Posts Tagged ‘Michelle Nunn’

Let Us Turn Our Thoughts Today to Martin Luther King…

Monday, January 17th, 2011

On January 16, 2011, a new American tradition was started.  Inspired by the legacy of Dr. King, America’s Sunday Supper invited people from diverse backgrounds to come together to share a meal and discuss issues that affect their community and the possible actions they can take and highlighting the power each one of us has to make a difference.

You can watch America’s Sunday Supper below!  Let us know about your service projects on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, your own Sunday Supper event, or how you think service can address community issues in the comments below.

Tags: America's Sunday Supper, Arianna Huffington, Barton Seaver, Carl Lewis, Dikembe Mutombo, Juan Williams, , , Robert Egger, S. Leo Chiang
Posted in Volunteerism | 5 Comments »

America’s Sunday Supper

Monday, January 17th, 2011

It’s amazing what can happen when people come together over a meal.  You can watch the worry from the day melt away.  Our recent triumphs, and our little successes, are celebrated when we come together.  Our worries and our burdens are lessened because we share them with others.  Strangers become friends and friendships that already exist are strengthened through the simple act of sharing food.

If you’re lucky, the meal goes late into the night and conversations move towards things that are taboo to talk about around strangers – wishes and fears, hopes and dreams, “is” and “ought.”  At this point, though, you’re no longer strangers.  You’ve shared something more than food.  You’ve had the opportunity to share yourself with others.

If we start to integrate the idea that we can make money AND do good… our country can roar again – Robert Egger, America’s Sunday Supper

What do you think would happen if we sat down for a meal with the goal of talking about wishes and fears, about our hopes and dreams right from the start?  What if took the opportunity to talk about the community we wished we lived in; if we talked about our dreams of a better place to live?

I cannot be well unless others around me are. – Barton Seaver, America’s Sunday Supper

Last night was an opportunity to have those conversations.  People across the country came together to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. by hosting meals where people talked about their hopes for their community.  These dinners were safe places for people to talk about their community’s most pressing needs, and to take the first steps to solving those problems.

You can always lift yourself by lifting others. – Carl Lewis, America’s Sunday Supper

The greatest thing about these Sunday Suppers is that there wasn’t a requirement for how they should be held.  There are people hosting meals in their homes.  There are people hosting meals in community spaces.  There are people hosting meals in restaurants.  Some people are inviting people that they know, some people have open invitations, and some people are putting on events with community members and nonprofits coming together to learn about the community’s problems from each other.  Some people had brunches in the morning, and some people had lunches on Saturday afternoon.

If you tell people’s stories, I think the anger [towards them] disappates. – Michelle Nunn, America’s Sunday Supper

One of those conversations was America’s Sunday Supper.  Fox News’ Juan Williams moderated a discussion between Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, Olympic Legend Carl Lewis, Producer and Director S. Leo Chiang, CEO of Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder of HandsOn Network Michelle Nunn, Robert Egger from the DC Central Kitchen, NBA Legend Dikembe Mutombo and National Geographic Fellow Barton Seaver.  The hour long conversation (that you can watch here) was an inspiring way to move from talking about service to engaging our community in action that leads to improving our community.

Let us know what you thought of America’s Sunday Supper.  Did it inspire you to start change in your community?  Did you hold your own Sunday Supper yesterday?  Are you planning on having a Sunday Supper in the future?  Let us know in the comments!

Tags: America's Sunday Supper, Arianna Huffington, Carl Lewis, Dikembee Mutombo, Juan Williams, , , Robert Egger, S. Leo Chiang
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Michelle Nunn: What Social Media Can Do for Nonprofits

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

Last week at the LEAD Summit in Washington, D.C., we heard from Allison Fine () about the many things social media can offer nonprofits. Here, Michelle Nunn sums it up in 23 seconds. Enjoy!

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Posted in Michelle Nunn, Mobilize, News & Links, Service, Social Media, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

Change Notes: The Power of One

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Friends,

I recently read an article in The New York Times featuring “organic farm mobbing.” Hundreds of individuals converge in a crop mob, called by text messages to help local farmers harvest their organic crops.  This is not your typical nonprofit organizational mobilization, but it is representative of new patterns of engagement and mobilization in which citizens are helping neighbors in generative and creative ways.

We are seeing new patterns of citizen activation enabled by technology and tools that are changing our civic landscape.  Social networking tools and new mobile phone technology now enable people to convene and take action in ways that were formerly impossible.  The communications revolution has dramatically lowered the transaction costs of people working together.  These self-organizers, or self-led volunteers, take the initiative to improve their communities in ways that resonate with their skills and passions.

