Social Change Rockstar: Crystal Yan


Posted by ajlovesya

Next up in my “Social Change Rockstar” series is 17 year old Crystal Yan.  I was looking for young social entrepreneurs on twitter and happily came across her work.

Crystal describes herself as a Trilingual Chinese-American.  She’s a blogger, graphic designer, and Founder of Torque, Social Startup Summit, What’s Next, and EconForAll, a curriculum program that makes economics accessible to kids in grades K-12.   She is working on a ton of wonderful projects aimed at getting more young people involved in social change, including the book “What’s Next: 25 Big Ideas from Gen-Yers Under 25” inspired by Seth Godin’s What Matters Now.  This interview really shed light on her work and drive.  Enjoy!

Tell us about major projects you are working on and your inspiration?

Right now the major project I’m working on is What’s Next: 25 Big Ideas from Gen-Yers Under 25. It’s basically like TED talks in a book, but everyone writing for it is 25 and under. We’re curating a free ebook and a special print edition to benefit the favorite charities of our 25 contributors. If you’re a young innovator, you should write for us! If you’re a little more grown-up, you should suggest someone to us or back us on Kickstarter (so we can make the print edition happen)! We were inspired by Seth Godin’s What Matters Now.

I’m also trying to find sponsors to start the inaugural Social Startup Summit, a one-day social venture incubator (youth come in with vague ideas, and leave with a newly-founded service project and the action plan and resources to start it), recruiting high school students for a Gumball Capital microfinance youth leadership program, and working to mobilize 6000 students to raise $100,000 and eradicate polio worldwide by June 2010. I also do a bit of graphic design and consulting.

If you want to get involved in any of those, email me here: http://www.crystalcyan.com/contact-me.html

What challenges do you face as a young social entrepreneur?

In terms of legal issues, if I’m under 18 and I have to have a parent sign five million forms to go on a field trip for school, the same issue comes when I go to conferences and I have to wear the “don’t take a picture of me” sticker because they didn’t know there would be any under 18 attendees so they never sent out a photo release form. It’s a bummer, because things like that mean less free publicity for your causes, you know?

So from that I’ve learned to just make my own photo releases for those organizations so I can get that PR opportunity and hey, I learned a bit about law beyond watching Law and Order in the process. :)

What resources have been helpful to your success?

Finding mentors is vital to success. People are your greatest resources. They can offer you introductions, feedback, and camaraderie when you feel like your friends at school don’t “get” you. They can help you redefine success. When you feel like you totally messed up, they turn it around and show how a shortcoming can be a lesson learned.
How do you balance being a high school student and the many projects you are working on?

Interesting, I seem to get this question a lot. Funny story: last year, at least five of my friends signed my yearbook with: “My goodness, you must have snatched a Timeturner from Hermione or something.” I wish! :)

It’s tough, especially when you’re crazy enough to take 4 AP classes. I think it comes down to identifying what’s important to you. I love challenges in academics, so signing up for advanced classes made sense for me since I really like school. But I also love student organizations, working on creating leadership opportunities for other students, particularly in service and entrepreneurship education. And then I also love creating my own projects and going out to be a part of tech events in the Silicon Valley startup community, turning crazy scribbles on scraps of paper from 2am into scalable ideas is so exciting.

My little secret? These things often overlap. I worked with a teacher one year to create service-learning initiatives to blend academic work with service organizations, I bring in my connections from events I’ve gone to representing my projects back to school to speak at my student org. It’s this type of interdisciplinary approach to designing my lifestyle that helps me get stuff done and makes me proud to say the only time I pulled an all-nighter in my life thus far was in the 2nd grade (which was because I couldn’t sleep since I was scared about moving to a new school, not because I was overworked). No lie. :)

What advice do you have for other teens who want to be social entrepreneurs?

Beyond finding mentors, try to also mentor younger students. Find about five or so people you consider your cheerleaders: your parents, your teachers, your counselors. Then think about what they’ve done for you, how much you appreciate them. Let them know. Thank them. And then turn around and find five more people you want to share your insight with: your younger siblings, your friends a couple grades below you. By empowering other young social entrepreneurs, you can pay it forward and make sure your legacy of awesomeness continues.

You can find her: linkedin.com/in/crystaly or @crystalcy.

You can find a longer bio here: http://crystaly.wordpress.com/bio/


Is 501c3 Status a Barrier to Social Justice? Learning from the Black Church


Posted by ajlovesya

For generations, church was the backbone of the black community. In addition to being a place for worship it was the center of “social, political, civic and philanthropic action,” and the home for some of our most celebrated leaders. Yet many comment on how the black church isn’t as politically active or vocal when it comes to social justice as it used to be, focusing instead on what is being called prosperity ministry and working within the system instead of outside of it.

