Archive for the ‘Michelle Nunn’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Michelle Nunn’s Cross-Country Trip to Discover People at the Center of Change

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

 

 

This post originally appeared on the Points of Light blog site on July 12, 2012.

For a month this summer, Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light, is taking a cross-country trip to learn from the people across the country who are rolling up their sleeves and tackling the critical issues before us. Across the nation, she will search out and share the stories of change agents – people who are creating new ways of using their time, talents, voice and money to address the problems they face in their communities. While the political parties are talking about the things that divide us, Points of Light will be identifying the enormous common ground that unites us – our patriotism and embrace of the responsibilities of citizenship, willingness to help our neighbors and desire to leave the world a better place than we found it.

Along the way, Michelle will be visiting HandsOn Network affiliates, AmeriCorps Alums, corporate leaders and civic innovators to check out citizen-led projects across the country. Her goal is to place a spotlight on people taking action and unearthing innovative solutions that leverage the power of individuals.

Michelle kicked off her trip by delivering a speech in the historic Amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institute on July 9. Chautauqua is a forum for big ideas and conversation, inspiring audience members to commit those ideas to action.

Click here for The Chautauquan Daily news article on Michelle’s speech.

Michelle, joined by her family, will head west though Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, ending her tour in Seattle. She plans to be in Buffalo, N.Y,, July 10-11; Columbus, Ohio, July 12; Cincinnati, July 13-14; Detroit, July 15-16; Minneapolis, July 22-24; Portland, Ore., Aug. 6-7; and Seattle, Aug. 8-9, with lots of stops along the way.

 

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Events, Michelle Nunn | 1 Comment »

How We Celebrated Martin Luther King Day 2012

Friday, January 20th, 2012

For the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of service, Points of Light Institute and its affiliates mobilized over 250,000 volunteers to serve in their communities.

In the following video, our amazing community leaders, , and Points of Light CEO Michelle Nunn, reflect on their days of service and their commitment to living out Dr. King’s legacy of social justice for all.

 

The next video features Vice President Joe Biden speaking at Gerard College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for this year Dr. King Day of service. Biden begins his speech by noting that sometimes we lose focus and, and begin to question social justice.  Next, he asks the audience where we have come since Dr. King’s movement for change. And how much more is in our power to continue to change society? Every person, regardless of race, age, gender, etc has the power to continue change in our society.

Biden recalls being a Congressman when the vote to make Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK) Day a national holiday was occurring. When fellow Congressmen were opposed to making MLK a national holiday, they were unaware of the impact. They were unaware that people throughout the country would be so motivated to take action and live out Dr. King’s legacy.

Biden reassured the audience that this day is not just “a small thing”. The biggest thing you can do for another human being is to show that you understand what they are going through and to engage in at least one act of kindness. On MLK Day, we gave meaning to King’s legacy, even if, for some people, it was only for a day.

Biden expressed that right now he is more optimistic about the potential of this country and our ability to lead the world than he has ever been because he’s old enough to remember what it used to be. To Biden, Dr. King was the epitome of optimism. Dr. King truly believed in social change and progression.

During the Civil Rights Movement, Biden quit his job with a top-paying law firm to become a public defender in East Delaware. Shortly after Dr. King’s assassination, Biden recalls the fires that erupted in the African American neighborhoods of East Delaware.  Ironically as Dr. King had dreamed, in 2008, President Obama drove through East Delaware to pick up Vice-President Biden to become sworn in as the first African American President of the United States.

We hope that you were inspired to make changes in your community. Share with us any inspirational stories that you may have in the COMMENTS section.

Related articles

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Events, Impact, Inspire, Michelle Nunn, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Coming Together To Save Service

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute and co-founder of the HandsOn Network.

Last week, the president signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011. The compromise calls for $917 billion in cuts over the next 10 years, and another $1.5 trillion in cuts could be identified through a 12-member bipartisan committee.

It is now apparent that many federal programs will be threatened with either significant spending reductions or elimination.

The Corporation for National and Community Service and the programs it administers – AmeriCorps, the Volunteer Generation Fund, Senior Corps and RSVP, VISTA and others – will be vulnerable in this environment.

Now is the time to act.

On Wednesday, Aug. 10, supporters of national service programs are once again visiting their elected representatives’ home offices to let them know the importance of national service in their communities and across the nation.

