Showing posts with label socialgood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label socialgood. Show all posts

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Such Great Heights

I belive in endowing community services and providing more people the mental space and freedom to be educated. I firmly believe everyone on the planet ought to have stress free access to fully funded education; furthermore, they should be able to pursue the most advanced degree they desire to achieve. Throughout my life I will aspire to accomplish this mission.

My education has been world class by all standards. At the Taft School, which I proudly and fondly remember, I was inspired by the mission "Non ut sibi ministretur sed ut ministret (Not to be served but to serve)." I have served my myself, my family, and my community. By being whole of self and mind, I have been able to contribute actively and outward.

Many years back when I was considering undergraduate studies programs I became enamored with a school called the Webb Institute. It carries the name of William H Webb, who fully endowed the school. Any student driven enough, talented enough, and fortunate enough to attend will receive a 100% tuition-free experience. This is a world-class institution. I was not passionate enough or competitive enough, performance-wise, to reasonably complete with the best of the best that attend this fine institution. Their focus is on naval architecture and marine engineering, and undoubtedly some of the finest vessels to ever traverse the worlds waters are conceived of by Webb Institute graduates.

Upon recently learning Harris Rosen's story I am also inspired. My desire to reach further and do more has been reinvigorated. Despite some setbacks early in his career, he has been a very successfully entrepreneur and hotelier. In recent years he has emphasized his philanthropy, which includes providing broad access to families needing assistance both money and time-wise to attend school.

It can be disheartening when you fail to mesh with those surrounding you professionally; Harris Rosen had similar struggles early on, and those challenges resonate with me. I see my challenges in the past as fruitful learning opportunities to dissect, to wrestle in that uncomfortable space, but also as firm ground to spring forth and achieve new heights. I am a lucky person to have had so much rich quality education, to have a healthy and happy family, and vigor to create a brighter spot in a seemingly encroaching world. Harris Rosen has risen above his personal challenges, and he has given so much to those around him.

My friends over at Flocabulary worked on a beautiful PSA piece along with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation on the global time poverty struggles. It highlights such a critical issue facing our world that there are stresses forcing in on families everywhere. Let that sit with you a minute. How high on the Maastricht hierarchy of needs are you and yours?

I believe in hiring others to help out our family and expand the time that we have to be more productive and to be more restful. A recent survey found those buying services, which free up time, can make you happier. This is not a conflicted position because there are both people needing work, our ability to pay, and freeing us up to complete other activities.

Should it be this way? I don't think so; I think everyone should not only be able to be as educated as they would like to, but they should be able to spend their time anyway they want to as well. I think there's a very bright spot in the future to introduce many more robots into society. Human intellect is key to realizing and fulfilling the potential that creating robots would mean for humanity. Essential tasks and services could be swiftly and more correctly handled by robots freeing up vast swaths of humanity to pursue other educational, productive, creative and recreational activities.

Willam H Webb and Harris Rosen are heroes to me. They and their legacies are helping create the world I want to see. Think about your community a moment and consider whether your neighbors have the resources they need to subsist, to see themselves and their children advance to the degree we all know is possible. If there is a disparity there, I ask that you consider their needs and consider whether you have the ability to change their future. Do you have a dime or an hour to spare to advance their/our destiny to such great heights?

Thursday, February 23, 2012

For the last several months I have been studying the criminal justice system with a particular lens of education available in the prisons. The argument is simple: the more education inmates attain, the less likely they are to be re-incarcerated. I am interested in the immediate restoration of Pell Grants and all other opportunities for education in the prisons. Below is a list of organizations I have come across in my research. If you have suggestions of other organizations that should be added, please reach out.


