Raising Authentic Girls: Rachel Simmons’ “Be You! The Real Girl Tour”

August 31, 2010 “Be you!” Riiiiight. In a media environment that cynically exploits how to act, what to wear, why to buy and who to be, girls are repeatedly told to "be themselves." GirlsHealth has a perky “Be healthy. Be happy. Be You. Be Beautiful” site. Girls Inc is “inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold.” Jess Weiner is "Creating A Nation of Confident … [Read more...]

A HUGE Breakthrough for TV: Nuance Trumps Vapid Vixens Aplenty

August 12, 2010 In part one and part two of my posts about ABC Family’s Huge premiere, I hoped to see the show evolve from the hope and promise of some stellar scriptwriter ‘attachments’ to actually being ‘attached.’ I’d like to say they ‘had me at hello’ but frankly they did NOT. I’m not an ABC Family ‘teen soap’ fan of the shallow sniper-fire of frenemies and sexcapade … [Read more...]

Mentoring: Masai, Midwives, Mobile Med & Media That Matters!

Aug 5, 2010 Meet Sabore Ole Oyie. My teen's about to, as is her BFF and BF. Yep, this afternoon I’m bringing a few teens for a "reality show" not to be missed at the Global Leaders for Justice Innovation dialogues. (video of Sabore's water access project after the jump) Sounds heady, oui? I see it as an open, public opportunity to expose kids to what’s going on in the … [Read more...]

Global Leaders For Justice: Using Media For Breakthroughs

August 4, 2010 My teen dialog yesterday: “Did you have fun waterskiing with your dad?” “Yah, we did, how was your Global Leaders for Justice thingie? What’d you DO all day, mom?” “Um…well…let's see...I got to work with Sabore Ole Oyie, a Masai Chief trying to build a local well so girls wouldn’t walk all day for water vying for turf with wildlife that could gobble them up … [Read more...]

Happy 15th B-day: TEDxTeen & CEO of Lil’ MDGs Dylan Mahalingam!

Aug 2, 2010 As I opened my Facebook to check messages from GWLN's Global Leaders for Justice organizers who I’ll be working with tomorrow and Thursday at SCU mentoring inspiring projects from all over the world, I scanned the 'birthdays' sidebar. Keeping with the global theme, I was alerted to change agent Dylan Mahalingam’s 15th birthday today…I KNEW I had to give a huge … [Read more...]