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Blog: Online Communities for International Do-Gooders

HowMatters's picture
Posted September 9th, 2010 by HowMatters

Today I discussed the importance of developing a critical consciousness (along side a compassionate consciousness) with someone in the San Francisco Bay area who is supporting a local organization in Malawi.

But how does a person actually go about this, especially someone who may be new to international assistance? As we all know, openness to learning and seeking out advice from others with more experience is vital.

As it just so happens, this week I’ve also been compiling a list of online communities related to international development for a project I’ve just started. Whether you are a seasoned professional or someone just getting involved, I hope the following list can give a glimpse of the growing variety of opportunities available online to connect with others and gain exposure to the various contexts and complexities of international assistance and foreign aid.

Blog: Power through Organizing: Lessons from the Field (2)

Philippe Duhamel's picture
Posted June 21st, 2009 by Philippe Duhamel

bush beforeAl Giordano says the most threatening thing to the ruling elite is people working together across race, religion, and class. But the Left, he says, is one of the most segregated places in America. While segregation used to be enforced by law, it is now consumer culture, through market segmentation and advertising niches, that separates people. The key to the success of the Obama campaign, and how an underdog won the US presidency, can be summarized in two words: community organizing. It showed the tremendous power that comes from bridging the divides, from getting the latinos, blacks, whites and mulatos to work together.

Blog: Power through Organizing: Lessons from the Field (1)

Philippe Duhamel's picture
Posted May 28th, 2009 by Philippe Duhamel

Before nuke plant

How often do you get the chance to take in wisdom garnered through decades of smart organizing work?

In 1979, from a remote summer camp cabin in the Berkshire mountains, nineteen-year-old Al Giordano started organizing the Rowe Nuclear Conversion Campaign. Thirty-two years later, he's back in the same summer camp to share with us, lucky few, some of his best stories. A rare treat; not many organizers lasted as many seasons, or make the effort to patiently share their crop of battle-tested insights.