Quiet enough to hear the genuine...

Trying to be still and "learn to be quiet enough to hear the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in others.” ~ Marian Wright Edelman

CGI & Social Good

Inspiration of the morning: beaming face of 17 yr old Juliette from Rwanda asking "how can girls help each other?" to advance Girls Not Brides Campaign announced by Elders Bishop Desmond Tutu, former President Mary Robinson,and philanthropists Luis Ubinas, Pres. Ford Foundation & Jennifer Buffet, Pres. & Co-Chair Novo Foundation. Ending child marriage will help us fast forward progress to meet 6 our of 8 Millennium Development Goals!. Check it out now: www.girlsnotbrides.org !

Global Impact Week NYC!!!

It's a big, fast & forward (hopefully) week for Global Impact in NYC: between the Clinton Global Initiative, Social Good Summit, UN General Assembly, my 9-yr-old son's 5th grade back-to-school night, I'm swamped! And my head is swirling with questions, concerns, ideas about all the potential for social change as the world's great thinkers & doers converge on NYC this week. Intending to blog from both CGI & SGS, my first question is really what are the right questions to ask. I'm hopeful that I'll be present, alert, inquisitive, and open enough to engage in fierce conversations and seize (or create) opportunity. If you are not attending these gatherings, nor even in NYC for that matter, send me your questions! If you'll be there, ask me in person! Good luck and much gratitude for all those struggling and working so hard for social impact, always and especially this week! And good luck in 5th grade, James! Along with all the sons and daughters of your generation, you are the reason we are committed to global impact in nyc and around the world.

Why Fast Forward Happy (Birthday) Hour?

How will you celebrate end of summer? http://socialimpactbirthday.eventbrite.com/
I'm heading to my end of summer, end of August birthday, grateful for opportunity to do great work, make a difference, continually learn & grow from inspiring teachers: my children, the seasons, my backyard garden, courageous & bold colleagues, wise & kind strangers, my own mistakes, my most audacious dreams. Who/what are your best teachers?

FFF Midsummer Night's Mixer Musings

NYC Changemakers: Join us @FFF's NYC Social Impact Cocktail Crawl, co-sponsored by FAIR, the 1st fair trade spirits company:...
Under the full moon in the middle of summer, can't help but notice how much we want to get outside, get together, and get going with social innovator friends in NYC. Seems like "mixers" are sprouting up all over the place. Go figure. What a great way to spend a summer evening! Mixers let us connect with our tribe, deepen relationships, advance projects, flex our social change muscles, get inspired to invest in each other and commit to our vision for progressive social change.

If you're in NYC 7/19, come to a DON"T MISS gathering of NYC's spectacular social changemakers! Connect with peers, mentors, investors, and co-conspirators to enhance your impact and have a joyous evening. Half price cocktails, full value spirits.
7:00 pm Green Square Tavern
8:00 pm Rye Bar

If you're in Boston, check out our friends from Criterion Ventures & City Light Capital as they co-host New Mix Drinks at Rattlesnake Bar & Grill!

If you're in Brooklyn, check out Shoe Town to Brew Town event at Brooklyn Brewery

Mix it up to fast forward social impact this summer!

A Blessed Living

I am honored to share with you a MUST READ for all mortals: "A Blessed Dying", by my amazing Mom who exemplifies "A Blessed Living". What makes life a blessing for you? how do you feel blessed? what would it mean for you to live "a blessed life"? How can we consider life's passages, including and especially the painful ones, in a blessed way?

FFF Honored by The Generation Project

Fast Forward Fund is thrilled to be honored by The Generation Project as it celebrates it's 1st pilot year making a difference in public schools across the US! Through multiple city events, TGP will honor supporters in each of the 6 regions where they work. COME JOIN US FOR EXCLUSIVE NYC EVENT JUNE 9th!

How will you fast forward social change this summer?

Core Beliefs on a Snowy Day

Getting ready to let the love flow on Valentine's Day? Me too! For me, Feb 14 is not just a day to exchange chocolate (though why not? all chocolate gifts welcome!)...it's the 2 yr anniversary of Fast Forward Fund's launch. As I anticipate our re-launch and learn lessons from 1st phase of our start-up, I've been wrestling with hard questions and reinvigorated by the enduring vision and growth of this venture. Going back to basics, I still stand by FFF's core beliefs driving social change:

* Investment activism. We all make a difference with our daily financial choices. Investing is action.
* Leveraged impact. Investing in a collective social fund allows young people to leverage relatively small individual resources into large-scale impact.
* Accelerated change. More inclusive, expansive philanthropic models enable youth to accelerate, or fast forward, their participation as social investors advancing innovative solutions to global challenges.
* Lifelong Giving. Cultivating philanthropic social investment among young adults creates lifelong givers and engaged global citizens.

Given these core beliefs, how do we (re)design our structure to optimize impact? How do we recharge, and reframe, strategy to achieve results? What occasions inspire you to (re)examine your core beliefs? How can you reconnect with your core beliefs to drive social change? In the spirit of Valentine's Day, let's dedicate the next two weeks to showing some love for social innovators!

The stark beauty of NY's incessant snowfalls this January reminds us to find value in reflective hibernation, to slow down (like it or not), bundle up, and remember all growing things under earth lay dormant awaiting their perfect moment for birth, rebirth, and renewal. Green sprouts will appear and reappear in their time, and until then, each mesmerizing snowflake offers its own prism of reflection, refraction and light.