STOKED

Week 7: STOKED

So stoked that it is Week 5 of GIVE52! And... this week's organization is STOKED. Their mission is to create a community of fearless leaders through mentoring, opportunity, and action.

Through no fault or effort of their own, a child born into a low income family is more likely not to graduate from high school, get stuck in a dead end job, or have low self esteem. Whereas a child with wealthy parents, regardless of IQ, talent, or effort, is much more likely to graduate from college, pursue a fulfilling career, and feel confident enough to pursue their dreams.
This is what’s called the “opportunity gap.”

STOKED exists to level the playing field by creating a sense of community for struggling students to feel success and joy beyond the classroom.

STOKED’s mission is to inspire teens who are the most vulnerable, to believe in themselves through action sports. They believe that riding a wave, building a skateboard, and gliding down snowy mountains can show teens that they are capable of greatness, despite the odds against them. From standing on a mountain top to catching a wave, they place kids in environments that not only changes their perspective, it changes their lives.

I first discovered STOKED at the DO Lectures USA where I met Steve. An amazing person heading up an incredible organization. Check out his DO Lecture discussing the opportunity gap.

Here is a quote from Steve to light a fire under your Monday morning:

"That itching feeling when you know that you should be doing something more with your life - You should be doing it. You're doing yourself, and the universe, and your community, and your family a disservice if you play small."

Let's work together to close the opportunity gap.
Wishing you a world of opportunity.

Here's to you! Here's to not playing small.

Have a fantastic week,
Jodi

Give Directly

Week 6: GiveDirectly

With rising skepticism around the efficacy of charity, concern over high overhead costs, and uncertainty surrounding where dollars end up, GiveDirectly is a breath of fresh air. I am a big believer is examining the results of charitable giving and interventions, but it is difficult to measure impact objectively. GiveDirectly is changing this. They aim to reshape international giving, making direct transfers to the poor the benchmark against which other, more expensive approaches are evaluated.

 

This week's organization has a simple premise: GiveDirectly takes money from donors and give it to the poor. They can do this because modern payments technology has drastically cut the costs of sending money directly to the extreme poor, at the same time as new research has shown the powerful effects this has on their lives. They believe that direct giving should be the benchmark against which other traditional models are evaluated.

Rigorous, experimental evaluation of impacts is rare among nonprofits. To me, it makes perfect sense that an intervention or program should be evaluated objectively against simply using that money to give directly to the people who would benefit.

GiveDirectly collaborates with third-party researchers to measure the impact of cash transfers. Researchers are fully independent and independently-funded to prevent any bias. GiveDirectly reports the results of their evaluations and also announce studies before the data are in, so that they can be held accountable for the results. They use rigorous experimental research (randomized controlled trials) to measure our impact and answer public policy questions.

This kind of transparency and rigorous experimentation that we expect of other disciplines and sectors being applied to good work is refreshing. I hope it represents the future of philanthropy. It is also my hope that top-down programs will utilize the results of these studies to compare against their own programs.

Here's to radical transparency, honesty, and experimentation. May we all be as bold and open in our own pursuits.

Have a terrific week!

Jodi

ACLU

Week 5: ACLU

Hi there! Welcome back to another week of GIVE52.

I had another organization lined up for this week, but given recent events, I felt that it was more important to go in another direction. So, this week’s organization is the ACLU.

 

For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. The ACLU is nonprofit and nonpartisan.

Currently they are:
    Protecting free speech and the right to protest
    Defending reproductive freedom
    Fighting anti-LGBT discrimination
    Advocating for expanded privacy protections

It is an honor to be in touch with each and every one of you.

I’ll leave you with this quote. It is one of my favorites, and feels especially relevant today.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.””
— Fred Rogers

Here’s to the helpers.
(That’s you!)

Wishing you all the love and light my heavy heart can hold,
Jodi