You can find and join a District Day event at the office of your member of Congress on the Save Service website. Along with District Day events near you, you’ll find information that you can share with your member of Congress about the impact of national service programs in your state.

If you’re not able to participate in a District Day event, please take the time to write or call your member of Congress and let them know why national service is important to you. You can find your representatives’ contact information here and your senators’ contact information here.

National service enables people to make meaningful contributions to their communities, build organizational capacity, generate community-based social capital and leverage more than 1.4 million additional adult volunteers to tackle some of America’s toughest social, environmental, educational and economic challenges.

Please join me in highlighting the importance of national service programs on August 10 by visiting, calling or writing your representatives.

 

In Service,

 

 

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute

Co-founder, HandsOn Network

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Michelle Nunn, News & Links | 1 Comment »

Reflection on Greece, The Special Olympics, And The Power of Service, part 1

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Michelle NunnToday’s post comes from Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute and co-founder of HandsOn Network.

I have just returned from a special family vacation in Greece where I had the privilege of participating as an “All Star Fan” in the Special Olympics World Games. Our family was welcomed and hosted by Points of Light Institute Board member Brady Lum, president and COO of the Special Olympics. Today is the first of three posts from this wonderful experience that I wanted to share in the spirit of celebrating volunteer service and the extraordinary Special Olympics movement.

A Different Kind of Story about Greece

“Thousands of Greeks Volunteering.” Now that is a headline you might have missed over the last several weeks.

Instead, you have probably been hearing a lot about the problems in Greece. And yet, the strike announcement in Athens said a lot more about the reality of Greece and its people than most of the news coverage.

“All public transportation will be closed, except for the Special Olympic blue line buses.” The two-day strike was intended as a nonviolent protest against the passage of the latest austerity package. The strikers closed down railroads, buses and the ports, but they kept the transportation systems for the Special Olympics World Games running.

While CNN endlessly repeated dramatic footage of a small group of anarchists throwing rocks at police in Parliament Square, thousands were participating in nonviolent strikes or protests and millions more were stoically continuing their work and lives. Close to 25,000 of them were volunteering to make the Special Olympics World Games a success. And  this during a time that one of the leading Greek Special Olympics officials called the worst week in Greece since World War II.

I talked to dozens of these volunteers and there were a few common refrains:

“I am volunteering as a way of telling a different story of my country.”

“I am serving as a way of reinforcing something good at a difficult time.”

These volunteers were writing their own narrative – asserting their own storyline in troubled times. Every Greek citizen I talked with was concerned, anxious about the future, devastated at the difficult prospects ahead.

But, each one of these volunteers with the Special Olympics was taking time out to reclaim their own efficacy, and to celebrate and ensure the success of a global movement that is about inclusion, hope and solidarity. Unsurprisingly, every volunteer spoke of the privilege of participating, of the transcendence they felt in being a part of the Special Olympics movement, of being buoyed by the spirit and commitment of the athletes.

As the athletes repeated the Special Olympic oath at the opening ceremonies, I could not help but feel its resonance for Greece at this moment.

“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

The 25,000 Greek Special Olympic volunteers that welcomed the athletes with cheering hugs, that drove them through the clogged streets of Athens, that refereed and timed and manned the events, that equipped them with new glasses or hearing aids asserted their own meaning within their difficult national drama. They acted with kindness, generosity and bravery. And, in return, they were lifted up by the athletes themselves, participating in their triumphs and sustained and hopeful for their own contests to come.

 

Tags: , ,
Posted in Change Notes, Michelle Nunn | 1 Comment »

The National Service Learning Conference Comes to Atlanta

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

This week, over 2500 educators, youth, and community organizations from fifty states and thirty-four countries will be coming together  in Atlanta—and we are honored to be one of the co-hosts of the National Service-Learning Conference.

Setting the stage for a lifetime of service is vitally important to the health of our communities and  our nation. Positive, impactful, and fun service projects that can make our nation’s youth feel like they can be part of the solution to some of the biggest problems that we face are an important part of solving those problems.

Through generationOn, more than a million young people in all fifty states and countries around the globe are having a positive impact on their communities. generationOn is taking a comprehensive approach to improving schools and the lives of children by leveraging the transformative power of service and service-learning.

