Lucy was renting.

So, Stacey Monk made it her personal mission to help rebuild the school. Epic Change is now in route to Tanzania for the summer to get started on her project.

Now I will let you know how I got involved. Before Stacey left Tanzania to come back to FL, she asked the parents and kids what she could do/bring the next time she visits. They all replied, “Bring Friends.” She started a video project that asked people to make a video that she would take with her on her next visit to Tanzania. After seeking me out & reading my blog, she asked me if I would like to participate in the project. I said of course! Here are the guidelines for the video:

1) Introduce yourself & share something interesting about your life.

2) Ask the kids, teachers or parents at the school a question.

3) Tell them why you think their story matters.

Below is the video I did for the kids. Super cheezy and my editing skills are horrible. All and all I hope the kids like it. I wish Stacey & the rest of the Epic Change crew well on the trip to Tanzania. If you would like to donate or follow Epic Change and Stacey Monk’s Blog, please visit the links below.

Links

EpicChange.org

Epic Change Blog

Epic Change Youtube Videos

“Be a fly on the wall – understand what people are saying and what they need!”

After having a blast at the 48 hour film festival in Greensboro this past weekend, and coming home to an appropriate, parallel article in regards to a film making entrepreneur- I decided to blog about it.

If you are a Social Entrepreneur and haven’t heard of the Social Edge website by the Skoll Foundation- please check it out. This week they focused in on Ari Sznajader. He is had a wealth full of experience helping others; conducted renewable energy assessments for mining companies in Mozambique, directed a documentary film entitled “Rivers, Wats and Riots” and consulted for USAID in Cambodia.  Today he is helping train bright, future leaders in Nigeria. The title of this blog post is a quote he mentioned in the interview. It got me thinking about how I want to change the world. Here is the podcast:         

Ari Sznajader\’s Social Edge Interview

What are you going to do to change the world? I finally cemented a great idea that I am looking to roll out in the next few months. I get questions all the time, “I love your blog, but what S. Entrepreneur ventures are you heading up?” It took awhile because I wanted to do it right- but it has finally hit me!

Follow me on Twitter for more updates www.twitter.com/taylorbarr

Peace,

Taylor

Bag those Plastic Bags- Get rid of the “White Polution”

Hello all-

I must confess… I use plastic bags at the grocery store. For an individual such as myself who preaches the strong word of recycling, My one vice is the “easy to use”, easy to throw away (eek!!) plastic bags. This post is more on the environmental side, but yet got me thinking about alternative ways that stores (or individuals) can reduce their global footprint.

I recently read an article involving the Chinese Government setting a ban on plastic bags that have an overall thickness 0f .025 or less. this is sending a mighty uproar to shop owners and supermarkets having to come up with alternatives for their customers; afterall, a majority of these businesses and street vendors put anything from produce & shirts to piping hot wares into these non-biodegradable bags. Many of the citizens of Shangai, call this problem, White Pollution.” ( after the white bags getting stuck in the trees and blowing freely through the streets.)

My questions for you is, How can we stop this from happening in the United States? granted our population count is much lower than that of China and we don’t have such harsh government intervention into the private sector, but how can we educate business and the public to minimize this waste?

That is all for now!

Stay Green,

Taylor

It’s not a laptop project. It’s an education project.

Happy Sunday Funday-

To my beloved Social Entrepreneurs: I came across the “One Laptop per Child” initiative awhile back, ironically while at work. About three weeks ago, I was Recruiting on Mesh Networking engineers for one of my undisclosed clients. To limit the technical jargon for the sanity of my readers- Mesh networking is part of wireless technology that allows a wireless network, per se, to function interconnectively (yes I made that word up). this means, when one site (say a laptop in this case) loses signal from a base station, it can retrive a signal using a laptop near by (rather than searching for the core site). Cool and advanced stuff! Anyways, I wanted to get more insight into how I can find these specialized skill sets- and the CTO suggested I check out the “One Laptop Per Child” Project:

to put things plain and simple: This kind of stuff excites me. To allow children in underdeveloped countries an adaptable resource that functions as well as some of the computers in the tech market- opens great opportunites. Not only does it give children ways to communicate their ideas to others, it allows our “closed off from the rest of the world,” American society to listen to ideas far from earshot distance. Education is empowerment and the more lives that get equal opportunity to it- the greater our global community will be.

Check it out http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php at A simple donation of $200 will pay for and deliver one XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, $400 will pay for and deliver two XO laptops, and so on. Your entire contribution will be tax-deductible.

All my Best,

Taylor

Leading Social Entrepreneurs: Learn From the Best!

Salutations!

I came across a website while doing research for my Triangle Social Entrepreneurs Network. Social Edge-A Skoll Foundation Program is a a great way to connect Social Entrepreneurs all across the globe. After a quick sign up (15 seconds) you create a very basic profile letting others on the site know where your from, and what avenues of change you are creating. I just now signed up and I am still playing around with the web-site’s resources and options. One of the cool features on the website is that they host two online discussions a week, moderated by experts in the field. This seems to be a great platform especially for new entrepreneurs, such as myself, to learn more about the topic.

