Awesome Foundation - Projects

Nairobi (Inactive) – URFREEWORLD

2015-02-28T00:00:00Z

URFREEWORLD is a project to build a platform that will provide employment opportunities to persons living with disability. The project aims at creating an online workplace specifically dedicated to providing virtual job opportunities to youth and people who are differently abled. There are a lot of challenges when it comes to acquiring employment. The labour market is flooded by people looking for work all year round, yet there is not sufficient employment opportunities. For people living with disability there is a double challenge; they are at times discriminated against due to the stigma and negative stereotypes that rule out persons living with disability as not being able to work and perform the expected duties. They are therefore denied employment opportunities living them with no income and they have to depend on families and friends for survival. This leaves them hopeless and vulnerable to greater extents. URFREEWOLRD will seek to provide online jobs such as; data entry, content writing, transcribing, SEO among other. The project will outsource services from major freelancing marketplaces all over the world and entrust them to people living with disability who will work on them and then get paid.

Moscow (Inactive) – БиоТурнир

2015-02-28T00:00:00Z

БиоТурнир - это первый в России конкурс для студентов естественно научных специальностей. БиоТурнир впервые был проведен в 2014 году группой молодых ученых и аспирантов подмосковного академгородка Пущино. Студенты объединяются в команды и решают предлагаемые задачи. Каждая задача является уникальной и не решенной на данный момент, это может быть и вопрос о последствиях генных модификаций и вопрос о предотвращении распространения эпидемий, все задачи предлагаются научными сотрудниками Пущинского научного центра. Сам БиоТурнир проходит в игровой форме, которая позволяет приблизиться к решению каждой представленной проблемы. Обсуждение проходит в формате Докладчик, Оппонент, Рецензент, при чем каждая команда за время Турнира выступает в каждой из этих ролей. Функции БИОТУРНИРА: 1) Объединяющая. На основе увлечения биологией и смежными науками БИОТУРНИР 2014 собрал более 50 студентов естественно-научных специальностей из 10 ВУЗов. 2) Образовательная. Студенты познакомились не только с научными лабораториями и направлениями их работы, но и расширили свой кругозор, пытаясь решить реальные научные задачи. 3) Научная. Реализована методами литературного поиска, умением составлять презентации, представлять своё решение, оппонировать решение соперников, побеждать в научной полемике. 4) Состязательная. Ход научных боев оценивался компетентным жюри, состоящим из аспирантов, кандидатов и докторов наук биологического профиля. Победа в БИОТУРНИРЕ расценивается некоторыми ВУЗами в качестве основания для повышения стипендии. 5) Познавательная и заинтересовывающая. Студенты открыли для себя молодой развивающийся наукоград Пущино, один из центров биологической науки России, и, возможно, выберут своей целью научную карьеру.

Copenhagen (Inactive) – Ball Talk

2015-02-28T00:00:00Z

Ball Talk is the Danish version of Soulpancake's "Take a Seat - Make a Friend?" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHV4-N2LxQ ). It seems that in Denmark more than in other countries, one encounters a lot of difficulty when trying to make friends after a certain age. Danes have childhood friendships that they lovingly cultivate for a lifetime. But how do we make room for some meaningful conversations with strangers without too much awkwardness? Easy! By having a Ball Talk. Ball Talk is the opposite of small talk, the genuine answer to the too often thrown around "How are you?". How does it work? You need an adult size ball pit that can fit two people, fill it up with the most colorful balls you can find and come up with a set of questions and tasks you write on some of the balls, which challenge both introspection and empathy (e.g. : "Give each other a heartfelt compliment!"). You place the pit ball in a busy area of the city such as Norreport (the biggest the variety of the passers by, the better ) and wait for the magic to happen. You can repeat the process in different locations. Ball talk creates an accessible space of escape back into childhood when presenting ourselves followed by "do you want to be friends?" was daily routine. Ball Talk hopes to bring out the child in everyone and take the anxiety off of approaching a stranger when seeking meaningful interaction. Why should this be done in Denmark? - Denmark has the highest rate of lone dwellers - the number of international students is high - they are the majority of those who lose contact with their family and close friends and have nowhere to go to share their inner struggles - more than 50% of people own a smartphone, therefore reducing face-to-face contact and encouraging isolation Ball Talk aims to bring people together, make the transition from friendly to intimate and meaningful in daily interaction and strengthen the sense of community in Copenhagen and its surroundings.

Miami, FL – Miami Girls Rock Camp

2015-02-26T00:00:00Z

Miami Girls Rock Camp is a camp that uses music and performance as a platform to promote self-esteem, community, and creative expression for young women and girls in Miami. The organization will bring together girls and women aged 8 to 17 from diverse communities during a week-long summer day camp program, where they will be put into bands and learn to write/perform an original song. The program offers instrument instruction, songwriting/band practice, live performances by visiting artists/DJs, workshops, and culminates in the grand-finale showcase concert at a local venue. In an effort to create positive female role models, the camp itself is entirely staffed by female and female-identifying volunteers. Miami Girls Rock Camp encourages girls to explore self-expression through music, hone their critical thinking skills, build meaningful alliances with other girls and women, develop confidence in making healthy choices in their lives, and effect positive change in their communities and in the world.

Miami, FL – Yoga and Meditation for Prisoners

2015-02-26T00:00:00Z

We are a small group of volunteers attempting to make the life-restoring benefits of yoga and meditation available to our local prison population. We started less than two years ago and are already giving 12 weekly classes in our prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers. We have also incorporated as a Florida nonprofit, YOGA AND MINDFULNESS OUTREACH. Thanks to the beautiful results in the lives of the inmate and to correctional administrators who are serious about rehabilitation, these classes have opened up at a steady pace – tho the point of concern as we are few and almost completely unfunded. This year -- at this very time -- we are starting classes in three very specialized areas. One is with juvenile inmates. Another is with inmates with psychological issues. Lastly we will be ding a new healing energy class in two state prisons. We want to share with you our excitement for these new programs , and the joy and relief we already know the inmates will experience!

Annapolis Valley, NS (Inactive) – BerwickKentville Lunch Program for Summer Day Camp

2015-02-26T00:00:00Z

The Kings County Healthy Eating in Recreation and Sport Settings Committee (whose membership includes all of the recreation directors within the County of Kings: the Town of Wolfville, the Town of Kentville, The Village of Canning, The Village of New Minas, the Town of Berwick and the Village of Kingston), along with our municipal partners, is proposing an inclusive, universal lunch program for 2 of the day camp locations in Kings County (Kentville & Berwick). The design of the universal lunch program has been developed by 3rd year Acadia nutrition students, and we are basing our program on their nutrition engagement strategy. Last summer several camp directors noticed the issues around food security at day camps. Some campers would show up with food containing no nutrient value, with very little food in general or with no food at all. Others hid during lunch and snack times because they were embarrassed about what they had or didn’t have. Our goal for this project is to provide all campers who attend the day camps with an appealing, healthy, accessible and affordable lunch and to increase the knowledge surrounding healthy eating for the campers, and their families. In order to successfully implement the universal lunch program, we would hire an additional staff member to make the lunches, target local businesses to help fund the lunch program, and purchase additional resources that are necessary to prepare, store and transport the food for the program. They would also be responsible for working with the supporting dieticians to develop information pieces to go in each campers snack bags to bring home. Ultimately, as a result of the inclusive strategy for day camp lunches, we would like to provide a supportive food environment, see all campers have more energy throughout the camp day, reduce the stigma faced by some campers, and expand the campers and their parents’ knowledge surrounding healthy eating.

