Right now I'm blessed to be at a couple of gatherings in San Diego for the next few days. And it's not just the sunny weather and easy access to the Pacific that I'm happy about — although that certainly helps. No, it's being among hundreds of folks who are just as excited as I…
Category: Civil Society
Global Kids Winter Gala February 24 at Council on Foreign Relations
I'm pleased to invite you to Global Kids annual Winter Gala, held at the illustrious Council on Foreign Relations on February 24th. This is Global Kids' twentieth year serving New York City's at-risk youth with our innovative combination of global issues, community engagement, and academic achievement. The Winter Gala is Global Kids' main fundraiser event…
Amira & Rik introduce Global Kids to youth jails project (video)
My colleague Amira and I created this quick video to welcome a special group of young adults to "uCreate," a digital storytelling project working with two groups of teens in two different youth jails. Amira gave a bit of background about Global Kids, I talk about uCreate, and then we do a quick walk-through of…
Hip-hop Class for Haiti Relief on Saturday January 30
Just got this from my friend Pavan of PMT Dance Studios on how you can learn how to dance and help Haiti on Saturday January 30: With the current disaster in Haiti, we are holding a special class to help raise money to help the disaster victims. 100% of the proceeds will go towards the…
Haiti Solidarity Benefit this Friday, January 22 in Brooklyn
This Friday, January 22, in Brooklyn is the Haiti Solidarity Benefit, a really cool youth-organized fundraiser for Haiti. Global Kids is one of the organizers of this event, through our partnership with the High School for Global Citizenship. Performers will include : Andre Rousseau and Alove Saint Surin Haitian Musician Tiga Jean Baptiste and Tchaka…
Happy New Year’s Greetings from Global Kids (video)
Here's yet another example of why my job is totally awesome. At the first staff meeting of the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids, we realized that we hadn't wished a happy new year to our many friends and colleagues. So we created this silly video.
Rikomatic’s 2009 Year in Review
I'm not sure anything could encapsulate my entire year better than this one picture from the New York Times. For me it was a sublime, bittersweet moment — leading hundreds of people marching, dancing, clapping, making music, laughing and crying in celebration of the life of one humble man who touched us all. The year…
EnerCities: first Facebook “serious game” on sustainable urban development
Dylan Nagel of Paladin Studios sends out the news that the public beta version of EnerCities has been released, reportedly the first "serious game" to be hosted on Facebook. With support from the European Commission, the goal of our project is to raise energy awareness among young people around the world through the gameplay. I…
Global Kids’ Nisrin Elamin talks about her work for peace in Sudan on WNYC
Here's an awesome radio interview with my colleague Nisrin Elamin, a senior trainer and curriculum specialist at Global Kids, talking about her work with grassroots groups like Sisterhood for Peace and an underground radio station in Darfur. I and my colleagues have benefited so much from Nisrin's passionate and untiring work for peace in her…
Conscience Unconference Session on Games and Human Rights Education
On Saturday, December 5, I had the pleasure of joining about 30-40 other participants at the "Conscience Unconference" in Washington DC, sponsored by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Center for History and New Media. Having experienced a few unconferences before, I knew coming in that the quality of the experience would lie largely…