As I was scanning across the original website homepage, I found some great Youtube links containing 4 minute interviews with some individuals that are truly paving the way for social advocacy. Please check it out (click the logo below )- you might get some inspiration yourself!

Stay tuned for some awesome new posts.

Coming soon!!: Triangle Social Entrepreneurship update/member’s benefit proposal, EntreYouth; an organization I am starting, and “Picking out your Social Networking Outfit.”

Kind Regards,

Taylor

Triangle Social Entrepreneurs- Get Hip, and join today!

Hello all,

Alas! I am back. I was stuck for the past week and a half, riding the flu/cold sickness wave, but I am ready to get back into the swing of things. Since being sick I have created a group for social entrepreneurs in the Triangle area, to come together (via the web) and share their ideas on social change. Still don’t know what this whole social entrepreneur thing is? google it. wikipedia it. It is a great thing!

Below is the social network website (click on the link) I use to create the group. www.ning.com allows you to create your own social networks centered around the ideas or or things you enjoy. If you are completely new to the whole thing, or have been active in the social entrepreneurship community- please join. If you create a network on the website, let me know! I am interested in what everyone is into these days…

 www.socialadvocates.ning.com

Ciudad Saludable: Helping Others Turn Trash in to Cash!

**Short note from the author: I wanted to thank each and every one of you for checking out my blog.  After introducing it to the public three days ago, I have already received 110 new member hits! Please help me promote my cause for social entrepreneurship by passing the knowledge and information to others. My first goal is to hit 100 hits in one day. Can you help me out? I will dedicate a blog post to ALL the people who post links in blogs, email newsletters, etc.**

 Señoras y Caballeros,

 While reading through a few profiles on PBS’ “New Heroes” website, I have stumbled across a story of a woman from Lima, Peru who has truly inspired my personal efforts for social change. Albina Ruiz started to notice a true problem with Peru’s government and there lack of action towards the country’s accelerated waste management problem.  Basically, many cities in Peru produce more than 600 metric tons of garbage daily. The municipal government, on the other hand, can only process about half of its city’s waste a day (leaving the other half piling up in crowded streets, parks, lakes and reservoirs). To add to the potential environmental threat this is causing the citizens of Lima, a majority of these individuals are suffering from extreme poverty. Instead of waiting for the government to step in-one woman took a chance.

 Albina established “micro-businesses” to provide a solution to the detrimental city problem. Spearheading a campaign to clean up the city, she divided the tasks and motivated the unemployed to step forth as bonafide entrepreneurs, as you will, to capitalize on the daunting project. Wait, I know what your thinking…Why did he use the word capitalize when all these people will be doing is picking up trash? Answer: Recycling= $$$ (well maybe not three dollar signs, but enough to provide for people who are considerably below the poverty line- surviving on less than $1 dollar a day.) Please click on the picture below. The short video will provide you with way more insight:

                                                                                               

One thing that I took from Albina’s story was the proof that you don’t have to be rich to make a revenue generating, yet socially responsible business plan. If more people can understand that it is not all about pure gain but more about how you use the resources you have to make sound judgment, than this would achieve a less “consumption-able” world.

 I write about these stories to change perception of thinking.  I want people to be inspired to look outside and see what is going on around us. I plan to create a foundation that will provide support for others to participate in actions of social change. Please contact me or comment on my blog if you are interested!

 Until next time,

Taylor 

Make a loan. Change a Life!

Good Evening!

Ahhh… a brilliant idea that bridges the gap between two passions of mine: Entrepreneurship and Humanitarianism. This time of year, most people are so invested in politics (watching  ”False Fronts” running for our nation’s presidency), that they care little about their own social responsibility. Instead of throwing money to an individual’s campaign that is probably going to go towards a commercial trash talking an opponent, why don’t you invest it in something worthwhile! 

Lets face it- we are all not millionaires. We would like to say, “ If we had a million dollars, we would like to help others just as much as we try to help ourselves.” Well folks, lets get real and talk about the options that don’t pop up on lottery tickets.

What I am talking about is Micro financing, or Micro lending. According to Wikipedia (yes I am quoting Wikipedia—face it, you would have done the same), Micro financing envisions, “a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers.” Instead of donating, which to an entrepreneur is a” return-less” investment, micro financing creates common good for both parties. In plain text: You give someone money to start something they are passionate about, and in turn, you get your money back and the warm fuzzy feeling that you made a difference. Everyone knows there are risks. For one, you are taking the chance to lend to people who don’t have the promise to pay you back. In any investment there is risk- and to be compelled to contribute to a noble cause, makes the risk that more attractive. I have found a website that truly embraces this idea.  Read below for the amazing-ness known as Kiva!

Description of Kiva from their website:

“Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. By choosing a loan on Kiva, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the entrepreneur you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.”

Please view the video below from the founders of Kiva. They share their inspiring story about how Kiva started and how they strive to make the world one big global village. Rather than viewing other countries as underdeveloped and taking tremendous pity on them, why don’t we empower them with the same tools that many of us our granted with?

 

There are links below for the Kiva site . . . it is one of the best investments I have made all year.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Taylor