Sarnia (Inactive) – Sarnia Golden Hawk Restoration

2015-02-25T00:00:00Z

This project was taken on by a group of local pilots and citizens who wanted to give back to our local veterans , by doing something we love, working on airplanes. The Golden hawk which sat guarding the RCAF Memorial in Germain Park was in need of a restoration , lest it be scrapped. Estimates for the work came in out of reach. Similar projects in other communities cost over $150,000.00. The local veterans didn't have that kind of money. Our group heard of their plight. After an inspection , we deemed we could do the job , if we had the communities help. All materials for the job have been donated by local businesses and we put in over 4000man hours to complete the restoration. This aircraft is historically significant as it is one of the original Golden Hawk aircraft built in Canada by Canadians. This fact has brought requests from the original Golden Hawks Team to make it their ground based memorial to the Team, predecessors to the Snowbirds.This project will help preserve a piece of Canada's aviation history. It will allow the Sabre to continue to proudly stand guard over the RCAF Memorial in memory of all the local air service personnel who gave their lives during the Battle of Britain. And .. to take on the added duty of being a tribute to the Golden Hawks Team . These men showed what could be done when people work together for a common purpose. The project has done the same for the local team and businesses who worked on the Sabre. It and the Memorial can now go on to teach the next generations about the history and sacrifices made by the veterans so they can live freely today and chase their dreams. The base of the Memorial will also have two large granite stones placed , one will list the Golden Hawks Team & Personnel and , the other will list the companies , organizations , and people that donated to this worthy project. The project is now at the critical time where the stones must be payed for and the final list of names supplied.

London, ON (Inactive) – Vistas of the Thames Photography Contest & Poster

2015-02-24T00:00:00Z

I would like to launch a Vistas of the Thames River themed photography contest and poster project. A beautiful and inspirational poster, suitable for framing will be created featuring the winning photos from a fun, and accessible to all, photography contest celebrating the inspirational vistas of our Canadian Heritage River, the Thames. The contest and resulting poster will provide opportunities for the local community to capture the compelling beauty and significance of the Thames River. Sales of the Vistas of the Thames River posters will leverage the initial investment to raise funds for the Thames Talbot Land Trust, a registered charity committed to protection of the natural heritage in southwestern Ontario, including the Thames watershed. The Awesome Foundation's story on the website notes that "we're still waiting for something with dinosaurs." While this project does not directly involve dinosaurs, many in our community see Great Blue Herons flying along the Thames River and have noted their resemblance to dinosaurs. Great Blue Herons do have a resemblance to Pterosaurs, and, a Pterodactyl in flight does bear some resemblance to flying Great Blue Herons. Photos submitted for the Vistas of Thames photo contest certainly could include these dinosaur like birds, making this a "something with dinosaurs" project! The Georgian Bay Land Trust promoted this fundraising concept and community engagement idea (at a conference workshop). Their biannual themed photography contest raises $20,000. I have attached the stunning Trees of Georgian Bay poster they produced as an example of how the Vistas of the Thames poster might look. People protect what they love. If we engage our community to discover their muse in the Thames River, and present it an inspirational light, through a Vistas of the Thames River photography contest and poster project, we can inspire our community to celebrate and protect our very own Canadian Heritage River – The Thames.

Orlando, FL – Giving toys to needy children around Orlando, FL

2015-02-23T00:00:00Z

My great uncle Ray Kendrick has been building hand built toys and donating them to several different charities around the greater Orlando area for many years. He does this out of his love for children and to make sure that every child has a present to open for Christmas. This past year he donated over 4,000 hand built toys and covers the vast majority of expenses out of his own pocket. He does get donations of wood from several furniture companies in the Orlando area but has to spend his own money to buy such items as wheels for the cars (each car has 4 wheels to purchase), saw blades, sand paper and all the other tools and supplies to create so many toys for children. He is a wonderful person and I would love to see him continue to provide so many toys for children in need.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Disparate Minds: Progressive Art Studios

2015-02-23T00:00:00Z

Over the past several months we visited and documented 20 Progressive Art Studios across the country for adults living with developmental disabilities. We’ve begun sharing writing and documentation of our research process, including in-depth overviews of these studios, photos of artwork being produced, and features of specific artists from studio on our current website ( http://disparateminds.wordpress.com). This long-term documentary endeavor was initially inspired by the lack of awareness about and support for Progressive Art Studios by not just the general public, both other artists as well. Unfortunately, most of these programs struggle in finding long-term financial support and rely heavily on state funding. New regulations passed earlier this year by the Department of Labor will make it extremely difficult for these studios to remain operate in the same capacity or even remain open. Artists living with disabilities are most often marginalized and misunderstood, portrayed by others in a patronizing manner. These studios strive to eliminate this and should be considered a necessary component of any support system for this population; there’s no greater way for these excellent artists to achieve value and integration within their communities. We strive to cultivate a deeper understanding of how these art programs function while highlighting shared challenges they face (in issues such as fundraising, best practices, and coping with new labor regulations) while fostering discussion between programs in favor of a more resolved and sustainable model. We intend to create an accurate, comprehensive directory of studios and raise awareness about these programs for communities and service providers throughout the country. Addressing the current climate surrounding this under-served (and already under-funded) population is essential for the viable future of these programs and more importantly, our society in general.

Boulder, CO (Inactive) – Art of the Hill

2015-02-23T00:00:00Z

After traveling across the world doing murals, I have decided to settle down in Boulder. There is hardly no public art in Boulder, and I would like to create as many free murals throughout the small city of Boulder. I have discussed with about twenty businesses and home owners, and almost all are on board with having a mural. I believe that I can paint about 10-15 murals throughout the city with the money all going towards paint supplies. Each mural would only be about 10 ft by 10 ft but to have a good deal of these around the town would make a big difference to inspire people, Murals and public art can have a huge impact on life in a city, and people can become more energized to get out there. I will also dedicate at least 2 murals done for homeless shelters, and a community non profit. The series would be about the animals that are native to boulder, and paint murals of nature in the city, and I would work with the communities of the city to bring out ideas and concepts that will have lasting impacts at each location.

Newmarket – The Grandparent Connection

2015-02-23T00:00:00Z

The main purpose of The Grandparent Connection is to give some smiles to some lonely Seniors and we are attempting to incorporate involvement from Elementary and Secondary school students. We feel that intergenerational connections will not only, help Seniors but would also be so beneficial to all of the youth involved. From kindergarten up, the hope is that knowledge and involvement with Seniors will foster more caring and empathetic youth in our community. We are currently working on School to Facility connections (Generation Partners) as well as a general youth group (Youth Ambassadors). Working with Seniors is not normally an area where High School students turn to when looking to fulfill their required Community Hours but we are hopeful that through connections in Grades 7 and 8 they will gain exposure and will be more so inclined. This is a win-win situation for the entire community. We are currently working with individual schools and are in the process of consulting with our Town's School Board representatives to incorporate our programs with the Character Matters initiative.

Washington, DC – Ward 8 Farmers Market

2015-02-23T00:00:00Z

Ward 8 Farmer’s Market (W8FM) has made fresh, local food accessible to residents of Ward 8 since 1999. Our goal is for people to eat fresher, more natural and nutritious foods, and adopt healthier lifestyles for the long-term benefit of themselves, their children and families, and society. Ward 8 has been identified as a “food desert” by the United States Department of Agriculture. Ward 8 has only two full service grocery stores, in contrast Ward 3, the highest-income Ward, which has a population roughly the same as Ward 8 has eleven such stores. We are the only place in the Ward where food assistance recipients may spend their farmers’ market designated coupons, without crossing the Anacostia River. Ward 8 residents have the lowest rate of fruit and vegetable consumption of all of the wards. Limited access to and consumption of healthy food contributes to high rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. We are a grassroots, community-based response to these disparities. While other markets have come and done, we have persevered through many challenges maintained continuous operations for 15 years. While farmer's markets in some high-income DC neighborhoods are highly profitable ventures, we operate as a nonprofit. We aim to bring in enough in sales to make the market financially self-sustaining, but we balance that goal against our mission of make produce affordable for as many residents as possible. The farmers we work with are proud to be supplying an underserved community, and offer lower prices than markets in affluent areas across the River. As a 501c3 nonprofit, we perform the administrative work the enables venders to accept credit cards and various kinds of food assistance. We publicize the market and organize educational and entertainment events during the market to drawn customers and promote health.

