EQUALSHOT

strengthening the voice of the nonprofit community

Here's my latest piece on Western Sahara, published in On The Issues magazine:

When I was in college, I had a small book of questions meant to serve as conversation starters for social gatherings. There was one question in particular that I had no idea how to answer, and not having a response seemed to indicate some form of personal shortcoming in my young and idealistic mind: “Is there a cause for which you’d be willing to sacrifice your life?

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I wrote this entry for Huffington Post to call attention to my colleague, Aminatou Haidar, who is in the 3rd week of a hunger strike. Scroll to the end to take action & watch my Twitter account for updates. 

Say the words "hunger strike" and many will recall images of an
emaciated Mahatma Gandhi enduring several famous fasts to protest
British rule of India.

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It’s been nearly a decade since Kerry Kennedy and Eddie Adams released their coffee table book “Speak Truth to Power.” Fifty essays about human rights defenders and the torture and harassment they have endured does not seem like a likely topic for a book you’d want anywhere near your coffee table. But there are several reasons why you may want to go out and buy it (or at least check it out of the library)...

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The New York Times took a very creative step this week in commemorating the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. It’s a good lesson for all communicators in how to bring events of grand proportions down to a personal, meaningful level.

“Readers’ Moon Memories” is a slide show of 41 NYT readers’ photographs and a quote about what they were doing when astronauts first walked on the moon.

I first learned about it when my friend Deb sent me an e-mail excitedly announcing that her dad’s 1969 photo (pictured right) of her and her mom was front and center on the NYT site:

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Many non-profits struggle with their statement of the problem -- the line or two that encapsulates why, exactly, their intended audience should care that the organization exists.

Here's a brilliant example of a smart statement of the problem from the Asthma Free School Zone:

Imagine trying to catch your breath through a soda straw.

Now imagine learning to read at the same time.

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Earlier this year, 14 preschool children in my neighborhood were struck by a delivery van that jumped the curb while they were walking along a sidewalk with their teachers. Two children, Hayley Ng, 4, and Diego Martinez, 3, lost their lives that day. The twelve others were rushed to the hospital for evaluation --my friends’ son was one of them.

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