Social Media and Human Rights

Here's the presentation I gave at the Unsummit in Minneapolis this October. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Social Media and Human Rights

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And here's the video from the presentation in case you are interested in learning more about the New Tactics in Human Rights program.

Soccer as Inspiration

Today I got an email from a friend of a friend in Washington, DC. He's working for Street Soccer USA. Street Soccer USA (SSUSA) creates grassroots soccer programs around the US to help the homeless and impoverished realize their dreams and goals. They have teams in numerous US cities, including Minneapolis. The program is an offshoot of HELP USA, a national not-for-profit organization with a mission to empower the homeless and others in need to become and remain self-reliant.

In addition, SSUSA is the official US partner of the Homeless World Cup. And, it looks like I will be going to DC for the Homeless USA Cup:
"As the official US partner of the Homeless World Cup, each year SSUSA host the Homeless USA Cup, where inner city street soccer teams and social service agencies compete for the US Cup. In addition the homeless have the opportunity to be selected to represent the US National Team that represents the US at the Homeless World Cup tournament."

They have a blog with news from each team and their preparation for the Homeless USA Cup.

As a soccer fan and a person interested in human rights, this program sounds really cool! I'm looking forward to becoming involved in the organization.

Update on my volunteer work for CVT

So, a lot of people have been asking me about my post about volunteer work and wanted a follow-up to how things stand. Here's my best attempt though it will be brief.

Last Monday I went to the Center of Victims of Torture to discuss which volunteer opportunities would be the best fit both in terms of my interests and their needs. It was a great meeting and I'm really excited. The first step is going to be a lunch meeting next Friday between myself and their new Director of Communications.

In addition, they offered me some opportunities working with CVT's International Capacity Building project which works with 16 treatment centers throughout the world to expand their capacity to provide high-quality services to torture survivors; their International Services projects, primarily the New Tactics in Human Rights Project which uses an interactive social network to help human rights practitioners discuss tactics that are working or not working in the field; and, the Cambodia-Trauma Healing Initiative project which works closely with the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization of Cambodia and is close to my heart since I have a friend working for the prosecutor at the Khmer Rouge Tribunals.

I'm extremely excited about all the options and for the chance to combine my various skills into something that could be beneficial.

And, yet again I circle

Lately, I've been giving a lot of thought to the potential different directions my life can take. While this is something that is very common for me, I'm finding that my two main career interests appear to be circling each other again.

When I was back in New England for vacation, I met someone who got me thinking again about how important it is to do work that you find meaningful. The conversations both with him the night I met him and through email afterward made me start to question... How do I reconnect my background in human rights and international conflict resolution with my current work both as a designer and as a professional in the advertising and public relations field? Is there a way to do it without completely closing one of the doors?

I'm not sure what the answer is. One thing I have been considering is volunteer work. While that sounds a little insane with my current schedule of working a full time job, taking classes in art direction four nights a week, working on projects outside of class and attempting to sleep or occasionally go to the gym, I really think it might be something that is necessary for me to do. With that being said, I started looking into places in the Twin Cities that could be a good fit for my interests and with their needs. The solution, as of now, is the Center for Victims of Torture.

I applied to be a volunteer so now it's just wait and see if they want my help and what kind of help they want. And, of course, continuing to think about options to reconnect my interests.