Lighting The Way For A Brighter World

While it may be commonplace for many to simply flick a light switch when their living rooms grow darker as evening approaches, for some people it is not that easy.

A startling statistic from the Liter of Light episode of Innovation Nation reports that 1.3 billion people currently live without access to electricity. What we experience when we have a power outage, they experience every single night.

Three socially responsible humanitarians are using their bright ideas to bring light to those without, one kick, solar panel and soda bottle at a time.

While in her junior year studying psychology and economics at Harvard University, Jessica Matthews, along with her class partner Julia Silverman, wanted to find a way to harness the energy of play.

Through their trials they developed the SOCCKET. This airless soccer ball has the ability to harness and convert the energy of 30 minutes of play into over three hours of L.E.D. light.

In 2011, Matthews cofounded Uncharted Play, which she explained to USA Today as “a social enterprise that aims to use play as a tool to disarm global issues and inspire social invention.”

Since developing the SOCCKET, Uncharted Play has also launched the PULSE. This light source is a jump rope that is charged by harnessing the rotational energy generated each time you jump.

As they continue to develop more products, Uncharted Play looks “to build a global collective invested in the power of play for social good.”

When people think of Akon, their first instinct is more than likely to start singing his 2006 hit, “Don’t Matter,” just one of his 45 Billboard Hot 100 ranking songs.

But outside the realm of music, Akon has been spending his time (and money) giving back to his native continent of Africa.

Akon and his mother cofounded the Konfidence Foundation in 2007, which “is dedicated to empowering youth in Senegal, West Africa and the United States by promoting health and education, and supporting impoverished families.”

In February of 2014, Akon teamed up with entrepreneur Samba Bathily and leader Thione Niang to launch Akon Lighting Africa.

The initiative “aims to develop an innovative solar-powered solution that will provide African villages with access to a clean and affordable source of electricity.” It seeks to invest an average of $75,000 into each village and supply electricity to 600 million African people by installing 100,000 street-lamps, 1,000 solar micro-generators and 200,000 household electric systems.

To this effect, Akon Lighting Africa has developed the Solar Academy, a place for African engineers and entrepreneurs to learn from experts the skills needed to maintain solar-powered electricity systems and microgrids, and produce solar power.

Africa receives 320 days of sunshine a year, the organization said in a statement, so harnessing solar energy is an ideal way to enable those without electricity to get it. (Compared to Central Park in New York City, which gets an average of 107 completely sunny days per year according to currentresults.com, that is a lot of sun!)

Akon Lighting African is “bringing hope to millions and ultimately giving Africa a better future.”

Soda bottles have been the subject of do-it-yourself crafts for years, being transformed into piggy banks, miniature gardens and even birdhouses. But Brazilian mechanic Alfredo Moser took the idea of reusing the bottles to a whole new level.

By combining water and bleach (in order to keep it free of algae) in an empty, two-liter soda bottle, then sticking the contraption through a hole in a tin roof, allowing the suns light rays to refract off the bottle, Moser had created an electricity-free source of light.

Philippian social entrepreneur Illac Diaz, a student at MIT in Boston, learned about Moser’s creation and decided “to make it his mission to get these simple lights into the homes of as many people living off the power grid as possible.” He named his campaign, “Liter of Light,”

Diaz wanted to turn Moser’s invention into something that could be used both day and night. He gave the invention this capability by teaching women how to make simple circuit boards and adding a mini solar panel to the bottle. His efforts simultaneously created job opportunities for the people of these developing nations.

 “The greatest form of helping people is to make yourself obsolete,” said Diaz in an interview with Mo Rocca. “You have to teach them how to solve things themselves.”

Social Artists: Theaster Gates, Tavares Strachan and Zaxxr Llewellyn

In a world bombarded by poverty, natural disasters, violence and war, three men are using their creativity to make a difference in communities across America: Theaster Gates, Tavares Strachan and Zaxxr Llewellyn.

Theaster Gates is a Chicago native, a professor in the Department of Visual Arts and Director of Arts and Public Life at the University of Chicago.

Since the recession in the early 2000’s, Gates has been transforming his community of Grand Crossing, one building at a time, by turning old, rundown buildings into centers of culture, like libraries, bookstores, music archives and cafes. In order to help complete these projects, Gates hires locals, some of whom have no previous job experience.

In 2010, Gates founded the non-profit Rebuild Foundation, which “endeavors to rebuild the cultural foundations of underinvested neighborhoods and incite movements of community revitalization that are culture based, artist led, and neighborhood driven.”

In honor of his work with the communities of southern Chicago, Gates was named the Wall Street Journal 2012 Innovator of the Year. Most recently, he was announced on June 23rd, 2015 as one of four winners, chosen out of 237 applicants, of the Public Art Challenge by Bloomberg Philanthropies. 

Originally from Nassau, Bahamas, Tavares Strachan came to America to earn his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design as well as an MFA from Yale University. As a contemporary artist, “some of his recent work focuses on man’s relationship to nature, that is, his antagonistic struggle against it, his efforts to collapse distance and space, and his myopic pursuit of progress at the planet’s expense.”

In October 2014, Strachan began his installation “You Belong Here” in New Orleans. The project, a 120-foot long barge holding up the 27-foot tall message “You Belong Here” was used to evoke dialog about the historical undercurrents present throughout the city.

"A phrase like 'you belong here' reads like something that's very straightforward but ends up being very complex, in that 'you belong here' is also a question. You're questioning who the 'you' is, where is 'here,' and what does it mean to 'belong.' I think it's important to ask these kinds of questions," said Strachan in an interview with Nola.com.

A smartphone app was also developed to go along with the physical installation of “You Belong Here.” It allowed viewers to participate and provide commentary on the work by taking a virtual walk through the historical context of belonging in New Orleans. The money raised from the sales of the app is donated directly to Platforms Fund and Big Class; two New Orleans based non-profit programs with a commitment to the grass roots development of New Orleans through culture and education.

Zaxxr Llewellyn began his career as an artist in a log cabin in Montana, creating belts and jewelry, before moving to furniture and posters and finally to more complex and mixed medium furniture.

In 2008, after receiving news that his nephew had been murdered, Llewellyn began work on his “Walk the Line” project. A 9,000-foot long strand of 15,000 bullet shell casings stood as a tribute to the number of homicide victims in the United States each year.

“We have monuments for everybody, (but) this is to honor people who have nobody to speak for them . . . To give a voice to people who were not written up in the paper, to say ‘you matter,’” said Llewellyn in an interview with The Seattle Times.

Llewellyn brought the project across the country to places like Golden Gate National Park in San Francisco, the Monroe Street Bridge in Spokane, the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C. and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

In order for his endeavor to be successful in Brooklyn, he needed the help of volunteers to carry the strand across the bridge.

“The people I deal with influence me as much as the materials, honestly. Their kindness; their grace; the communities,” said Llewellyn.

Theaster Gates, Tavares Strachan and Zaxxr Llewellyn are using their social artistry to wake each of us up to our own potential while crafting the connections for communities to invoke social change.

#BrandsWithPlans: J.Crew

According to Nature World News, research has revealed that the number of bees in the world has dropped more than 40 percent during the year spanning April 2014 to April 2015.

What is even more concerning than this is Maurice Maeterlinck's, author of The Life of the Bee, prediction, "If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live."

J.Crew's Save the Bees campaign, part of the company's Garments for Good program, is attempting to address this problem by teaming up with two organizations: The Xerces Society and Buglife.

The partner charities of the campaign receive 50% of the retail price of each Save the Bees collection piece that is sold.

In the United States, the brand teamed up with illustrator Donald Robertson to design apparel, stationary and a candle to raise money for the Xerces Society.

In the United Kingdom, they partnered with BugLife, the only organization in Europe devoted to protecting invertebrates, or what they call, “the small things that run the planet.”

Emma Smith is the artist behind these bee-friendly designs.

“The Save the Bees initiative is something everyone can be involved in. You can make small steps just by planting seeds or having window boxes,” says Smith on the J.Crew website.

J.Crew has done just that. The façade of their new Sloane Square store in London, England features a vertical garden created by Treebox, an “urban greening” company, to encourage bee pollination.

In addition to the Save the Bees campaign, J.Crew has also worked with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to protect endangered elephants; Donorschoose.org for teachers to raise money for classroom projects; Teach For America to train college graduates to work in under-resourced communities; Edun to support the St. Ann’s Orphanage in Gilgil, Africa; and their latest endeavor with the American Red Cross, Help Nepal, to assist those in need after the earthquakes that devastated the area in April and May.

To support Save the Bees or any of the other Garments for Good campaigns, visit the J.Crew website. 

Iceland: A Trailblazer In Authentic Purpose

Nearly 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean sits an island smaller than the size of New York State – Iceland.          

The economic crash of 2008, documented in the 2010 film Inside Job, devastated the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore and China, costing the countries over $20 trillion.

Icelandic banks alone lost approximately $100 billion, almost nine times the country’s gross domestic profit, and unemployment tripled in a mere three months.

“In the years before the crash, everything was about having a good business plan and executing that plan no matter what,” said Rúna Magnúsdóttir in her book, Branding Your X-Factor.

Magnús identifies that one’s “X-Factor,” or authentic purpose, has two main components: authenticity and transparency. It includes a personal touch and is driven less by ego and more by “care-taking, humanity and just overall respect.”

Years of money-based decisions led Iceland, like many others around the world, to its downfall with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and bailout of AIG in the fall of 2008. In order to rebuild their country, the Icelandic people were forced to come together to form a Country National Assembly.

“To gain our reputation and confidence back as Icelanders, we had to take a good look into ourselves as a nation… We had to re-vitalize our passions, values, purpose, and we had to define crystal-clearly what we stood for in our own minds and in other people’s mind – in other words, our brand,” said Mangús.

In 2005, just prior to the crash, Icelandic product and fashion designers Brynhildur Pálsdóttir, Gudfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir and Thuríður Sigurþórsdóttir created Vík Prjónsdóttir. Their goal was to “use creative design to bring the dying Icelandic wool industry into a new and exciting phase.”

Around the mid-1990s, the wool industry of Iceland had gone into a severe decline and factories around the country were shut down.

With this idea in mind, the trio of women formed the company around their authentic purpose. Each design pattern is based on a myth or story and inspired by remote parts of Iceland.

“Each piece has a story, inspired by everyday magic. Vík Prjónsdóttir is fascinated by natural materials, craftmanship and fair and honest production.”

Ten years later, with the help of Vík Prjónsdóttir and a push for people to buy local, the country’s wool industry has begun to thrive once again. 

Iceland has been on a steady climb rebuilding their country. With the implementation of concepts like “Inspired by Iceland,” a pro-tourism video campaign, the country has been able to turn itself around.

“With amazingly smart marketing and branding strategy, we have risen like the Phoenix,” said Magnús.

#BrandsWithPlans: Eileen Fisher, Madewell, H&M

Have you ever found it hard to throw away clothes knowing they would never be worn again by you or by anyone else?  Popular clothing companies such as Eileen Fisher, Madewell and H&M have been making an effort to collect, recycle and reuse unwanted clothing items. No matter what brand, consumers can bring their used clothes to these stores to help these socially responsible brands make a difference. This is a new and helpful way to eliminate waste and prevent the overuse of expending resources. 

Since 2009, Eileen Fisher’s non-profit organization Green Eileen has collected over 203,000 donated items.  In exchange for every donated item, customers receive $5 worth in Recycling Rewards that may be used at Eileen Fisher retail stores, Company Stores or at eileenfisher.com.  Green Eileen has created a second market that has sold over 69,000 items of gently worn Eileen Fisher clothes offered in their East and West coast store locations.  Offered at an affordable price range, Green Eileen items are discounted at 40-70 percent off the original item cost.  Green Eileen donates its proceeds to charities that empower women and girls nationally and internationally, and even more extensively involved with programs in New York and Seattle.

In summer 2014, Madewell teamed up with Blue Jeans Go Green in an effort to help turn denim into housing insulation for those in need.  Blue Jeans Go Green was ready to commence when they heard the news on Hurricane Katrina and began their project, which Madewell has supported in New Orleans.  As a natural fiber, denim keeps homes warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter in a green and ecofriendly way. As a compensation for contributing a pair of denim, Madewell gave donators $20 off on their next purchase on a new pair of jeans.  

H&M has made the public aware that 95% of home textiles that end up in landfills can be reused.  So it is up to the consumer to prevent that from happening by simply donating their unwanted clothes to H&M.  Even if its “worn, torn, or hopelessly out of style,” H&M said that consumers could bring it to any of their stores instead of letting it sit in a closet.  In exchange for each bag of clothing given to H&M, a $5 voucher was issued to redeem on the customers next purchase of $30 or more.  All collected clothes and textiles were then transported to the nearest processing plant where they are be graded and hand-sorted.  H&M even recycled clothes that are too damaged to be reused into raw materials.  In 2013, H&M had accumulated 3,047 tons of garments, the equivalent to 15 million t-shirts and used the equivalent to 9.5 million plastic bottles of recycled polyester as well.  All of H&M’s regular shopping bags are made from recycled plastic.  H&M has plans to close the loop, which means that they will soon begin using unwanted clothes as resources for new products to avoid wasting resources.

Support the efforts of these companies by bringing old clothing to a retail location and help make a difference!

Pharrell Williams – The Entelechy Poster Person

If the truth be known, I had no idea who Pharrell Williams was when I first saw him on the VOICE, coaching Usher’s contestants four seasons ago.

When he re-entered my orbit at the Grammy’s and then the Academy
Awards ceremonies replete with his Vivien Westwood hat and Happy song, 
he still wasn’t on my radar.

But when Oprah interviewed him on Super Soul Sunday, I ran right
out and purchased the “Alchemist”. Who could resist a man who had 
altered his life perspective because of a book and was now connecting from his heart.

And while the world is embracing Pharrell as their celebrity du jour, to me, he is the “Poster Person” of the Entelechy Project.

So what is the the Entelechy Project, you may be asking?  Take a chance
And click right here, and you might be in for a big change yourself!

Michael Kors & United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to Help Fight Global Hunger #WatchHungerStop

Michael Kors has been partnering with the United Nations World Food Programme since early 2013 to help fight global hunger with their Watch Hunger Stop campaign.

In order to support these efforts, Kors designed a special series of watches to be showcased in his philanthropic initiatives program known as Kors Cares. A new limited edition watch will be added this year that will be sold exclusively in Michael Kors stores. Each Watch Hunger Stop watch sold will help WFP provide 100 children in need with a nutritious meal.

Last year the campaign exceeded their goal of delivering 5 million to hungry children in need and they are eager to further increase the number of donated meals with the campaign this year.

This year Michael Kors is holding the Watch Hunger Stop Sweepstakes where the winner and a friend the chance to accompany WFP on a field visit (to Asia, Africa or Latin America). The experience will allow for these two lucky individuals to experience first hand WFP’s school meals programs and help feed hungry children in need. What a great opportunity that Michael Kors and WFP is offering to their supporters! Who wouldn’t love to have an experience such as this available to them?!

Be sure to stop by a participating Michael Kors store on October 16th to get a free t-shirt and post a picture of you wearing the shirt using #WatchHungerStop to spread the word!

#BrandsWithPlans: Kenneth Cole & Look Good For Good

Kenneth Cole has a reputation as being one of the most socially responsible brands in business, and their 2014 campaign labeled "Look Good For Good" solidifies their spot in our #BrandsWithPlans category.

"Look Good For Good" is a partnership between Kenneth Cole and TakePart to support three projects run by Saint Luke's Foundation for Haiti, HELP USA, and Sundance Institute.

