Oak Human Rights Fellowship Nominations 2009

Message from Oak Fellowship Team

I am pleased to announce a call for nominations for the 2009 Oak Human Rights Fellowship, sponsored by the Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights at Colby College in Waterville, Maine (USA). The fellowship is a one-semester appointment for a scholar-in-residence. It is designed to provide human rights practitioners doing "on-the-ground" work at some level of personal risk a respite from front-line duties to enable them to reflect, write, and communicate their work to our campus community.

The appointment is for the fall semester of 2009 (September through mid December). Responsibilities include participation in a lecture series or symposium in the Fellow's area of expertise and regular interaction with Colby students through a one credit non-graded discussion class. The College provides a stipend of $32,000, plus transportation, housing, health care coverage, and other fringe benefits. We encourage the fellow to bring family through limited financial support for their travel as well.

To identify candidates for our annual search, we rely heavily on nominations from NGOs, other journalists, human rights lawyers, and academics -- you are most likely to know of the work of on-the-ground professionals. Since your network has been active in the field of human rights or migration, we would like to solicit your nominations for the fellowship. Please submit nominations to us no later than November 1, 2008. We will contact nominee(s) and encourage him or her to apply; you might also suggest that your nominee(s) apply directly. Your nomination letter(s) will become part of the applicant's file, underscoring your recognition of this person's important contributions to human rights. The deadline for completed applications is December 15, 2008. For more information and application materials, please access our web page at www.colby.edu/oak ; we call your attention to the frequently asked questions sidebar to clarify terms and eligibility.


If you prefer to have an electronic copy of this announcement with a PDF brochure, please let us know. If you have any questions, you can reach me at +1 (207) 859-5234 or Assistant Director Susana Thompson at oakhr@colby.edu . Thank you in advance for helping us identify deserving candidates for this award.

Tech Power to the Bottom of the Pyramid

Social enterprise has a soulmate in Web 2.0, a powerful new tool for bottom-up, collaborative innovation.

In Tajikistan, Georgetown graduate student Dan Zuckerman is the face of Kiva, a San Francisco-based microlending organization operating in a region that currently hums with nearly 3,000 Kiva-sponsored entrepreneurs. Zuckerman has to get to know them and act as their bridge to their remote lenders by sharing their stories, both with the people providing loans and with the local microcredit institution, MLF MicroInvest, which is Kiva's partner. In all of Tajikistan, he works alone. How does Zuckerman, 25, manage to cover all this ground without support staff and with a supervisor 11,000 kilometers away?

Read more as to how non-profit organizations are teaming up with technology to accomplish some of the seemingly impossible tasks.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/157540

Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition

Ashoka's Youth Venture and Changemakers is partnering with Staples to launch our first global competition to recognize young leaders who are finding new ways to create positive change in their communities. We are seeking the most inspirational ideas and projects led by young people between ages 12 and 24.

Help us spread the word about this initiative and nominate young leaders with fantastic ideas!

Now through October 15, 2008. Winners will be announced November 12, 2008.

http://www.changemakers.net/competition/staplesyv/


Meet Konstantine


Meet Brady

Last 10 Days - Register for Techshare India 2008 Road Show - Bangalore

Techshare India 2008 Road Show – 29^th August 08, Mobility India, Bangalore

With emerging technologies, innovation has no bounds. Technology is an enabler for all of us but more significantly for people with disabilities.

In a country where it is considered that almost 10% of the world's disabled population lives in India, it is imperative for the ecosystem to realize the power of technology that can break barriers for people with disabilities and include them in the main stream.

Key Speakers
Techshare India 2008 Road Show brings you an opportunity to meet eminent speakers those have expertise in the area of accessibility, assistive technology and disability. Some of the Key Speakers are listed below:

• Shilpi Kapoor, BarrierBreak Technologies - Basics of Web Accessibility
• Omprakash Subbarao, Yahoo! India - Building accessibility into large scale applications: The experience of Yahoo! Mail
• Vikas Sharma, AccessAbility - Access beyond Ramps
• Dr. Poonam R Gupta, CDAC, Noida  - Open Source Based Assistive Technologies
• Rohit Mallick, ITC Windsor Manor - Employability Initiatives for Person's with Disabilities
• My Stories - Stories of different people with disabilities from the Assistive Technology perspective
• B Ashok, National Institute for Mentally Handicapped  - Restructuring the work environment for people with Mental Retardation .... many more!

