Oct5

The Social Good Summit in NYC 2013 #2030NOW

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The Social Good Summit in NYC 2013 #2030NOW

Elizabeth Atalay at Social Good Summit 2013

 I was enraptured a couple of weeks ago as I soaked in information at the three-day  Social Good Summit in NYC sponsored by Mashable, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 92Y, the United Nations Foundation, United Nations Development Program, and Ericsson .  This to me is what being front row at the Super Bowl or The Oscars would be for others. The summit  coincided with both the United Nations General Assembly and the Clinton Global Initiative, and so the city was abuzz with global leaders, humanitarians, media, and advocates, and the vibe was infectious.

The Social Good Summit is a three-day conference where big ideas meet new media to create innovative solutions. Held during UN Week from September 22-24, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders to discuss a big idea: the power of innovative thinking and technology to solve our greatest challenges. The most innovative technologists, influential minds and passionate activists will come together with one shared goal: to unlock the potential of new media and technology to make the world a better place, and then to translate that potential into action.- www.Mashable.com/SGS 

To kick off the conference World Moms Blog founder Jennifer Burden hosted a pre-game dinner party the night before for World Moms Blog editors & contributors in from out-of-town. Wave Bars sponsored our travel into the city the next day and kindly supplied us with a treat basket including a cache of their healthful snack bars for sustenance. To make us feel fully feted the creator of Dragonfly Designs had sent over a basket of gorgeous custom wine glasses, “Eat,Drink,Blog” perfect for our evening, and to get us going the next morning for a packed conference schedule.

Elizabeth Atalay w/ World Moms Blog Crew

Bright and early Sunday morning a Wave bar served as breakfast on the train into NYC to take part in the RUN10FEED10 10K with fellow Shot@Life Champion Myrdin Thompson, and my cherished childhood friend Maria. This was my first 10k and I could not have done it without their company.   I loved the idea that between Maria, Myrdin and I, we started off the morning of the Social Good Summit having donated 30 meals with the run, while providing life saving vaccines, and supporting Parkinson’s Research by using the Charity Miles app we used. All before 9am. I knew that both Gene Gurkoff, Founder of Charity Miles, and Lauren Bush Lauren, Founder of FEED projects (two people I greatly admire!) would be speaking later that week at the summit.Elizabeth Atalay at theRun 10 Feed10

Each day in fact, for the following three days, many of the people whose work I admire most took the stage and elucidated us further on the impact we can all have for social good, on emerging technologies, and best practices leading the way.  The speaker line-up was star-studded (for the humanitarian world) and included  Melinda Gates, Richard Branson, Al Gore and Malala Yousafazai, and tackled ending poverty by 2030, food security, Global health, and how mobile technology is transforming our world.  Speakers ranged from humanitarian celebrities such as will.i.am, founders of inspiring NGO’s and non-profits, representatives from UNICEF and the World Food Program to HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. The full list of speakers and their topics can be found on the Mashable site. Each panel offered hope, solutions and actions toward the universal goal of ending extreme poverty by  the year 2030 (hence the hashtag), and tackling the multifactorial root causes collectively.

A couple of my favorite snapshots include the National Geographic photographer Marcus Bleasdale calling us all out for using technologies that have conflict zones minerals in them. With his photographs he documented mineral mines where lives are lost for the necessary elements found in our cell phones, iPads and cameras. He urged us all to be more conscientious consumers, and let companies know that we will not purchase products produced in an environment that is harmful to others. An important message for a room full of social media producers.  Jessica O. Mathews demonstrated the soccer ball that she invented with her company Uncharted Play, Inc., that harnesses power during play. To me her brilliant design was such a hopeful example of how young people are creatively solving the challenges we  face. And Sir Richard Branson pointed out that the choice between saving the planet or saving our economies is a false choice. Al Gore would later expand on that calling the climate reality the most pressing challenge to the survival of human civilization as we know it.

