Tag Archives: United Nations Foundation

Dec3

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Are Over: 5 Ways To Give On #GivingTuesday

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Black Friday & Cyber Monday Are Over: 5 Ways To Give On #GivingTuesday

Today,December 3 is #GivingTuesday, a movement inspired by The United Nations Foundation & 92Y to create a national day of giving that kicks off the giving season on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Here are just a few of the ways you can give back this year:

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1.  ONE thinks the perfect #GivingTuesday gift is Heifer and ONE’s Limited Edition Goat. Giving just one goat to a family in need can be enough to change their entire lives. One goat can provide up to one ton of milk a year – and that translates to milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products a family can sell on the market for income. And not just temporarily – the benefits of livestock are long-term and only grow over time. Just take a look at this infographic .

diapers copy2. Shop on #GivingTuesday at Diapers.com or any of these sites  and  they will be donating one life-saving vaccine through the Shot@Life campaign with every $50 purchase when you use code SHOTATLIFE50.

 

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3. For #Giving Tuesday every dollar donated to WaterAid for safe water and toilets will be matched. If Water Aid can raise $50,000 by midnight, that amount will be doubled! Sip it, quench it, save it, give it, #doubleit with WaterAid for #GivingTuesday.

4. Support Every Mother Counts For as little as $5, you can help provide transportation for a pregnant woman in Uganda, so that she has access to life saving care when she may need it most.  100% of every dollar that is contributed will be directed to programs on the ground.

every mother countsOr order your  custom holiday cards with Minted, where 10% of every purchase made here will go directly to Every Mother Counts. 

Or Purchase some Oiselle EMC running gear here, where 40% of the proceeds go to support Every Mother Counts.

 

 

5. Give while you shop by purchasing from companies that give back.

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Happy #GivingTuesday!

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

Apr27

La Dolce Vita At Dolci Gelati

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La Dolce Vita At Dolci Gelati

The Author with the co-owner of Dolci Gelati Cafe, Anastasia Dellaccio

When visiting Washington, DC with my family last week, we visited the monuments, the Smithsonian, and the Zoo, but there was one place on our travel agenda that I was most looking forward to.  My friend Anastasia had recently opened an artisan Gelato shop in Takoma Park, MD with her husband, Chef Gianluigi Dellaccio (a former Italian champion water polo player!!), and business partner Marcello Minna.  I knew that my gelato loving family would be as enthusiastic as I was to celebrate our Dolce Vita with some Gelato at Dolci Gelati.  It also happened to be the start of  World Immunization Week, and the week of the United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign’s digital #BirthdayBash in honor of its first birthday. It seemed the perfect way to kick off the Shot@Life #BirthdayBash week since I had met Anastasia through The United Nations Foundation where she works. When Dolci Gelati decided to add a flavor called “Shot@Life”, where 50 cents per serving will be donated to the Shot@Life Campaign , she had asked us Shot@Life Champions for flavor ideas.  Vanilla/Pistachio Swirl had won out, and I was eager for a taste.

Photo Courtesy of Dolci Gelati

It is times like this that I am grateful to have a big family, in that way I was able try each of their Gelato flavors along with my own!  Don’t worry, although Gelato tastes as rich as ice cream, it only has 1/3 the fat and none of the artificial ingredients, so gelato is a guilt free indulgence.   Dolci Galati was founded in 2006 and is sold at Nationals’ Stadium, restaurants and markets throughout the Washington Metro area such as Whole Foods, Dean & Delluca, and Taylor Gourmet, but the couple was thrilled to open their first storefront this spring.

 “Gianluigi uses an authentic Italian recipe that has been in his family for generations but mixes in local ingredients and exotic flavors to create a modern twist to a traditional Italian favorite.”- Dolci Gelati

Eating my “Shot@Life” flavor Gelato to kick of the #BirthdayBash

It was so much fun to see Anastasia, get to meet  her family, and to hear her husband’s ideas for combining his skill as a trained Pastry Chef  to come up with creative flavors and treats to offer customers.  With Anastasia’s background working for humanitarian causes at the United Nations Foundation it is no surprise that the couple will offer a Social Good flavor each month as a way to support the causes they care about. Our stop at Dolci Gelati was the perfect sweet way to top off a fun visit with family in DC, and to launch into celebrating the first birthday of Shot@Life.

