Tag Archives: young people

Two Events to Celebrate and Connect with Young Social Change Leaders in NYC


Posted by ajlovesya

Around this time of year the holiday parties start piling up (Next week I am attending FOUR holiday parties). But in the middle of wine, cheese, and cool company I wanted to highlight some events in NYC that are great opportunities to network, connect, and make a difference. These events are being led by young social change leaders so show your support!

TrickleUp’s Young Professionals Council Open House
Monday December 7th 7pm-10pm, The Suffolk, 107 Suffolk Street. No Cover $5 drinks :)

I know many of you—like myself—are interested in social entreprenurship as a means for social change, especially when it comes to alleviating poverty. You might be interested in Trickle Up which helps very poor people make their way out of poverty by providing training, seed capital grants and savings support to help people launch a microenterprise.

They are having an open house for people to learn more about their work and how to get involved. The event is sponsored by their Young Professional’s Council which raises awareness amongst New York City college students and young professionals about alleviating extreme poverty, while simultaneously providing social and networking opportunities.

If you want to attend please email Fennie Wang, fennie.n.wang [at] jpmchase [dot] com or Anush Ricci, anush.x.riccin [at] jpmchase [dot] com

United Way’s Young Leaders Council Second Annual Red Carpet Soiree
Saturday December 12th 7pm-11pm, The Renaissance Hotel at Two Times Square, tickets $85-$100

This year’s event will be honoring young philanthropist Beverly Bond who started BlackGirlsRock! A nonprofit that supports at risk girls of color and celebrates positive role models. I absolutely LOVE the work of Beverly Bond and the culture of giving she highlights among celebrities. If you are interested in attending please visit their website.

Have a great weekend!


It's All about the Attitude: The Importance of Young People


Posted by ajlovesya

Every month my development fellowship has a meeting to discuss what is happening at our schools. Yesterday, Dr. Timothy McNiff, the Superintendent of Schools for the New York Archdiocese, the largest Catholic School system in the country, attended our meeting to hear our experiences. At the end of the meeting, he offered some words of encouragement:

“If there is one thing we learned from Obama’s State of the Union Address is the importance of attitude. At the end of the day this is a people business and we are selling an attitude. Young people bring the vitality that is necessary to keep people focused and engaged. So don’t quit, stay the course, and kill them with kindness.”

Half the battle is changing people’s attitudes. From an educational perspective, when I work with students, getting them to believe that learning is important and there is a huge world outside of their community that is available to them is one of my first tasks. Of course there are real and tangible issues that affect our goals and beliefs. However, optimism requires you to see past your environment’s short comings and focus on opportunities.

In other words, we wouldn’t get very far if we didn’t believe that we could go very far.

When the optimism of young people is met with remarks that our positive attitudes are rooted in naivety, I wonder if these people ever reflect on how far they could’ve gone if they didn’t believe that they could and should achieve more. To echo the words of Rosetta Thurman, another emerging leader, “What if Somebody Had Told MLK He Couldn’t Lead?” After all he was only 26 years old when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Optimism takes the shape of a movement when it’s on the ground floor:

  • Persistence: Staying committed to getting the job done regardless of what comes your way
  • Resourcefulness: Assessing and acquiring whatever is needed to get the job done
  • Collaboration: Working with others who share your vision

Of course,  more is necessary. Attitude, as I previously mentioned, is half the battle. But half is a pretty big portion. Instead of striking young people down, why not provide guidance? Why not discuss ideas and ways that they could be improved? Or why not let us learn by doing?


What to Consider Before You Hire that Teen to Manage Your Social Media


Posted by ajlovesya

I came across this article from Cool People Care encouraging non-profits to hire teenagers to manage their social media marketing efforts instead of asking the older employees to learn how.

While I see the benefit of hiring someone familiar with social media to lead social media initiatives it takes time to build an online community that will translate into offline support. In other words, just because I know how to use social media for ME does not mean I will know how to use social media for YOU or know how to build an US.

So before you rush out to the nearest high school and grab a 15 year old with snazziest Myspace page, you should consider the following:

1. What kind of social media tools do you need and why? The wonderful thing about social media is that it allows you to connect with people where they are. Yet the ease of creating social networks means that not every website will yield the kind of support you need. If you are promoting after school programs for teens Myspace may be a great place to start where as NING is great for active online communities that communicate regularly. Who is your target audience and what message are you trying to send?

2. Are they familiar with the mission and will everyone be on board? We have to make sure that teens are part of the team not just there to do work that we feel other people are “too old and out of touch” to do. So take time to familiarize them with the mission and what the needs of the organization are they are better prepared to keep their eyes open to new tools that they may otherwise not be thinking about. And share the new ideas with all staff members—social media is about inclusion so its outcome shouldn’t be a new kind of exclusion.

3. What goals are you trying to accomplish? More volunteers? More advocates on your behalf? How will you measure progress? What I have noticed about many fan pages and groups is that people join them because their friends may be members or they may agree with the cause, yet the organization still doesn’t get much attention because of the sheer number of groups and fan pages that exist in the first place. So map out goals and be strategic.

I am on board with getting young people involved in new ideas within organizations. Let’s just make sure it’s meaningful.