#2030 Now

Jessica O. Mathews, Marcus Bleasdale, and Sir Richard Branson

As electric as the energy was inside the 92Y, some of the highlights for me occurred outside of the summit itself, such as  meeting our World Moms Blog Tanzanian contributor Nancy Sumari. Attending a roundtable lunch session with ONE, the Gates Foundation, and Save the Children focused on the Syrian refugee crisis and tackling the MDG’s.  Joining other bloggers at a dinner meeting with WaterAid where we heard an update on implementing running water in the Madagascar schools several of us have written about.  Attending a ONE.org panel at the United Nations on Millennial Factivism, and an inspiring blogger breakfast with (RED) to discuss upcoming products that help fund the fight against AIDS. Gathering in person with so many of the amazing people that share my passion for raising awareness and striving towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals, and the true possibility of ending extreme poverty by 2030. I am still processing all of the information that came home with me, in what feels like unpacking a duffle bag stuffed with the whole world of issues. One by one I aim to pull them out, and write.

LtoR: WMB Tanzania contributor Nancy Sumari, Carolyn Miles CEO of Save the Children, Nicole Melancon Third Eye Mom, Jennifer Barbour Another Jennifer, the author, Phil Carroll of Save the Children

LtoR: WMB Tanzania contributor Nancy Sumari, Carolyn Miles CEO of Save the Children, Nicole Melancon of Third Eye Mom, Jennifer Barbour of Another Jennifer, the author & Phil Carroll Save the Children Media & Communications

Sep23

How Important Is It To Wash Your hands? #2030NOW

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How Important Is It To Wash Your hands? #2030NOW

Sep20

Me & Melinda

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Me & Melinda

melinda gates @ SGSMelinda Gates and I have a lot in common. We are around the same age, both moms, both have Master’s Degrees, and married brilliant men. We left our regular jobs behind after having our children, and  directed our energy into advocacy. We both strive towards improving poverty and global health issues, but most of all,  Melinda and I are both passionate about global maternal and child health.

She recently wrote a post on the Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists where she talks about how she looks forward to the UNICEF report each year.   Each year it tells us how we have improved child mortality rates in what she calls “the most important statistic in the world”.  I feel the same way. Seeing such progress gives me immense hope for what we are able to accomplish. Every incremental bit of improvement should be celebrated, because it brings us that much closer to the greater goals.IMG_9286

This year the UNICEF report is entitled Committing to Child Survival: A Promised Renewed , and it outlines what we are getting right, and what needs more focus. The celebrated fact is that the number of children dying each year has declined steadily for the past 50 years. Hundreds of thousands of lives saved, yet in some areas of the world the statistics are still alarming.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, one in every 10 children born still dies before their fifth birthday, nearly 16 times the average rate in high-income countries.-per this year’s UNICEF report

Children believe in promises more than anyone, especially when coming from an adult.  UNICEF has entitled this year’s report  Committing to Child Survival: A Promised Renewed to make sure we do not lose the momentum in the promises we made. While the statistics show child deaths down, they don’t tell the whole story. Newborn deaths are still high. More children die before they reach their 5th birthday than any other age range, and mostly from preventable causes.

childsurvival copyThe UNICEF Committing to Child Survival: A Promised Renewed  Report is a call to action.

Call to Action Goals from the report:

  1. Mobilize political leadership to end preventable child deaths.
  2. Achieve consensus on a global roadmap highlighting innovative and proven strategies to accelerate reductions in child mortality.
  3. Drive sustained collective action and mutual accountability.
What can you do to help ?  http://progressreport.apromiserenewed.org
To see Ethiopia’s success story in action watch this heart-warming video!

global teamI wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.

Our Motto: Individually we are all-powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.

