Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Investing is Action!

This week, FFF Student Directors are visiting The Action Center in lower Manhattan. Two years ago, I was working with Mercy Corps when The Action Center was in development....fast forward two springs later and it's up and running, led by a colleague I greatly admire, Robert Sherman. Robert joins an impressive roster of guest speakers (largely drawn from FFF talented Board!) enriching this semester's training through BGIA's Global Social Entrepreneurship & Strategic Philanthropy class. Very cool to build on our site visits to Echoing Green, Acumen Fund, and our guest speakers including Michele Kahane (Clinton Global Initiative), Natalia Oberti Noguera (NY Young Women Social Entrepreneurs)...
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7 comments:

  1. RuzicaApril 29, 2009 at 1:17 PM

    Questions for Robert Sherman:
    How did you first become interested in world hunger and started to believe that you can help end it?
    What is your favorite project that Action center has?
    What do you think that is going to be a crucial moment in ending hunger in the world?

    Best Regards,
    Ruzica

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  2. Asher MadanApril 29, 2009 at 2:16 PM

    1. Since the Action Center began, has there been any change in its approach to combating hunger around the world? What has the organization learned and how has it grown in terms of ideas over the years?

    2. The Action Center is committed to ending hunger around the world. What has been its greatest achievements to date? Are they mostly successes at the local level?

    3. The website has letters that you can send to individuals like President Barack Obama. How effective has this strategy been? How effective has this approach been in getting the attention of politicians and other public figures for your causes?

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  3. Rachel OppenheimerApril 29, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    1. The images on the site's homepage are vivid, inspiring, and really pretty to look at. How have you, or have you, crafted this action to end world hunger into an aesthetic and trendy movement? How important is this?

    2. I trained for action on the site - Is this interactive online method of action targeted at young people? What types of action seem to be most appealing to people/ to different sectors of society?

    3. Which avenue of action do you think is actually the highest impact (regardless of appeal) for those young people who have fewer funds to give?

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  4. Katharine AlexanderApril 29, 2009 at 6:57 PM

    -Understanding the underlying issues behind or hindering efforts to eliminate hunger is important, and this organization address this issue. How does Mercy corps provide the resources to concentrate on other issues such as poverty, health, education, etc? Are there other organizations involved?

    -How is each issue prioritized in a given country? As these issues overlap, is the most pressing problem evaluated first? What types of projects are established, and do they range greatly do to the expansive nature of the organization? How does this organization evaluate impact and social return?

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  5. Thomas HolumApril 30, 2009 at 7:13 AM

    1. How did the Action Center first begin to shape their plan to end world hunger? How has it changed as the world has continued to evolve over the years?

    2. Do you feel that sufficient resources are allocated to Action Center for you to fulfill your mission?

    3. What specifically are will you look for as evidence of your success?

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  6. Ioana BoteaApril 30, 2009 at 9:40 AM

    1. Is there a demographic trend for involvement in humanitarian action? Are young people more enthusiastic and eager to devote time and energy, while more senior people tend to make financial contributions? If so, would it be fair to say that young people are the main catalyst for social change?

    2. In recent years there has been a tendency for power to be decentralized, and nonstate actors are playing an increasingly important role in the development process. How would you characterize the interplay between grassroots initiatives and top-down, government programs?

    3. To what extent has the recent rise in food prices affected efforts of the Action Center to end world hunger?

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  7. Eli WeinerApril 30, 2009 at 11:30 AM

    1. Given that global hunger has clear racial considerations to it, how has your past experience as executive director of Increase the Peace Volunteer Corps, "a New York City-wide race relations initiative created inside the Office of the Mayor" (Mercy Corps press release) informed the work your doing now? Is it difficult to inject discussion of race, systemic racism and privilege into dialogue about global change?

    2. Over the course of the semester, we've been exposed to new ways of thinking and the positive change that comes about when passion, expertise, and innovation intersect; however, the path to that intersection is not always clearly defined, or easy to understand. I'm interested in hearing your take on innovation as it applies to organizational development or project management, not necessarily innovative approaches to social problems like those of the social entrepreneurs we've learned about and interacted with. Can you think of such an example in your experience, or of resources which would be beneficial in developing the skills to be successful in doing so? Building off the observation that most if not all of what is taught in business school can be learned with the right reading list, case studies and some in-the-field experience, what would you recommend one do to accelerate their development and impact in this sort of work?

    ReplyDelete

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