Dubai (Inactive) – Khaimat Al Kisas Al Arabiya (Arabian Story Tent)

2015-02-21T00:00:00Z

Our mission over the course of a weekend at the Mall is to re-create an engaging, effective literacy event by launching a publicly located, free to all "Khaimat Al Qisas AlArabia", Arabian Story Tent to fuel the mastery and love of the Arabic language among UAE based children who represent 21 Arabic speaking nations yet reside in UAE (where English is largely the language of business) and based on the influx of Western pop culture, technology and gaming, where Arabic is losing ground and interest among youth -- a big problem for the future. KaQaA aims to inspire more kids toward reading and writing in Arabic based on the observation that kids crave Arabic books yet aren't always afforded the chance or time to 'choose' to read (or write, or listen). Khaimat Al Qisas will again be comprised of four core areas, Reading Lounge; Storytelling; Creative Writing Station, and Puppet Theatre. By way of these integrated activities our project aims to: 1. Provide youth with the opportunity to read in the Story Tent reading lounge. Kids can pick a book from the bookshelf, claim a beanbag in a comfy and safe environment. 2. Deliver animated storytelling/book reading to the little ones throughout the day to help cultivate imaginations as well as provide an excellent exercise to improve concentration, comprehension, and focus while allowing children the ability to internalize grammatical structures, improve or reinforce vocabulary, and depending on the chosen books, help impart cultural heritage and pride. 3. The “Amazing Emirati Puppet Theatre” with original stories written and acted out for kids ages 2+. 4. Provide youth ability to undertake Arabic creative writing exercises to empower them to explore their creative instincts and express themselves in their own words in their native tongue and nudge their creativity to develop their stories, later sharing with group. We also will display stories day for public passers-by to read.

Oklahoma City, OK (Inactive) – Tenaciously Teal (T. Teal)

2015-02-21T00:00:00Z

Thank you for this opportunity to apply for the "awesome project! Kindness is contagious, and I appreciate the trustees’ time and effort. Tenaciously Teal (T. Teal) was born out of my own desire to spread kindness to others, but it came about in an unusual way. T. Teal evolved over time, but originally started with a tenaciouslyteal.blogspot.com page where I wrote about life, God, and Cancer. Teal is the color for Ovarian Cancer Awareness, and I was 29 yro when I was diagnosed with stage IV. After my second surgery, I spent a week in the hospital, and was encouraged to walk as much as I could. While I perused the hallways to maintain my strength, I was in awe of how many people there were around me who were hurting and grappling with the terms of a cancer diagnosis. A poignant moment in my fight was the realization many were battling with little support or strength for the battle, which is when I became determined to spread hope to patients in an impactful way. My oncologist scheduled me for sixteen months of chemo, and after getting started I began to bring a few “Cancer Care Packs” to patients I came across at chemo who were in need. I sold many teal bracelets and t-shirts, and used the money to put the Care Packs together. A Care Pack included things I utilized during my own fight including; hand sanitizer, protein bars, Kleenex, chap stick, green tea, mints, warm/fuzzy socks, puzzle books etc. What started as 10-15 Care Packs quickly grew to 40-50 each time I went, and grew throughout my treatment until I finished chemo in April 2014. T. Teal is now a recognized Non-Profit and distributes Cancer Care Packs at the Stephenson Cancer Center and Pro Cure in Oklahoma City. We also mail Care Packs across the nation, and we hope to distribute Care Packs in at least two more Cancer treatment centers in 2015. In addition, T. Teal gave $4,000 in gas and meal cards to patients identified as being in need in 2014, and also distributed close to 1,000 Care Packs.

Oahu, HI – Peter's Prom (A special needs prom)

2015-02-20T00:00:00Z

Peter's Prom is an annual event designed for Oahu high-school students with special needs. It was started by two moms, both of whom have daughters with Down Syndrome. It is run solely by volunteers consisting of family members, teachers, aids, skills trainers and friends who understand the needs of these special students and are dedicated to helping them enjoy a wonderful and memorable event. We have no corporate sponsorship nor are we a registered organization. We are not affiliated with any high school or DOE. All fundraising is done purely by volunteers. check out a sampling of last years prom. http://youtu.be/GAO9r6bbDaE

Toronto – The Ouch! Package

2015-02-19T00:00:00Z

I co-manage the Bikechain DIY space where we teach people how to diagnose mechanical issues with their bicycle and we then teach them how to do the repairs. Last year we had over 3,000 visits. Of those visits, I had frequent visits from [young] cyclists who had just been involved in an accident, normally involving a car. For example, people would come in with cuts and scrapes, bandages on their arms or face, or ripped up pants legs, etc. Of course, I can tell when a bike was involved in an accident. Although the person was quite shaken up, I always felt really bad that I couldn't do anything more for them other than be a sympathetic ear. Because Bikechain serves an income-constrained population, I would like to offer people who have been involved in an accident and come into Bikechain to repair their bike an "Ouch! Package," which will resemble a gift-basket but it'll have some nice things like: teas, chocolate, something humorous like a funny book, some bandaids, and a print out of "who to call" if you've been in an accident including the phone numbers of different legal services, insurance companies, physiotherapists and municipal agencies. I would like to offer The Ouch Package free of charge in the spirit of humanitarianism, and good will.

Tallahassee, FL (Inactive) – Life Feeder

2015-02-19T00:00:00Z

I make one of a kind bird feeders that are part art and part bird feeder. I came up with the idea in 2012 and have been working ever since to perfect it. I've just reached my goal and have a prototype that is durable, functional and beautiful. My project: to make and place a bird feeder on the grounds of each nursing home in Tallahassee. What is unique about these bird feeders is that they combine colorful and luminous original art with a low profile seed tray. When the birds feed, the result is a dynamic interplay of sunlight, motion and color. Given that our community members needing nursing home care are restricted in their ability to explore the natural world, I see these bird feeders as a means of bringing the natural world a little closer to them and making it a little brighter. This project has the potential to delight and engage all who reside, visit and work in nursing homes in our community.

New York City, NY – The Coalition Zine

2015-02-19T00:00:00Z

The Coalition Zine is a global publication for young girls and non-binary babes of color to showcase their art, writing, thoughts and talents. The Zine started as a web-based publication from the mind of 17 year-old Fabiola Ching and has grown to include writing and photography editors. We are an entirely DIY operation of 16-22 year old girls working in our spare time to create a healthy creative space for each other. Currently, we publish weekly updates on our website and release zines every two months. We have created a self-sustaining community of young creatives who are willing to learn from and support each other. This has also meant the establishment of our signature series "Cool Babes Doing Cool Things" in which we highlight people in our community and the strides they are taking to turn dreams into reality. We have recently decided that part of this goal would incorporate putting on art shows and paying our contributors for their work. We feel that it is necessary to move from the web to real life if we want to fully promote our artists and writers. Our first show is scheduled for mid-August in New York. The Awesome Foundation grant will go towards the publication of physical copies of the Coalition Zine, as well as toward their art show / re-launch party in August. We can't wait to attend!

Kingston – Soccer to the Max!

