Archive for January, 2010
January 27th, 2010
The recent earthquake in Haiti directed the world’s attention to the needs and suffering of a country that has long experienced dire poverty. Fortunately, there are organizations on the ground in Haiti and elsewhere that work daily to solve the world’s most pressing problems. At ELISE, we support clients who do just that. Through social innovation, education and entrepreneurship, our clients make the world a better place.
Today we continue that theme as we welcome the newest member of the ELISE family—SNV Netherlands Development Organization, an international development organization of Dutch origin currently at work in 32 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Balkans.
SNV works to implement local solutions to social and economic development challenges by supporting national and local actors within government, civil and private sectors. By providing support for local organizations, SNV sets the framework for the poor to strengthen their capacities and bring themselves out of poverty.
Its strategy is to alleviate poverty by focusing on increasing people’s income and employment opportunities in specific productive sectors, as well as improving access to basic services including water and sanitation, education and renewable energy. Above all, SNV is dedicated to a society in which all people enjoy freedom to pursue their own sustainable development.
Stay tuned to our blog for more information and updates on SNV. We are very excited to be working with an organization that shares our commitment to innovation and positive change.
January 13th, 2010
We’ve written before about our location in Philadelphia. Despite the international scope of our work here at ELISE, Philly is home. So we were excited yesterday when it was announced that Philadelphia is a contender to host a World Cup game in 2018 or 2022, if the United States is given the games. (Seventeen other U.S. cities, coast to coast, would also host matches.) Hosting the World Cup would enable us—finally—to cast Philly in a positive light. And also, I really like soccer.
But not long after the good news, a tragedy to obliterate the warm fuzzies: a magnitude seven earthquake in Haiti, destroying most of Port-au-Prince and potentially causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Haitian residents. And the first thing I thought of when the news hit last night? Soccer.
A few months ago, a friend of Carrie’s mentioned a project he was working on to try to deliver the World Cup to Haiti. The ELISE team was interested and did a little bit of research on this endeavor, thinking it segued nicely with our work in poverty alleviation and education. While the efforts to bring soccer on a large scale to this small island nation remain up in the air, we became quite familiar with Haiti and its robust and often volatile history. For better or for worse, yesterday’s quake affected us just a little more because it didn’t happen halfway around the world in a country we’d never heard of, but in a place not too far from American shores that we felt we’d gotten to know, if only a little.
This isn’t a post about PR. It’s a post about solidarity. As some of our favorite columnists here at ELISE reflect on the tragedy that befell the people of Haiti yesterday, we’re sending thoughts to Port-au-Prince, too. Here’s hoping that in no time at all, the soccer—and the joy—will find its way to you.
January 5th, 2010
Happy New Year! We hope all of you are as excited for 2010 as we are here at ELISE. This is proving to be a fantastic year, chock-full of many new events and experiences. Over the next few months ELISE will be on the go, East Coast to West Coast and everywhere in between.
Here is just a sampling of some of our exciting work to come:
February 11-13, 2010: Tech4Society, an Ashoka-Lemelson celebration, will be held in Hyderabad, India. Tech4Society is a three-day conference that is expected to draw over 250 social entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders and movers and shakers who will explore how technology can drive social change.
March 5, 2010: Opening of the Marvels and Ciphers exhibit at the museum at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Old City, Philadelphia. The world premiere exhibition examines the dichotomy that exists between scientist and citizen: the first group trying to understand the universe, and the second trying to understand the scientist.
March 8, 2010: Richard Holmes will be hosting a lecture and reading at CHF. Holmes is a biographer, whose latest book, The Age of Wonder (2008), was recently named the best nonfiction book of 2009 by TIME. The Age of Wonder focuses on the life and work of the Romantic-age scientists who laid the foundation for modern science.
March 25-27, 2010: NCIIA’s annual March Madness for the Mind 2010 will be held at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California. The event showcases the nation’s top “E-Teams”—collaborating groups of college students, faculty and industry mentors who have received NCIIA grants—unveiling their inventions to the public, many for the first time.
Week of April 12, 2010: Launch of Kirk Boyd’s book, 2048: Humanity’s Agreement to Live Together, in San Francisco, California. The University of California, Berkeley Law Professor’s book focuses on an enforceable international agreement that will create a social order based upon human rights.
We are looking forward to all that 2010 has to offer. Let us know if we will see you at any of these events and be sure to visit us on this blog and our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.
