Subject: Tom Boone of Ashoka commented on Take a Stand Against Poverty by Investing in Women to Save the World

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I recently received a comment from Tom Boone of Ashoka.Org on my recent post Take a Stand Against Poverty by Investing in Women to Save the World.

Ashoka has been featured in this blog under Social Entrepreneur Sites What's a social entrepreneur BY Ashoka,but the truth is that I have not done much with that section.

Anyway, his comment had a good deal of information and insight regarding "HALF THE SKY" and I am sharing it below with some added links and a couple of videos regarding the women he highlights in his remarks.

I was able to read most of an advance copy of this book before Bill Drayton (founder of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public) snatched it away and ran off with it on his annual 2-week hiking trip to the mountains.

I think this has to be the most important book - not just for women's rights globally but for human rights - published in my memory. Kristof and WuDunn weave together a most compelling story of how culture and customs historically suppress women. They tackle many tough, taboo topics - for example honor killing. But more importantly, they champion the stories of heroic women worldwide wholly committed to changing the many evils of the status quo.

What is more, they posit a kind of general framework theory that the really important advances in human rights that are going to be made in the near future are going to be brought about by these entrepreneurial pioneering women. In essence, that the backbone of the human rights movement and of real change across all societies is going to be a direct function of brave women who give themselves permission to say "NO" to thousands of years of (to most Westerners) unimaginable oppressive cultural customs and who take it upon themselves to lead to a new way. Once you have read the book, it is very hard, if not impossible, to disagree with Kristof and WuDunn's general theme. To wit, the brave women of Iran who took to the streets to protest the results of the recent election.

Among many other "super" women, HALF THE SKY spotlights the following inspirational Ashoka Fellows:

• Sunitha Krishnan (India), founder of Prajwala, a citizen sector organization in Hyderabad, India, fighting forced prostitution and sex trafficking, rescuing women and children from sexual exploitation, incestual rape, sexual torture, and abuse in prostitution. Her organization helps former prostitutes learn vocational skills so they can move into new careers. "Prajwala" means "an eternal flame".

• Sakena Yacoobi (Afghanistan), founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, a citizen sector organization providing teacher training to Afghan women, educating and fostering education for girls and boys, and providing health education to women and children. Her organization also runs fixed and mobile health clinics that provide family planning services. Sakena holds the distinction of having been Ashoka's first Afghan Fellow. Educating women and girls was banned under the Taliban and is controversial under Islamic law.



• Roshaneh Zafar (Pakistan), founder of Pakistani microfinance lender, Kashf. A former World Bank employee, she was inspired after a chance meeting with Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank. "Kashf" means "miracle" and Kashf is indeed fostering a miracle by leveraging microfinance to women to transform the role of women in Pakistani society and bringing about a poverty-free world. To date, Kashf supports 305,038 families in Pakistan, has disbursed $202 million, and has 52 branches nationwide.

I am not alone in my enthusiasm for this book! Last Tuesday, September 15, 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ("UNODC") hosted a panel discussion and book signing with Mr. Kristof and Ms. WuDunn in the UN Trusteeship Council Chamber at UN Headquarters. All 550 seats in the Trusteeship Council Chamber were filled. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivered opening remarks. Special recognition goes to Simone Monasebian and Anna Rosario Kennedy of the UNODC for putting together this behemoth of an event.

Five out of five stars. An absolute must read for anyone who cares about women's rights or human rights. A genuine eye popper that moves so fast, tackles so much that has hitherto been taboo and unmovable, and interweaves the unbelievably positive stories of the very heroic women already leading and creating change in a tapestry that is glimpse of a brave and very different, humanitarian new world.

Once you pick this book up, you will not be able to put it down. And once you have read it, you will be moved to help bring about tomorrow. Absolute proof that the glass (or the sky) is half full. We just have to give ourselves permission to make change. Or as Gandhi said, "we must be the change we wish to see."