2015-02-19T00:00:00Z

I know you said no money going directly to fundraisers.....this is different....please please please be awesome enough to read on. My close friend, and super awesome, giving, amazing paramedic and mom, found out her 3 year old Max had leukemia two weeks before Christmas. Treatment at first is intensive meaning a MONTH's stay in hospital. As they have an 18 month old (and the hospital is an hour away), they have not worked for over 6 weeks. We are holding a fundraiser at the Westbrook Dome to help to support them financially But the best part about this fundraiser is it's a) all about strangers helping strangers b) all about kids having tons of fun and getting active (in a city where you cannot currently be outside for more five minutes without shouting profanities and having the tears you cry from the cold freeze to your face) c) it is in a HUGE venue, so TONS of strangers, and TONS of kids and TONS of families, can meet, run around, play , have fun and support one another during a FRIGID weekend day The family is from Stratford, and we feel helpless being unable to help them in any other practicle way being so far away We are renting two fields at the Westbrook dome for an hour. One field is for awesome awesome soccer fun!!!!!!! Kids of all ages, kids against parents etc (we have rented it before for friends and strangers alike and it's a blast!!!) One field is for smaller kids- we are hoping to have games set up, and a bouncy castle for them to run around like the crazy little people they are. We will suggest a donation amount like $5 per person, but this will not be essential...so even people who cannot afford it can come out and have an awesome active day. AWESOME!!!!!! The best part is we have been pondering trying to start something for kids in the winter like this to get them out and active and now we have an amazing reason. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/maxwellbarter

Antigonish, NS (Inactive) – A Playground for Every Body

2015-02-19T00:00:00Z

The goal of our project is to build a community playground for every body regardless of ability or disability. A place where all children can feel welcome, safe and where friendships can grow. This accessible playground will be designed keeping in mind the variety of abilities that will be accessing it. This will include: ramps from bottom to top of each structure, shaded features, adaptive swings, musical elements, spongy ground surface etc.... An accessible playground, one that welcomes all children, is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Every child deserves to access a play structure with their peers. This playground will provide that opportunity. A place where every child can "join in".

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Students for Selma

2015-02-18T00:00:00Z

The 8th grade students of Westbury Middle School will get the opportunity to view the movie Selma thanks to a generous donation from The Harnisch Foundation. This viewing will help support our 8th Grade Social Studies curriculum, where students are taught about the Civil Right Era and the many incredible events and people that helped to fight for equal rights in our country. Through this movie showing, students will get the opportunity to reflect on the events that transpired during the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 and how they, as citizens, can be a force for peace, fairness, and justice.

Gloucester, MA – Clean-up & Maintainance of Magnolia Public Parks

2015-02-17T00:00:00Z

During the last few years I have cleaned. up and beautified some of Magnolia's public areas. I cleaned up the Magnolia Cemetery, mowing, cutting brush, weeding and trimming. I maintain its attractiveness with flowers, lights and flags at the appropriate times during the year. I was instrumental in the planning and instillation of our new Veterans War Memorial in Knowlton Park, working with the Historic Committee to choose a site and to design a Flower Garden. Every spring I plant, water and weed that garden all summer long. I also mow and trim the bushes in this much loved park. A few years ago I painted the benches bright primary colors. Sitting here, looking out over Magnolia Harbor across to Boston is good Mental Health for many residents. I also built boxes and now keep them supplied with "Poop Bags" in this park. I help maintain our small rotary (dummy) in town with seasonal decorations and lovely spring, summer and fall plantings. Recently I blazed a trail from Magnolia Historical Building on Magnolia Ave. to the Soccer Fields at Four Corners. I would like to plant some Apple Trees there this year. If you ever see my bright Yellow Tracker pulled over by the side of the road I am close by either picking up trash or cleaning out streams. My serious paying job is carried out during the school calendar so I do have time in the summer and after school daylight hours to devote to my Beautification Projects.

Ottawa – Ottawa Tool Library

2015-02-16T00:00:00Z

February’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Bettina Vollmerhausen and Frédéric Sune, to support memberships for those less able to pay to the tool library they are in the process of starting up. “The Ottawa Tool Library,” explains Bettina, “will be a lending library similar to a public library. However, instead of borrowing books, a member borrows household tools — from hammers, wrenches, and power drills to juicers, blenders, and stockpots. Our mandate is putting underused tools back into circulation and making them accessible to all.” Tool libraries are already operating across Canada, including in Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, and Calgary. “We believe there are many people who are seeking a greater value from products and services,” Bettina says, “while redefining their relationship with ‘stuff.’ The Ottawa Tool Library will also host workshops and classes held by passionate tool educators in the community who will teach new skills, address safety and proper tool usage, and assist or showcase do-it-yourself projects of all kinds.” The Ottawa Tool Library will differ from traditional tool rental in that it will use a membership model. Members will pay a nominal annual fee that will allow unlimited access to the entire tool collection. Those who cannot afford a membership will have the option to volunteer — or to be considered by Bettina and Frédéric for a subsidized membership out of the Awesome Ottawa award. Bettina is an entrepreneur and community connector interested in sustainability and social innovation. Frédéric is an information technology professional running two companies — a managed services provider and a web agency.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – The Director List

2015-02-16T00:00:00Z

The Director List, currently a popular twitter feed about female film and tv directors, is expanding to a website! I have been running @TheDirectorList account for two years now and it has been a great place to share news and raise awareness about female directors. The Director List grew from two things-- (1) A masters dissertation I wrote at London School of Economics in 2006, which focused on the low number of women being hired on studio films, and (2) my own need as a filmmaker to find more female directors to inspire me and my work. As I sought out the names and faces of women directors, I started to post their pictures to a Pinterest board and share that board with friends on Facebook. I needed to let people know that there were indeed many experienced female directors, a reversal of the common industry myth that female directors only existed in very small numbers. There are now over 830 female directors on the board. About a year and half after starting the Pinterest board, I felt I wanted to expand the conversation, so I started @TheDirectorList on twitter, which quickly found a community of like-minded filmmakers, scholars, and advocates for women. Now, I am creating a place online that will provide tools to help the industry find more women directors for their projects as well as encourage more in-depth conversations with my online community.

Pittsburgh, PA – 76<100

2015-02-16T00:00:00Z

76<100 is a mobile pop-up shop created to raise awareness of gender wage inequality. Its pilot initiative will take place at 4901 Penn Ave. in Garfield from Apr. 1-30, 2015. Open daily, 76<100 will offer work by women artists/makers based in the US, including handmade objects (ceramics, textiles, etc), art and photography prints, publications, stationery, and packaged food. Items will be carefully curated, with an eye toward representing artists from diverse backgrounds and locations (including regional artists). Pricing of this work will reflect the current wage gap in PA, where women earn just 76% of what men earn—male shoppers will be charged 100% of the retail price of any item, while women will be charged 76% of this price. Recognizing that this is a complex issue, we will provide a free poster to shop visitors that elaborates on wage inequality and its causes, provides a brief history of feminism in Pittsburgh, and offers resources for those interested in advocating for women’s wage equality in their government or workplace. Beyond simply raising awareness of the wage gap, we hope to serve as a hub for local women and girls, and will partner with community groups to organize programming that fosters community dialogue, provides practical advice related to this issue, and empowers women to recognize their full value and potential. Sample events include: -Salary negotiation, affordable childcare, and resume writing workshops -Talks by participating artists -Office hours with consultants for current/hopeful small business owners -Meetups/workshops for women and girl developers -Wikipedia “Edit-a-thon” to add women artists to the encyclopedia -Presentations and meetups with notable women’s groups in Pittsburgh In the spirit of promoting professional women, all work to ready 76<100 will be done by women, from building retail displays and developing a website down to the design of the type used in shop branding and promotional materials.

Yerevan – Tea with Strangers

2015-02-14T00:00:00Z

There's nothing better than a cup of tea with a stranger! I'm addicted to tea! I'm addicted to strangers! The idea behind the project is simple. We take our tea sets, go sit in public places of Yerevan (parks, squares, streets, etc.), prepare tea according to Chinese traditions, and invite complete strangers to join us for cup of tea! We introduce the tea, ourselves, they introduce themselves. We share our stories, they share theirs. We take photos. People leave, we'll probably never see them again. They continue their way, we stay and greet new strangers. Same-same, but different. Different stories, different lives. The best parts of the conversations and photographs will be posted on a Facebook page, people can follow the stories of humans of Yerevan. Not only Yerevan. We'll also travel to other cities of Armenia and Artsakh. Our aim to erase any borders between people who may seem to be strangers to each other, but we're all water from different rivers after all.