The Conference is occurring at a critical time as our nation actively seeks an array of solutions that will help us to achieve a graduation nation and at the same time develop a new sense of civic responsibility for this generation. The Conference presents an opportunity and a needed platform for us to bring some of the top thought leaders and innovators together to explore how we can grow service-learning as a strategy that connects learning objectives to community needs, while empowering youth to discover their potential as world citizens.

Getting youth involved in service early and in a positive way is the best way to get them to lead a lifetime of service. Teachers and parents can work together to help to ensure that today’s youth will be tomorrow’s service advocates and change makers.

In The Wisdom of the Sands, Antione Saint-Exupéry advised, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” So, too must we teach our youth that service is not a chore but a pleasure, that acting to change their communities for the better is not work but an adventure.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Education, Events, Michelle Nunn, Service Learning | No Comments »

Change Notes: MLK Day 2011 Highlights

Friday, February 4th, 2011

"Volunteer"

Friends,

As we continue to tally the impact of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service last month, I wanted to highlight some results and share with you how we are carrying Dr. King’s vision forward through two recently launched initiatives that continue to build on the strategy of service as a solution.

Martin Luther King Jr., Day of Service

More than 120,000 people volunteered in 4,900 projects through HandsOn Network, the volunteer arm of Points of Light Institute, for the 2011 Martin Luther King Jr., Day of Service. Our Community Cinemas and Sunday Supper programming drew an additional 5,000 participants. In the realm of social media, our Martin Luther King Jr. Day messages potentially reached an audience of 7 million through Facebook, Twitter and the HandsOn Blog.

Many stories came out of this day of national engagement, like the one we received from Lyndsay Tyree, an AmeriCorps VISTA member in Issaquah, Washington. Lyndsay was scheduled to lead a project on MLK Day for 40 volunteers at a local organization serving the homeless.  But just 24 hours before the start time, unexpected flooding caused the project to be cancelled. Lyndsay now had 40 eager volunteers, and no place for them to serve.

With assistance from Katie Weber, another AmeriCorps member Lyndsay had met at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the group was quickly connected with Seattle Works. Even with an extremely short turnaround time, Seattle Works was able to place Lyndsay and her 40 volunteers on a project at Rose Hedge, an organization that provides transitional housing and health care to those living with HIV and AIDS.

The day, which had threatened to prove unproductive for Lyndsay’s team, ended up being a moving experience for them all. While working at Rose Hedge, many of the volunteers got the opportunity to speak with men and women living with HIV and AIDS. By the end of the day, the team was touched and changed by their interaction and work on the project.

This story illustrates the importance of connections and relationships, and speaks to the power of a robust service Network. Hands On Network, through its volunteers, AmeriCorps members, the National Conference on Volunteering and Service all build a powerful infrastructure for action

Follow the Leader

In order to channel the energy and engagement of Martin Luther King Jr. Day into a deeper and more consistent commitment to volunteering, Points of Light recently launched Follow the Leader, an innovative campaign driven by a thriving online community.

By simply registering for Follow the Leader at www.gethandson.com, members gain access to official Project Playbooks. These step-by-step guides, for some of the most successfully implemented volunteer projects, let anyone start, manage and complete a high impact project.

To inspire activity in Follow the Leader, we are offering some extraordinary incentives, including an all expense paid trip for two to the Philippines for a one week “Volunteer Vacation” coordinated by HandsOn Manila.

Overall, Follow the Leader, which runs through May, will help us reach more service minded people, increase and mobilize the number of Americans involved in volunteer service, and magnify the power of service as a solution.

As always, we value your ongoing support to help people take action to change the world.

In Service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute, and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Follow the Leader

In order to channel the energy and engagement of Martin Luther King Jr. Day into a deeper and more consistent commitment to volunteering, Points of Light recently launched Follow the Leader, an innovative campaign driven by a thriving online community.

By simply registering for Follow the Leader at www.gethandson.com, members gain access to official Project Playbooks. These step-by-step guides, for some of the most successfully implemented volunteer projects, let anyone start, manage and complete a high impact project.

To inspire activity in Follow the Leader, we are offering some extraordinary incentives, including an all expense paid trip for two to the Philippines for a one week “Volunteer Vacation” coordinated by HandsOn Manila.

