the Statue of Liberty.
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Inspiration from the Social Good Summit in NYC

Last week, I attended my fifth Social Good Summit in New York City along with five other amazing friends from World Moms Network. The Social Good Summit is a unique convening of world leaders, new media and technology experts, grassroots activists and voices from around the world that come together for a two-day conference coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly meeting held during UN Week. The Summit is held at the 92nd Street Y and is truly a global conversation as it streamed around the world in multiple languages.

The Crew of World Changers from World Moms Network and other social good bloggers

The Crew of World Changers from World Moms Network and other social good bloggers

The theme of the summit– #2030NOW: What kind of world do you want to see in 2030? – challenged speakers, participants and a growing worldwide community to explore how technology and new media can be leveraged to benefit people everywhere, to spark discussion and ignite change in creating a better world for all by the year 2030. The 7th Annual Summit was kicked off with a great promise to connect the world with more humanity and give everyone a voice in improving poverty, inequality, injustice and climate change through the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed upon last year by 193 global leaders at the UN General Assembly.

In July, the first report card was released that maps the scope of the SDGs progress, giving leaders an idea of the challenges that lie ahead in order to ensure the SDGs are achieved and no one is left behind. Much progress has been made thanks to the successes of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) yet much needs to be done in order to achieve the SDGs.

Some challenges that lie ahead include:

  • While poverty has been halved, 1 in 8 people were living in extreme poverty in 2012.
  • An estimated 5.9 million children under 5 died in 2015, mostly from preventable causes.
  • 216 women died in childbirth for every 100,000 live births.
  •  In 2013, 59 million children of primary school age were out of school and 26 per cent of women aged 20-24 reported that they were married before their eighteenth birthday.
  • In 2015, an estimated 663 million people were still using unimproved water sources or surface water.
World Moms Network contributors talking with Stephanie Sinclair, Founder of Too Young to Wed, about her quest to end child marriage around the world.

World Moms Network contributors talking with Stephanie Sinclair, Founder of Too Young to Wed, about her quest to end child marriage around the world.

As we sat at the conference and listened to all the heartbreaking and inspiring tales facing people around the world it was hard at times not to get overwhelmed or discouraged. The amount of issues and acute challenges at times seem almost impossible. Quite frankly, it can also make one feel quite powerless.

Throughout the two day summit, we learned that there is much work to be done yet there is hope. The Social Good Summit is all about making a plan for the future.  The world has a plan and 14 years to deliver it. Despite how enormous the challenges may seem, they are achievable and the Global Goals are our guidelines to make the world a better, more equitable place. It is clear that the future of our planet and our people depend upon it. And, every single human being has a role and a responsibility to make it happen.

Top Tweets of the Social Good Summit:

(Click here  to watch a powerful video on what the Global Goals mean).

 

 

 

 

I also asked my friends and fellow World Moms Network contributors what was the most meaningful quote or event of the Summit. Here is what they had to say.

For Jennifer Iacovelli

For Elizabeth Atalay

 

 

 

For Tes Solomon Silverman

For me, Two things stuck: Carolyn Miles of Save the Children talking about refugees: “Refugees are people with skills great for opportunities”. And Tiq Milan, Journalist & Spokesperson for GLAAD re: LGBTQ in the Media: “My existence may complicate yours, but it doesn’t invalidate yours.”

For Jennifer Burden

“The UNICEF vigil for refugee children was the most moving for me. Standing in a crowd, holding up candles near the UN and listening to the stories of 4 children from around the world who were refugees was incredibly important and moving. The story of the boy who was kidnapped and was going to be sold if his parents didn’t pay ransom broke my heart. And when the high school choir sang John Lennon’s “Imagine” at the end, I lost it.”

For Nicole Morgan

Loved this … Imagine a world where children are innoculated for measles AND cancers. This is not about some day … but a moment, the days, a month … there is much we can do. #cancermoonshot is about never giving up. It is about promise. And hope. VP Joe Biden.

For all of us

Being together with such wonderful like-minded friends who we could share our hopes, our dreams and our fears together was amazing. Often during our busy lives as a mother, we don’t get much time to spend together with each other. It was amazing, inspiring and fun.

I was so moved by the Social Good Summit and the dedication, enthusiasm and commitment people have towards changing the world and making a more equitable place. Despite the immense challenges, there is hope. We can’t give up. We all must do our share.