Chicago, IL – StudentsXpress

2015-02-12T00:00:00Z

I started a magazine called StudentsXpress. This publication is written by students in preK-8th grade in 15 Chicago Public Schools. It is delivered quarterly to these schools, along with every branch of the Chicago Public Library. Our Mission: While showcasing art and writing from students in Chicago Public Schools, StudentsXpress aims to promote creativity and literacy, encourage alternative expressions, create positive self esteem and open discussions. I would like to supplement this magazine with a project at a specific school, giving the students the opportunity to write and draw about conflict resolution, or whatever topic they decide.

Chicago, IL – Red Line Comfort Stations

2015-02-12T00:00:00Z

As a curator and artist team deeply concerned with social issues that beleaguer our city, we believe that art can move beyond the studio, gallery and museum. We believe that it can do more than reflect or comment on a given set of circumstances. We envision projects that engage directly with the world, creating shared experiences that have the capacity to humanize participants and transform social reality. Faced with the appalling statistics issued by The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, which estimates the number of homeless Chicagoans at an inexcusable 138,575, our project will connect with and serve one segment of that population, overnight or continuous riders of the CTA. On select nights in February and March, between the hours of midnight and 2 AM, we plan to offer care, attention and unexpected hospitality to people who are literally “at the end of the line” (Howard and 95th Street). Setting up temporary “comfort stations” with seating and heat, offering boutique hot chocolate, warm, gourmet soup and home-baked bread to continuous riders as they move from one platform to the other, we aim to provide a brief, but luxurious reprieve from the cruelty of homelessness in Chicago’s coldest months. This action will be the first of several public interventions into homelessness planned for 2015. These interventions, scheduled over the course of a year, will create a community of care for the city’s most vulnerable inhabitants – to provide neighbors-in-need the opportunity to connect with artists, entertainers, massage therapists, barbers, support organizations, and more – but also, perhaps more importantly, to provide people of privilege and skill the opportunity to engage in and help build this community, this small-scale, intermittent utopia of hope. This is our art, our curatorial practice: an invitation to give and receive more than mere sustenance, to tap humanizing experiences that may transport individuals from daily reality to the realm of possibility.

San Antonio, TX – Pop-Up Puppets

2015-02-11T00:00:00Z

You’re a thirty-something grabbing a cold one at the local icehouse, you’re an eighty-three year old regular at the bingo hall, or perhaps a toddler pounding the pavement to day care, when all of the sudden – a puppet show! Pop-Up Puppet transforms totally ordinary locations into one-of-a-kind makeshift Toy Theater parlors. Half Sideshow, half comic book, these paper performances explode into the lives of surprised audiences. Pop-Up Puppet will convert 150 square feet of untraditional performance locations into makeshift miniature theaters, transporting audiences from their mundane errands into a new magical world. The goal of Pop-Up Puppet is to reach audiences who have never seen a live puppet show, and change their perception of puppets forever. Utilizing projection technology, these toy theater shows will also take on an exciting form of innovation. Armed with a digital video camera, Dorn will glide the camera lens through his toy theater sets and inflate the miniature stories into epic proportions. So I encourage you to grab a dressed Modelo Especial, transform the ordinary, and watch a puppet show like no other.

Miami, FL – NEWT Miami: Experiments in Light, Color & Sound

2015-02-10T00:00:00Z

We present to you NEWT Miami: a fully immersive, sensorial installation inspired by Isaac Newton's theory of color and music. The vision: the 19-story digital wall of the InterContinental Miami diagrammatically-lit in synchronicity with contemporary instrumental music. The aspiration: transform the downtown Miami skyline into a 21st century canvas for visual art and performative architecture, and captivate and carry audiences through a powerful emotional journey. NEWT Miami is slated to launch in Fall 2015. Every night for 5 days, audiences will be invited to look toward the InterContinental for a dramatic digital installation in symphony with color and movement. Simultaneously, audiences plug-in to NEWT's unique soundtrack on live web stream. For 7-9 minutes, every note of this installations' original arrangement will come alive across the downtown Miami skyline. The following video link provides a comprehensive preview of the unique form of this project: https://vimeo.com/108317420 Pass: Miami With views of the InterContinental's northwest and northeast facades, optimal viewing points for NEWT are located in the neighboring Bayfront Park and also scattered throughout Downtown Miami and the Beaches. Audiences are empowered to partake collectively, streaming the sound from their smart phones and looking towards InterContinental; or privately, streaming the projection sequence and music at home on their computers. NEWT Miami is about creating community. A key aspect of the project is working with arts and social collectives throughout Miami to develop pop-up events, artist talks and like-minded exhibitions. NEWT Miami is about accessibility to a worldwide community. Based in the heart of the city, NEWT is uniquely accessible to locals and visitors. As a sensorial experience, it crosses boundaries of age, gender, language and nationality.

Miami, FL – The Family Table, an Ashoka Youth Venture

2015-02-10T00:00:00Z

"The Family Table" was created to raise foster care awareness in the school and the community and to offer assistance to the foster care students who attend my school. The ultimate goal of The Family Table is to promote academic success throughout the foster care population at Miami Carol City High School. This project included classroom presentations, meetings, family dinners, social media exposure, and community outreach. Part of the project is to raise awareness to the community. Promoting awareness through social media allowed for more people to have access to this information. The social media sites were used to update people about the on-going activities of "The Family Table."The Miami Carol City branch was created in order to educate the staff and students about foster care and this was also where a majority of the project took place. This is where the classroom presentations, the family dinners, meetings, and part of the campaign awareness took place. I went to different classrooms around the school and spoke to students of different grade levels about my project and foster care in general. These classes included law, history, and economics classes.Every month, the foster care students met for a dinner. I teamed up with the FCCLA club at my school to assist the students in preparing a dinner that we could sit down and eat together. At these meetings, different guest speakers came and talked to the students about being able to succeed even though they are foster children. These guest speakers ranged from college students to attorneys.I met with the foster care population at my school regularly to check up on their grades, attendance, and behavior in the school. We also discussed how they felt about their situation and if the project had any impact on them. Being that Miami Gardens has the largest foster care population, I decided that this would have the greatest impact.

Seattle, WA – BirdTruck

2015-02-10T00:00:00Z

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER IT'S A FOOD TRUCK FOR THE BIRDS! CHIPS & QUACKAMOLE FOR THE LUCKY DUCKS. CATCH OF THE DAY FISH TACOS FOR THE EARLY BIRDS. CREAM PUFFINS & OTHER TWEETS FOR DESSERT. We created a foodtruck for birds during the Awesome Foundation's serendipty-themed Hack for Awesome. Aiming to stoke unexpected, punny joy for both people and fowl alike, we created a microwave-sized truck prototype out of cardboard, filled it with tasty treats, and set the truck up at Greenlake. We also set up a basic website with a free downloadable template so downloaders can create their own bird trucks.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Future Doctors for South Sudan

2015-02-09T00:00:00Z

South Sudan is the world’s newest nation, gaining independence in 201. The country was born with a long history of conflict, and as a result, has some of the world's worst health indicators. 1 in 7 South Sudanese children die before they turn seven years old, 1 in 7 women die during childbirth, and only 25% of the population has access to any kind of healthcare. At Future Doctors for South Sudan (FDSS), we believe that the path forward to build a strong healthcare system will be led by South Sudanese physicians. There are great barriers for young South Sudanese who wish to become doctors. The single medical school in the country is not functioning and efforts to revive it may take years. Medical schools outside of South Sudan are too expensive for almost anyone from South Sudan to get to, let alone attend. That's where FDSS comes in – we are offering medical school scholarships to promising South Sudanese students who have the drive and determination to complete their medical training and return to their home country to improve its health. We are now supporting four medical students, and are growing fast, with some very good partnerships in place. Our first student was Malueth Angui, who is from a small Dinka village in Warab state. His father is a tribal leader, who raises cattle, but has no income. Malueth is a middle child of his mother’s 10 living children, but his father has four other wives, also with multiple children. As Malueth has many older brothers, he was not required to tend the cattle, and therefore had the opportunity to attend primary school. He did so well in school that he was chosen to receive a scholarship to attend a missionary high school in Kenya. There he learned English, and was one of the top students. Upon his return to South Sudan, he was hired by a new primary health clinic funded by Doctors Without Borders in the town of Gogrial. This is where is dream to become a doctor was born.

