WorldShapers

women using the web to shape, influence & change their worlds

Women are helping to shape the world in many unique and creative ways.

And WorldShapers aren't just keeping it local, they are embracing the power of technology and social media to make a bigger difference, and shape their world.

Dream big, and start taking those small steps that will get you there. Worldshapers are women just like you and me.

Who are WorldShapers?

Amy JusselFounder/Executive Director of Shaping Youth USA

“Women have a unique ‘lens’ with which to view children’s socio-emotional health, understanding how pop culture is defining kids before they even have a chance to define themselves”…

What started as playground duty turned into a media movement and the birth of Shaping Youth. For 3 years I volunteered weekly at lunchtime, witnessing a living lab of a media/marketing saturated culture, impacting what kids eat, how they act, what they wear.

Was it me, or was there zero accountability in how these messages are landing on kids? Overt sexualization, consumerism, body image and behavioral cues became ‘cultural currency’ to elevate social status, right along with media devices themselves. The APA study validated my initial findings of the damage wreaking havoc on kids’ psyches, and I knew women would ‘get this’ immediately. So I started documenting the experience to lead change in this arena using film footage, my blog, hands-on counter-marketing games with kids and social media as a distribution channel.

Women have a unique ‘lens’ with which to view children’s socio-emotional health, understanding how pop culture is defining kids before they even have a chance to define themselves. And so the Shaping Youth community grew like the cornstalks in the ‘Field of Dreams’ movie, “If you build it, they will come,” as women expanded the conversation via Twitter, text, mobile/social using inclusiveness to roll forward with unstoppable momentum, much like the viral video ‘The Girl Effect.’

Women add fresh voices, new perspectives, solutions and ideas that bring along humanity, not just any one gender. I can’t wait to take it to the next level and begin a massive mind shift toward a brighter worldview for us all…Wanna help?

Amy JusselFounder/Executive Director of Shaping Youth USA

Amy Sample Ward Director of community and content at Netsquared and nonprofit consultant @amyrsward UK & US

“Online communities aren't just about finding people from high school. The new wave of online communities are focused on social issues, cause areas, and making social change.”

I am a nonprofit technology consultant and the Global Community Builder for NetSquared . I'm dedicated to supporting and educating the progressive social change sector about evolving technologies that cultivate and engage communities. 

The value of community is multiplied exponentially when moved online. With social technologies, we have the potential for communities to form anywhere online. Comments on a blog can turn into a discussion, then a topic of a new blog or wiki with many authors.  A Video on YouTube can inspire video, audio, and text responses from millions of others.  Online we are no longer bound by time and distance in the same way we are in offline communities

Online communities aren't just about finding people from high school. The new wave of online communities are focused on social issues, cause areas, and making social change.  There are applications, platforms, even specific social networks dedicated to providing ways to find others that care about similar issues, promoting opportunities to take action to friends, and sharing in the creation of calls to action with organizations.

The effect of this networked approach to social activism means that we can crowd source solutions to real social problems.  Anyone can post proposed solutions online and find collaborators, get feedback, and even find funding to put the idea into action.  By aligning communities around cause areas and leveraging our networks to take action, we empower all of our communities to come together; and together, to solve issues in unprecedented ways. 

Amy Sample Ward Director of community and content at Netsquared and nonprofit consultant @amyrsward UK & US

“I've had many moments when my thinking about the nature of learning - true learning - has been transformed, changed and transformed again. The members of this community give generously of their expertise - its a genuine gift-giving community, where people share their stories, their knowledge, and their time ”

Dr Angela A Thomas Author Youth Online,Sydney University @anyaixchel Australia

Throughout my career I have been involved in a number of research projects related to the use of virtual worlds for educational purposes. I have focused on the intersection of online role-playing, new media literacies, fan fiction, digital culture and issues of identity, the avatar and the body. Over the course of a seven year research project I studied young people's use of online communities and published a book "Youth Online: Identity and Literacy in the Digital Age”.

More recently I have been involved in research projects with adults set in the virtual world "Virtual Macbeth“ and the "Persephone" which used Secondlife to explore literary texts. My aim with each project has been to demonstrate how educators can use digital culture and social media to create stimulating and engaging experiences for a generation of young people who were born in a digital age. 