Sep18

Rhode Island’s Disaster Preparedness Safety Report Card #GetReadyGetSafe With Save The Children

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Rhode Island’s Disaster Preparedness Safety Report Card #GetReadyGetSafe With Save The Children

RI report card copyIn the past three years there have been three “Storms of the Century” wreaking havoc as they ripped through our state causing flooding, power outages, and property damage.  I know this is a relatively new century, but based on what we have experienced so far…we may need to accept this as the new normal.  That means being prepared when natural disaster or tragedy strikes, I have a feeling the next “storm of the century” is right around the corner.

The alarming thing is that when I checked the Save The Children‘s recent disaster report card, that rated each state, Rhode Island scored poorly.  In 2005, Hurricane Katrina showed the United States how unprepared the nation was for major disaster.

Children were extremely vulnerable, often unprotected and it took six months to reunite the last child with her family.

Out of that experience, a presidentially appointed National Commission on Children and Disaster led by Save the Children recommended minimum standards to protect children.  Rhode Island rated unsatisfactory on 2 of the 4 basic child-safety measures endorsed by the national commission. According to the Save the Children disaster report card, we are not the only ones, 28 states still lack basic measures to safeguard children in child care and schools in case of disaster.

Wednesday June 26th, 2013 Moore Oklahoma: Abby Larsen stands among the debris left behind after the May 20th, 2013 EF5 tornado destroyed her business, “A Step Above Learning Center”. When the tornado hit, 23 people, 10 adults and 13 children including a 7 week-old huddled in a 5×7 foot bathroom. Holding onto each other, and with mats over their heads, the roof was blown off and everyone survived, though a few had minor injuries. Several of the children’s shoes had been swept off their feet. When they emerged from the bathroom, a race horse from a nearby farm was standing next to them. Save the children has provided about 6-9,000 in toys, furniture, food and reimbursement to help the center re-open. The center in currently in a new location at a local church. -Photo & story from Save The Children

Wednesday June 26th, 2013 Moore Oklahoma: Abby Larsen stands among the debris left behind after the May 20th, 2013 EF5 tornado destroyed her business, “A Step Above Learning Center”. When the tornado hit, 23 people, 10 adults and 13 children including a 7 week-old huddled in a 5×7 foot bathroom. Holding onto each other, and with mats over their heads, the roof was blown off and everyone survived, though a few had minor injuries. Several of the children’s shoes had been swept off their feet. When they emerged from the bathroom, a race horse from a nearby farm was standing next to them. Save the children has provided about 6-9,000 in toys, furniture, food and reimbursement to help the center re-open. The center in currently in a new location at a local church. -Photo & story from Save The Children

“Unaccounted For: A National Report Card on Protecting Children in Disaster,” outlines glaring gaps in emergency preparedness, response and recovery underscored by a remarkable year of domestic disaster.“The devastation left by Hurricanes Sandy and Isaac, the Oklahoma tornadoes and the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School should be a wake-up call, but too many states won’t budge. It’s like they’re stuck in a pre-Katrina world where the gaps in protecting children weren’t so clear,” President and CEO of Save The Children, Carolyn Miles said.

Despite a record disaster year and high-profile school tragedies, most states still fail to meet basic child-safety measures endorsed by a national commission after Hurricane Katrina, Save the Children recently reported.

Save the Children’s disaster report card tracks progress on the four critical standards measured on Save the Children’s disaster report card are that states require all child care centers to have:

1) an evacuation plan

2) a family reunification plan

3) a plan for children with special needs

4) that states require all schools to have disaster plans that account for multiple types of hazards.

With such a need to strive towards ensuring the safety of our children Save the Children is launching a new preparedness initiative called “Get Ready. Get Safe.” to help families and communities protect children at times of disaster.  So, what can Rhode Islanders do to help improve our state of preparedness in case disaster strikes? Save the Children is calling on Americans to urge their governors to either meet the report card standards or make sure child-focused emergency plans are in place and practiced once required.  There will always be elements beyond our control, but we can make sure that we have a plan in place if disaster does strike.