New Orleans, LA (Inactive) – New Orleans Black Sci-Fi & Literary Arts Festival

2015-02-09T00:00:00Z

Wildseeds’ vision for the Black Sci-Fi and Literary Arts Festival is to showcase the amazing talent of artists and writers of color in New Orleans whose work engages around issues of race, gender, class, social change, and the future of communities of color. This festival seeks to be a place for marginalized groups to imagine ourselves in our own futures, which is what the best science fiction and speculative fiction allows us to do. Recently Wildseeds was part of an art installation at Exhibit BE. Our “Sacred Space” exhibit honored marginalized children and their families who have experienced displacement. Inspired by the community response to Sacred Space, Wildseeds seeks to use this festival as a way to inspire more group-led community art projects exploring the untold stories of New Orleans. We want to encourage art/writing that will explore the experiences and intersections of our lives as people of color, women, poor, immigrant, and LGBTQ community members, using science fiction, speculative fiction, and other artforms as a lens on our existence. Open to the public, the 3-day festival will feature: hands-on workshops/skills-shares (such as comic book, zine, and graphic novel making, self-publishing, etc.); film screenings (featuring sci-fi/fantasy movies by directors of color); panel discussions; literary readings; and art and music by local artists and musicians. More than anything, the festival will provide a space to celebrate artists, writers, teachers, librarians, and readers engaged in shaping the future of communities of color at the intersection of art and social change.

Connecticut – To Whom I May Concern®

2015-02-08T00:00:00Z

TWIMC works with people with early stage dementia who participate in local Alzheimer's support groups. We invite them to tell us what it is like to live with dementia, and then put their stories into a script that they first validate and then perform before an audience of care partners, family and professional. The Talkback at the end opens a dialogue between them and the audience that is always moving. Every performance ends with a standing ovation that reminds us that this is a powerful program for empowering people with dementia and changing public attitudes and that we need to take it further but, until now, we have been limited geographically. We overcame this limitation, however, when we started "TWIMC Online" which brings together people with dementia from around the world via their computer and webcam. We have had up to 9 people on the screen at one time sharing their stories of life after the diagnosis from across the USA including Hawaii, Canada and UK. from the comfort of their own home. Together we created a script which they performed in a webinar. With each Online group (2), we have improved the quality of the video and currently we have included a cinematographer who has taken the project to a new level. Instead of a scripted performance, we have now captured the spontaneity of their conversations on film. We are in post production of a video that realistically conveys the story of 5 people, most in their 50's, whose life has been up-ended by dementia. Our plan is to create a Discussion Guide to accompany the video so that it can be used widely as an educational tool. This 'fly on the wall' technology has been reviewed by people in the field of dementia and film with overwhelming praise. A preview of the video is available on our website. towhomimayconcern.org

Sarnia (Inactive) – Outdoor Community Ice Rink

2015-02-07T00:00:00Z

Our students and parents would like to build and maintain an outdoor community ice rink on the school playground! The students have brainstormed where we would get materials, the benefits of an outdoor ice rink, how to maintain it, and even some rules for use. Sarnia has a few indoor rinks, some of which have free skating time, but this outdoor rink would provide an opportunity for neighborhood families to enjoy skating outside for no cost. As many kids are being drawn more and more to sitting in front of screens (especially in the winter), this is also a great way to promote exercise and develop a new hobby for many kids and families! The school has a very large playground area and is in a location accessible to many people. We have planned a spot near the school building that has access to an outdoor water source necessary to flood the rink. We would like to build it with an area of at least 60 ft by 100 ft to ensure a large surface that would welcome many community members. The rink would be built and maintained by parent and student volunteers. Our class has come up with a shoveling schedule with students taking responsibility for taking care of the surface, along with parents who have committed to building, flooding, and shoveling the ice surface. The rink would be available for students to use at recess, along with after school and on weekends for anyone to come and enjoy skating in the great outdoors! We realize that Sarnia's winter climate does not always lend itself to keeping an outdoor rink frozen all winter. This is why we have a plan of putting down asphalt and turning it into a lacrosse rink for the rest of the year, further promoting outdoor community play! We think this is a fantastic way to work together as both a school and city community and promote exercise!

Lusaka (Inactive) – Kuya Kwile

2015-02-06T00:00:00Z

60.5% of the Zambian population is considered “poor” with widowed women and orphaned children constituting 80% of this group. Often times, these widows become the sole providers for a household overnight are left vulnerable without tangible skills and limited educational experiences to provide for their families effectively. We aim to empower vulnerable women through skilled-based training and entrepreneurial development focused on knitting skills, product development, and sales. We will provide access to mechanical knitters, crochet hooks, and high-quality yarn for women to produce a minimum of 200 knitted/crocheted items per month to be sold through Kuya Kwile, a social enterprise program, which will then reinvest the profits into the training program to empower more women. A pilot program to assess the feasibility of the idea was conducted in 2012 resulting in the online sales of approximately 100 scarves in one week, resulting in a total gross profit of K10,000 (+/-US$2000). Moving forward, referring to the lessons learned from the pilot program, I have formalized the pilot project into a longer-term program, and have placed a new, strengthened admin team to support production and sales. The existing program has already provided the women with a tangible skill. The addition of the social enterprise framework allows for additional skills development in team building and business development thus providing a foundation for future financial sustainability.

Lusaka (Inactive) – EcoZambia

2015-02-06T00:00:00Z

EcoZambia is a citizen initiative designed to provide the general public with information on how to live greener in Zambia. The initiative was born out of the difficulty faced by Zambian residents to gather reliable information on how to live in an eco-friendly manner within their local context. As such, EcoZambia is meant to become an online platform to assist Zambian residents live in greener way through the compilation, sharing, and exchange of information via the EcoZambia website. The website will include 3 sections: 1. Recycling and waste management: How waste management is organized in Zambia/Lusaka, as well as what, where, and how we can recycle waste in the country 2. Eco-friendly products and services: what eco-friendly products and services are available in the country 3. Eco-tips: tips on eco-friendly and non-toxic house care and body-care We are currently in the process of developing the website and plan on launching it on 8th January 2015. As we consider education to be the key to promoting sustainable green living, we would also like to develop school workshops under the EcoZambia platform. Our members would run these workshops during scheduled classroom visits to discuss various ecological issues. EcoZambia is not a marketing platform, but only an independent information platform. We do not charge a fee to write articles about our partners as we wish to remain independent and to choose whom to partner with. We try all the services and products we talk about and select our partners according to their reliability and quality of services. EcoZambia is a non-profit initiative. However, we do not request for grants from international donors and NGOs as it is important to us to remain as a simple ‘citizen initiative’, demonstrating that a few people can make a change just by working on their own. In this regard, a grant from another citizen initiative such as The Awesome Foundation, would be perfectly in line with our vision.