Being part of the wider educational community inside Second Life has offered me great opportunities to learn and grow as an educator. I've been inspired, motivated, and challenged by my colleagues there. I've had many moments when my thinking about the nature of learning - true learning - has been transformed, changed and transformed again.

The members of this community give generously of their expertise - its a genuine gift-giving community, where people share their stories, their knowledge, and their time - and out of this, great things, creative things, and a tremendous sense of accomplishment can grow. In turn for all of the fascinating things I have learned from others, my aim too is to share what I can with my community and give back what I can. I hope that my work interests and inspires others.

Dr Angela A Thomas Author Youth Online,Sydney University @anyaixchel Australia

“The use of a website, film, blogs, art exhibitions and engagement of people who are highly talented in these fields was the main reason for the success of the efforts - together they were able to use current communication platforms to engage women throughout Australia. Of course, it's always the generosity of people that makes amazing things happen!”

Anita Pahor, Australia

I have often marveled at how influential movies are, but I was often saddened that the shape of their influence could often be to desensitize the audience around issues such as violence, rape, abuse, etc.

When I was asked to develop a platform for Australian women to learn about poverty in India and some economically based solutions to it, I thought it might be interesting to make a film/documentary. I was humbled to find a director, co-producers and film crew that were as excited as I was about using film in this manner.

Anita Pahor, Australia

Before I knew it, we were in high profile Australian womens' homes filming them, asking their perspectives on global poverty and soon after that, we were following their adventure around India. A story emerged before our eyes and the feature length documentary In Her Footsteps was born. Over the year, this platform known as Women's Opportunity raised just shy of $1 million dollars for the development of microfinance initiatives.

I think the use of a website, film, blogs, art exhibitions and engagement of people who are highly talented in these fields (Karbon Productions, Jimmy Too Design,  Wonderwebby and others) was the main reason for the success of the efforts - together they were able to use current communication platforms to engage women throughout Australia. Of course, it's always the generosity of people that makes amazing things happen!

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Anita Pahor, Australia

“Across the world young people are making important contributions as world citizens, productive workers, entrepreneurs, consumers and agents of change”

Annie Le CavalierDirector Vibewire Youth Inc. @vibewire Australia

My journey with media & technology as a powerful tool for transformation started back in 2001 whilst working in Montreal, Canada, as an educator with marginalised youth. I was always looking for innovative ways to make learning fun and engaging. Whilst playing around on a Hi8 video camera one day, I noticed I immediately had everyone’s attention—a rare occurrence. The more I used the camera, the more dynamic and constructive our sessions became. Spelling bee turned into beats and rhymes, poetry turned into improv theatre, and home economics turned into episodes of Ready, Steady, Cook.

During this time I also conceived and implemented a community portal for the kids at a time when Drupal was just starting up. The aim of my work was always to provide opportunities and platforms for them to shine; to tell their stories; to showcase their brilliance and consequently to impact their self-esteem and build confidence.

My current work at Vibewire here in Australia, is no different. Vibewire exists to support young people to shape their world through social and creative expression & entrepreneurship. Vibewire acknowledges that across the world young people are making important contributions as world citizens, productive workers, entrepreneurs, consumers and agents of change.

We are dedicated to encouraging and stimulating an entrepreneurial spirit by unlocking the talents, imagination and creativity of youth as drivers of change, addressing important economic, environmental and social issues within their communities.

Annie Le CavalierDirector Vibewire Youth Inc. @vibewire Australia

Daphne NederhorstFounder and Executive Director of SAWA Canada

“We use digital story telling in a new way. A way where the unsung heroes in the world’s poorest countries can showcase their innovative solutions to solve extreme poverty to a global audience via video and web tools. These heroes, individuals, have changed million of lives and protected hundreds of thousands areas of natural habitat. Sawa Heroes hold valuable lessons for all of humanity”

I started SAWA Global because I had a dream to find exceptional unsung grassroots leaders (SAWA Heroes) from the world’s poorest countries that have found innovative local solutions to global challenges.

By empowering them to use simple video and web technology I thought they could showcase their successes to a global community and gain access to their own global mentors (SAWA Mentors). SAWA has now been running for almost two years with over 300 volunteers and works in 60 countries worldwide.

SAWA’s Dream is to connect millions of SAWA Heroes from the world’s 50 poorest countries to a global audience for direct virtual mentorship and connect millions of people around to world to work together with these local heroes to solve the world’s urgent challenges.