These three organizations support causes that Kenneth Cole wants to personally contribute to, and his brand gives him the ability to do so. Saint Luke's Foundation raises funds to continue the restoration of Haiti from the 2010 earthquake, while also providing education for those affected, HELP USA works to end homelessness in the United States and has served more than 300,000 people since 1986, and the Sundance Institute "actively advances the work of risk-taking storytellers worldwide." Throughout the campaign consumers will have a chance to win prizes while also learning about these causes and finding out how they can support them.

Kenneth Cole deserves to be one of BENEW's #BrandsWithPlans because he uses the success and influence of his company to not only change the world--but inspire others to do so as well.

Roadside MBA: Business Tactics On a Smaller Scale

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to road trip with three of your favorite professors? Well now you don’t have to. Roadside MBA features three economics professors road tripping around the United States to educate small and medium-sized businesses owners with MBA knowledge usually reserved for business mavens like Ford, Pepsi, and Microsoft.

Since the beginning of their journey in 2011, Mike Mazzeo, Paul Oyer, and Scott Schaefer have visited around 100 businesses on seven different road trips, learned about what makes those businesses work, and published a book - Roadside MBA:  Backroad Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Small Business Owners (Business Plus). In this book you will find valuable lessons on business tactics tailor-made for business owners just like you.

We love Roadside MBA because they decided to take what they know and use it to benefit others in a creative way. If you’re the owner of a small or medium-sized business, pick up a copy of their book at one of these locations and get your “Roadside MBA” today.

#InspireHerMind #LikeAGirl Because #GirlsCan!

What do Verizon, Always, and Covergirl have in common? One provides digital services, one femine products, and one cosmetics – but they’re all inspiring young women to be more than society says they are.

This year, these three brands launched ads focusing on words and how they effect young girls’ perceptions of themselves. Verizon’s ad focuses on the fact that society should stop demeaning adolescent girls’ love of math and science with #InspireHerMind, while Always’ (featured in our previous blogpost) viral video aims to change the insulting tone of the phrase “Like a girl,” with their #LikeAGirl campaign. In addition to these two thought-provoking videos, Covergirl recently unveiled a series of commercials entitled “#GirlsCan,” that give examples of powerful women such as Queen Latifah and Ellen Degeneres who have achieved what others said they couldn’t.

At BENEW, we believe these #BrandsWithPlans are changing the scope of business by motivating young ladies to go beyond what has traditionally been expected of them. They make way for a future in which women are at the forefront of business and thought leaders of our world. How do these three brands (or others) inspire you? Share with us on Twitter using the hashtag #BrandsWithPlans.

Hedy's Story

Perhaps it was the 2014 Academy Award winning documentary of Alice Herz-Sommer - the oldest known Holocaust survivor, or maybe it was the "60 Minutes" broadcast of Nicholas Winton's herculean efforts to save the lives of 669 Czech children from the Nazis in 1938 that brought her memory and story cascading back into my thoughts.

I met her in 1969 and we remained close friends until her death in 2004. Some have said I was her second daughter, while she the "good mother" I had always yearned for.

In any case, the last years of her dementia-rifled life and our waning time together centered around "her story." The one in which she saved herself and several family members from extinction while hidden from the Nazis by French peasants who she clothed with her last remaining means of defense - her arsenal of dress making skills.

She had always wanted the details of "her story" to be told to the world at large, but at present they remain silently tucked away form public view in the archives of Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation.

So on a recent hot summer day, Hedy and I are reunited once again at Columbia University where I have come to listen and watch her 1995 interview with The Shoah Foundation. Just like in our past visits we are once again seated in her pale blue living room surrounded by all the familiar photographs and memorabilia that I have not seen in over 10 years.

And after several hours of very careful listening, I am awestruck by how innocently I had misunderstood her story. Because for over 35 years we had spent many hours together but somehow during all these visits I had missed the essence of her being. While I had been searching only for love and acceptance, I was just about to realize that all this time I had been in the presence of the most courageous and POSITIVE human being I had ever known.