San Francisco, CA – Land Action Squatter House Prototype

2015-02-06T00:00:00Z

In Oakland, California there are numerous abandoned lots throughout much of the city. Many of these properties have unpaid taxes that exceed the market value of the property. This has created a situation where neither the owner of record not government agencies are able to make productive use of these properties within existing market or governmental structures. Simply put these abandoned lots exist in a permanent state of legal limbo. The city of Oakland does not have the resources to use eminent domain, and because the city does not possess title to these properties previous efforts by community groups to access these properties have likewise been unsuccessful. As these lots lie vacant, the Bay Area is in the midst of a historic housing crisis. However Land Action has been successful establishing projects on these sites using their experience occupying abandoned properties. With Land Action’s knowledge and strategies architects Carl Petersen and Marcus Owens have developed a design for a “tiny-house” with a square footage below the requirements for any permitting from the city. This house is constructed of free and low-cost materials but provides a safe and healthy living space and can be placed on a lot with one or two other structures, including one functioning as a “wet house” featuring a flush toilet, shower, and kitchen. These structures are part of a larger vision of an urban micro-farming network that utilizes untapped and otherwise inaccessible resources while providing housing in a region where low income housing is difficult to access. The Land Action garden at 3700 West Street in Oakland is based on this concept. By providing rent free housing in exchange for stewardship Land Action will seek to collaborate with activists engaged in housing struggles as well as environmental and health concerns.

Liverpool – Flag For Liverpool

2015-02-03T00:00:00Z

Liverpool deserves its own flag! I am running a competition to find a design for a Flag For Liverpool at flagforliverpool.org. At present we have four designs. We are hoping to emulate the success seen in the Black Country. They adopted a flag in 2012, 1000s of copies have been printed and it can regularly been seen flying. It has even been incorporated into the shirt of a local darts player! The plan is to run the competition and get Liverpool City Council to accept the new design. Then the city of Liverpool will have a flag to call its own!

Kitchener-Waterloo – Communal Dining Event: Feds Food Bank

2015-02-03T00:00:00Z

Our Food Bank recognizes the need to address larger issues underlying the function of our service. Currently, we function as an emergency model that provides temporary relief to students. However, we want to bring larger issues such as student poverty, hunger, health and debt to student’s and administration’s attention. We know that providing temporary relief does not solve the problem and we need to consider strategies on campus to provide long-term relief to students who need our assistance. In our long-term plan, the Food Bank would like to expand to provide long-term assistance. We intend to create more community awareness around our cause, uniting students in discussion and purpose. To break the stigma of Food Bank use, we need to normalize these issues. We also feel it is important to expand into providing healthier food for students. Currently, we only offer non-perishable goods. Nutrition is essential to learning and health living. We believe that a Food Bank should offer more dignity to users. By doing so, healthy fresh and frozen foods is a tenet of the Food Bank’s long-term goals. Finally, we believe that food preparation skills are essential for students. We believe it is important to provide skills for students to rely on instead of relying on others for help. We intend to hold an event that unites all of our long-term goals. This would be called our Communal Dining event. We propose to hold this event in a public space (our student centre) for students, free of charge. We want to create a safe space to enjoy fresh, local food. Students will be provided this meal and asked to sit down with fellow students at picnic tables in this space. There, conversation will be facilitated by volunteers about student poverty, debt and the future for our Food Bank. We believe this event is important to initiate conversation about these hard issues to normalizing them among students – making it easier to discuss and eventually, easier to propose solutions.

Atlanta, GA – Travel abroad to make positive change

2015-02-02T00:00:00Z

If you've traveled in developing countries, you know that it can be difficult to confidently step off the plane or bus and connect directly with local people not in the traditional travel guide, and trust that your tourism dollars have a positive impact on the communities you visit. Conversely, local people in these contexts often have a valuable trade, skill, or knowledge base to offer - and are looking for opportunity - but lack ways of marketing themselves to travelers online. Vayando is a tool to change that. Vayando is an Atlanta based social enterprise that connects curious travelers with micro-entrepreneurs in emerging economies around the world. We provide an online marketing platform for micro-entrepreneurs that have interest and motivation in sharing local knowledge, activities, experience, and skills to connect directly with curious travelers visiting their areas. Travelers get a secure and immersive experience while local entrepreneurs gain opportunity to build their own small business. Vayando coordinates with reputable in-country field-partner organizations - such as Peace Corps, Oxfam, and Care International - to identify motivated and reputable entrepreneurs and work with them in creating an online profile. The vast majority of micro-entrepreneurs have never been online, but have a marketable skill and also own a basic cell phone. Travelers browse through profiles in the country they are traveling and book experiences with these individuals, or the cooperatives they are members of. Bookings are easily confirmed and managed through Vayando's integrated online and SMS based platform. Payment is made securely via mobile money. Entrepreneurs only need to be able to receive and send text messages. According to the Deputy Director of micro-finance at the United Nations: "Vayando is an effective approach to help bridge the last mile of tourism, bringing tourism dollars directly to the local level."

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – PERFORM/oil and duct tape installation

2015-02-02T00:00:00Z

PERFORM is a solo exhibition presented at Firehouse Plaza Art Gallery at Nassau Community College that explores the roles of virtual and actual audiences in the digital age. The exhibition features large-scale oil paintings alongside a site-specific duct tape installation. The work explores a world in which people are increasingly absorbed in virtual communication, and subsumed in the urge to project on social media. The images examine the pressure to constantly record and display the most obscure moments of the day, or to announce the self as a witness to significant moments. The images extend beyond the canvas and into the space itself as I combine oil paintings and use duct tape to ‘paint’ directly on the walls. I use the subtle differences in tone and transparency to mold tape into figures and forms. Beyond its sculptural qualities, the tape also implies something precarious or temporary, speaking to the tension between the craving for connection and the fickleness of virtual communication. The tension between anonymity and individuality, between authenticity and performance that are at the center of the show will also be the focus of two lectures that I will be offering in conjunction with the exhibition. The first, an artist talk, will focus on the creative process itself. The second, as part of the Human Rights Conference at Nassau Community College, will focus on art and social activism. The lectures are designed to engage NCC students and faculty and are open to the public. The immersive nature of the installation is an invitation to slow down, and spend a contemplative moment in this space. In a reality where we are increasingly watching and being watched, ‘PERFORM’ speaks to the necessity of observing anew the audiences and performances that shape our every day.

Ann Arbor, MI – WICIR teen group mural project

2015-02-01T00:00:00Z

The Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (WICIR) teen group, formally known as the Teen Empowering Advocacy Movement (TEAM), seeks funding for their spring/summer 2015 mural project. TEAM developed in 2010 in response to needs identified by the WICIR community. It began as a support group for youth from mixed-status families impacted by immigration enforcement. The group consists of youth who are undocumented themselves and/or have experienced the detainment or deportation of a close family member. In 2014, TEAM shifted from a therapeutic support group to an activist group focused on advocacy for fair immigration policy, as chosen by the teens. Through first learning community organizing strategies, legislative processes, public speaking skills, and effective collaboration with elected officials, the youth successfully engaged at the city and county level with immigration policy change. After an active year of organizing and civic engagement, the teens and their adult allies identified that for 2015, TEAM needs to return to its focus as a support group and therapeutic space due to challenges faced by many of the teens. However, the teens do not want to lose momentum in their activism. Thus, to combine these two efforts, the group would like to engage in a mural project as both art activism, team-building, and art therapy. TEAM has partnered with Dos Hermanos market in Ypsilanti as the location for their mural. The twice-a-month teen group meetings for the spring/summer 2015 will be devoted to learning about murals and Latina/o muralists, engaging in self-reflection and diversity activities, creating a collective vision, and the painting of the mural. The teens hope that the final product will be a vivid, thought-provoking representation of their community’s immigrant experience and their personal hopes and reflections.

