Year In Review: Making Change in 2011
2011 was a big year for Ashoka Changemakers. This is a quick look at the milestones that amped up the momentum for Changemakers and our community - and what it means for 2012. In no particular order... we present to you Changemakers' Year In Review:
- 1. ChangemakeHERS CampaignIn honor of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, Changemakers launched a campaign celebrating some of the world's most inspiring women. 52 women were honored, thousands joined the movement.
The Story of ChangemakeHERS 2011In honor of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, Ashoka's Changemakers launched the inaugural ChangemakeHERS movement, cel...- 2. $1.5 Billion Pledged to Support Winners of the G-20 CompetitionThe G-20 SME Finance Challenge yielded countless ideas on how to improve access to credit for SMEs. The winners were present at the G-20 Seoul Summit, and were congratulated in person by U.S. President Barack Obama, Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. These world leaders announced this unprecedented funding commitment at the closing of the G-20 Seoul Summit.
The G-20 SME Finance ChallengeThe G-20 has just committed more than one-half billion dollars to support the winners of the G-20 SME Finance Challenge. Pres. Barack Oba...- 3. New Multimedia Tools & PlatformsThe Changemakers Editorial team began exploring new ways to tell stories, engage our community, and learn from innovators and experts around the world.Since much of our work occurs online, we wanted to make sure that it is captured. New tools like Storify have helped us capture previously elusive stories, like the value of our #socentchats...
- #innovatehealth: Talking health innovation on Twitter.Changemakers & Robert Wood Johnson are looking for proven innovations in health care that are changing the game. As ideas come in, we wan...
- ... or highlights from interesting events...
- Tech@StateLast Friday, Tech@State: Data Visualization explored techniques and innovations around the visualization of data. If it sounds uber-nerdy...
- ... or, to simply tell stories.
- What is the Internet, Anyway?A quick reminder of how far we have come in the digital age. In 1994, Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel didn't know what the "@" sign was. T...
- After just a few months of using Storify, we were spotlighted on the home page as a "Featured User".
- Another tool that has become a Changemakers favorite is Google+ Hangout.As much as we love Skype, Google+ Hangout allows us to host conversations with up to 10 accounts. In November, we brought together the finalists of our Citizen Media competition for our first ever Google+ Hangout.
- We loved it - we got to meet and get to know the people behind some of these brilliant entries.Our finalists loved it - they got to connect directly with each other, hear about the work others are doing in the field of citizen media, and communicate their innovation to the world.Our community loved it - our community got to hear directly from the finalists prior to voting, and got a peak into the minds behind the entries.
- 4. Over 350,000 Twitter FollowersOur Twitter community continued to grow this year, at an exponential rate. @Changemakers shared stories, connected with innovators and thought-leaders around the world, and continued to host our ever popular #socentchats! So thank you, Twitterfriends. See you in the Twitterverse in 2012!
- 5. A New & Improved Voting WidgetOne of our major activities throughout the year is managing competitions, and an important part of our competition success is the votes people cast for our innovators. This year, for the Citizen Media competition, we launched a new voting widget which made it easier than ever to cast a vote.
- 6. Citizen Media ToolkitThe Google-sponsored citizen media competition yielded numerous exciting innovations. Entrants to this competition are changing the way we capture, distribute and consume information. With the global events of 2011, these new approaches to information-sharing could not be more relevant - so we put together a shnazy little tool for easier access to innovations in citizen media.
Welcome to Citizen Media Toolkit | ChangemakersWelcome to Ashoka Changemakers' Citizen Media Toolkit! Navigate a selection of the best ideas from around the world Visit the profiles of...- You can filter through 55 innovations in the toolkit by "tools", "target groups" or "strategies".Happy exploring!
- 7. Huffington Post ColumnAs our editorial team continues to grow, one of our fabulous writers created a column on the Huffington Post, reaching a new audience through her engaging stories. From STEM education to health care, citizen media to property rights, and the #occupy movement to job creation - Alison Hockenberry covered some of the most innovative entries to come through Changemakers in 2011.
Alison Craiglow HockenberryAlison Craiglow Hockenberry is a contributing editor at Ashoka's Changemakers, an open-sourced community of action that connects social e...- 8. Changeshop in Private BetaIn 2011 we announced the next big thing for Changemakers: CHANGESHOP.In a nutshell, it's taking our community of innovators to the next level, but maybe our Chief Executive Partner should to the talking:
