To This Day

Today we bring you a video of spoken-word poetry by Shane Koyczan. A self-described shy Canadian with corresponding dreams, he is also a man full of humor and insight on the experience of growing up. Watch for yourself!

Note that there is one instance of strong language in the video.

We could probably all stand to, as Shane puts it, “get a better mirror.”

What beauty do you see around you?

Good Happens.

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Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Dare to educate Afghan girls

We love to periodically share thought-provoking and interesting videos with you. Today we bring a TEDxWomen talk by Shabana Basij-Rasikh about education in Afghanistan.

What do you think? How has education impacted you?

Good Happens.

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How We Think About Changing the World

This video of Dan Pallotta comes from the most recent TED conference in Long Beach. In the video, Pallotta discusses the viewpoint from which we often view charitable work and how he believes that view is skewed.

Making the distinction between the for-profit and non-profit sectors, Pallotta outlines the difficulties that potentially limit the success of nonprofits in achieving their goals.

Do you think this has implications for nonprofits and how they accomplish their work? How important do you think the concept of “overhead” is?

Good Happens.

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Sheryl WuDunn: The Importance of Education

We periodically like to share videos with  you that we find interesting! Today we bring you one TED Talk from TEDGlobal 2010. Watch as Sheryl WuDunn, co-author of the book-turned-movement Half the Sky, speaks to the importance of education for girls around the world.

Though the video was recorded in 2010, it is still relevant today. What thoughts do you have about the points WuDunn made?

Learn about Half the Sky in our past blog post or at their website, or explore more TED Talks.

Good Happens.

Pay it Forward!

Letter Writing in the Age of Technology

Hannah Brencher, founder of a global initiative, The World Needs More Love Letters, shares how the art of writing letters can help someone who might be suffering from depression or loneliness. Writing letters to her mother was a way of finding solace in Hannah’s own time of hardship and depression. When she moved to New York City, she began tucking letters for strangers – just like the kinds that her mother used to write to her – all over the city in cafes, libraries, and even the U.N. She began blogging about her letters and soon received responses from readers, some of whom were going through rough times, requesting that she write them letters as well. This was the beginning of her organization, The World Needs More Love Letters.

“These are the kinds of stories that convinced me that letter-writing will never again need to flip back her hair and talk about efficiency, because she is an art form now, all the parts of her, the signing, the scripting, the mailing, the doodles in the margins.”

Be inspired by this video and take the time to write a letter to a loved one today!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

The Happiness Advantage: The Secret to Better Work

Shawn Achor is the CEO of Good Think Inc., where he researches and teaches about positive psychology.

“[It’s] the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.” – Shawn Achor

Hope you enjoyed the short video & feel inspired!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Solar Mamas – Why Poverty? Trailer

Happy Thursday! We recently saw this video describing Solar Mamas, a documentary that looks at the Barefoot College in India.

From the TED blog: “Solar Mamas is part of ‘Why Poverty?,’ a multimedia film festival featuring 30 short and 8 full-length movies from filmmakers across the globe. Produced by the nonprofit Steps International and funded in part by the Gates Foundation and Skoll Foundation, the series will air on TV channels around the world, as well as online, with the goal of reaching 500 million people.

‘Why Poverty?’ short films are being released all through November. Meanwhile, the initiative’s eight longer offerings will air beginning on November 25. Check WhyPoverty.net for the broadcast schedule to see when Solar Mamas is playing in your country.”

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Choose to Be Happy

“You must wake up every morning and choose to be happy. You gotta put on happiness like you put on your clothes.”

- 14-year-old Khadim Diop at TEDxHarlem

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

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 CUSA

The Center for Unconventional Security Affairs (CUSA), started in 2003, is a department at UC Irvine that takes a look at modern issues and challenges for  human and environmental security through “innovative research and education programs that integrate experts from the public and private sector.”

CUSA focuses on two core areas in it’s programming and research, Environment Conflict and Peace Building and Global Change and Human Security. It’s interdisciplinary approach seeks to cultivate a new generation of leaders and researchers with education programs involving experts from the public and private sector. CUSA researchers and students have conducted research fieldwork in more than twenty-five countries and on all seven continents, including Antarctica.

Here’s a TEDxOrangeCoast talk with Richard Matthew, Ph.D., the founding director of the Center for Unconventional Security Affairs.

Professor Matthew spends much of his time in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, studying how environmental stress contributes to violent conflict and other types of crisis. For several years he has worked closely with the United Nations to integrate natural resource management and climate change adaptation into peace-building efforts, participating in various field assessments and directing one in Sierra Leone. He teaches courses on sustainability and social enterprise.

The Environment Art and Human Security (eARTh) Studio, founded by Pamela Donohoo, aerialist, cirque-style acrobat, dancer/ choreographer, gymnast, approaches the issues of environment, sustainability and human security issues through art. Pamela Donohoo performed an improvisational dance while simultaneously creating a 9′x9′ painting that captured movements informed and inspired by the experience of women in conflict zones as part of our Women, War, and Peace Lecture.

Support CUSA’s efforts towards a more peaceful world and read more about it’s upcoming events and projects at their website.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!