Changemakers Impact Stories I

Being involved with Changemakers can mean a big boost to your goals. Participation often leads to further connections and opportunities that have a significant impact on the growth and reach of organizations working toward change. We keep you updated here, and congratulate the whole Changemakers community for supporting these projects.

Funding for a Finalist

Newsdesk.org, a Changemakers finalist in WeMedia The Power of Us competition, has received a $25,000 grant from the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation. Editor, Josh Wilson met a representative from the Foundation when he presented his entry at the WeMedia Conference.

Josh tells us they will use the grant to develop a non-profit, public interest news syndication service called News You Might Have Missed. The service will focus on important but overlooked news stories and local coverage in underserved communities.
 

Winner Surrounded by New Supporters
 Entering the Humanity United Ending Corruption competition was a shot in the arm for the Changemakers Winner, Global Integrity. The process nudged the organization to be more engaged with its networks and revealed the breadth of the support for their online government transparency project. Jonathan Eyler-Werve, Director of Operations, said that winning Changemakers competition “led indirectly to some pretty serious long-term support that was not something we considered possible even a few years ago.”
 

New Forms of Outreach Link African Innovators to Changemakers
Engaging hard-to-reach innovators in Africa was critical to the success of two recent competitions, Cultivating Innovation and Champions of Quality Education. So Changemakers partnered with Frontline SMS, an organization that puts cell phone technology to use for social change. Through SMS (Short Message Service), Changemakers was able to spread the word about the competitions, and communicate with entrants, through a technology that is in wide use in rural Africa.
 

This successful outreach brought in just the kind of innovators the Gates and Hewlett Foundations were hoping would become involved. The founder of Frontline SMS, Ken Banks, is the organizer of a very active Changemakers Group, Social Changemaking with Mobile Phones and members of Farm Radio, which was another partner in outreach, also started a Group, Farmer Innovation.
 

Competition Comment Fuels New Initiative
 For Eric Alvarez, one comment on his entry in the Geotourism Challenge launched a new project for his organization. Viajes Académicos has found support to expand its program beyond the private schools to schools that serve less privileged populations.
 

“I have been able to get commitments from three private schools to get parents to sponsor kids from other communities. The input received on this challenge has been invaluable.”