A diary of an experiment in social entrepreneurship

Archive for April, 2011

Where Kindness Leads

I could hardly believe it when author & self-described auntrepreneur Melanie Notkin (aka @SavvyAuntie) shared the story. Today, Melanie is launching a book called Savvy Auntie - a book that came to be because of conversation she had on Twitter with one of the seventh graders at Mama Lucy’s school in Tanzania. Yes, you’re reading that right, one of the TwitterKids of Tanzania helped get Melanie a book deal with Harper Collins. Here’s how Melanie told the story:
I have someone very special to thank for helping to bring the Savvy Auntie book to life. There’s a little girl in Tanzania named Leah Albert who I met on Twitter (@leah_albert) back in the fall of 2009. A wonderful organization called Epic Change had started a campaign called Twitter Kids, which has been helping Tanzanian kids get connected, and Leah was one of the most active.

It was through my immediate adoration for this sweet little girl that I met my original editor at HarperCollins, Debbie Stier. In a Twitter exchange, we found ourselves bonding over the Tanzanian kids, and Leah specifically. Soon after, Debbie invited me in to have lunch in her office and before I left, we were planning the Savvy Auntie book! (And yes, Leah is mentioned in the acknowledgments!)

A year and a half later, the book is being released
To honor Leah’s involvement, Melanie is graciously contributing  $1 to  for every book purchased through April 27, 2011 to Epic Change - which we’ll invest directly in Leah’s school.  If the Savvy Auntie book lands on The New York Times Bestsellers List and/or if the book lands in the Top 10 books on Amazon.com, she’ll donate an additional $500. If you have an aunt like me on your gift list, this book may be the perfect choice.  I once got a book called Auntie Claus from my niece, and it’s one of the few books I treasure because it’s so moving, when you’re not a mom, to be recognized for the role you do play in the lives of the children you love. There’s no “Auntie Day” - though my bet is if Melanie gets her way, there just might be soon ;)  As an aunt, I’d suggest maybe it should be today - you can buy your copy of Melanie’s book for an auntie you love here. Yesterday, someone I respect wrote a note to friends asking us to sign a petition for a important cause about which he was clearly passionate.  To preface it, he wrote, “Sorry to go all activist on you guys... feel free to ignore.” My heart broke a little.  There’s so much fear of rejection when you really put your heart out there.  So few dare to risk it. May Melanie’s story be a reminder of the serendipity the universe happily engineers for those who show kindness, and participate passionately in causes they love. Now, go send a tweet to one of our twitterkids...it just might be the first step to your book deal.  Just remember, though, the magic only works if, like Melanie, your only intention is kindness... Thanks so much Melanie!! And best of luck with your book!!!

Posted: April 26th, 2011 under The Foundry.
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Skipping the Party

I am the girl who in college never drank beer. Not once. Ask my friends - they'll attest to my uber-nerdiness and my knack for staying in on Saturday nights. I was a homework-doer. A straight-A getter. An honors student. A skipper of parties. And I'm noticing I still am. I work for days, weeks, hours - moving from this hateful little machine sometimes only to eat. I write letters of celebration and gratitude from behind this screen and savor for only seconds minor miracles before rushing on to find another hill to climb. I'm noticing my propensity for doing this means I'm cheating not only myself - but you too.  Always focused on what we need, I spend too little time on all we have already, and we all miss out on some of the very best bits of the Epic Change story. Like the story of Subhash Ghimire. You may remember Subhash from Epic Thanks 2010 - he tells his whole story here in his own powerful voice. What you probably haven't yet heard, because I've yet to share it here, is that Epic Change invested over $10,000 in Subhash's school. Some of those funds were raised during Epic Thanks. Even better, over half of that investment was funded using the thousands Mama Lucy has already repaid from our investment in Tanzania. Yes, you're reading that right. If you invested in the first few months of Epic Change, your funds have not only built a school for hundreds in Tanzania, but have now been recycled to build a school for hundreds in Nepal - a school that will open this summer in the village where Subhash was born & raised. And, by paying it forward, we've created an renewable source of capital to fund grassroots changemakers like Mama Lucy & Subhash in the future. In grad school, I finally learned the art of celebrating & practiced nearly every night. My grades somehow never slipped, but I made friends with cocktails. And dancing. And playing with friends until the wee hours of the morning. When I look back at my life, these are some of my favorite memories of all. I wrote once about Mama Lucy:
I fear...that I don’t possess her ability to succeed slowly and in small steps. She is able to relish (and appropriately so) the small miracles that she witnesses and inspires every day. While she focuses and builds upon those, I believe I might instead focus on everything that hadn’t yet happened, thus obscuring the magnitude of what had been achieved.
In my constant quest to leave the world a bit fuller of love than I found it, I'm setting a new goal: to celebrate & savor each step on the journey. The next mountain on my path can wait until I've stopped to appreciate the magnificence of the one we just climbed. Congratulations, Subhash, on all your incredible progress. I hope you're celebrating too. You can follow all of Subhash's miraculous progress in Nepal at http://peace-nepal-subhash.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter @subhash580.

Posted: April 19th, 2011 under The Foundry.
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