Blogs

[Editor's note: This post was written by Alexa Clay, Knowledge and Learning Manager at Ashoka's Changemakers®.]

It’s day two of CGI America. We’ve talked job creation, STEM education, veterans affairs, and manufacturing. In between large panel discussions, with big shots searching for the soul of America in phrases like “crossroads,” “heartland,” and “competitiveness,” are small groups in ambitious conversation: A woman working to develop young leaders in rural areas of the United States, a museum director from New York looking to make science sexy again, a technologist building local food supply chains in Michigan. These people are here for a simple reason: They want to be part of something bigger. [...]

On Wednesday, July 6, 2011, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Opportunity Equation, and Ashoka’s Changemakers® will bring together entrepreneurs, innovators, and enthusiasts from around the world to discuss how to best engage students, particularly our highest-need students, in rich STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

Ashoka’s Changemakers invites you to participate in this multilingual #SocEntChat on Twitter between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), to share your innovative ideas and solutions that address the partnerships, programs, and people that will make the STEM education movement possible.
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It’s been more than a year since the Deepwater Horizon disaster spilled nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. BP has since set up a $20 billion claims fund to compensate those harmed by the spill, but many of the long-term ramifications of the disaster are still unknown.

Scientists believe the extent of the damage to ocean ecosystems may not be fully realized for another 15 years. How this event will impact communities, young people, and employment in the long-term also remains to be seen.

In New Orleans, the Gulf South Youth Biodiesel Project (GYBP) is hoping to intervene in the lives of unemployed young people affected by some of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history: Hurricane Katrina, followed by Hurricane Gustav, and then the Deepwater Horizon spill. GYBP, a finalist in the Changemakers Strong Communities competition (“Engaging Citizens, Strengthening Place, Inspiring Change”), offers a training and green industry certification program for at-risk youth from 16 to 25 years of age. Many have either left school or were unsuccessful in conventional learning situations. [...]

[Editor's note: This post was written by Alison Craiglow Hockenberry, contributing editor at Ashoka Changemakers®, and originally featured on the Huffington Post.]

The hospitality industry is increasingly making things decidedly inhospitable for a certain kind of person: human traffickers.

Hotels, airlines and other travel-related companies are in a position to combat these criminals where they tend to operate. Whether transporting enslaved domestic workers into the country on a plane or pimping girls out in hotel lobbies, a portion of a trafficker's activity often happens in plain sight. Even though the very nature of human trafficking is covert, well-trained employees at committed, responsible companies can spot suspicious behavior and act.
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Prostitution is often characterized as the “oldest profession.” It is a story that has haunted the world for centuries: women with limited economic options sell their bodies to survive.
 
One group with a historically close relationship to prostitution has been the other oldest profession: the military. Opinions on prostitution aside, supply increases where demand increases (simple). Historically, the areas of highest demand were ports, where sailors, soldiers, and shipping workers would dock for extended periods of time. Men in transit were the consumers – women in poverty were the supply.
 
Today the entire world is in transit, especially military personnel and their contractors. From war zones to peace-keeping missions, soldiers and their support systems are stationed around the globe for years, and sometimes decades. And while it may not be stately to discuss, the demand for sex follows – and with time, grows.
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