  • Prison Education Associations
  • Reentry:
    • National
    • New York
      • Cases
        • New York City's courts are the front door to CASES programs. Our legal staff maintains a presence in courtrooms citywide. We work with judges, district attorneys, defense lawyers, legal advocates, the NYC Department of Probation and the NYS Division of Parole to identify individuals appropriate for our programs and we advocate for their supervision by CASES. CASES court representatives report frequently to judges and other criminal justice stakeholders on our participants' progress towards the fulfillment of their legal obligations.
      • College and Community Fellowship
        • College and Community Fellowship (CCF) is unique among organizations aimed at helping people reclaim their lives after criminal conviction. Many programs try to address the basic needs of people returning to the community after conviction and prison, but only CCF guides them through the stages of higher education while promoting their leadership, self-advocacy, artistic expression, civic participation and long term economic security. We see beyond reentry. We see limitless possibilities for our participants, their families and their communities. We expect what others deem impossible and the results are incredible!
      • College Initiatives
        • Our mission is to create pathways from criminal justice involvement to college and beyond and to establish and support communities invested in their own success.
      • Fortune Society
        • The Fortune Society is a nonprofit social service and advocacy organization, founded in 1967, whose mission is to support successful reentry from prison and promote alternatives to incarceration, thus strengthening the fabric of our communities.
      • Osborne Foundation
        • We offer opportunities for reform and rehabilitation through public education, advocacy, and alternatives to incarceration that respect the dignity of people.
      • Getting out and Staying Out
    • Washington
    • Washington, DC
  • Juvenile Programs:
    • International:
      • PACT Urban Peace Program
        • The PACT Urban Peace Program is dedicated to helping at-risk youth and building peace and hope in our urban communities in partnership with the courts and schools.
  • Legal Aid:
  • MISC
    • Correctional Association
      • The Correctional Association of New York is an independent, non-profit organization founded by concerned citizens in 1844 and granted unique authority by the New York State Legislature to inspect prisons and to report its findings and recommendations to the legislature, the public and the press. Through monitoring, research, public education and policy recommendations, the Correctional Association strives to make the administration of justice in New York State more fair, efficient and humane.
    • Critical Resistance
    • PEN Writing Assoc - Prison Writing Program
    • Prison Reform Movement
    • Women on the Rise (WORTH)
      • WORTH (Women On the Rise Telling HerStory) is an advocacy/consultant group comprised of currently & formerly incarcerated women, who have the expertise and understanding to engage, navigate and challenge policy and perceptions concerning incarcerated women.

Monday, July 05, 2010

In Macro Economics class we studied how Bogota's Rapid Transit System is drastically changing their future. It is helping move tremendous numbers of citizens, and converting commuting congestion into productivity. This isn't always the language used to describe the frustration and challenges of being stuck in rush hour; instead terms like road rage or anger are the ascribed sentiments. While it may not necessarily be a direct translation into productivity, even additional leisure time in the evening after work would be greatly appreciated. New York transit has been mired with budget challenges, increased ridership, and a seeming never ending attempt at Subway expansion. I for one was sad to see the congestion pricing fail for cars entering lower Manhattan. As an ardent proponent for public transportation, this plan would have been immensely successful in moving more people more quickly. Nevertheless, NY is getting its act together presently and adding new Select Bus Service routes. The initial results have been increased ridership and a whopping 98% satisfaction with the offering. NY Magazine has a really nice write-up on the upcoming enhancements.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Just finished a talk by Paul Herman, CEO of HIP Investor -- Human Impact + Profit. They've got a really great methodology for evaluating the following three questions:
  • What human problem does this solve?

  • How do you design for both Human Impact + Profit?

  • What management practices are in place to be HIP?

There's a good write-up of his trip to Kenan Flagler business school at the University of North Carolina on the energy collective.

Not surprisingly many companies in the S&P 100 do not rank too highly, and there were some ringers near the top of the list which I would not have suspected. I look forward to getting into the book, HIP Investor: Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World.

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Green Spaces threw a fantastic party Friday night bringing SalonEco to life. Nice running into some familiar faces as well as meet some new ambitious folks. I met some fellow NYU students and learned of a great new social venture they've started. Love Kitchen Bakery is bringing baked goods directly to you with a social mission: "It is not just about the cakes. It is about giving someone a second chance."

Really nice to hear undergraduates debating the egoism versus altruism merits of working in non-profits. It brings me back to very familiar territory. Ultimately, doing good takes first billing and our motivations and experience of it come next. Does the primacy therefore gloss it as altruism?

Thanks again Rachel for the article on Goldman and bubble creation. Our discussion of non-profits versus banking then focusing on charitable works took a different direction after citing this article. When thinking about 'cashing in' it's important to consider where the money comes from and the 'externalities' of those efforts. A paycheck and stuffed bank account is not sufficient to excuse immoral outcomes.