Overall, Follow the Leader, which runs through May, will help us reach more service minded people, increase and mobilize the number of Americans involved in volunteer service, and magnify the power of service as a solution.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Change Notes | No Comments »

Light the Civic Fires For Sargent Shriver

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Michelle NunnToday’s post comes from Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute.

Yesterday, an extraordinary civic hero passed away. Sargent Shriver, the Founder of the Peace Corps and Co-Founder of Special Olympics, changed the world and touched the lives of millions. With passion, dexterity, boldness, and idealism he set out to create institutions and movements to alleviate suffering, cultivate bonds of empathy and reciprocity across difference, and usher in a world where every individual realized their own unique potential. In reflecting upon his life, we are reminded in the most profound ways possible, the power of an individual to change the world.

I was at the University of Michigan a few months ago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps.  At the event, Senator Harris Wofford told us the story of the agency’s founding. He shared how the idea was born of an improvisational interaction with President Kennedy and a group of students who took President Kennedy’s words and challenged him to turn rhetoric into reality. The students created a petition with 1,000 signatures asking the President to launch a program that called upon the nation’s young people to serve the world.

President Kennedy took note and asked Sargent Shriver and others to create a major policy proposal for what was, within 10 days, coined and framed as the Peace Corps. Harris told us that in the initial frenetic months of its foundation, Sargent Shriver was given a long memorandum that drew out a cautious and conservative approach to the incremental growth of the Peace Corps. Harris recounted that Sarge would give this memorandum to every person who came in to interview for the job and ask them their opinion of it. If they liked it and expressed approval for its safe and prudent approach, he politely dismissed them and continued to search for individuals who would reject caution and aspired to exponential growth and change.

As we consider the world before us and the sometimes seemingly insurmountable challenges, I hope that our dreams and actions are enlivened by Sargent Shriver’s spirit of boldness and expansive innovation. Movements are built over the generations and I believe that we truly are, after 50 years, on the precipice of a vision that Sargent Shriver and President Kennedy and the thousands of grassroots students originally envisioned- hundreds of thousands serving internationally, a reciprocal service relationship across countries, and the cultivation of true global citizenship across cultures and societies.   (In fact, the Service World policy proposal that Points of Light and a coalition of organizations are advancing is a wonderful opportunity to advance this vision.)

In celebrating Sarge’s life, may we all be inspired by his uncommon idealism, tenacity, and compassion.  And may we be emboldened to re-double our own pursuits of a world that recognizes the singular worth of every individual and the unity which binds us all, forever, together.

In service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute, and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

You can leave your own tribute to Sargent Shriver at http://www.sargentshriver.org/

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Michelle Nunn | 2 Comments »

Change Notes: A Quick Note of Sharing and Celebration

Friday, December 17th, 2010

"Volunteer"

Friends,

As many of you know, each year L’Oreal recognizes 10 extraordinary women change agents, a program that Points of Light Institute has helped support for more than five years.

Last week I had the privilege of attending the L’Oreal Women of Worth event in New York City, where the awards were presented by such celebrities as singer Tricia Yearwood and actress Kerry Washington.

The evening was hugely inspiring, and the stories of these amazing women were a great reminder of what we are all capable of accomplishing in the world.  The honorees themselves were profoundly touched and transformed by their experiences, and several former winners returned to share how the recognition had helped them extend their work.

volunteer, volunteering, volunteerism, L'Oreal, women of worthI presented the award to a young women, Simone Bernstein, who at the age of 12 began to create an organization and Website to connect young people to volunteer work with nonprofits.  She has inspired 1,500 young people in St. Louis to being life-long journeys of service.  Other honorees started medical clinics, a project to support military service widows, and efforts to help young women escape prostitution and sex trafficing.  I encourage you all to access the Women of Worth Website to read their stories.

On another celebratory note, generationOn, our new youth-services division, exceeded its goal and in one week activated 117,104 service pledges from young people and, in turn, Hasbro donated 117,104 toys, worth $2.6 million, to the Toys for Tots Holiday Gift Campaign for needy children. Whole classes of schoolchildren pledged and joined generationOn, and in at least one case, a school of 1,500 students made service commitments. Entire fraternity chapters, Kids Care Clubs, families, and scout troops pledged.

This effort was a great example of mobilization and activation, whose legacy will be tens of thousands of the next generation introduced to the power of service and how they can transform the world.