Tom Boone, Ashoka

Email: tboone@ashoka.org
Site/Blog URL: http://www.ashoka.org

Getting Americans more educated to become more globally engaged to take greater leadership

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Change.org is providing an opportunity for participation through the U.S. Center for Citizen Dipolomacy in an arena that is vital if the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved. We are pressed to take a leadership role in the Millennium Campaign because we have the greatest level of resources, we use the greatest amount of resources and we are still seen by the world as being among the primary leaders in the world, and in my view, we have the greatest capacity for leadership.

America's image abroad is improving, numerous polls and studies prove anti-American sentiment still exists around the globe. We need to dramatically increase our capacity to reach out to the rest of the world to foster mutual understanding and find common interests and values.

US. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is calling on all Americans to sign a Letter to the President urging President Obama to convene a National Summit on Citizen Diplomacy in order to bring this issue to the forefront and provide opportunities for global engagement at all levels of American society The idea is to encourage more Americans to reach out to the rest of the world and foster mutual understanding.

Tremendous opportunities exist to involve many thousands more Americans in this vital work, contributing as citizen diplomats in a variety of ways. A program that expands and utilizes their talents and expertise will greatly help the United States regain its stature as a respected, positive force throughout the world. Much of our thinking builds on the successful models of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, and leaders such as J. William Fulbright.

The goal is to multiply the connections between American citizens and their counterparts overseas fourfold by 2016.

Change.org wants us to ask President Obama to expand resources for bringing Americans together with others to promote shared values and understanding >

One of the goals of the Millennium Campaign is 2. Universal Education, but the truth is that we are as much in need of education as those in developing countries. The fourfold increase by 2016 is laudable and matches fairly closely with the 2015 goal to end poverty, but it raises the question how many connections exist now. This blog provides me a platform to interact with like minded people in India, Australia, Brazil and other countries as well as in the United States through communities like Change.org, Orkut and Facebook.

The Common Ground Blog (which I will be adding to the blogs to which this blog links) has a post and a question on the subject US CENTER FOR CITIZEN DIPLOMACY: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SHOULD SUPPORT CITIZEN DIPLOMACY OVERSEAS

Question to the Blogosphere:

What can the Obama administration do to encourage Americans to engage in efforts to strengthen America’s international relationships? Should public high schools in the United States be provided with funds to send young people to different parts of the world? What types of development assistance and community-based initiatives would be most useful in promoting international understanding? What can be done to involve the older generations in the United States in citizen diplomacy?

Distributive Leadership Obama Style

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Last year I found this article at Harvard Business Publishing Obama and the Rise of Asymmetrical Competition, by Umair Haque, and while the idea fitted better with the election, I still like the ideas behind it. It is not an easy path to follow, but it is arguably the most scalable form of organizing and implementation of community change that we know. Umair Haque's perspective is business oriented.

Yes, startups have always challenged incumbents. So what makes asymmetrical competition different? First, rarely before new and lateral entrants been able to upset incumbents so decisively – to actually put them out of commission. Second, rarely have they been able to dominate entire industries with such speed. Third, almost never before have so many revolutionaries threatened so many incumbents across a broad sweep of industries. Fourth, in asymmetrical contests, yesterday’s sources of advantage become today’s sources of disadvantage.

More recently MITWorld provided a more indepth review of the Obama model of distributive leadership. Marshall Ganz's perspective is both political and community oriented. He makes the point that this type of leadership cannot be done from a Facebook account.

• Distributed Leadership in the Obama Campaign | MIT World

  The Obama campaign owes its victory not to a single charismatic candidate, but to the efforts of a disciplined and motivated organization whose roots go back to landmark movements of the 1960s. Marshall Ganz, who cut his teeth on civil rights work and with Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers, describes how the principles and practices he learned around organizing and leadership played out in the most recent presidential election.

  Diiog tags: obama, leadership, community, collaboration

  • Ganz’s take, after years with progressive movements, is that leadership involves “taking responsibility to enable others to achieve purpose in the face of uncertainty.”
    
  
  
  • This kind of “civic capital” is precisely what the Obama campaign cultivated and invested in, says Ganz. Thousands of people acquired the skills and practiced “the arts of leadership necessary to self govern in democracy.”
    

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.