eBay made quite a splash (in filtered water of course!)  this week announcing the launch of WorldofGood.com.  The site creates a global marketplace for goods and foods that are certified as "friendly" and "green" according to a rating system called Trustology.

Trustology uses a wide variety of organizations that are engaged with the producers of these goods to certify that WorldofGood products are good for either local people, the enviroment, animal-friendly, or that the purchase of those goods supports a cause. It was a wide array of "good" measures, but I was reasssured that eBay had thought through how we would know how to measure "organic" and "good". Read more »

"Donating to the Red Cross to support victims of Hurricane Gustav is like buying a GM car - why would you when there are so many better choices that fit the Connected Age? C'mon, Team Obama, stop trying to appease and start trying to change the world!"

That's the intro to Allison's blistering post over at Personal Democracy Forum about the Obama campaign's call to aid Gulf hurricane victims by donating to the Red Cross. This ties in to one of our favorite (and as yet unanswered) issues -- are traditional institutions outdated? And if so, should we try adapting them, or rather let them fall by the wayside and move to more progressive models?

College usually consists of picking a major, studying for finals, and hanging out with friends. But not for Duke University student Josh Sommer. Instead, he's leading a foundation and conducting cancer research -- all in a fight for his life.

That's because Josh has chordoma, a rare cancer affecting 300 Americans a year. And rather than wait around for more research, he and his mother have taken matters into their own hands and created the Chordoma Foundation to accelerate the search for a cure.

I can't do Josh's remarkable story justice in a blog post alone, so I'm very glad he's our inaugural Social Citizens podcast and can tell you his journey in his own words. His unique perspective -- as a patient, Millennial, and nonprofit executive director -- is one you probably can't hear anywhere else on the Web, so tune in here to find out how this young leader is making some serious lemonade out of one of life's biggest lemons.

Ed. note: There's a full transcript following this note for those of you who prefer to read the interview. Also, many thanks to Josh for being our first podcast guinea pig! As with everything else on Social Citizens, we'll be constantly refining and improving our approach to audio -- so don't be surprised if the format changes in the future. And if you hit any technical glitches, shoot us an email or comment, and we'll get right on it. Thanks! Read more »

Generations are most often and aptly shaped by the events, the leaders, and even the trends of their time – but what’s in a name?  According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, 4,000 Americans aged 21 to 83 were asked what they thought of different generations.

It’s kind of interesting that Gen Y (or Millennials), Gen X, and even the Silent Generation had something to say – they all are yearning for a new brand that better represents them. In fact, Baby Boomers are the only generation that overwhelmingly agree with the label they’ve been given. Read more »

Today marks the relaunch of the Social Citizens blog, and we’re glad you stopped by for a visit!

We’ve decided to walk our talk a bit more and catch up with the ever changing world of the social web.  We hope you enjoy the new look, the cleaner feel, and the improved functionality of our new home.  

We’ve added a new room too!  Now you can tab over to the full HTML version of the Social Citizens paper. Here, you can read the paper by chapter, comment on what you’re reading, and link directly to the individual sections. Read more »

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently posted information about the Department of Education’s request for feedback on proposed regulations regarding implementation of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007.

Come again?

Basically, this new law forgives the remaining debt of student loan recipients who have worked as full-time “public service employees” for a period of 10 consecutive years while making their payments. In other words, you graduate, land a solid gig at a nonprofit, government agency, or other still-to-be-defined “public service” employer, and you won’t have to pay any more monthly debt owed after 10 years working there or remaining in the sector. Read more »

Many thanks to the Chronicle of Philanthropy for running an op-ed from our own Allison Fine on — what else? — Millennials! In this piece, Allison covers how Millennials can help nonprofits embrace social media for social change, and how the nonprofits need to understand this generation’s diverse roles as employees, volunteers, and activists.

Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite:

Almost invariably, the first question posed by many nonprofit leaders is: “What is the best tool to reach young people?”

There is no one silver-bullet blog or Web site. Organizations must stop looking for the “killer app” to connect with millennials and start examining their own organizational culture. They must ask themselves:

• Why do you want to connect with them?

• What conversation do you want to have with them?

• How open are you to listening to them?

• What will you allow them to do that you don’t feel you have to control?

Find Allison’s recommendations (and the whole piece) here. Any questions/answers you think she missed? Share them with us!

How To Befriend The Boss On Facebook

This is a post I’ve been wanting to write for a while, and as soon as I saw this video, I was inspired.

To set a little context, it was just about a year ago when we gathered as usual for our weekly staff meeting. As we took our seats my boss came in and proclaimed, “I joined Facebook over the weekend, and I think the rest of you should do the same – oh, and please friend me.” Read more »

In true Beth Kanter style, she has gone above and beyond to provide us with a terrifically robust roundup of the “who’s who” of Gen Y and twenty-something bloggers. I’m excited to say we’ve featured many of these great voices here on Social Citizens, but some are brand new to me — and have quickly made their way as new additions to my RSS feed.

We appreciate the nod to Social Citizens and are glad to be recognized as one among the growing voice of Millennial bloggers. As we see more and more people talking about and writing about Gen Y (admittedly sometimes ad nauseam), this list renews my hope and confidence in our generation to share their own thoughts and ideas about how we’re changing the social change sector.

Here are a few blogs that have recently found themselves in my rotation … what’s in yours?

Gen Y Give: As a millennial, Miriam Kagan believes in the power of young people to “give” and talks about the motivations and trends related to her generation and philanthropy.

Mobilizing Youth: Ben Rigby of MobileVoter incidentally also wrote the book Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Technology to Recruit, Organize and Engage Youth, a book with lots of answers for those of you who are just looking to break into this.

The Brazen Careerist: This site based on Penelope Trunk’s blog always seems to have some timely and relevant blogs, probably because of its self-proclaimed network of “vibrant, curious and ambitious career-minded bloggers.”

Amy Sample Ward: She provides some enlightening thoughts on the intersection between the social change sector and technology.