Fresh Cut profiles the nonprofit educational organization Minds Matter of Chicago. They’re working hard to make the dream of college a reality for low-income high school students.

Last week President Obama (I still love saying that) announced plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by August 2010. But what about the millions of Iraqis who have been displaced as a result of the war? 1 in 5 Iraqis have been uprooted by violence in their homeland. Many have fled to Syria, and their situation is growing increasingly desperate.

In response to these recent developments, Refugees International has launched a new campaign urging President Obama to do more to help Iraqi refugees.

The campaign features a petition urging the Obama administration to:

1. Assist Iraqi refugees.
2. Ensure a safe, voluntary return home when possible.
3. Pressure Iraq to meet its responsibilities to its own people.
4. Increase resettlement for those who can’t go home.

Supporters can sign the petition here: http://www.refugeesinternational.org/iraq

The campaign also features two candid videos about the lives of Iraqi refugees in Syria:

The View From Syria

Khaled’s Story

This month I had the pleasure of attending Fem2.0 in Washington, D.C. representing See3 Communications. It was a great chance to meet up with my fellow Change.org Women’s Rights bloggers Loryn Wilson and Jen Nedeau:

Here’s an excerpt from my longer post about the conference on the See3 blog,

What I liked most about the conference was the diversity of people that attended. It was a great mix of races, genders, ages and because the conference was focused on organizing women online and off, there were techy and non-techy people present.

A major theme that came out of the conference was bridging the gap between old and new activists and using technology to engage the younger audience. Jen Nedeau, my fellow Women’s Rights blogger at Change.org, moderated the panel, “At the Crossroads: Organizing the Next Generation of Feminists Online and Off”. She emphasized in her presentation that young activists need to be engaged where they live online with customizable options to participate.

Here’s a video that Nerdette from NotMyGal filmed of that panel (yup, that’s me listening in the background):

-Dorothee

It’s finally that time of year again! Starting today, video submissions are being accepted for the 3rd Annual DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards, co-sponsored by The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) and See3 Communications. Nonprofit organizations and foundations are encouraged to submit their videos at www.dogooder.tv/contest2009!

This year’s theme, “Everyone’s Doing It”, is meant to include submissions of all shapes and sizes, from organizational vlogs, to staff-produced web clips, to high-end, professionally produced videos.

According to Michael Hoffman, CEO of See3 Communications, “2008 was a great year for video, and we continue to see incredible growth each year in the number of nonprofits using video. With camera and equipment costs down, organizations have nothing holding them back from using video as a communications tool. We’ve seen some really innovative, powerful videos this year, and we hope the DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards will highlight that.”

Last year, more than 160 entries were received from over 100 nonprofit organizations. The top winning videos were from the Humane Society of the United States, Greenpeace International, and the Center for Constitution Rights. The winning videos receive thousands of views and publicity online and offline.

Video submissions will be accepted until March 26, when a panel of judges will select the finalists in each category. The public voting period will open on April 7 and end on April 26. The winners will be announced at NTEN’s annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in San Francisco, which takes place April 26-28, 2009. Winners will be featured on The Nonprofit Times website.

You can register for the NTC at www.nten.org/ntc.

No matter where you learned about “the birds and the bees”, there may be things you don’t know about your reproductive rights here in America. For example, did you know that insurance companies in about half of our states aren’t required to cover the cost of birth control? Yeah, it’s true.

NARAL Pro-Choice just released this funny video as part of their free.will.power. initiative. Take a look, some of the facts may shock you.

From the YouTube description:

So what does American know about reproductive rights? We sent lady liberty to find out! Take the free.will.power. quiz to test your IQ on topics like birth control, sex education and health. Take the quiz at myfreewillpower.

NARAL Pro-Choice America’s new free.will.power initiative is definitely one of the most innovative and creative campaigns to come out of the pro-choice movement. In an effort to reach out to a new generation of activists, NARAL has turned to web video and social-networking to spread awareness of reproductive rights. And they’re doing it with STYLE.

The campaign has released three videos featuring young spoken word artists Shira Erlichmann, Alvin Lau and Deja Taylor as well as music by DJ Spooky. The free.will.power website also features a quiz, interactive map and t-shirt contest (winning prize is a 1,000 bucks people!)

The thing I like about the videos is that they all go together but each have a different flavor:

Free.

Will.

Power.

This just in from BUST, where I’m honored to be a guest contributor. (Check out the second video for a cameo by yours truly.)

