The Contribution Project at GBCHealth’s 2013 Conference

Image via GBCHealth

The Contribution Project is honored to be attending the GBCHealth Conference once again as a member of the Social Media Corps and is gearing up to head to New York tomorrow to kick off the conference, which will run from May 15th to the 17th.  I will be live-tweeting, interviewing, and blogging throughout the conference, and hope to bring you some inspiring new ideas that arise.  This years’ conference should bring some fascinating content, with an exciting lineup of speakers and sessions.  Stay tuned!

Giving Tuesday

Image via EbiquityOpinion.com

As the holiday season gears up this year, a new voice is trying to get itself heard over the din of commercialism that usually surrounds this time of year.  Giving Tuesday follows the weekend that more or less officially kicks off the holiday season and provides an opportunity for everyone to put some actions behind those many reflections on thankfulness made a few days before.  Giving Tuesday, encourages everyone to move beyond being thankful for the things they have, to thinking about those who do not have access to the same privileges; and as absurd as it may sound, health, family, and even freedom of thought are privileges that are not enjoyed by everyone.

Social Good Summit: Connecting the Digital to Action Across the Globe

Image via Mashable

The Social Good Summit brought an impressive group of individuals from around the world, ranging widely in age and background, together to create the largest online conversation centered on the role of digital innovation in global development.  In the three days of the Summit packed with quick presentations and panel discussions, a host of projects, ideas, and inspiration were shared with 163 countries worldwide through over 60,000 tweets generated under the #SGSGlobal hashtag.  For me, the summit was not only a global conversation, it was a call to action.  I walked away with the strong belief that social media and technological innovation is not the product itself, but a powerful means to achieve an impactful end.

Defining Forward: Part 2

The GBCHealth Define Forward Conference kicked off this morning with AIDS@30, a dynamic and inspiring discussion about the history and future of the fight against HIV/AIDS, lead by some of the most prominent figures in the field:
Brian A. Brink, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Anglo American plc
Eric Goosby, The United States Global AIDS Coordinator, U.S. Department of State
Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, UNAIDS; Under Secretary-General, United Nations
John E. Tedstrom, President and CEO, GBCHealth
It was encouraging to see the spirit of collaboration between the private and public sectors highlighted again and again in the dialogue, and the consensus reached that long-term sustainability is a goal that everyone needs to strive for.

Defining Forward: Part 1

I couldn’t be more thrilled to be covering the topics of malaria, global nutrition, and the MDG Health Alliance during the GBCHealth Defining Forward Conference this year.  Coming from a background in the sciences and now currently working in private industry, I can’t wait to explore many of my interests and questions about global health during these varied sessions.

The Contribution Project at GBCHealth’s Defining Forward Conference

Image via GBCHealth

The Contribution Project has been selected as a member of the Social Media Corps for GBCHealth’s Defining Forward Global Health Conference.  The conference will be held in NYC from May 14th to 15th. I will be blogging and tweeting leading up to and during the conference to share with everyone the great content explored at the conference, as well as my own thoughts.  A modified version of all blog posts written for the conference will be posted here.  I hope that you will join me on this exciting learning opportunity!

Nomenclature

After stumbling across Wolfgang Munar and Wendy Prosser’s article for the Gates Foundation’s Impatient Optimists blog, I was prompted to revisit some of my own thoughts about the language we use to describe philanthropy.  Language has the power to convey and clarify concepts and ideas with great specificity and complexity, but if not used carefully, it can also be a major source of inconsistency, confusion, and insubstantial expression.