It seems that all these years I had been mistaken, for it was not the details of her story that needed to be shared with the world, but the story of Hedy herself. For it was oh so obvious to me now that she alone had been the heroine of the tale - her tenacity, her indomitable spirit, and most definitely her positivity at every twist and turn in this life threatening chapter of her journey enabled her to survive and many years later to thrive.

Hedy, my friend, you are gone but never forgotten! Your story will always remain in my thoughts.

Always: The First Of Our #BrandsWithPlans

At BENEW, we believe that with great power comes great responsibility, and it is the responsibility of corporations to be the change needed in the world. We call these "Brands With Plans," and the first of our #BrandsWithPlans is Always.

Last week, Always launched a viral video campaign with the debut of “#LikeAGirl” on YouTube. In one week the video had over 20 million views, and the numbers keep growing.

 The ad sheds light on the impact that the phrase “like a girl” has on adolescent girls’ self-confidence being that it has a negative connotation. Always proved this by asking the participants in their ad to run, throw, and fight “like a girl.” The results were less than inspiring—even when asked of grown women.

 The inspirational portion of the video begins when the same questions are asked of young girls who still perceive “like a girl” to mean they should run as fast as they can, throw as hard as they can, and fight as well as they can. Always then asks the question, “When did doing something ‘like a girl’ become an insult?”

 This ad campaign should inspire all of us to be mindful of what we say around young, impressionable girls. We want them to grow up seeing themselves as strong, capable, and independent women, and doing something “like a girl” should mean doing nothing less than your absolute best.

 Lauren Greenfield, filmmaker and editor of the #LikeAGirl video, said it best:  “When the words 'like a girl' are used to mean something bad, it is profoundly disempowering. I am proud to partner with Always to shed light on how this simple phrase can have a significant and long-lasting impact on girls and women. I am excited to be a part of the movement to redefine 'like a girl' into a positive affirmation."

 What do you do #LikeAGirl? Stay tuned for blogposts featuring women who inspire us to be the best we can be by using their lives to empower others.

Making It Right!

What do you do when you LOVE ice cream and want to change the world?

You find an ice cream maker extraordinaire that shares your passions, ask your banker to support your goal, sprinkle in some superb entertainment, and invite your friends, colleagues, and the public to celebrate your dream. Now you have all the necessary ingredients to launch - Make It Right Ice Cream - the power of the pint!

 

From left to right:  NYC Subway Girl Cathy Grier, Betty Newman, Caricaturist Orin Perry, and Mikey Cole of Mikey Likes It Ice Cream.
 

When Cancer Came Calling

Several months ago a networking newsletter landed in my email inbox. As I perused it one particular article stood out, and I knew for certain that one day I would have to write about it.

It was the story of Rachel Troxell - a breast cancer patient who turned her misfortune into good fortune for other women. Frustrated with the selection of lymphedema compression sleeves (lymphedema is a side effect of breast cancer treatment that causes permanent swelling in the arm) Rachel started LympheDIVAS:  A decorative line of compression sleeves.

I am way too familiar with the rough textured, heavy, hot, beige sleeves that Rachel rejected and ingeniously redesigned, because they were the kind my sister Margaret Newborg wore for many years before she passed away in 2008. Sadly, Rachel succumbed to breast cancer as well that year but her legacy lives on with her company, now run by her loving parents and brother.

Recently I attended the S.H.E. Summit where Tiffany Jones shared her recurring battle with breast cancer that led to her founding the Pink Chose Me Foundation and the creation of the Love In the City TV pilot that was picked up by Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network.

And then, there is my dear, uber talented friend Rainey Day Erwin, who I always knew would turn cancer into another one of her amazing art forms, which are featured below!

  For a design consultation, Rainey Day Erwin can be reached at raineyday@raineydayart.com.

Cancer came calling but these three remarkably talented women just showed it the door!

Love After Love

The time will come
When, with elation,
You will greet yourself arriving
At your own door, in your own mirror,
And each will smile at the other's welcome
And say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
To itself, to the stranger who has loved you
All your life, whom you have ignored
For another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
The photographs, the desperate notes,
Peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

-Derek Walcott