If you’re like most women who grew up post-Title IX, you probably had some pretty good opportunities to play sports in high school and college. However, Title IX is still a controversial issue as many people believe boy’s sports suffer from the policy of ensuring equal resources for athletes of both genders.

The fact is, in many schools around the country, girls still have less equipment, fewer teams, inferior facilities or less time dedicated to their sports teams than boys. A recent survey by the WNBA and Seventeen Magazine revealed that 35% of girls say their teams don’t get as much equipment or field time as the boys’ teams.

The Women’s Sports Foundation is working to level the playing field by reaching out to parents and coaches as well as young athletes. Founded in 1974 by Billie Jean King, the Women’s Sports Foundation is a national educational organization dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through physical activity.

Here’s a video they recently released as part of their Vis4Victory campaign to educate parents and coaches about Title IX:

More girls than ever are playing sports, but many girls still feel that their schools aren’t treating them fairly. Are you one of them?

Check out this goofy Ferris Bueller spoof (starring yours truly as Sloan!) This election day–why not take the day off for a change? Your help is needed across the country to make sure we get the change we need. Go to barackobama.com/taketheday to find out all you need to know.

And of course, don’t forget to vote!

Sarah Palin is a woman, so she’s probably the best candidate for women, right? WAY wrong.

If McCain and Palin win, Women Lose.

Eleanor Smeal, President of Feminist Majority, says, “Obama/Biden are running on the strongest platform for women’s rights of any major party in U.S. history”.

That’s why Feminist Majority launched www.FeministsForObama.org, a side-by-side comparison of the Democratic and Republican nominees on four major women’s issues: Violence Against Women, Abortion and Contraception, Women and Work, and Breast Cancer and Health Care.

To reach as many people as possible, Feminist Majority created three striking PSAs that illuminate some of the grave truths about the McCain/Palin record on women’s issues.

One in Six
“Under Sarah Palin, rape survivors were forced to pay up to $1200 for rape evidence collection kits.”

Unholy Trinity
“John McCain voted against funding to fight and prevent domestic violence”

Violation
“John McCain and Sarah Palin are running on a platform that seeks to outlaw a woman’s right to an abortion even in cases of rape and incest.”

McCain on Breast Cancer

McCain voted against funding breast cancer research if it meant taking away from military funds. Breast cancer affects all women, even the 370,000 women currently serving in the US Armed Forces. Since breast cancer attacks 1 in 8 women, that means 46,250 members of the US military will deal with breast cancer. And John McCain voted NO.

McCain on Violence Against Women

Senators Obama and Biden have sponsored and supported legislation, including funding, to reduce violence against women and to assist women survivors of domestic abuse. Biden authored the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Obama cosponsored the reauthorization of VAWA and authored legislation on violence against women as an Illinois State Senator.

Not only did McCain vote NO on VAWA, but he also failed to co-sponsor VAWA reauthorization although many Republican and Conservative Senators did.

Quick Facts

Did you know Senator McCain voted against establishing the Army’s Breast Cancer Research Program? This program, which started modestly, appropriated hundreds of millions to Breast Cancer research.

Did you know Senator McCain opposes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act? The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would restore a woman’s right to fight pay discrimination in court.

Did you know Senator McCain has ducked questions on contraceptive insurance discrimination as recently as July 2008?

Visit www.FeministsForObama.org to read more.

With the recent economic crisis and rising cost of living, times are tough for people living in the U.S. But not as tough as for those people around the world who live on one dollar a day or less.

This October, communities around the nation will be screening films from the Dollar A Day film series released by globaldevelopmentmatters.org to raise awareness about global poverty. This set of documentary films address big issues in global development like HIV/AIDs, microcredit loans and global trade from a very personal perspective. Right now it’s critical to have an understanding of the connection between global development and U.S. political choices as we make decisions on the eve of the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Start a conversation in your community by hosting a screening at your:
* Home
* Local library
* School
* Nearby community center
* Place of worship

It’s easy, just visit globaldevelopmentmatters.org to register your screening, download discussion guides and print invitations. If you document your event, you could even win a Flip Video Camera!

Some groups have decided to host the screening on or around October 15th in honor of Blog Action Day, which is centered on global poverty this year. Check out the Chicago Blog Action Day Party which will be screening “The New Silver: Microcredit”

Here’s the trailer:

Microcredit – How do you solve a problem like Maria’s?
Meet Maria. She dreams of starting her own business to make a better life for her family. From one of the poorest areas of Bolivia with a husband too sick to work, Maria faces a deck stacked against her. How do you solve a problem like Maria’s? Microcredit loans may be one answer to help her get on her way.