Saturday, August 4, 2012

Empowering Youth to Change Our World

Today was yet another incredible day at the Mashable Social Good Summit in New York and the presentations continued to be informative and engaging. Barbara Bush, daughter of former president George W. Bush and CEO and co-founder of the Global Health Corps, had an interesting discussion with Pete Cashmore, CEO and founder of Mashable. Their segment, entitled “The Power of Youth: Mobilizing Communities Through New Media,” presented some valuable ideas and resources for young people to use who want to enter into the non-profit sector.

The primary purpose of Global Health Core is to equip young leaders to help others throughout their careers. By teaching leadership and professional skills and through providing mentorships, the GHC plans to invest in its fellows in a lifelong process of learning and giving back.

With a passion for youth, Bush stated “It’s a huge missed opportunity if you can’t engage young people in being a huge part of the solution.” This is evident as more than 40 college age students are chosen as fellows to carry on this important mission to the “frontlines of the fight for global health equity in year-long fellowships. Our fellows have a measurable impact on the health of the communities in which they work, and draw upon that experience and the GHC alumni network to deepen their impact throughout their careers.”

Bush suggested some powerful ideas to young people who wish to start up their own charitable organizations. First of all, technology is probably the biggest resource and tool to get the word out about your project. Social media can reach countless people throughout the world. Secondly, create alliances with other non-profit agencies who are already established. Finally, learn from others. You don’t have to recreate the wheel and with technology, it’s easy to find out what others have done. We can access ideas to know what works and doesn’t work.

Equipping the youth of today is one of the greatest ways to change our current issues. Through social media we can equip, teach and connect to millions of people in a way as never before.

Fundly, the largest online social fundraising platform in the United States is innovating daily to produce the best and most easiest to use social media fundraising tools that will empower causes to promote their story, build support, accept donations, and strengthen relationships with their supporters.

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