This is an original post written and first posted on World Moms Network. 

In your mind what is the most pressing Sustainable Development Goal?

Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD
SOS Children Ethiopia
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Make Change #2030NOW #GlobalGoals

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
― Lao Tzu

As I prepare to head out to NYC tomorrow to attend my fourth Social Good Summit (#2030NOW) I could not help but wonder about what kind of world I’d like to see in 2030. As 193 global leaders meet at the United Nations General Assembly this week and commit on the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will guide our planet for the next several years, there is no time more important than today to think about the change we want to see in the world.

The three main areas that the bold new SDGs address include ending extreme poverty, eliminating injustice and inequality and climate change. For me, I am honestly hoping that the world does something to change the future of half our planet – the future for women and girls – who continue to suffer the most from injustice, inequality and poverty.

GlobalGoals_Infographic_5x7_front

Why? Because women and girls are critical to transforming the future. Without them, we are missing a huge transformative, powerful piece of the puzzle. In honor of women and girls, I look forward to attending the Social Good Summit (#2030NOW) and live reporting via twitter (@thirdeyemom). It will certainly be an exciting few days!

The photos below were all taken in June 2014 in Ethiopia during a two-week reporting trip on maternal and newborn health with the International Reporting Project. These woman and girls remind me of the personal commitment I have made to helping change the world to the way I want it to be.

Ethiopian mother

Maternal and Newborn Mortality rates in developing countries are improving but not fast enough. Education is lacking as are opportunities for women and girls to start business, have a career and improve their lives. We face a critical moment in time when we can change the direction of their paths and make the world a better place for all, no matter where you live, what language you speak, how much money you have or what religion you practice. No matter if you are a man or a woman, a girl or a boy. It is up to us. 
Faces of Ethiopia

SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY Weekly Photo Challenges
First Day of the Social Good Summit
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Highlights from the 2013 Social Good Summit

At the start of this week I was fortunate to attend the 2013 Social Good Summit in New York City. Held at the 92nd Street Y in partnership with Mashable, the United Nations Foundation, Ericsson and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Social Good Summit is a three-day global conversation on how we are using social media and technology to change some of the world’s most pressing issues.

Screen Shot 2013-09-25 at 11.27.02 AM

This year’s theme was #2030now and basically asked the global community one thought-provoking question: In a global digital landscape that focuses on the now, where do we want to be by 2030 and how can digital tools help us reach our goals.

The highly intense three-day summit covered a broad range of today’s most urgent issues such as climate change, global health, poverty, energy and education, and pulls together some of the most prolific, influential thinkers and global change-makers in the world.  We got to hear from such amazing visionaries as Melinda Gates, Al Gore, US Ambassador Samantha Power, Malala Yousafzai, Sir Richard Branson and more. Furthermore, the global reach of the Social Good Summit was huge: It was livestreamed in 120 countries and translated into seven languages making it truly a global event.

For me, it was the second year in a row that I attended the Social Good Summit and it was amazing, inspiring and extremely overwhelming. I learned so incredibly much and was so inspired over the past few days that it is going to take me quite awhile to process all the information I learned.

I wanted to share a few highlights of the Summit below and look forward to sharing more in depth stories over the new couple of months on my blog.  Highlights of the Summit included my first visit to the United Nations Headquarters where I got to listen to a panel called “Africa Rising”, attending an intimate roundtable hosted by Save the Children, ONE and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on the crisis in Syria, and also catching up with my growing number of wonderful online social good bloggers and friends.

First Day of the Social Good Summit
Photo of me proudly displaying my UN Panel Badge
Me and my social good friends gearing up to enter the United Nations.
Inside the United Nations
My fellow World Mom Blogger Nancy from Tanzania, CEO of Save the Children Carolyn Miles, Me, Jennifer Barbour and Elizabeth Atately (Global Team of 200) and Phil Carroll of Save the Children (L-R)
View leaving the UN

Some of my key take-aways from this year’s Social Good Summit include:

  • The power of our voice via social media to be heard and make change. It inspires and encourages me to keep doing what I’m doing by covering social good issues and stories.
  • The amazing power of technology to make change: There are 3.3 billion people in the world that currently have access to cell phones and this number is estimated to hit 95% of world population by 2014 which is an amazing opportunity for change.
  • The opportunity of future “millennials” in the world. We must get the youth empowered and inspired to make change as they will represent a large part of the world’s population.
Women living on the streets outside the US Embassy

The Social Good Summit made me realize that there is hope. Covering such tragic social good issues for the last year sometimes seems like it is a daunting, unachievable dream to end poverty, suffering and preventable deaths. Yet, after listening to these amazing people who are changing the world as we speak, I’ve realized that positive change is possible and there is a tremendous amount of opportunity to make the world a better place. Of course we can’t change some of the evils of mankind. There will always be fighting and bloodshed and war. Yet we do have the tools to end poverty and preventable deaths. I left feeling inspired that someday the world will be a better, more equitable place for all.

