Support The Adventure Project

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Support The Adventure Project

December 6th, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 3 Comments »

It’s always a telling sign when my favorite friends are suddenly all telling me that I simply have to meet someone because we’re from the same cloth and we’re destined to know one another. That is what happened with me and Becky Straw this fall. And honestly, everyone was right. We have tons of friends, passions and travel experiences in common and Becky instantly become a woman I not only wanted to be friends with but great admired. Soon it was my turn to be telling people about Becky and her new nonprofit, The Adventure Project. I’m proudly on the host committee for tonight’s Join our Nice List: A Celebration of Global Entrepreneurship honoring The Adventure Project and invited Becky to share her story of how The Adventure Project came to be and what we all can do to help.

If you’re in New York tonight, come on out and join us (RSVP here). For everyone else, consider making a $20 donation to buy a cookstove or shopping in their online store.

And now, Becky’s story.

*****

“People will tell you that it can’t be done. And you know what? They’re wrong. Nothing is ever impossible,” Gayle said matter-of-factly, before finishing off her glass of wine.

I admit I have ambitious dreams, but Gayle’s statements are not what I usually hear at happy hour. I was sitting in the clubroom at The Sheraton in Times Square, surrounded by five phenomenal women. Gayle Lemmon was speaking at the TEDxWomen conference in two days, and her friends gathered around her hotel room to hear her practice.

Gayle’s book, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, has recently become a New York Times bestseller, chronicling a young heroine working as a successful entrepreneur under the Taliban. I had been invited because my nonprofit, The Adventure Project, works with female entrepreneurs around the world.
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Highlights from the 2011 WIE Symposium

October 3rd, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. No Comments »

I was so honored to be invited to the recent WIE Symposium that took place in NYC during what is becoming known as Social Good week – a week that includes the UN Open Plenary, CGI, Social Good Summit and the dozens of events that surround those conferences. I attended the “Inspiration Day” which started with a breakfast for the White Ribbon Alliance and continued with talks and panels throughout the day.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the day:

“It’s the we not the me that makes a difference in the world.” – Donna Karan #WIE2011

“Don’t worry about falling on your face, at least it’s a forward movement.” – Pat Mitchell of @paleycenter #WIE2011

“We need to mentor women in all stages of our careers. I take a meeting with any young woman who asks for that 15 min.” - @hilaryr#wie2011

“The world is in chaos & we have to create the calm within the chaos.” – Donna Karan @Urban_Zen #WIE2011

“It’s not enough that I have my health, my children’s health. I want every woman to have choices & options.” - @CTurlington #wie2011

“Women aren’t dying because we can’t treat them but because society hasn’t yet made a decision they’re worth saving.” – M. Fatullah #WIE2011

“You must know your power and the difference you can make.” -@NancyPelosi #WIE2011
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Why White Ribbon Alliance?

October 2nd, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 1 Comment »

“If we can fix things for mothers – and we can – we can fix so many other things that are wrong in the world. Women are at the heart of every family, every nation. It’s mostly mothers who make sure children are loved, fed, vaccinated, educated. You just can’t build healthy, peaceful, prosperous societies without making life better for girls and women.” – Sarah Brown, Global Patron, White Ribbon Alliance. From White Ribbon Alliance Atlast of Birth.

I first came across the White Ribbon Alliance at the World Economic Forum in 2010. I met their founder and was moved by not only her stories about women in the developing world but her hard facts about maternal healths and the truth about what is happening in many parts of the world today where little to no care is given to women giving birth and the very real mortality rate for mothers and newborns.

I have been a supporter ever since. Those who know me often say I’m a “cause filter” because I look very carefully at organizations, what they do, what their intentions are and where they are spending their money. I proudly support WRA because they are making a real impact, with powerful campaigns, partners on the ground and patrons around the world all working towards the same goal – to reduce mother and newborn mortality around the world.
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11 Things Learned at Beyond Cause Marketing on How to Build Public/Private Partnerships

September 19th, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 4 Comments »

On Friday I attended the second annual Beyond Cause Marketing in Boston. Produced by Scott Henderson and the good folks at CauseShift and hosted by Microsoft’s NERD Center, it was a jam-packed opportunity to meet and mix with 60 of the best practitioners in a wide variety of fields including PR, communications, marketing, nonprofits, corporations, government and media. You can see more of the live action, tweets and updates by looking up #BeyondCM.

