It’s 2011 and the Echoing Green fellows are hard at work making progress with their projects.  So let’s throw our gaze at one more bright world-changing idea from one of those young innovators.  (For those of you who aren’t familiar, Echoing Green is an organization who’s mission is to support those with “new solutions to society’s most difficult problems.”  Through a two-year fellowship program, Echoing Green invests in and assists emerging social
entrepreneurs with the launch of organizations that will deliver an immense impact wherever they are working in the world. You can read our first post about the 2010 Echoing Green fellows here.  Or even go directly to Echoing Green’s site to read more about the work these young changemakers are doing throughout the year.

Meet Anna Elliot, the producer of the program, “Dream & Achieve,” an Afghani reality TV series (borrowing from popular reality series like American Idol) that features everyday Afghanis pitching their ideas and social ventures to a TV public of over 7 million viewers who vote on who will move forward.  In the first pilot run, “thousands of participants were linked to practical, local resources for help with finance, training, and business development.”  And the viewing public was linked to real stories of success, innovation and above all, hope.

Elliot had been spending time in Afghanistan off and on for years.  Through her work and observation it quickly became clear to her that, “peace-building was inextricably linked to economic opportunity.”  She wondered if media could help inspire Afghanis to help rebuild their country through social enterprise.  And thus, the TV series was born–and to an amazing showing of public support, rising to claim the number one spot on the largest national network.

Her vision for the show did not end there.  If a project such as “Dream and Achieve” could work in Afghanistan, where else could it work?  Could the model be adapted to other contexts?  Could it inspire other burgeoning social entrepreneurs to grow their ideas into actions? Elliot commented, “As a medium, TV has always offered the promise of widespread educational and social benefits, but the airwaves remain overwhelmed by profit-driven entertainment that ignores social impact.” So Elliot launched Bamyan Media as means to respond to that need for programming that could harness  reality TV for good.  It’s a model that’s hard to argue with as it makes possible content that not only spotlights social innovation, but also is entertaining and profitable.

A lot of the work I do at Hub Oaxaca is in encouraging and supporting would-be social entrepreneurs in the region.  The concept is so foreign (that social or environmental projects that are beneficial to society can also be profitable) that we have to start creating a vocabulary together to better stimulate a culture of innovation and ingenuity.  That, to me, is the great power and potential of what Elliot and Bamyan Media are accomplishing–they are encouraging a positive cultural transformation through media.  They are reaching what Elliott calls “the next generation of would-be entrepreneurs.”

You can read a great interview with Anna Elliot on the Echoing Green site here.  Or visit Bamyan’s webpage or Facebook page and throw them your support.  Who knows, maybe a “Dream & Achieve” episode will reach your airwaves soon, too!

Saludos,

Megan

Part of our mission here at HarmonyWishes is to deliver an alternative to the negative images that bombard our daily lives-one with a beautiful and positive world view, with global perspective.  Go take a look at our galleries; we’re constantly adding new images to grow that vision.

In that same vein, we also like to highlight beautiful  and positive efforts around the world. I recently received word about the 2010 Echoing Green Fellows. Have you heard of Echoing Green? It’s an organization who’s mission is to support those with “new solutions to society’s most difficult problems.”  Through a two-year fellowship program, Echoing Green invests in and assists emerging social entrepreneurs with the launch of organizations that will deliver an immense impact wherever they are working in the world. Here’s a spotlight on a few of those fellows working in higher education and their tremendous ideas:

Meet David Schwartz and Anim Steel. Their project is called “The Real Food Challenge.”  The idea is to “build a healthy, fair and green food economy by harnessing the political power of youth and the purchasing power of universities to shift demand toward socially responsible farm and food enterprises.” Schwartz and Steel posit that the youngest generations of Americans today will be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parents–largely due to what we eat.  Their response and the goal for their organization is to shift 20% of college and university food plans over to a “real food” system by 2020–transferring money away from the industrial food system, and towards local, sustainable and humane producers.  “Because of consolidation in the industry, even small changes in institutional purchasing have powerful effects on family farmers and socially responsible food enterprises.”  The Real Food Challenge will engage youth at those same universities to take an active roll in the shift on campus–making an impact in the health arena, as well as encouraging another generation of social actors.  You can read more about their initiative here.

Next up is Ashni Mohnot. Mohnot’s organization, Enzi, is a Kiva-like model in which people can “…invest in students’ higher education in exchange for a share in future income for a set time.”  The idea is to reduce the financial barrier to education and create a new asset class.  Many students around the globe are unable to secure loans in the large sums needed for a U.S. education due to lack of access, or lack of collateral. Enzi will connect bright and deserving students to investors interested in supporting their education.  In turn investors will receive a return on their investment over the course of the students’ career, as well as the social return of helping students attain educations they could not have afforded otherwise.  Enzi will be more than a network of donors and beneficiaries–it will be a network for collective growth and learning. You can read more about Mohnot’s organization here.

Kudos to all three in their bold ideas and passion! I’ll share other outstanding Echoing Green projects in future weeks here on the blog.  Or for those who can’t wait to find out more, check out the 2010 Echoing Green fellows here.

We invite you to share your stories of positive work around the globe with us. We would love to feature it here on our blog, spreading the word wider about the good work that is shaping our future.  So, write us an email today; we want to hear from you!

Saludos,

Megan