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Favorite Quotes/Tweets from Social Good Summit that inspired me

“Youth are the next generation leaders. They are #2030NOW”. On stage right now @stacymartinet@CrownPrincessMM@HelenClarkUNDP

“The price of inaction has become higher than the cost of action. Enough is enough.” – Paul Polman #2030NOW

“There usually comes a moment in our lives when we all decide we need to believe in something” – Ben Keesey, Invisible Children #2030NOW

“Remind people that they are more powerful than they think, engage them to create change” @BenKeesey #2030NOW @plus_socialgood

“It doesn’t have to be money, it can be your voice. Just give back @HelenClarkUNDP #2030now #SocialGoodSummit

“Photographers tell the story of who we are today & can inspire who we become tomorrow” @marcusbleasdale #2030Now

“Theme this year of #2030now because today’s children will be tomorrow’s change makers”. #ActOnClimate

“Social media is changing the world, and we’re all here witnessing it.” -@iansomerhalder #2030NOW

There will be 1 billion mobile phones in #Africa. ‘#malaria will be the first disease to be defeated by mobile’ -@MNM_Martin at #2030now

“Citizens have the capacity to put an issue on the map.” -@AmbassadorPower #2030NOW

“Without peace there is no development, and without development there is no peace” Jan Eliasson #2030NOW

‘Water is peace’…2000 children under age of 5 die everyday due to problem of sanitation. Eliasson at#2030Now

3.3 billion ppl have access to mobiles – furthest reaching tech in the world #2030now

“20 million children under age of 5 were dying per yr in 1960. Today that figure is 6.6 million.”@melindagates #2030NOW

In 2014, 95% of the world will have access to cell phones. How do we use this technology to make the world better? @melindagates#2030now

“The course of civilization is going to be shaped by us. Make your voices heard.” @algore on the#climatecrisis #2030NOW#SocialGoodSummit

@algore at #SocialGoodSummit – the 18 year olds today are the ones who will change our future. Take action. #2030NOW

20 millions NY consume just as much energy comparable to the 850 on the continent of Africa.#2030NOW #EnergyResponsibility

We cannot succeed if half of us are held back. Women must speak, must raise their voices. – Malala #MalalaFund

In just one day, the amount of time wasted by women collecting water could build 28 Empire State Bldgs.bit.ly/14FSrkL #2030NOW

50 million girls are victims of sexual abuse & exploitation around the world – UNICEF’s Anthony Lake on #ENDviolence at#2030NOW

We must start conversations young to combat gender inequality, especially with boys. The responsibility must not only be on women. #2030NOW

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Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD
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Half the Sky: The movement

This post is part of my Social Good Sunday series. “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” is a highly aclaimed book written by Nicholas D. Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn. A compelling four-hour documentary on the book is being shown for the first time on PBS on Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2nd. See below for details. 

Women hold up half the sky. – Chinese Proverb

Have you ever read a book that changed your life? Although this is a bold statement to be made, I can truthfully say that I have. “Half the Sky” is a book that changed my purpose in life forever.  It is the book that motivated me to transform from a modern stay-at-home mom to a life as an advocate, activist and a voice for social good and giving back. A path that started three years ago, and has evolved into unimaginable ways. A road I’m utterly excited to be following; a dream I’ve had for years. It is time to give back and there is no time more important than now.

So why did Half the Sky have such a powerful impact me? What is the book about?

Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls
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Doing Social Good in New York City

UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin introduces special surprise guest Peter Gabriel. Photo Credit: UN Foundation.

The last four days I’ve been in New York City attending two amazing events focusing on philanthropy and making the world a better place: The Summit for Social Good and the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting with the theme of “Designing for Impact”. It has been a whirlwind of a trip filled with several unexpected surprises. I feel unbelievably motivated to write and share the inspiring things I learned.

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