The theme of the day is the essence of what Beyond Cause Marketing is all about. What happens when you take money off the table? What happens when you go beyond just marketing and really talk about what it takes to move the needle forward. I kept remembering a quote from former President Clinton that says we are meant to leave the next generation with a new set of problems to solve, not leave them our same issues and problems (paraphrased).

It started with a conversation gauntlet led by Brian Reich (author of Shift and Reset: Strategies for Addressing Serious Issues in a Connected Society). This was one of the best innovations in conference-land I’ve seen in a long time. Experts in the field sat in a hot-seat and talked about what they see and experience in the field. The gauntlet included two of my all-time favorites, Robbie Vitrano of Naked Pizza and Becca Colbaugh of JESS3.

I was asked to attend to lead a breakout session where we gathered a small group of attendees to talk about one issue ranging from hackathons to gaming for good and digital storytelling. Other session leads included Joe Waters – who just released Cause Marketing For Dummies (For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback))- if you haven’t read it you should!

I led a session on public and private partnerships. We outlined 11 keys tips for building a social contract. Think of these as a check-list that you use when looking to build a partnership of any kind. They all don’t have to be used – but the more of them you can incorporate, the better and stronger the partnership.

1. Buy-in from all partners. This can include government, corporate and nonprofit.

2. Identify responsibilities and goals. Who is doing what and how much clarity can you get on this before you start?

3. Do your research. All sides have a responsibility to know who they are doing business with. Do background checks, be prudent in who you partner with.

4. Create a contract of expectations. This is different from a scope of work or a contract. This is something all parties create that outlines what they expect from the partnership and what both sides are going to do to get there.

5. Leverage Resources. Leave nothing on the table.

6. Avoid silos. Collective impact will, by definition, have the most impact. Don’t think you can operate alone – you can’t.

7. Be tactical on timing. Double the money and double the time it’s going to take to build/launch.

8. Hook ‘em. What is the partnership going to do to hook the audience? Don’t forget the PR when you’re building a program. People need to know what you’re doing to support it and tell others.

9. Define measurable goals. The goals can change, but outline them when you start. Don’t be afraid to be bold. Really push for what you want this partnership to accomplish.

10. Reassess the impact of the program. If you’re going to take a partnership to year 2 or year 3, you have to take your measurable goals and align them with the objectives and really look at what you’re looking to do in future years. Critical for all sides to do this – first separately and then together as a team.

11. Take an agile approach. Launch and then reconfigure. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect at launch – often it can’t be – because you have to see the partnership in practice to really know what is going on and that you’re hitting all of your targets, goals and objectives.

This isn’t all of it – but it’s a great start and a lot to chew on. Huge thank you to Scott and his team for providing the atmosphere to engage in this conversation with my peers and stretch my way of thinking about programs from the agency, brand and nonprofit side.

What do you look for when building partnerships?

Join Me In Miami Next Week During Sustainatopia

March 31st, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. No Comments »

More than 300 speakers from 40-plus nations will participate in the second annual Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference and two conferences within a conference: Sustainable Haiti and Media2Movements, organized by Ashoka. They take place April 4-6 at the Miami Beach Convention Center as part of Sustainatopia , a gathering of social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders.

I’ll be speaking at two of them and, to kick off the first, my colleague from SocialBrite, JD Lasica, will present a social media bootcamp — please check it out: Move the Needle! How to Mobilize Your Supporters to Take Action. (Email us for a 15% discount code.)

See the agenda. We hope you’ll come on down!

Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference is the largest annual impact investment conference on the East Coast of the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. Sustainable Haiti is the largest economic development conference in the world for Haiti, with more than 100 speakers and 40-plus panels over three days.

Sustainatopia Honors: Awards for social good

JD and I will also be on hand at Sustainatopia Honors 2011 presented by Plum TV, an awards ceremony and celebration for those doing social good through impact investing and sustainability. It takes place the evening of April 3 at the swank new Frank Gehry/New World Center.

Honorees include Maria Bello, Selita Ebanks, Romero Britto, Michael Capponi, Americas Business Council Foundation and others. Special guests for the evening include actress Patricia Arquette and musician Tico Torres of Bon Jovi.

Some 60 individual events comprise Sustainatopia Miami, including film, art, music, eco-fashion, food, design and parties taking place on the weekend before start of the impact investment conferences. Sustainatopia will bring together thousands of individuals from over 50 countries, all seeking to make a profound difference and help push the world toward a more sustainable path.

Please share this with any friends who will be in Miami next week! Stay tuned for updates on the conference and the bootcamp.