By Paul Yoo
Mahatma Gandhi once said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Dr. Wangari Maathai, recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and GlobalGiving social entrepreneur, embodies that quality in her efforts to drive social and environmental benefit. With unique vision, resolve and  knowledge of her socio-political landscape, Maathai has furthered democracy, women's rights and environmental activism in Kenya and throughout Africa. It is this brand of selfless leadership that GlobalGiving works tirelessly to identify and showcase.

Maathai got her start amid the environmental degradation and political repression that characterized Kenya in the late 1970s.

Creating the Green Belt Movement in 1977, Maathai helped communities plant some 30 million trees and brought international visibility to the oppressive Moi dictatorship. The Greenbelt Movement continues to address the cross-cutting themes of education, democracy and environment, and the thousands of Kenyans who have benefited are a testament to the power of Maathai's social entrepreneurship.

Maathai's organization is working with the Freeplay Foundation to provide free wind-up radios to communities throughout Kenya. These radios provide the information they need to improve their communities and enable women and their families to stay informed about current events and . Radios for Civic and Environmental Education creates a "lifeline" to a reservoir of ideas that can save lives and affect dramatic change in the lives of listeners.

To garner additional support for Maathai's latest project, an anonymous donor has agreed to match all donations dollar-for-dollar through Friday 11/22 at midnight. Thus far, Maathai and Freeplay have raised $12,000 of the project's $22,000 funding objective. This is a terrific opportunity for you to directly support one of the world's most high-impact social and economic development initiatives, while supporting the efforts of a Nobel-prize winning entrepreneur.

Resources

• Find out more about "Radios for Civic and Environmental Education" 
   
• Email Lisa Burger, Freeplay's Project Coordinator for Kenya, with questions or comments about the project

Applied Materials (AMAT), the world's largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor industry, recently conluded its first employee giving campaign with GlobalGiving. Extending international giving opportunities to 7,000 people nationwide, AMAT and its employees donated tens of thousands of dollars for grassroots development projects around the world.

Among the initiatives highlighted were winners of the Tech Museum Awards, an annual global program that honors individuals, nonprofit organizations and companies that apply technology to improve lives around the world. As a pioneer of the prestigeous awards, Applied Materials gave its employees the opportunity to support the efforts of its awardees.

Among GlobalGiving's corporate partners, AMAT employees have set the standard with the highest average individual giving level to date. The most highly funded project provides housing and education for AIDS orphans in Uganda. Other top projects came from India, Tanzania, Vietnam and Haiti.

Resources

• See Tech Museum Awards projects.
   
• See Applied Materials's home page.

GlobalGiving has partnered with leading non-profits to bring you the most high-impact giving opportunities the world has to offer. OK International is an award-winning member of this social prospecting network.

Occupational Knowledge International (OK International) has been recognized for launching one of the world's top 12 projects for sustainable development.

The Seeds Award sponsored by the United Nations (UNEP and UNDP programs) will honor OK International and its Indian partners next month. OK International was chosen for its project to develop an Environmental Certification Program for Lead Battery Manufacturers. The top 12 projects were selected from an overall field of 240.

The award will be announced in Bangkok on November 19th (for further information see www.seedawards.org.) The prize is awarded to innovative, locally driven, entrepreneurial ideas for multi-stakeholder partnerships contributing to the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

OK International formed a partnership to develop an international environmental standard to certify lead battery manufacturing facilities that meet minimum emission standards and implement a collection program for used batteries. Companies that meet the criteria will be eligible for certification and may place an ecolabel on their products. Achievement of these goals will reduce environmental lead exposures worldwide.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 120 million people are overexposed to lead (approximately three times the number infected by HIV/AIDS) and 99 percent of the most severely affected reside in the developing world. Over three-fourths of all lead production goes into batteries.

Resources

• See a list of OK International's projects
   
• See the complete list of Project Sponsors