For full agenda visit: http://barrierbreak.com/events-conference/agenda-bangalore.php
To register for Techshare India 2008 Road Shows, kindly visit: http://www.barrierbreak.com/events-conference/conferenceregistration.php

Experience Zone - Free Entry to Experience Zone at Techshare India 2008 Road Show

Here is an opportunity to experience how people with disabilities lead an independent life! There will be different assistive devices and technologies that will be demonstrated by people with disabilities at the Experience Zone of Techshare India 2008 Road Show.

Few of the products that will be displayed at Techshare India 2008 are:

• Ergonomic Keyboard & Ergonomic Mice by Keyovation LLC
• Power wheel chair by Ostrich Mobility and Callidai Motor Works
• Screen Readers and many more
• Tools for Learning Disabilities

Come and learn easy Sign Language - Hello, Thank You, Welcome, Tea, etc at the experience zone!

Contact:
Pooja Nahata | Strategic Account Manager
BarrierBreak Technologies
India: +91 (22) 2686 0485/86
Cell: +91-98207 25102
Web: http://www.barrierbreak.com

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Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program

The Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society's Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program provides leadership training through applied research and professional mentorships for young scholar-practitioners in the nonprofit sector. The program is open to scholars and practitioners interested in building Third-Sector capacity in the United States and overseas. This year's Fellows will be selected from abroad and also from communities of color under-represented in the U.S. grantmaking sector. Fellows are based at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York, where they design and pursue an individualized research project and participate in a seminar with Third-Sector leaders

 

Fellows will participate in a 3-month seminar (Monday March 2 to Friday May 29, 2009) in the U.S. and international voluntary sectors. Fellows are expected to produce a 25-page research paper on their findings, which will be presented in the seminar. They will learn about the work of key agencies and meet with foundation and nonprofit representatives. They will also attend selected workshops or conferences.

 

Application materials for the Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program and Diversity Fellowship must be received no later than Thursday September 11, 2008. The selection will be made by a committee of leaders from the voluntary sector. Awards will be announced on or before Nowember 14, 2008.

More details at http://philanthropy.org/programs/intnl_fellows_program.html

 

Banking on Social Change: Seeking Financial Solutions for All

Enter Now • Collaborate • Nominate
Banking on Social Change: Seeking Financial Solutions for All
http://www.changemakers.net/competition/bankingonsocialchange/

Citi and Ashoka's Changemakers are looking for the best solutions where financial opportunity is possible for all. Entrants will find resources, including collaborative partners and potential investors.

The advent of new financing methods – from mobile banking to peer-to-peer lending – are changing the way we access, spend and save our money. "Banking on Social Change: Seeking Financial Solutions for All" aims to unearth the most innovative and cutting-edge methods that allow financial security to become a reality for everyone.

Enter before August 15th and be eligible to win an early entry prize of a camcorder and digital camera (equal value of $1000 US).

Competition closes on October 1, 2008.

http://www.changemakers.net/competition/bankingonsocialchange/

Pankhudi's Slum Children Teaching Activities at Delhi

Today I visited the Pankhudi Delhi Chapter's teaching activity at a slum near the New Friends Colony Area. Pankhudi has been teaching, conducting health camps, taking kids out for picnic, and doing various other activities with the kids at this slum for more than an year now.

The kids are currently being taught near the roadside with a lot of disturbance from the traffic. There is no shelter or boundary and hence passing people also tend to distract the kids.



Interested people can help in the teaching activity at Delhi in following ways:

1) Donate Stationary
You can donate stationary items like notebooks, pens, colours, sketchpens, etc. We are also in need of a whiteboard with stand. All this should not cost more than Rs.1000/-

2) Volunteer for teaching or other activities
The Pankhudi team visits the slum every Sunday for 2 hours in the morning. You can also be a part of the team and teach english, hindi, basic mathematics, drawing, and general knowledge among other social skills.

Please write to Naval (naval.chaudhary [at] gmail.com) or Reema (reema.govil [at]gmail.com) for donations or to be a part of the Pankhudi Delhi Team.