We use digital story telling in a new way. A way where the unsung heroes (SAWA Heroes)  in the world’s poorest countries can showcase their innovative solutions to solve extreme poverty to a global audience via video and web tools. These heroes, individuals, have changed million of lives and protected hundreds of thousands areas of natural habitat. Sawa Heroes hold valuable lessons for all of humanityDaphne NederhorstFounder and Executive Director of SAWA Canada

Debra Askanase, CEO, Community Organizer 2.0. Social Media for Non Profits @askdebra Jerusalem

“With new applications and developments every day, the social web offers unlimited potential and power to change our world for the better.”

I am a Community Organizer at heart. While I spent many years working in nonprofit organizations, I never strayed far from my roots as a community organizer. In every position, from Program Director to Executive Director, I incorporated the basic elements of community organizing:

listen to your stakeholders, ask them what they want, engage them, organize them, and learn from every single stakeholder. Then, bring them together to create real change. That is the power of community.

When I began to realize exactly what social media is - a platform for worldwide conversation and participation - I immediately saw the connection to community organizing. I founded Community Organizer 2.0, a social media strategy firm, to unlock the potential of social media for even the smallest nonprofit organization. With new applications and developments every day, the social web offers unlimited potential and power to change our world for the better.

Today, I'm still a community organizer, but in a digital world. It is my pleasure and honor to work with nonprofits to find, listen to, engage with, learn from, and and harness the power of stakeholders in the global era, through the platforms of social media. This is the power of community today.

Debra Askanase, CEO, Community Organizer 2.0. Social Media for Non Profits @askdebra Jerusalem

“We are discovering how visual language can work on the web with new visualization technologies”

Eileen Clegg Founder of Visual Insight @eileenclegg USA

Jyl Johnson Pattee Co-Founder of Mom It Forward @jylMomIF USA

“What started with some online buzz in various social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and on our blog, extended offline to fundraising events.

The result? People everywhere, raised money and awareness for a micro lending organization in Kenya to the tune of $15,000 while nearly tripling the traffic to its website”

In September 2008, I got on Twitter with a few blogging friends. We were all newbies and wanted to learn the Twitter ropes together. What started as a tutorial-based girl’s night out with four women turned into a weekly ritual with up to 500 party goers. In the beginning, I loved the tangential chit and chat nature of the events. But after seeing the growing community, I found myself wanting to do more and connect with women in different, more meaningful ways. In November, we had our first fundraiser—a virtual food drive for feedingamerica.org

The results were tremendous and we noticed a passion and excitement for the concept of connecting online over something as simple, yet as powerful as charity. That was when momitforward.com was born - a social-media driven community committed to changing the world one mom at a time. We recognize that change starts within and therefore, we are dedicated to the improvement of moms in all aspects of their lives—self, their families, and the communities in which they live. 

.  The influence women have is amazing. Recently, we ran a fundraiser to help fight poverty in Kenya. What started with some online buzz in various social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and on our blog, extended offline to fundraising events.

The result? People everywhere, raised money and awareness for a micro lending organization in Kenya to the tune of $15,000 while nearly tripling the traffic to its website. The generosity of more than 300 financial contributors and teams all over the U.S. is astounding and shows me that with passion, buzz, and a giving heart, we truly can change the world!

Jyl Johnson Pattee Co-Founder of Mom It Forward @jylMomIF USA

Karen Maunu, Associate Executive Director, Love Without Boundaries Foundation @karenmaunu_lwb USA

“Moms can make a huge difference because they care so deeply about children and families; almost all our volunteers are women and moms.  Our foundation was started by a mom who went back to her daughter’s orphanage and found a child dying of heart disease.  From that first visit 6 years ago, we are now helping over 1,500 children a year, many of these now adopted into families”

I volunteer full-time for an all volunteer nonprofit that helps children in China. We have over 140 volunteers all around the world. Because we are a virtual foundation, technology is how we are able to efficiently work together. Social media is how we keep our loyal followers up to date on the children in our programs.

We have learned that moms can make a huge difference because they care so deeply about children and families; almost all our volunteers are women and moms. Our foundation was started by a mom who went back to her daughter’s orphanage and found a child dying of heart disease.

From that first visit 6 years ago, we are now helping over 1,500 children a year, many who are then adopted into families. Through education, we are working to change attitudes both in the US and in China regarding children with special needs.

Our goal is to empower local citizens in China to help children in their communities. Placing special needs children into foster care families changes preconceived ideas. In addition, we also provide medical care to children in the rural countryside. We found that helping these poorest of families actually can prevent orphans.

Karen Maunu, Associate Executive Director, Love Without Boundaries Foundation @karenmaunu_lwb USA

Lucky Chhetri, Founder, Empowering Women of Nepal - EWN Nepal

“The international support for this movement has been overwhelming and has been accelerated by media coverage and through the internet. The involvement of women in trekking, a profession traditionally dominated by men, is helping to push the boundary of gender equality and inclusion”

Empowering Women of Nepal (EWN) was founded with my two sisters Dicky and Nicky Chhetri. This NGO’s primary goal is to improve the lives of disadvantaged women in Nepal and it seeks to offer empowerment for women through the involvement with the trekking industry.

Each year we train a new generation of highly skilled and qualified women trekking guides who have opportunities for fair employment and self-sufficiency, which also impacts the development and the social evolution of communities within Nepal.

The international support for this movement has been overwhelming and has been accelerated by media coverage and through the internet. The involvement of women in trekking, a profession traditionally dominated by men, is helping to push the boundary of gender equality and inclusion.

Providing the opportunity for women to pursue skilled jobs over the laborious tasks traditionally assigned to them helps to create a society in which women are not only depended on for essential survival, but also a community in which women are valued. Lucky Chhetri, Founder, Empowering Women of Nepal - EWN Nepal

Marigo Raftopolous - Management Consultant, Serious Games evangelist @marigo Australia

“Thanks to technology, winning hearts and minds is now easier as it has powered sharing and collaboration on a mass scale.”

Making a difference in our world starts with passion and passion is the precursor to winning hearts and minds to inspire change. Thanks to technology, winning hearts and minds is now easier as it has powered sharing and collaboration on a mass scale. So as long as we are passionate about our world in our own hearts, we all have the tools to make a difference.

My consulting business revolves around knowledge capture, capability building and inspiring action. And these are the same tools we can all use to reshape our worlds to overcome poverty and social injustice. My current focus is on the development of serious games and e-learning tools on sustainability and human rights issues. Much of the recent progress that I have made in this space can be directly attributed to the exponential growth in my connections to thought leaders through blogging, Twitter and social and professional networks.

However despite my love of technology and social media, I still get a buzz out of receiving a letter from one of the children I sponsor from India, Bangladesh or Ethiopia. Light-weight paper envelopes arrive in my letterbox, battered from traveling from the other side of the world, laden with a row of mysterious colorful stamps and with handwriting scrawled by a hand unfamiliar with our language.

One day these children will be sending me an email, SMS, video, podcast or will meet with me in a virtual world. But until then I’m treasuring these tactile treats from the past.

Marigo Raftopolous - Management Consultant, Serious Games evangelist @marigo Australia

Nancy White Founder, Full Circle Associates @NancyWhite USA

“Together we understand more. We stand strong. We hold each other up when all else feels hopeless or we fear we will never be heard.

Women have been at the forefront of community. They have been the waves of change, flowing over the rocks of challenge and organizational inertia.”

Over the years I have been involved in an amazing array of online gatherings where women, coming together online have catalyzed change by sharing ideas, solving problems and supporting each other. In each of these cases, the connection of women ACROSS diverse contexts has been elemental.

The March of Dimes Share Your Story community is a nexus of support and learning for parents who have or have had a child in the neonatal intensive care unit. An ongoing set of women have fostered connections, soothed grieving hearts and sifted through information to give a parent the bit that they need "right now." The network is cemented together by their unique experiences parenting or losing a very sick newborn baby. No one else understands the way they do, and it is only through finding and 'being with each other" electronically can this community be more and do more than any one family could ever do.

Across the globe, women in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research care about and attend to not only how we feed the world, but about the role of women in agriculture to produce food for their families. Seeking to increase the diversity of its researchers and scientists, and to keep a focus on the unique issues of gender in international agricultural research, these women organize online events to connect across their disciplines and geography, creating consultations and deeper understanding of the role of gender, of each others’ work and each other as resources. By weaving their network online, they can see the larger tapestry and their threads in that fabric.