In response to a recent article highlighting the rise of activist churches, @BlowTheTrumpet commented on twitter that the reason the black church hasn’t engaged in politics as much as it used to, is because of the 501c3 status.


I had never thought of this before. I always assumed that the ability to pool more resources together has the potential to expand an organization’s capacity to reach its mission. However, there are very real restrictions on what nonprofits can and cannot do and the biggest one, especially for religious organizations, is being able to engage in politics.

This is a critical limitation as it hinders an organization’s ability to address larger issues. Two years ago at a Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp, Dr. Paul Light stated that toiling away in our own corner of the world isn’t enough. We must always ask why these problems exist in the first place. But how can you do that if you are forbidden from engaging the powers that be? When we talk about challenges in social change we bring up a myriad of issues—staffing, fundraising, leadership, relationships with other organizations. However, could the very way we are allowed to organize be a barrier as well?

At the same time, I’d like to think that this would push us to engage in social justice in new ways, as opposed to abandoning our missions all together.   After all, black people haven’t stopped working for social change, they just aren’t using the church do it. And while the church may not be as active as it was before, it is active and as mentioned before, perhaps reflecting messages that members are more comfortable hearing–focusing on self and being less radical.  If this is the case, is the change in the church’s behavior a result of 501c3 or a result of a change in values of black Americans?

What do you think of 501c3 status and its impact on political involvement?


How Can We Get the Community Involved in Ending Violence Against Women?


Posted by ajlovesya

In this interview Avon CEO Andrea Jung answers questions from bloggers (including yours truly!).  All of the questions hit at how various members of our community–nonprofits, for profits, children, and men–can play a role in stopping violence against women.

One thing that stood out to me is the question of how we can get children involved in ending violence against women. On the one hand, we may see this issue as too severe to involve children yet we know that children are deeply affected by domestic violence, and may need empowerment just as much as adults do.  It seems that we only consider children if they are involved in some way–an adult or friend in their life is being abused so we discuss what violence means. Is this a good approach?  Should we discuss violence in this form the way we do bullying?

**Full disclousure: I am being compensated by Avon to write about International Women’s Day and related programs.


What Role Do Men Have In Stopping Violence Against Women?


Posted by ajlovesya

One of the events that stood out to me in the Avon and Vital Voices International Women’s Day event series is the discussion on how men can stop violence against women.   When I was in college this issue came up quite a bit.  It is nearly impossible to truly discuss violence against women without addressing how men can help as well.  Too often, the conversation highlights the problem and foucses on what women can do and how we, collectively, can help, yet very little discussion about what men can do.

It’s important to explicitly include men for two reasons. One, as friends, fathers, partners, and siblings, they will need to know how they can be there to support a woman they love that has been hurt.  Secondly, addressing violence against women requires us to look beyond whether she stays or leaves.  Every day actions–the kinds of comments we make and allow others to make, the language we use and attitudes we have–indicate our expectations of each other and what we will tolerate.  In that spectrum of attitudes and behaviors men have varying yet  significant control.

While I didnt get a chance to attend the event, I am interested in learning more about this topic.  I recently came across this program by UNICEF Coaching Boys Into Men to teach boys about violence prevention around the globe.  What resources have you seen?  What thoughts do you have on this issue?

**Full disclousure: I am being compensated by Avon to write about International Women’s Day and related programs.


International Women's Day and Addressing Violence Against Women


Posted by ajlovesya

Yesterday was International Women’s Day, yet more than a day is required in order to address violence against women.  The statistics are alarming–according to the Avon Foundation for Women, one in three women worldwide experience violence in their lifetime, and in the U.S., a woman is assaulted every nine seconds. Around the world, services for victims are often vastly underfunded or unavailable, and in many countries, laws to protect women do not exist or are not enforced.

I have found this topic incredibly difficult to discuss.  On the one hand, it is clear that the widespread use of violence curtails the freedom and rights of women across the globe.  On the other hand, where do we start looking for solutions?  Some tell women to just leave an abusive home, others want to tackle poverty which some argue leads to an increase in violence, while others think the images of manhood and womanhood represented in the media encourage violence.  Having witnessed domestic violence first hand, I can tell you that these discussions are great to have but how can we turn these ideas into action? We also face the challenge that violence does not look the same or is called the same name across the globe.

That’s why I am excited that Avon and Vital Voices have a week of discussions surrounding violence against women and that Avon has created a variety of programs across the country to address this issue. They are celebrating the lives of  women while incorporating different perspectives–like how men can stop violence against women–and Avon has  expanded its international support of local communities fighting violence in addition to some awesome initiatives at home.

I’ll be blogging about these discussions and programs for the rest of the week and hope you will share your thoughts.  How do you think we can stop violence against women?

**Full disclousure: I am being compensated by Avon to write about International Women’s Day and related programs.