Category Archives: Social Good

How to go From Changing Diapers to Changing the World With Cynthia Changyit Levin

How to go From Changing Diapers to Changing the World With Cynthia Changyit Levin

 
I met Cynthia Changyit Levin a decade ago as an advocate for global child health for the United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign. Our kids were young, and as moms, it was a thrill to meet other mothers who cared about global issues with equal enthusiasm.  Cynthia already had advocacy experience through her previous work with RESULTS and had been writing about humanitarian topics on her blog for years. She has been an inspiration and a leader since we met.

What is so exciting to me about her new book:

From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates And How To Get Started  serves as the guidebook that I needed and yearned for when I first started as an advocate. I had no idea where to begin, what I was doing, or how to impact change effectively. There were no guidebooks out there. It took in person trial by fire for me to figure things out. A decade later, I am thrilled to have her book in hand as a valuable resource and guide.  Her book provides a step-by-step guide, with real-life profiles as examples for women who wish to make the world a better place.

Since I first moved to Washington, DC  thirty years ago, by far the most important thing I’ve learned is the power of passionate, committed advocates to affect change. Not paid lobbyists, not PR firms-but thoughtful, informed constituents who move their members of Congress into action. – Dr. Joanne Carter, Executive Director, RESULTS

At the UN Foundation Shot@Life Summit in Washington, DC

Why Moms make great advocates:

Early in the book Cynthia highlights the ways that Moms make excellent advocates. After all, Moms are powerful, persistent, responsible, have the interpersonal skills we teach our children and are good at explaining things. When we become mothers, we gain a heightened awareness of the world our children will inherit. Motherhood forces us to realize the injustice of the inequities many children face around the globe and highlights the global issues we see as pressing for our children’s futures.  

The advocates profiled in From Changing Diapers to Changing the World began with small steps inspired by issues they faced. Columbia realized the environment was impacting her daughter’s health issues.  Felisas’ first-hand knowledge of the barriers immigrant children faced in the education system in the USA inspired her to act. Elena realized  she needed to advocate for the Affordable Care Act to protect her daughters’ health coverage. In the book, the author encourages each of us to find the issue that keeps us up at night and know that we can impact change. 

Advocacy made easy:

The last section of the book serves as the How-to segment. There are tips on how to find who your representatives are and how to contact them. Ways to take action online, write a letter to the editor, or what to say when you call your member of Congress. Cynthia provides an outline of how an in person congressional visit should go and even offers suggestions of what to wear. I remember how nervous I was on my first visit to Capitol Hill with the Shot@Life campaign.  This book would have been valuable to guide me through those early days emerging from the fog of motherhood to taking action. I am thrilled that From Changing Diapers to Changing the World is now an available resource to help those who are interested to advocate for change.

“My goal is to empower moms to move from thinking, ‘I can’t change the world. I’m just a mom” to “I can change the world because I’m a mom!’ “- Cynthia Changyit Levin

About the author:

Cynthia Changyit Levin

Levin is the author of “From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started.” A non-partisan activist working across a variety of issues, Levin coaches volunteers of all ages to build productive relationships with members of Congress. She advocated side-by-side with her two children from their toddler to teen years and crafted a new approach to advocacy based upon her strengths as a mother.

Levin served as a board member of RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund for four years and led volunteer groups for RESULTS in Chicago and St Louis for more than ten years. She is currently a volunteer with RESULTS, the ONE campaign, Bread for the World, CARE, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, MomsRising, and the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign.

Her published opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Financial Times, the Washington Post, and many other national and regional publications. She has delivered in-person presentations and workshops for many organizations including PTA, The World Bank, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign, and RESULTS. She also appears on podcasts and webinars speaking about advocacy and motherhood, discussing global poverty issues, and training advocacy volunteers. She received the 2021 Cameron Duncan Media Award from RESULTS Educational Fund for her citizen journalism on poverty issues. 

Guest Spot On The r(E)volutionary Woman Podcast

Guest Spot On The r(E)volutionary Woman Podcast
Photo of Elizabeth by Robyn Ivy

 

Tune in to listen to my conversation with Tes Silverman on the r(E)volutionary Woman podcast. I was honored to be interviewed for r(E)volutionary Women among so many women I admire who have done incredible things.  We touch on many topics, including my childhood, breast cancer, influences, career path, and experiences on reporting trips to Ethiopia and Haiti.

Tes launched her podcast r(E)volutionary Woman  ” to create space for conversation, to highlight women who were evolving with the times and doing revolutionary work in their community, despite controversy or lack of acknowledgment.” To learn more about her podcast came about check out the article about it on World Moms Network .

 

The Key to Saving Lives

The Key to Saving Lives
Shot@Life Champions at the 2019 Summit in Washington,DC

It costs less than forty dollars and is no bigger than your thumb.

 

Sometimes it’s the little things.

 

Those tiny vials of  the COVID-19 vaccine are currently the key to putting an end to the pandemic that has taken so many lives and impacted most others. The annual letter published by Bill and Melinda Gates is Titled The Year Global Health Went Local, and COVID-19 has certainly proven that if a virus exists anywhere in the world, the entire global population is vulnerable. It has also highlighted global inequality in access to health care.

 

I have been advocating for childhood vaccines with the United Nations Foundation Shot@life campaign for nearly ten years, and our message that  “A virus does not need a passport” has never seemed more pertinent. My mother was a polio survivor who passed away before any of my own four children were born. Due to the Polio vaccine, I never had to worry that any of my own children might contract it. I don’t think a mother anywhere in the world should have to worry about losing a child to a disease that a vaccine can easily prevent.   

 

Shot@life is a campaign to educate, connect and empower Americans to advocate for global vaccines. Not only because it is the moral thing to do, but preventing infectious disease overseas, also protects Americans at home.  The goal of Shot@Life is to decrease vaccine-preventable deaths in children around the world so that every child has a chance at a healthy life, no matter where they live.   

Photo Credit : UN Foundation

While we take for granted in the U.S. that our children will not likely die from measles, pneumonia, or a case of diarrhea, sadly, mothers in the poorest countries around the world do not have that luxury. In low-income countries without the healthcare infrastructure we are used to, mothers will walk all day in the hot sun with a baby on their back and a toddler in hand to reach a vaccine clinic. In many cases, it is because they have already lost a child to a vaccine-preventable disease, or know someone who has.

 

Global health makes up less than one percent of the Federal Budget yet is one of the best returns on investment. For less than five dollars per child, vaccines can prevent future disabilities, wage and productivity loss, disease, and treatment costs. As we have seen first hand with COVID-19, disease outbreaks disrupt nations’ economies leading to instability. Saving the lives of children is the right thing to do. Funding global health infrastructure also improves tracking and surveillance systems, supporting global health security and outbreak response to emerging viruses like COVID-19.

Thirty years ago, polio paralyzed over 1,000 kids a day. Today, thanks to the Polio vaccine, the world is nearly polio-free. Health systems initially put in place for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are perfect examples of that return on investment as they have been used to control Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and more recently mobilized in the effort to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

 

Meanwhile, as the world is focused on pandemic triage, routine childhood vaccination schedules have fallen behind, putting the progress we’ve made at risk. In 2019, measles deaths surged to over 200,000 children due to declining vaccine rates in many countries. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem over the past year. The measles-rubella vaccine costs less than two dollars per child to protect them for life. 

 

Sometimes it’s the little things.

The 10th anniversary of the Shot@Life Champion Summit this year was held virtually. Our office visits with Senators and Representatives were held over zoom, they looked a bit different than in the past, but our message was the same.

Vaccines save lives, and every child deserves a shot at life.