Together we understand more. We stand strong. We hold each other up when all else feels hopeless or we fear we will never be heard. Women have been at the forefront of community. They have been the waves of change, flowing over the rocks of challenge and organizational inertia. I am grateful to be a steward of some of these conversations. These women have been been my teachers.Nancy White Founder, Full Circle Associates @NancyWhite USA

Phaedra BoinidirisCEO and Co-Founder of WomenGamers.com USA

“Games was what pulled my sister and I into the tech world. There was something escapist, compelling, creative about games. We decided to design our own- spending hours and hours learning Basic, learning fundamental design”

Of course women play games! As silly as it sounds, when we launched WomenGamers.com 10 years ago, half our mail had the subject line “Women don’t play games”. My parents, being technophile IBMers, had computers and consoles all over our home, stuffed full of the earliest videogames available on the market.

Games was what pulled my sister and I into the tech world. There was something escapist, compelling, creative about games. We decided to design our own- spending hours and hours learning Basic, learning fundamental design. To play the latest games, we needed to know our computer’s limitations inside and out. We started community MUDS, joined guilds, blogging before there were blogs.

When we were in our 20s, we decided to start the portal dedicated to women who play games knowing that there were others like us, disenfranchised, disconnected. More emails: “If you don’t like the games men make, why don’t you make them yourselves!” A nugget of truth in the words- so we started the first scholarship for women to pursue degrees in game design and development.

And now that Nintendo has taken a public stance embracing women back into their marketing fold, we turn to 'serious games' as a way to engage, train, teach the next generation…never forgetting their allure, their power.

Phaedra BoinidirisCEO and Co-Founder of WomenGamers.com USA

Sandy Skees, President and Founderwww.communications4good.com @sandyskees USA

. “It's time to restore the planet's bounty and create well-being for everyone knowing that we are all connected, dependent upon and truly invested in each other”

Women are consensus builders, collaborators and conciliators whose skills at team building and cooperative problem-solving are the skills our fractured world needs.   We can bring people  together to leverage technology as we re-image every aspect of our planet and its social structures.  

The time has come to see technology as a means to an end rather than the end itself.  It's time to restore the planet's bounty and create well-being for everyone knowing that we are all connected, dependent upon and truly invested in each other.

Sandy Skees, President and Founderwww.communications4good.com @sandyskees USA

Stacey Monk CEO and Co-Founder Epic Change @staceymonk USA

“Loan capital has been raised primarily online from nearly 1000 donors, most notably TweetsGiving, which raised over $11,000 in 48 hours from the Twitter community. 

The funds raised from TweetsGiving have now built a classroom in Tanzania where the Twitter handles of donors are painted on the walls.”

I was inspired to create Epic Change by "Mama Lucy" Kamptoni, a Tanzanian woman who used income from selling chickens and eggs to build a school in her village.  When we met, I wondered what might be possible if her hope and hard work were connected with the financial resources she needed, and whether her inspirational story, and others she shared from her community, might be assets she could use to fund her efforts. 

From these ideas, Epic Change was born.  We make interest-free loans to grassroots changemakers like Mama Lucy, then help them share their “epic” stories of hope in ways that generate income for repayment so that loans may be paid forward to create “change” in communities across the globe. 

So far, Epic Change has loaned nearly $70,000 on our prototype project to expand Mama Lucy’s school.  As a direct result, the student population has tripled to over 300 children and the school recently ranked #1 of 117 schools in Arusha on national exams.

Loan capital has been raised primarily online from nearly 1000 donors, most notably TweetsGiving, which raised over $11,000 in 48 hours from the Twitter community.  The funds raised from TweetsGiving have now built a classroom in Tanzania where the Twitter handles of donors are painted on the walls.

Stacey Monk CEO and Co-Founder Epic Change @staceymonk USA

You can make a difference too

Follow the links in this ebook to check out the projects that speak to you, where you feel a sense of connection, to learn more. Connect up with other worldshapers on Twitter. Tweet or blog about the things that inspired you in this ebook #worldshapers.

How have these stories changed the way you think, feel, act? Start doodling and sharing your ideas for your own world shaping project.

This ebook has been created using a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute or use content for non commercial purposes by crediting the original content. Please credit and link to this ebook if you republish any of the content.

In the interest of the environment, if you need to print this ebook please consider only printing the page you need.

WorldShapers is a Wonderwebby project originally created for Opportunity International Australia

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