 

For more information about Dolci Gelati you can visit their website , follow Dolci Gelati on twitter and like them on facebook .
Better yet, go visit them in person!

Dolci Gelati is located at 7000 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, MD

Apr24

Happy Birthday Shot@Life! #BirthdayBash

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Happy Birthday Shot@Life! #BirthdayBash

Shot@Life’s #BirthdayBash starts today- a 3 day Social Media celebration of Shot@Life’s 1st year!  To celebrate along with us check out the Shot@Life Storify page, the Shot@Life Facebook page , and follow the celebration on Twitter @shotatlife #BirthdayBash!  This week as the world celebrates Global Immunization Week, the Global Vaccine Summit begins today in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayes, the Crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and in partnership with the United nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Bill gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda gates Foundation.  The Summit will endorse the critical role that vaccines and immunization play in saving lives, and protecting children for a life time.  In conjunction, the United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign celebrates its 1st birthday!  Shot@Life is a call to action for Americans towards a global cause, it educates and empowers Americans to advocate for and to donate towards vaccines. Immunization is one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries.  Shot@Life aims to decrease vaccine-preventable childhood deaths around the world, and to give every child a shot at a healthy life. I was thrilled to become a Shot@Life Champion this past year and to join this important initiative. Together we can save the lives of 1.5 million children a year, and see the erradication of deadly diseases such as Measles (WHO statistics show measles deaths dropped 71 % in the past decade)  and Polio (we are 99% there!) within our lifetimes.

A few ways that YOU can help to give all children a shot at a healthy life:

1. Global mom relay: http://www.unfoundation.org/globalmomrelay/ Every day from now until May 3rd there will be a new blog post in the Global Mom Relay, and each time you share it over email, FB, or Twitter, Shot@Life gets $5 from the Gates Foundation and Johnson & Johnson. It’s that easy!

2. Sign up for the free Charity Miles app on your mobile device. You select from a number of charities they doante to, and each mile you run, walk, or bike, gets sponsored and your charity gets a little money. Win/Win right?! For example, UN Foundation sponsors my dog walks/runs for Shot@Life, and every 4 miles = 1 polio vaccine!

3. Sign up to support vaccines for kids in developing nations! www.shotatlife.org

4. Follow Shot@Life on Facebook  or Twitter 

5. Donate to my Shot@Life TeamIMMUNITY donation page and help me reach my goal of providing 45 kids immunization against vaccine preventable diseases for life. Just $20 will provide a life worth of vaccines for one child.

6. WATCH The Global Vaccine Summit ONLINE in LIVE-TIME as it begins today in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayes, the Crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and in partnership with the United nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Bill gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda gates Foundation.  The Summit will endorse the critical role that vaccines and immunization play in saving lives, and protecting children for a life time.

Apr16

It Needs To Begin With The Mothers; Join The Global Mom Relay

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It Needs To Begin With The Mothers; Join The Global Mom Relay

Jennifer Lopez is seen in a Global Mom Relay video message on the Toshiba Vision Screen in Times Square, New York, April 11, 2013. (INSIDER IMAGES/Stuart Ramson for UN Foundation) — in New York, NY.

I am a Boston girl, and aching today for the city I grew up in. I watched the Boston Marathon run through my town of Brookline each year, and my heart is breaking for those lives lost, and those injured by the terrible act of terrorism yesterday, for the city now in mourning, the runners in a daze, and all of us as global citizens who live in a world where this could possibly happen. I am hesitant to post this today as I mourn, but at the same time feel the need to come together for change in the world.  I feel strongly that that needs to begin with women working together to raise children not to hate,and  not to fear those different from themselves. Rather we need to teach love, tolerance, compassion and understanding. As women who may become mothers to the men of the world it needs to begin with us.   Motherhood bonds you to all other mothers. As mothers we share so much that supersedes geography, culture or language. We share the love of our children and the desire for them to grow up in a peaceful world, all of us navigating through the best we can. So I do feel strongly about still telling you about The Global Mom digital relay going on, because  The Global Mom Relay is a race we all can win.

