A Call to Service

Watch Mobilize.org Chief Executive Officer Maya Enista, Chief Operating Office Ian Storrar and Be The Change, Inc. Founder Alan Khazei talk about the importance of service in a video from the Chronicle on Philanthropy produced on Monday, the Martin Luther King Day of National Service

CPL New Leaders Program- Excellent Opportunity for Passionate Young Leaders

Do you know a passionate young leader who would be interested in being a part of progressive change this summer in Washington DC?

The Center for Progressive Leadership's New Leaders Internship Program is a paid ten-week summer program in Washington D.C. for young people from underrepresented communities across the country with a demonstrated passion for progressive change. Each New Leader is matched with a paid internship in a leading progressive organization in DC, including policy and research work, advocacy, organizing, media relations, and on-line communications. CPL New Leaders also participate in orientation and closing workshops, weekly trainings, coaching, and a variety of networking events, conferences and other opportunities.



The CPL New Leaders Program is for people who:

Are working to make their campus or community a better place

Are leaders in their classes or campus groups

Have volunteered or worked for a political campaign

Have led or been involved with efforts to raise awareness about issues on campus or in your community

Can't afford to spend the summer working for free


To learn more and apply, visit www.cplnewleaders.org <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2Bt2njBXBRnkHajP3%2FN74lIOMspOKXRY3>

Mobilize.org Receives Non-Profit Voter Spirit Award for 2008 Election

Announced yesterday, Mobilize.org received kudos for its efforts to creatively engage and register Millennials across the country during the 2008 primary and general elections. With programs, like Mobilize the Polls and their Sex and the City...With a Side of Voter Registration campaigns, Mobilize.org was able to find new ways to engage our generation in the electoral process.

"Nonpartisan youth organizations like Mobilize.org, the student PIRGs, Rock the Vote, Generation Engage and Voto Latino utilized both Web 2.0 and local outreach to register and inform young people across the nation, helping 3.4 million more citizens between the ages of 18-30 to vote on November 4th than did in 2004. Young people represented 60% of the overall increase in voter turnout from the last presidential election achievement (CIRCLE) - and have represented a steadily increasing share of the electorate over the past 3 elections. Way to go, youth organizations!"

Calling Constitutional Convention: Building Democracy 2.0 to Order

Greetings from Philadelphia!

The Mobilize team arrived last evening in this historic city, ready to join with young leaders from across the country for a groundbreaking summit about our founding document and how the Constitution is a framework for building Democracy 2.0. At this hour, over 75 participants, including 11 teams, are en route to the National Constitution Center to join this conversation and compete in a Democracy 2.0 grant competition.

But there is no reason why YOU can’t join us.

This morning, we launched a new home page at www.democracyupgrade.com that will give you the chance to know what is happening at the summit up-to-the-minute and allow you to participate in the conversation. We invite you to join us this weekend as we bring Constitutional Convention: Building Democracy 2.0 to you through various Web 2.0 platforms, from Flickr to UStreamTV and You Tube to Cover It Live.

The latest schedule of events is available (http://www.mediafire.com/?nliofmt2mdx) if you wanted to drop in during certain times. Tomorrow, for example, Congressman Murphy will be speaking at 9 a.m., and you can follow along on the live video stream and ask a question through the live blog. As our declaration states, democracy is an unfinished project.

Through the 2008 election, we, the Millennial Generation have been telling different story about civic engagement and what it means to be a citizen. This weekend, we have come to a place where “We the People” first began, to upgrade our democracy. We hope you will join us. - The Mobilize.org Team

A Generation of Dreamers and Doers

From New York Times Reporter John Schwartz, on a rise of entrepreneurship among college students across the country:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/innovationmain-t.html?_r=1&ref=edlife

"Today’s students have grown up hearing more about Bill Gates than F.D.R., and they live in a world where startling innovations are commonplace. The current crop of 18-year-olds, after all, were 8 when Google was ­founded by two students at Stanford; Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 while he was at Harvard and they were entering high school. Having “grown up digital” (to borrow the title of Don Tapscott’s recent book on the Net Generation), they are impatient to get on with life.

“They’re great collaborators, with friends, online, at work,” Mr. Tapscott wrote. “They thrive on speed. They love to innovate.”

Obama: "America's First Online Social Networking President"

From Wednesday's Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/30/AR2008123003518_pf.html

"With some notable exceptions, federal Washington -- how agencies deal with citizens, the process in which policies and laws are created -- is stuck in the Encyclopaedia Britannica era. A relatively small group of editors and contributors is in charge. A growing portion of the country, however -- the Web-enabled set that swears by MySpace and YouTube (and note the emphasis on "My" and "You") -- lives by the wisdom-of-the-crowd, I-have-something-to-contribute ethos of Wikipedia.

In the same way that anyone can edit a Wikipedia entry, not only will Web-acculturated citizens speak their minds, but they also won't ask anyone's permission to do so.

It has been only a decade since an American president first used the Internet. In the mid-1990s, the Clinton administration created WhiteHouse.gov and ordered all federal agencies to get online. For the first time, the government used the Web to describe what it was doing in its own terms, bypassing media middlemen. George W. Bush's two terms brought podcasting, online chats and videos to the presidency's online presence."

Change Can Begin with YOU

With the inauguration around the corner, we have been asking ourselves
"What's Next?" How can we be a part of the change? In response to those
questions, this campaign calls for Americans everywhere to think about the
change they can make in their community in the coming year, then visit the
Case Foundation's web site and share this commitment with us ­ and the
world. The campaign is simple and easy. There is no idea too big or too
small.

Just by pledging to make a difference, one lucky individual will win an
all expenses paid Inauguration trip for two. This includes airfare, a three
night hotel stay, and tickets to the Inaugural ceremony and the Hawaii
Inaugural Ball. And, in the spirit of giving, this person will be set up
with a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve in Washington, D.C. as part
of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.

The Change Begins with Me campaign is just the beginning of our year-long
effort to help transform inauguration excitement into community action. In
the coming months, the Case Foundation will connect commitment makers with
ongoing opportunities to serve, provide a venue for discussion and networking, share inspirational stories, invite participation with our civic-engagement programs and partners, and catalyze action through mini-grants and other incentives, including:

· A six month survey reporting on the status of commitments;

· Monthly spotlights on inspiring commitments to change;

· An Ask the Changemaker online chat and Q&A series, highlighting government and non-profit leaders at the helm of change efforts;

· Talk + Action = Change monthly mini-grants competition, where five $500 grants will be given away each month to passionate individuals with innovative ideas about simple ways to connect with others in their communities, talk about what's needed, and then take action together.