Hans Rosling: Let My Dataset Change Your Mindset

“I have a neighbor who knows 200 types of wine. … I only know two types of wine — red and white. But my neighbor only knows two types of countries — industrialized and developing. And I know 200.”

-Hans Rosling

Hans Rosling worked for many years in rural Africa as a tracking paralytic disease and co-founded Sweden’s Doctors Without Borders. He brings data to life in his various presentations and TED talks breaking down generalizations to give his audience a frank and humanizing view of the world. He has been listed as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People where he called himself  ”a very serious possibilist” who “[takes] emotion apart [to]… work analytically with the world.” He has been recognized with several awards for his statistical and medical work.

His non-profit organization, Gapminder, describes itself  as a modern “museum” on the Internet – promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals whose initial goal was to develop Trendalyzer software. The software, which Rosling uses in his presentations, allows for statistical data to be presented in an engaging and animated way. Hans Rosling is currentlly a professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.

Take a look at his TED profile for more information and lectures.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Live Peace with V-Day

“When we give in the world what we want the most, we heal the broken part inside each of us.”

-Eve Ensler

Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues, is a playwright, performer, and activist. She received the Isabelle Stephenson Tony Award in 2011 which is awarded to a member of the theatre community  who has devoted their time and effort to a humanitarian cause or organization. After the success of The Vagina Monologues, which was performed in over 140 countries and translated into 48 languages, Ensler founded V-Day, a movement which aims to end violence against women and girls worldwide. V-Day proclaims Valentines Day as a day to celebrate women and work to end violence but extends far beyond the holiday, with multiple growing efforts to spread awareness through art to create social and culture change. As part of the movement, participants can organize a variety of benefit performances including a production of The Vagina Monologues, screenings of V-Day’s documentary, Until The Violence Stops, or workshops for men to include them in the conversation to end violence towards women. All V-Day events donate 10% of net profits to the V-Day Spotlight Campaign and the remaining 90% to local organizations working to end violence against women and girls.

To organize your own V-Day event, attend a V-Day event, donate to the cause, or to receive updates from the V-Day newsletter, visit the V-Day website.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Aimee Mullins and Her 12 Pairs of Legs

“There’s an important difference and distinction between the objective medical fact of my being an amputee and the subjective societal opinion of whether or not I’m disabled. Truthfully, the only real and consistent disability I’ve had to confront is the world ever thinking that I could be described by those definitions.”

-Aimee Mullins

Speaking from her wide ranging life experiences as an athlete, model, actress, and activist, Aimee Mullins challenges society’s view on the ideas of beauty and disability. Aimee had both her legs amputated below the knee when she was a year old because she was born missing fibula bones. She broke several world records at the Atlanta Paralympic Games in 1996 as the first person to use woven carbon-fiber prostheses, which were inspired by cheetah legs. Aimee was also the first amputee to compete in the NCAA in US history during her time at Georgetown University.

She has worked with major fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen and starred in movies such as Matthew Barney’s Cremaster 3. Aimee continues to act as a champion for women and the disabled in sports serving on the board of several non-profits and sports foundations such as the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Spire Institute.

Visit her TED profile to watch her other videos and learn more about Aimee’s approach to living peace.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Sir Ken Robinson: Changing Education Paradigms

“Many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not — because the thing they were good at at school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized.”

-Sir Ken Robinson

RSA Animate brought Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk to life with this video addressing creativity and the world educational model. As Sir Ken discusses in his lecture, we cannot afford to stifle children’s creativity and talent if we wish to build a more peaceful world. He has been involved in the discussion of creativity, business, and education on an international scale and has received several prizes for his dedication to the arts and education.  He has written two books, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything and Out of Our Minds, on the connection between creativity and learning.

To view Sir Ken Robinson’s original lecture or his follow up TED talk, visit his TED speaker profile. To learn more about his most up to date projects visit his website.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Dalia Mogahed: The Attitudes That Sparked Arab Spring

“[There is] a link between people’s faith in their democratic process and their faith that oppressed people can change their situation through peaceful means alone.”

-Dalia Mogahed

Dalia Mogahed , Executive Director and Senior Analyst of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, shares her thoughts on the Egyptian Revolution and the Arab Spring in her hopeful and inspiring TED talk. She explores it’s implications for self-empowerment of ordinary citizens, especially women. According to Mogahed, trends show that Egyptians are taking on a more active responsibility to bring a about peaceful change in their communities.

Egyptian native, Dalia Mogahed, is a member of Women in International Security  and serves on several intercultural advising groups to facilitate global and cultural understanding.

For more information on the Gallup Center’s work visit their website.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story

There are so many leaders that truly embody living peace with the passion they bring to their causes. We see this passion in the way they speak and seek to inform audiences about how to make the world a better, more peaceful place. They take action, educate, and inspire. In an effort to spread inspiration from compelling people all around the world, we will be sharing videos to show how living peace can take different forms.

Take the time to ponder how this video’s message can help to reach a peaceful state in your life, your community, and the world.

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

-Chimamanda Adichie

Chimamanda Adichie, author of The Thing around Your Neck (2009), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Purple Hibiscus (2003), speaks to her experience with stereotypes and cultural misunderstandings in her powerful TED talk. Chimamanda lives in Nigeria, her birthplace, and the United States, teaching writing workshops to help fight the phenomenon of the “single story.”

For more information on her work visit her website.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!