Andre Blackman
Andre Blackman is an agent of change and innovation within the public health community. He is very passionate about the role of new media, mobile technology and other useful innovations as it relates to health communications and public health in general – resulting in Public Health 2.0. Andre feels that public health and new media is focused on the people, so there should be parallels to how they both interact.
Andre’s background has involved work with science and technology organizations, health nonprofits and traditional public relations. He aims to educate and provide strategy for public health focused organizations and projects who want to make use of the new social interactive landscape and innovative opportunities.
You can find his thoughts on public health and innovation through his blog, Pulse + Signal and via Twitter
Justine Cary
justine [at] socialearth [dot] org
Justine is passionate about curing social injustice and global environmental issues. She has traveled extensively in Central America and the Caribbean, and is especially interested in the emergence of the Ecotourism industry. She is inspired by the people out there making big changes in the world. Realizing the need for mediums like SocialEarth, she is compelled to communicate to the world the important work these people are doing. Justine is currently working on her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Journalism at the University of St Thomas and is creator of the St. Paul chapter of Better Place. One of her favorite quotes is by Moshe Dayan: “If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies.”
An Dao
an [at] socialearth [dot] org
An is a hardworking professional committed to making a positive change in our world. She has a passion for creating innovative designs and promoting organizations that are working to make a difference. An is a graduate from the University of Minnesota, College of Design with a degree in Merchandising and Design. Previously, An worked at Target Corporation as a Business Analyst, promoting the company’s merchandise and brand. Through SocialEarth, she hopes to channel her professional design and brand management abilities to help increase awareness of key issues social issues such as poverty and inequality.
Mike Del Ponte
Mike Del Ponte is the founder of Sparkseed, a nonprofit organization that identifies, incubates, and invests in the top student innovators in the United Sates. He ran his first national organization at the age of 18, and has since served as a humanitarian on four continents. Mike has been a Christian Peacemaker Team member in the West Bank, an orphanage volunteer in Jamaica, a microfinance consultant in Nepal, and a part of a team that created a child health care program in Kutch, India. Mike received his B.A. from Boston College and an M.A.R. from the Yale University Divinity School. He is a member of the Sandbox Network, a Frank H. Buck Scholar, and an Advisory Board member for the Global Center of Social Entrepreneurship at the University of the Pacific.
Danielle Dumm
Danielle is the event coordinator for the Ashoka-Lemelson Tech4Society international event series as well as a writer for both the Ashoka Tech and Ashoka News and Knowledge blogs. Before joining Ashoka, Danielle most recently worked in Chennai, India where she developed programs for a small women’s organization and saw first-hand the cross-cutting impact that technology can have on a society. AshokaTech is a blog about technology and invention within the realm of social entrepreneurship. It is part of an initiative between Ashoka and the Lemelson Foundation aimed at finding, supporting and celebrating inventor entrepreneurs with solutions for alleviating poverty and bringing social change around the world.
Ashley Dresser
ashley [at] socialearth [dot] org
Ashley is a friend of anyone who is fighting the good fight for social change. She currently resides in Bilbao, Spain where she is teaching English and researching the history of the Basque conflict. Ashley holds a degree in Global Studies and Sustainability from the University of Minnesota. She has worked for poverty alleviation in Guatemala, progressive peace in Northern Ireland, and for the cultivation of environmental ethics in the United States. She loves conversations with strangers and abides by the Chuck Palahniuk quote: “We all die. The goal is not to live forever. The goal is to create something that will.”
Keith Hammonds
Keith Hammonds is director of Ashoka’s News & Knowledge initiative, a new program funded by the Knight Foundation to identify, seed, and connect social entrepreneurs whose innovations promise to better inform and engage change-making citizens.He previously was executive editor at Fast Company magazine. ”Tomorrow’s News,” the blog of Ashoka’s News & Knowledge program, provides a window onto the intersection of news, knowledge, and social innovation. We focus on social entrepreneurs whose emerging models and strategies create systemic social change by changing the way news and knowledge work. We write about these innovators, about their work, about the defining ideas that derive from their work — and, more broadly, about the challenges and opportunities that their work addresses.
Sarah Jefferson
Sarah Jefferson works with Ashoka’s Global Venture and Communications teams and is now helping to grow Ashoka’s recently launched Peace and Social Entrepreneurship Initiative. She completed her Master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh in the areas of international human rights law and international criminal law. To pursue her interest in peacebuilding she has volunteered with Amnesty International’s International Justice Program and has worked as an editor for two international law journals, Eyes on the International Criminal Court and the Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Rights Law. One of her major areas of research is how to more fully incorporate peacebuilding and conflict resolution into the bottom line of corporations. She is also interested in exploring the role that social entrepreneurship plays in societies that have recently experienced mass atrocities and grave human right abuses.
Jeff Klein
As CEO of Cause Alliance Marketing, Jeff Klein designs and facilitates collaborative cause-related marketing programs. He currently serves as President of the Conscious Capitalism Alliance and Conscious Capitalism, Inc.—a nonprofit dedicated to “liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good” co-founded by John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market. Jeff wrote his new book, Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living, to support conscious entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, leaders, and change agents at work.
Laura Kozien
Laura Kozien is a microfinance enthusiast and firmly believes that access to fairly priced financial services is critical to community building worldwide, but especially in the United States. After learning about microfinance for the first time as an undergrad at Bentley College, Laura became committed to helping students, journalists, and the socially-conscious learn how microfinance changes lives. She currently does so at ACCION USA, a leading domestic microfinance organization, where she serves as communications director.
In addition to contributing to Social Earth, Laura also co-edits and writes for Main Street Microfinance, a blog focused on microfinance, green business practices, and small business issues in the United States.
Avien McCrimmon
Avien McCrimmon is an emerging social entrepreneur dedicated to finding and creating alternative food options for anyone who is in need. She is focused on addressing food sustainability issues by empowering people through education, networking and giving/philanthropy.
Avien has substantial experience working in the nonprofit food industry, as well as culinary training instruction. All things regarding food, from the growing process, preparation and presentation are all a part of her passion and life mission. Her primary goal is to ensure all levels of food insecurity are addressed in practical and effective ways.
Amy Carol Wolff
Amy is currently studying for her Master’s in Public Affairs from Indiana University, with a focus in non-profit management and will graduate in 2010. Her passion for effective community development efforts drives much of her research, writing, and project involvement. As a full-time student, she is involved with several organizations including Opportunity International, SocialEarth, Imagine This! TV, and the zyOzy Foundation. Amy’s blog entries specifically highlight organizations that are working to end poverty in effective and sustainable ways.
Guest Authors
Dr. Iman Bibars
With an international career spanning from UNICEF to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the World Bank, Dr. Iman Bibars is a globally revered social development expert on the Arab World. Currently, Dr. Bibars serves as the Regional Director of Ashoka Arab World, and a Vice President at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. She is also a co-founder and chairwoman of the Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women (ADEW), an organization that provides credit and legal aid for impoverished female heads of household. She has attended Georgetown and Princeton Universities, the American University in Cairo, and earned her Ph.D. from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, UK. Dr. Bibars, along with Ashoka Arab World, is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and recently has published the first book written in Arabic on US President Barack Obama.
Sidney Hargro
Sidney is the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of South Jersey. He blogs at Innovate 2 Uplift and believes: “Social Innovation is about taking new or evolved approaches to solving the most pressing problems of our time and for that reason it has the potential to ignite passionate participation of many who are sitting on the fence into the work of social change.”