The Relay was initiated on March 8th on International Women’s Day and will be running through May 8th, inspiring, and connecting us along the way.  This past week in Times Square the Global Mom Relay launched its video PSA featuring Jennifer Lopez on the Toshiba big screen! Times Square is one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions and it is estimated that up to 300,00o people may pass through  on any given day.    It is appropriate then that the Global mom Relay video should play in what is known as the “Crossroads of The World”, and it will run every ten minutes through May 8th. It will be exciting to see the social media impact as the message to join the virtual relay plays throughout each day for the next month.

Through daily posts by moms, experts, celebrities and advocates, the Global Mom Relay is mobilizing the conversation, awareness, and actions of participants to change the state of the startling statistics on women and children’s health in this world. Nearly 7 million children under the age of 5 will die from preventable diseases each year, and every two minutes a woman will die from complications due to pregnancy, unless we  act together to change things.

Each time a Global Mom Relay piece is shared on Facebook, Twitter, or by Email, or a donation of $5 or more is made by clicking on the share graphic on the post, a $5 donation (up to $62,500 per week or $125,000 every two weeks) will be donated by Johnson & Johnson and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Health(MAMA) through April 18th. From April 19th through May 2nd the donations will be going to Shot@Life. (Additional Partners Girl Up and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves benefited from the first month of the relay)

Co-chairs for the Global mom Relay Arianna Huffington, Jennifer Lopez, Lynda Lopez, Elizabeth Gore, and Sharon D’Agostino, are connecting moms everywhere through this virtual relay, and the power of social media in support of the United Nation’s Every Woman Every Child Movement. The Every Woman Every Child Movement was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to save the lives of women and children in line with the Millenium Development goals to be reached by 2015.

The energy in the room overlooking the square in the Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel on the day of the launch was palpable as we counted down in New Years Eve fashion. 10, 9, 8….. and the button was pushed to light up the towering Toshiba screen visible through the panoramic windows with the premier of the Global Mom Relay video.  I was thrilled to be there for the launch event, to meet up with friends from the United nations Foundation,  Shot@Life, and some of the amazing partners and contributors taking part in the Global Mom Relay.   Jennifer Burden, founder of World Moms Blog , had two posts that ran in the Global Mom Relay just days after on April 13th on the Huffington Post and BabyCenter  pages.   The posts generated over 900 shares around the world from Asia, to Africa to Europe with type of collective energy that puts change in motion. Today writer Jennifer James, of Mom Bloggers For Social Good and Global Team of 200 has a post on Jill Sheffield, and the inspiration for her life’s work in Kenya. Each time a post is read we learn more about each other, and each time a post is shared we help others,we need to work together as mothers to make this world a better place for our children.

With Olivia Culpo, Miss Universe 2012 from Rhode Island

 

Pictured L to R, Elizabeth Atalay, Documama, Holly Pavlika, Momentum Nation, Nana Meriwether, Miss USA 2012, Lynda Lopez, Lopez Family Foundation, Elizabeth Gore, UN Foundation, Jennifer Burden, World Moms Blog, Olivia Culpo, Miss Universe 2012, Sharon D’Agostino, Johnson & Johnson, Chrysula Winegar, Million Moms Challenge, Yoshi Uchiyama, Toshiba America Inc, and Jill Nystul, One Good Thing by Jillee, at the launch of the Global Mom Relay video messages on the Toshiba Vision Screen in Times Square, New York, April 11, 2013. (INSIDER IMAGES/Stuart Ramson for UN Foundation) — in New York, NY.

For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org/globalmomrelay.

Watch the video below that plays in Times Square and prepare to be INSPIRED! If you are in New York, be sure to check it out in person!