The Obama campaign demonstrated the revolutionary potential of new media and mobilization with the engagement of more than 35,000 volunteer groups and more than 200,000 self-organized events.  I recently heard David Plouffe, the chief strategy leader of the Obama campaign, talk about the changing currents of political and social action.  He said that in four to six years, the Obama campaign’s revolutionary technology activation tools will seem archaic.

Clearly we are just scratching the surface of the possible in harnessing the power of individuals and their capacity to unite in common purpose to create change.  The pace of transformation is extraordinary, and the opportunities for creative and high-impact new pathways for civic engagement are within our reach.  To take advantage of this revolution, we must be nimble, open, and forward thinking.  And we must combine the power of organizations and the voluntary sector with the energy, vision, and tools in order to realize these transformational possibilities.

The Power of Many

For those looking to tap into these possibilities and create change using the latest social tools and technologies, the upcoming LEAD – A Get HandsOn! Summit in Washington, D.C., will be a unique and powerful way to learn cutting-edge ways to engage citizens.  Social innovators will share experiences such as locating disaster victims with cell phones, convening tens of thousands of volunteers for one-day projects, and organizing new forms of neighboring through Web-based technologies.

The Summit takes place Tuesday, April 20, at the Newseum, and there are still a few slots available. If you or a volunteer leader you know would like to attend, please click here.

Speakers include Richard Harwood, founder of the Harwood Institute; Allison Fine, author and social change connoisseur, and Heather Mansfield, social media expert. James “JB” Brown, AARP Brand Ambassador for Community and Host of CBS’ NFL Today and Showtime’s Inside the NFL, will moderate.  Please click here to learn about other dynamic thought leaders who will be presenting at LEAD.

LEAD – A Get HandsOn! Summit, sponsored by University of Phoenix and SAP, is one of the activities and events planned during National Volunteer Week, a celebration of volunteer leaders and their achievements. This year also commemorates the first anniversary of the landmark Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and the Volunteer Generation Fund.

We hope that you will join us and that we can learn together about the dynamism of turning the power of one into the power of many to create new scale and impact.

In Service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute

Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

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Reflections from Michelle Nunn

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Friends,

This has been an amazing week in the history of our nation and an extraordinary week in the collaborative work of creating a true “service nation.” I wanted to share just a few of the successes and news from our affiliate network and partner corporations and organizations over this last week.

The President called on us to serve in the celebration of the 80th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and HandsOn Network responded by mobilizing approximately 100,000 volunteers in more than 2,600 community projects across the nation. A special thank you to our partners including Delta Air Lines, Chrysler, The Corporation for National and Community Service, Eli Lilly and Company, FedEx, Nike, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Target, Quaker and many others.

As one of the co-conveners of ServiceNation, Points of Light Institute participated in the New Era of Service dialogue with Congressmen John Lewis, Martin Luther King III, First Lady of California Maria Shriver, incoming Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Tobey McGuire, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and others. This breakfast gathering, sponsored by Target, cast a light on this important moment for the service movement and created a clarion call for the passage of the Serve America Act in the first 100 days of the new administration. We concluded the breakfast dialogue by supporting Greater D.C. Cares, Target and more than 1,500 volunteers in the revitalization of six District of Columbia Public Schools.

HandsOn Network celebrated the historic presidential inauguration of President Barack Obama by answering the call to service and pledging to deliver over a million community service projects to solve critical problems in education, the environment and the economy this year. AmeriCorps Alums proudly marched in the 56th Inaugural Parade, outfitted in uniform attire sponsored by Nike.

On Jan. 21, Starbucks and HandsOn Network launched the “I’m In!” campaign, a nationwide initiative to make it easy to participate in the President’s call for national service. In nearly 1,000 Starbucks stores across the nation, the American public gad an opportunity to pledge five hours or more of community service and connect with a HandsOn affiliate to turn that pledge into community volunteerism. There has been a steady stream of media coverage of this campaign — currently 81 million impressions and coverage on the Oprah Show and a special CNN segment. Check out Starbucks innovative “!” commercial that is helping to drive people to sign up for projects.

This has been a big week for advancing the momentum and solidifying service as part of the national agenda. Please take a moment and read an op-ed that was featured in the New York Times by ServiceNation co-convener John Bridgeland and Bruce Reed and an op-ed that my father co-penned with me that was posted in the Huffington Post on Monday, Jan. 19.

Let’s keep the momentum of this week going and fulfill the promise to truly transform the nation and the world through the power of people!

Yours In Service,
Michelle Nunn
CEO Points of Light Institute and Co-founder HandsOn Network

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