Moscow (Inactive) – "Невиданный хэндмейд"

2015-01-31T00:00:00Z

Наш проект имеет цель показать, что люди, у которых нет зрения, умеют осуществлять нужную другим, интересную, креативную деятельность. "Невиданный хэндмейд" предполагает профессиональное обучение незрячих людей косметологическому массажу и их трудоустройство. Этот проект позволит клиентам массажных салонов увидеть то, что не могут увидеть сами незрячие массажисты - потрясающие изменения, созданные чуткими руками специалистов по массажу, способных "видеть" руками. Однако главной целью данного проекта является трудоустройство массажистов, которые получили медицинское образование, но не могут найти применение своим профессиональным навыкам из-за стереотипов, существующих в отношении инвалидов по зрению. Партнер нашей организации по проекту гарантирует трудоустройство не менее двух массажистов при условии, что они пройдут курс обучения у специалистов сертифицированного учебного центра, с которым он сотрудничает. В условиях сложности поиска работы незрячих специалистов и в связи с их профессиональной квалификацией мы намерены сотрудничать с бизнесом, поскольку не все массажисты востребованы на рынке труда. Кроме того, мы решили ориентироваться на трудоустройство незрячих массажистов в салоны красоты, поскольку их квалификация является высокой, но при этом незаслуженно невостребованной. Своими руками незрячие люди творят красоту, работая над коррекцией и оздоровлением своих клиентов. Незрячие массажисты могут вести клиентскую базу и пользоваться компьютером, установив "говорящие программы", озвучивающие содержимое мониторов компьютеров. Они самостоятельно передвигаются при помощи современных технических средств или тактильных тростей. Им не нужна помощь. Им нужно отсутствие стереотипов в отношении того, что они могут делать своими руками потрясающие вещи. Значимым плюсом является то, что незрячие люди не будут иронизировать по поводу недостатков фигуры клиентов и не узнают их в общественном транспорте.

Nairobi (Inactive) – Fireside tales series

2015-01-31T00:00:00Z

Fireside Tales Series is a special presentations of interactive oral folklore performances to the family audiences within Nairobi City and it's environs. The repertoire of presentations consist largely of re-devised tales collected from within the larger Eastern Africa communities. Often, the performances are built around contemporary topical issues as seen from traditional Knowledge perspectives. This program provides urban folks with creative opportunities to participate in recreating the well-known traditional evening fireside moments of wisdom sharing. Fireside Tales is a story-theater practice whose inspiration in form, method approach is specific to African oral traditions albeit with conscious infusion of contemporary theatrical creative elements. The envisaged content would be informed by our own research and reflection on the current socio-political dynamics and issues specific to contemporary Kenyan situation

Austin, TX – BLXPLTN

2015-01-31T00:00:00Z

BLXPLTN is an afro punk musical group with electronic tendencies! We write songs about writing instead of fighting, love, police brutality and taking a time out when frustrated. We would like to spread our positive message to that any one that would like to listen. We want to show youth of color and queer youth that is ok to be smart and to be different.

New Orleans, LA (Inactive) – Patois:The N.O International Human Rights FilmFest

2015-01-31T00:00:00Z

Founded by New Orleans artists and activists, Patois: The New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival is dedicate to nurturing the city’s human rights community, supporting the work of local organizers and organizations involved in these struggles, and providing a forum for artistic expression of local and international issues. Founded in 2004, Patois is back in 2015 after a brief hiatus ready to premiere new powerful social justice oriented films from around the world while highlighting brilliant local filmmakers and the vital local grassroots organization doing work in the city. In addition to the film festival in March, Patois hosts a variety of community screenings, workshops and fundraising/outreach events leading up to the festival. Because Patois has always prioritized community accountability, we come up with our festival in consultation with a range of New Orleans’ grassroots organizations and activists (from veterans of the civil rights movement, to high school students, to advocates, teachers, and organizers. Local organizations we have organized benefits and other events for and consulted with in the past include the New Orleans Women’s Health Clinic; INCITE! Women Of Color Against Violence; Critical Resistance; Neighborhood Gallery; and Safe Streets, Strong Communities). Since our beginning, almost every film we have shown has been a local- or regional premiere. In addition, we have presented several world premieres, including powerful new films by both local and international filmmakers. As a community festival, we host screenings around the Greater New Orleans area, from Chalmette to Central City, and Gentilly to the French Quarter. However, we are more than just a New Orleans festival and have hosted satellite screenings in Natchitoches and Shreveport, Louisiana, as well as in Detroit and New York City. With your support, we will continue to amplify local voices, raise important issues, and build community.

Paris (Inactive) – "Jardiner dans la cité"

2015-01-31T00:00:00Z

L'association "Rosny Potagers" (Rosny sous Bois) a pour objectif l'amélioration de l’environnement urbain par le développement de jardins partagés. Elle assure la formation d’habitants au jardinage biologique dans le cadre de l’Agenda 21, et contribue au renforcement du lien social dans les quartiers prioritaires. Lors d'ateliers hebdomadaires, un expert formateur en jardinage biologique montre et aide le groupe d’habitants à préparer la terre, planter les graines, faire le désherbage et l’entretien des potagers. La récolte est partagée par les participants ; en cas de surplus, ce dernier est offert à la structure sociale associée (où elle est utilisée en atelier cuisine) ou parfois aux passants. Quatre potagers ont vu le jour depuis 2011, et deux nouveaux potagers sont prévus en 2015, dans une cité de logement social et dans une résidence de personnes âgées MAPI. The objective of "Rosny Potager" (based in the parisien subrub of Rosny-sous-Bois) is to improve the urban environment by developing community gardens. The organization teaches the inhabitants the techniques of organic gardening, and contributes to strengthening social ties in priority areas. During weekly sessions, an expert un organic gardening shows the inhabitants how to prepare the ground, plant the seeds, clear the weeds, and maintain the vegetable garden. The harvest is shared between participants. The surplus is either given to a local organization or distributed to passerby. Four vegetable gardens have been created since 2011, and two new ones will be created in 2015 : one in a social housing community, and one in a retirement community.

Stockholm (Inactive) – The angry bird house

2015-01-30T00:00:00Z

It’s something that we never would have thought of creating ourselves. You can call it an art project describing today's society or simply a wacky invention. We just call it awesome! Here’s how January’s winners describe their project The Angry Bird House: We all get frustrated from time to time. Frozen car doors, slow computers, football teams losing. The world is full of things that annoy us to the degree that we just want to scream out loud. Unfortunately, it’s hard to do without appearing silly and/or scary to the people around us. We believe we have a solution to this problem. We call it the angry bird house. With the help of this machine you can send out a personalised manic scream far away from you own location. Just send an SMS to the angry bird house with your personally composed scream. The angry bird house contains a small computer, loaded with a sound bank and connected to a mobile phone and a loud speaker. Each sound is linked to a letter, so if you send an SMS with the message ”Aaai%&!okyyy”, the computer will play the sounds connected to these letters in the order you have chosen. So for the price of an SMS you can sound just as angry as you like, without running the risk of making innocent people nervous.

London, ON (Inactive) – The Light At the End of the Tunnel

2015-01-28T00:00:00Z

The Light At the End of the Tunnel is a historical documentary that details the lives of 4 individuals- three of whom where escaped slaves from the US - that came to London in the mid 1800's and made (unknowing) contributions to the ideals of Multiculturalism that we know Canada for today. These individuals are largely unknown to the public, and our documentary plans to utilize historical photos, newspaper articles, interviews with local (and non-local) history experts, and modern footage of the areas these individuals lived/worked in to tell the full story and show the impact these individuals had on building a civilized society, almost entirely set in the city of London itself. The individuals' stories we've found are inspiring, heartbreaking, hopeful, and so much more. We hope that when the documentary is complete it will give London a proud place in not only Canadian history, but also Black History as well as being an "untold chapter" of the Underground Railroad.