These are just two examples of the great work that is happening across the organization during this Season of Giving. Let’s celebrate these gifts of inspiration and mobilization.
In service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute, and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Change Notes | No Comments »

Change Notes: Media Praise for generationOn

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

"Volunteer"

Friends,

I’m excited to share with you several recent media stories about Points of Light Institute, specifically about our newly launched global youth movement, generationOn.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: On November 28 it featured two related articles, one about the many resources generationOn brings together to empower young people to transform the world and how the Hasbro Children’s Fund is generously supporting those efforts.  The other article talks about the desire of families to volunteer together and ways to make that possible.

Here are the links:

A New Effort to Teach Kids to Help Others and

Recruiting Families to Volunteer

volunteer volunteering volunteerismUSA Weekend magazine: Over the past weekend, it recapped this year’s 20th Make A Difference Day, which it co-sponsored with HandsOn Network and Newman’s Own. It mentioned our launch of generationOn that fittingly included service projects and a tribute to extraordinary change-makers at The Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway in D.C.  It noted our celebrity participants Madison Pettis and Corbin Bleu, and a nine-year-old volunteer who declared her experience packing toys as the “best day ever!”.  It also noted the participation of Obama Cabinet members, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in a KaBOOM! Playground build.

Here is the link: You Made a Difference.

Mommy blog: “Queen Mom” mentioned Hasbro’s match of a Toys for Tots gift for each generationOn service pledge through December 10, capturing the true meaning of the season. She said that her children were helped by Toys for Tots in tough times past, and urged folks to encourage their kids to make pledges at www.generationon.org.

Here is the link:  Teach Your Kids to Give Back
In service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute, and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Change Notes | No Comments »

George and Barbara Bush and Points of Light on Larry King Live

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

"Volunteer"

Friends,

In a wonderfully warm and far-ranging interview with Larry King on CNN last night, President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush talked with wit, candor, and grace about their lives, their closely-knit family, current politics, and the importance of service and, in particular, Points of Light Institute.

“Points of Light is a movement… volunteerism means a lot to me. Government cannot do everything,” said President Bush, who originated the phrase “1000 points of light” in an inaugural speech.

George and Barbara BushOur Points of Light board chair, Neil Bush, paid tribute to his parents in a video aired during the show, talking about the importance of volunteerism in their lives.  “They devoted their lives to serving others,” he said, obviously moved by this chance to honor his parents.  They in turn lauded Neil’s commitment and work with Points of Light and his spirit of thoughtfulness, generosity, and compassion.

The Bushes talked about the Points of Light Institute Tribute event, which will honor them at the Kennedy Center on March 21 in DC, saying they were looking forward to it.  Said Barbara Bush, “I’m excited by it.  There will be lots of celebrities and entertainers, less talking. It’s not a speech night; we hope people will be entertained.  It is a fundraiser for Points of Light” to continue its important work.  Added President Bush,  “We don’t get to Washington much…this is a nice way of getting back to Washington.”

Neil BushWhat came through so clearly in the hour-long interview is the devotion of each family member to each other and to the way that the service ideals exemplified in the lives of President and Barbara Bush have been carried through the generations by their children and grandchildren.  Video excerpts from the interview are available here.

The Tribute event at the Kennedy Center in DC in March will bring together celebrities and entertainers, national and international leaders, current and former officeholders from both sides of the aisle, and many great American citizens to honor President and Barbara Bush.  The event will celebrate their leadership in founding and advancing the modern-day voluntary service movement and pay tribute to the exceptional American ideal of voluntary action.  President Bill Clinton is the Honorary Chairman for this historic occasion, which will also be the culminating moment for Points of Light Institute’s $30 million Service Generation Campaign.

To honor President Bush and to engage the nation in this celebration, we are inviting all Americans to recognize points of light in their lives and communities, make their own pledge to serve, and take the opportunity to write a Tribute message to President and Mrs. Bush. We hope to collect thousands of tributes to share with them.

President Obama recently recognized President George H.W. Bush with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor.  The President said of the medal recipients, “All of them have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place.”

President George and Barbara Bush have exemplified lives of service and set in motion the modern service movement, which has been extended by each successive President and embraced by the American people.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we are grateful for their leadership and thankful for all that they have inspired in the millions of “points of light” across our nation who are changing lives and making a difference in communities every day.

Yours in service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Change Notes, Events, Michelle Nunn | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »