Left to right, Joseph Heineck, President of CleanPwrInc, myself and Aaron Rose, President of FURSA Africa.

Last week I visited the offices of CleanPwr Inc in Snohomish County to take a look at solar powered devices for a private girls school in rural Uganda. CleanPwr brings the benefits of high value solar and wind-powered products to developing countries, especially those in West Africa. CleanPwr is a family-owned enterprise that was incorporated in 2004. President and CEO Joe Heineck is a retired aerospace engineer who comes from a long-time farm family.

FURSA Africa is a new non profit organization forming to empower girls at private school in rural Uganda.  FURSA Africa will have a business component the high school girls will operate as well. The Board of Directors is exploring the option of a business of solar powered devices sales.

Solar Powered Flashlight

This would supply a demand for lighting and electricity during the long hours of no electricity in rural Uganda. CleanPwrInc presented possibilities of solar powered flashlights with LED bulbs, hand held solar lanterns, small cell phone chargers and small lighting systems. One of my favorite solar devices is the “all in one” device with a flashlight, radio and charger with multiple interchangeable cables to charge different kinds of small electronics.

Hand held solar flashlight with LED bulbs, charger and radio.

Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of joining the staff of both the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Sailing Heritage Society on an afternoon cruise aboard the Mallory Todd 65’ Schooner.  It was a gorgeous Seattle day, with clear skies, and temperatures reaching the mid 80’s!  We began our voyage on placid Lake Union, taking in the unprecedented sights of the bustling city skyline.  From there we continued through the lush trees lining the legendary Montlake cut. After the all the times of being held up by Seattle’s many drawbridges, it was true redemption to be on the other side for once! Its experiences like this that really make me realize the true physical beauty we can so easily take for granted here in Seattle.

Even more inspiring than my sail on the Mallory Todd, was the opportunity to connect with employees of Seattle’s most admirable charity foundations; the philanthropically infamous Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the angel of the seas, The Sailing Heritage Society.

Quickly becoming a household name, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is focused on providing sizeable funding donations to the worlds most qualified partners, and ultimately finding solutions to the world’s biggest problems.  Driven by the personal philanthropic interests of founders Bill and Melinda Gates, the The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation  have made huge strides towards ending hunger, poverty, AIDS, and other critical issues throughout the world.

While the Sailing Heritage Society  may be smaller in scope, it is a foundation that greatly impacts the physical and mental wellbeing of those in our region who are less fortunate.  The foundation started organically, over 27 years ago, with Captain George Todd giving free trips around Lake Union to patients of the nearby Fred Hutchinson Cancer center.  Now, the foundation has evolved to provide victims of a wide range of emotional, physical, and mental trauma free breath
taking sails on one of Seattle’s grandest boats.  Annually, the donation driven society now donates over 250 of these goodwill trips!

I’m honored to have shared my great Seattle sailing adventure, as well as these great charities with you.  Trips4Fundraising offers group sails on the Mallory Todd for non profit fundraising, for more information please visit Trips4Fundrasing .

Gilles Marini from Dancing with the Stars

We promoted client companies at this year’s 2010 Oscars at pre-event promotional penthouse lounge at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Our promotions included The Escapes Group, Trips4Fundraising, Splash of the Caribbean and Island Soul Restaurant and numerous Caribbean hotels.

We met Kevin Sorbo from Hercules, gilles Marinin from Dancing with the Stars, Shaun Toub from Crash, Iron Man, The Kite Runner, and The Last Air Bender, Deirdra Hall, Robert Baker from Grey’s Anatomy, Chase Mastersonfrom Star Trek, Camryn Manheim from the Practice and Ghost Whisperer, Michael Rady from 90210 and Willie Garson from Sex and the City among many other celebrities.

Willie Garson from Sex and the City

The stars loved the charity aspect of Trips4fundraising and almost all of them belonged to a non profit organization they help fundraise for. They also were thrilled to receive gift certificates to the Escapes Group hotels in the Caribbean and Central America.

Kevin Sorbo from Hercules

Dayami Padron from Nuestra Belleza Latina

The night before the Oscars we attended the fabulous Weinstein MontBlanc party at the Soho House benefiting UNESCO. Leonardo Dicaprio, Quentin Tarantino, Olympic medalist, Apollo Ono, Jamie Fox, Juliette Lewis, Molly Sims were just a few of the star packed event! Following the Oscars we stopped in at the E Entertainment Oscars After party at the W Hotel in Hollywood and met Taboo from Black Eyed Peas, Corey Feldman, Jack Johnson from the US Men’s Hockey Team, Hill Harper and others. Definitely an exciting worthwhile trip!!

Youth-led organizations with innovative projects aimed at advancing developing countries should check out the UN Habitat Site to learn about a grant opportunity. The deadline is April 15, 2010 so don’t let this chance slip by.

In addition to details on how to apply, the website provides facts about the need for such programs. For example, did you know that globally 200 million youth are living in poverty and 85 percent of the world’s young people live in developing countries?

Applicant organizations must be led by young people aged 15-32 years and improve the lives of youth and their communities. Emphasis is on projects seeking to improve slum conditions and raise opportunities for young people growing up in poverty. Projects encouraging gender equality or involving partnerships with the government or the private sector are also welcome.

Applicant organizations must be legally registered in one of the following regions: Africa, Latin-America and the Caribbean, Asia (excluding Japan), Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand).

The Urban Youth Fund has an annual budget of USD 1 million allocated for grants to youth-led projects in the developing world. Small, grassroots initiatives are eligible for grants up to USD 5,000 and larger projects for grants of up to USD 25,000.

I had the privilege of participating as a judge in the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) March 2, 2010.

NASH equilibrium competitors and Alyssa Johnson discuss viability of their cassava saline product in Bangladesh.

As a judge for the Investor Award — one prize out of the $17,000 (US) that will be awarded — I was inspired by each competitor’s ingenuity and determination. It was no easy task dividing up my $1000 “Monopoly money” investment among the 11 semi-finalists.

Committed teams from/working in China, Canada, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malawi, Papua New Guinea, and Rwanda presented innovative social business plans seeking to alleviate a problem(s) of poverty in developing economies. Among the judging criteria, business plans were required to have a Double Bottom Line: they had to demonstrate the financial Return on Investment (ROI) and the Social Return on Investment (SROI).

Among some of the most promising contestants in my opinion, were NASH Equilibrium and ToucHb. NASH developed an inexpensive treatment for diarrhea and water borne diseases using cassava grown locally in Bangladesh. Not only does this address a major health crisis but the local farming of cassava and production of the oral re-hydration solution will create jobs.

TouchHB is a prick-less anemia scanner used by low-skilled village health workers in India that measures, helps diagnose, monitors and screens for anemia. I was impressed by the global outlook for this plan and the fact that the cost of production is significantly lower than its main competitor in Isreal.

The 2010 semi-finalist teams were selected from a pool of 161 applicants from 36 countries. Winners will be announced March 4.

The GSEC entered its fifth year strongly with a record 161 applications from student teams in 36 countries. That’s more than double last year and I hope this worthy program continues on the upward slope. I hope to hear about these companies making a a positive impact in poverty alleviation and profits for investors in the near future!

Congratulations to Danielle Moss on this month’s launch of newearthreview.com, a portal for alternative business reviews, practitioners, events, articles, and classifieds.

It was a pleasure to work closely with Danielle and design the company logo and website header. Danielle asked us to use the images of a lotus flower, dragon fly, and the earth to communicate the interrelatedness of spirituality and the environment in a global world.

New Earth Review offers free and affordable business listings and business reviews for like minded businesses. I found one of the site’s articles on Top Antiviral Herbs quite fascinating. You can read it at: http://www.newearthreview.com/article/top-antiviral-herbs.html

We’re honored to help launch this new environmentally and socially conscious company and wish Danielle much success!

ClimateFrontlines.org has a call out for local projects that impact climate change and adaptation.

With assistance from the Government of Denmark, UNESCO’s Frontlines Forum is funding local projects on climate change impacts and adaptation.

What are they funding?
Community-level projects focusing on local experiences with climate change impacts and adaptation. These could involve field research, interviews with community members, workshops, photo projects, film projects, etc.

Who are they funding?
Proposals can be made by interested groups or individuals, for example, local and indigenous organizations, research centers, researchers, graduate students with interdisciplinary training, community members (youth groups, women, elders) etc.

What topics?
Projects could explore any topic relating to climate change and local communities. For example:

a) Local observations and understandings of climate change impacts (negative or positive) on communities, livelihoods and/or local environments;
b) Ways that your community is adapting to or dealing with climate change;
c) Strategies and practices developed by local communities to cope with changes in the environment;
d) Local impacts (positive or negative) of measures to fight climate change. For example, planting trees to reduce greenhouse gases (through carbon sequestration); or building hydroelectric dams or avoiding deforestation (e.g. REDD) to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

What output?
Your project should result in a detailed account – either in the form of a written report, a video or other media production - in English, Spanish or French. It should contribute to a growing body of information about community-level concerns, observations and experiences relating to climate change impacts and adaptation. These submissions will also contribute to the development of postings and discussions on the Frontlines of Climate Change Forum.

How much funding are they providing?
Between US$3000 and USD$5000 per project. Further funding may subsequently be provided for projects with interesting outcomes.

When are they funding?
Project grants will be distributed from mid-2009 onwards. Initial results would be expected before October 2010.

What is the deadline for submission?
Proposals should reach UNESCO on or before 15 July 2009..

How do I apply?
See detailed information and download a project proposal form from http://www.climatefrontlines.org/en-GB/node/191

¡CONVOCATORIA PARA PROPUESTAS DE PROYECTOS!

Con el apoyo del gobierno de Dinamarca, el Foro En Primera Línea frente al Cambio Climático está financiando proyectos locales sobre cambio climático y adaptación.

¿Qué financiamos?
Proyectos a nivel comunitario que tengan como punto focal las experiencias locales en relación al cambio climático, sus impactos y adaptación. Estos proyectos pueden incluir trabajos de investigación en el campo con miembros de las comunidades, talleres informativos y de debate, proyectos de fotografía, proyectos documentales, etc.

¿A quiénes financiamos?
Las propuestas pueden ser hechas por grupos o individuos interesados, por ejemplo, organizaciones locales e indígenas, centros de investigación, estudiantes graduados con experiencia interdisciplinaria, miembros de las comunidades (grupos de jóvenes, mujeres, ancianos) etc.

¿Qué temas?
Los proyectos pueden explorar cualquier tema que ponga en relación al cambio climático con las comunidades locales. Por ejemplo:

a) Observaciones y entendimientos locales sobre el cambio climático y sus impactos (negativos o positivos) en las comunidades, medios de vida y/o medio ambientes locales;
b) Maneras en las que su comunidad se adapta o hace frente al cambio climático;
c) Estrategias y prácticas desarrolladas por las comunidades para hacer frente a los cambios del medio ambiente;
d) Impactos locales (positivos y negativos) de las medidas para combatir el cambio climático. Por ejemplo, plantar árboles para reducir los gases de efecto (secuestración de carbono) o evitar la deforestación (ex. REDD) o construir plantas hidroeléctricas para reducir la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero.

Sin embargo, invitamos a todo tipo de proposiciones relacionadas al cambio climático y comunidades locales, no se sienta limitado por estas sugerencias.

¿Qué resultados esperamos?
El proyecto debe resultar en un informe detallado – ya sea bajo la forma de un reporte escrito, un video u otro tipo de producción multimedia, en inglés, español o francés. Debe colaborar al incremento de las informaciones existentes que relacionan cambio climático y adaptación a nivel comunitario: preocupaciones, observaciones y experiencias. Las propuestas también contribuirán al desarrollo de artículos y discusiones en el Foro en Primera Línea frente al Cambio Climático.

¿Dónde financiamos?
Invitamos las propuestas de todas partes del mundo, siempre y cuando se trate de proyectos a escala local, que involucren pueblos y regiones vulnerables al cambio climático.

¿Cuánto financiamiento estamos otorgando?
Entre 3000 y 5000 dólares americanos por proyecto. Un financiamiento adicional puede ser otorgado posteriormente a los proyectos que muestren resultados interesantes.

¿Cuándo estamos financiando?
Las subvenciones para los proyectos serán distribuidos a partir de mediados del 2009 en adelante. Los resultados iniciales son esperados para antes de octubre del 2010.

¿Cuál es el plazo de envío de las propuestas?
Las propuestas deben llegar a la UNESCO el 15 de julio del 2009 o antes.

¿Cómo postular?
Para mayor información y descargar el formulario de proposición de proyectos vaya a la página web http://www.climatefrontlines.org/es/node/192;

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