Our request in FY22 is to fund child immunization budgets for the CDC and USAID that combat polio and measles and support GAVI and UNICEF. Those investments will save the lives of millions of children and prevent future outbreaks of those diseases and strengthen the eventual delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to even the hardest to reach populations.

With Senator Reed and fellow champion Lisa Davis during a past Shot@Life Summit in DC

The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to develop more efficient vaccine programs using innovations like barcoding, vaccine registries, digital records, cell phone reminders, and enhanced cold chain and logistic systems. The funding for routine childhood vaccines creates and supports critical distribution infrastructure that will be turned around to deliver COVID-19 vaccines subsequently. The pandemic will only come to an end when the whole world has access to the vaccine. The longer the virus lingers and spreads elsewhere, the more the virus has an opportunity to mutate and set us back to square one. 

 

We are not helpless in this fight to save lives. Let Congress know that you support funding global immunization programs to save the lives of children around the world from vaccine-preventable diseases by signing this petition.  Ultimately this investment will strengthen our own country’s health security system from future emerging viruses.

Check out the Shot@Life website for more information on how to get involved and become an advocate.

 

We can all do our part.  Sometimes it’s the little things that add up to make an impact. 

 

World Pneumonia Day

World Pneumonia Day

November 12th is World Pneumonia Day, a day to raise awareness about the #1 cause of death from infectious disease in children. The most common type of Pneumonia is vaccine-preventable. When the Pneumococcal Vaccine is introduced into communities child deaths from pneumonia are dramatically reduced. As an advocate for global vaccines and a Shot at Life Champion Leader, I had the honor of representing the United Nations Foundation Shot At Life Campaign in media interviews along with Dr. Namala Mkope of Tanzania on World Pneumonia Day in November of 2015. Dr. Mkope helped the country of Tanzania roll out the Pneumococcal vaccine in 2013 and saw the dramatic results of improved health outcomes first hand in his own pediatric practice.   

 

This is one of our interviews from 2015 that aired on the Valder Beebe Show. 

 

Valentine’s Day Gifts To Give With Love!

Valentine’s Day Gifts To Give With Love!

v-day 2019My favorite holiday is coming up! Life is about love in all of its precious forms and although it should be given generously every day, there is no better excuse to spread the love and celebrate its beauty than Valentine’s Day. Here are a few of my favorites this year for a sentimental gift, gifts that give back, or ways to up your chocolate, flower, and wine game.

#LoveIsProject

Puppy Love! How cute is our dog Leo’s new collar we gave him as an early Valentine’s Day gift?!  Every purchase of a handmade Love Is Project dog collar, or any of their other many products handmade by global artisans, provides a sustainable livelihood for women and their families. This product is made by Masaai women in rural Kenya. Read more about the  Love Is Project story on their website.

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FEED PROJECTS

Candles always make great gifts.  This one is even better because each FEED candle and card bundle purchased provides 26 school meals to children around the world. 

FEED Candle & Card

Ella Stein

Ella Stein is a new way to purchase diamond jewelry that is conflict-free, empowers the female artisans who craft the diamonds in India, and is affordably priced. Plus….we love their designs! 

Ella Stein Heart

Ella Stein

ONE HOPE WINES

Of course, I was introduced to One Hope wines by my friend and founder of World Moms Network Jennifer Burden. I was thrilled to find out that we could give back by drinking wine! One Hope has a great selection with the part of the proceeds of each wine going to a worthy cause. They always have fun holiday editions that make great gifts like their limited edition Valentine’s Day gift boxes this year.

One Hope Wines

Shutterfly

These custom photo collages by Shutterfly make beautiful and sentimental gifts, perfect for Valentine’s Day.

To The Moon and Back photo collage

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Olive & Cocoa

The gorgeous bouquets offered by Olive  & Cocoa take flower giving to a new level!

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Vosges Chocolates

Cosmic Heart Truffle Collection! Need I say more? The tag line for Vosges chocolates is “Travel the world through chocolate” and the exotic flavors in their truffle collection reflects that goal. 

Vosges