See the full report and take action here. How does your own state rank?
Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in 120 countries, including the United States. Follow Save the Children on Twitter and Facebook.

global teamI wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.

Our Motto: Individually we are all-powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.

Sep17

Cooking With Kids; ChopChop Invites You To The #BigPicnic

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Cooking With Kids; ChopChop Invites You To The #BigPicnic

ChopChop Big PicnicParsnip and Dill, I tell my kids. Those are my secret ingredients for delicious chicken soup. Well not my recipe I confess, but passed on to me by Grandma Nettie, Auntie Kimbo’s grandmother. They know that “Auntie” Kimbo is not really their aunt, and that her name is Kim (Kimberly but don’t tell her I told you!).  They also know that Kim and I have been friends since we were six, and somewhere Kim turned into Kimbo, as those things go with longtime childhood friends.

In any case, my kids and I love to cook together and it has been fun as they grow to watch them conquer more and more complex cooking tasks on their own. And by complex I mean my 10-year-old is up to the cracking the eggs into a bowl without bits of shell getting in. One of the most rewarding moments of motherhood so far was the birthday morning that I woke up to heart-shaped pancakes made for me by my 13-year-old daughter. My child had cooked for me , and that felt revolutionary.

I like to cook with them for the same reason that I like to keep a small (o.k. weed infested) garden in our backyard. I like for them to know where their food comes from. To understand the process of how what we put into our body is made, and that they can make food for themselves, it does not have to come in a package or be bought off a shelf. We had been big fans of the quarterly publication ChopChop Magazine for years, loving to try the healthful recipes and snack suggestions within its colorful pages. ChopChop is a non-profit  with the mission to inspire and teach kids to cook and eat real food with their families.

Currently, 1 out of 400 children under 18 in the U.S. has diabetes, and nearly 1 in 3 is obese. ChopChop’s goal is to reverse this trend by teaching kids and their parents how to create healthy, delicious meals that are easy to prepare and use fresh, nutritious ingredients. ChopChop doesn’t demonize particular foods or use scare tactics. They just offer simple, healthy, and affordable recipes for children and parents to make together.

When we found out ChopChop had come out with a  ChopChop cookbook  we were thrilled.   We were sent a copy as a lead up to our participation in The Big Picnic, and when we received our copy of the cookbook  I had the kids pick out a recipe for us to try.  With four kids coming to a consensus can be challenging to say the least, this time somehow they all enthusiastically agreed that they wanted to make Matzo Balls to add to Grandma Nettie’s Chicken Soup.

The ChopChop Cookbook is made for kids so it is easy for them to read and follow the well explained simple recipes. Personally I never knew I could make Matzo balls, so to find them so easy to make surprised me. Of course the kids all wanted to crack the eggs so I was grateful that the recipe they chose called for 6! Of course rolling the Matzo balls was the most fun, but watching them fluff up as they cooked came pretty close.

big pic2

Inspired by National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month in September, The Big Picnic is being hosted on September 22nd by ChopChop and partner organizations including The White House as a virtual community picnic in which families across the country will cook and eat together at their own picnics. It will be a fun event with a serious goal: preventing childhood obesity.  Who doesn’t love a picnic!?! They are a great way to remind us that cooking and eating healthy food together is lots of fun—a time to share and enjoy. This event is all about good food and good company!

You can join The Big Picnic however you like, spread out a blanket , eat at a picnic table – outside or in. Invite friends, family,  neighbors, and make it as simple or as elaborate as you want. Take pictures or video and share with the hashtag #bigpicnic, and as a participant you will be eligible to win prizes like subscriptions to the magazine, a copy of the  ChopChop cookbook or other fun surprises. We’ll be there, eating our Matzo Ball Soup!

You can also Enter to Win a ChopChop cookbook and a one-year ChopChop Magazine subscription Below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is an original post written by me as part of a program with The Mission List. I received a ChopChop cookbook + magazine subscription for culinary inspiration; as always all opinions are my own.

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