Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter

I’ve tried writing this a few times, only to realize that race is difficult to write about because of my own limitations in understanding what others experience.  Racial inequality affects so many of the social

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Fund Your Social Enterprise

Funding Your Social Enterprise

Funding a social enterprise varies from traditional entrepreneurship funding.   There are many models for traditional funding, all of which depend on your goals and what you’re trying to achieve. In traditional entrepreneurship, there are two

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Grow Your Social Enterprise

9 Practical Steps in Building a Successful Social Impact Business

Most companies struggle to find a vision that fits their business. Social enterprises often face a flipped version of the same challenge – they need a business model which fits their vision. In this article, I outline some practical steps you can take to get yourself on track to running a successful business that will put flesh on your vision for making an impact in the world.

Backstage at the Columbus Zoo

Columbus, Ohio has one of the best zoo’s in the country.  When Jack Hannah inherited the zoo as director in 1978, it was a mess.  But he built it up with his charisma, vision and

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Discover Columbus, a Unique Destination

Columbus is a unique place. First impressions: it’s small & there isn’t much happening. But living here, I’m starting to develop a deeper appreciation for the city. It has these hidden possibilities: they’re not obvious

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An Unexpected Chill in Brussels

I have heard wonderful things about Brussels: it’s a nice modern city, easy to get around in and beautiful in the summer. From London, you arrive in just a few hours on the Eurostar. No

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All you need to know about Londoners

London is the premier international city. You can walk down Oxford Street and easily hear 10 languages in 10 steps, because people come from everywhere and anywhere. (I used to think New York was the

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The Joy of a London Train Ride

If you consider your average day – be it at work, school, or home – you most likely wake up each day and go through a pattern you’ve been through many times before.  When you

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Volunteering abroad with Samaritans

I volunteered with the Samaritans for 5 years during my time as an expat in London at the Central London branch.  They are a wonderful organization that exists to reduce suicide by offering emotional support

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Belize & Communal Eating

Staying at the Thatch Caye resort in Belize was my first experience with communal eating. The meals are fun — with such a small group (there were about 12 of us), and no menu choice

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Moroccan Market

Moroccan Social Entrepreneurship

One of the first observations when traveling through the Moroccan countryside is the lack of billboards and advertisements.  A US highway has so many signs, billboards and noise constantly grabbing for your attention that you

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Moroccan Desert

Silence in the Moroccan Desert

Our trip had a false start: my wife’s visa was incorrectly stamped to begin only on the second day of our trip, so the airport sent us home for a day, instantly squeezing our 5

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German Fog

Bremen: Oh-My!

My year in high school as an exchange student in Bremen was challenging, even though the experience was invaluable. One of the most difficult parts was my host mother. I stayed with a large host

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Exchange Student in Germany

Bremen & Boredom

Bremen is not a boring city. It may be small, but it has a huge soul, complete with a gothic town hall in a pedestrian zone buzzing with life and delicious German bakeries.  They’ve been

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Achim Germany

Bremen: The Year Abroad

The year was 1993 – I was 16, and I flew to Germany. My sister’s friend was an exchange student, who spent a year in my small town of Avon, Connecticut.  At the end of

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India Beach

Jaipur: Life Turning Point

There are certain turning points in your life. My first trip to Jaipur, India, and the 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat was one such point. In 2004, my company had essentially gone bankrupt (they didn’t call

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Windy Road

Wales: Plastic Bags for Children

Part of the reason I started this blog was because I got tired of the news (especially with this current election cycle), and I wanted to discover inspiring projects from around the world.  In scouring the Welsh

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Wales

Wales: UNA Exchange & Connecting Cultures

The UNA Exchange started as an international volunteering movement after the First World War. This transpired when the Swiss pacifist, Pierre Ceresole, sought to bring young people together from France and Germany to volunteer in the

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Rainbow

Vipassana at Dhamma Dipa

Vipassana meditation is something that I practice in my daily life. It is the meditation to cultivate self-awareness, and the capability to observe the sensations in the body without reacting to them – with the understanding that it

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Paris

And the secret to Paris is…

I love to travel. Part of the reason why I chose to showcase Paris first is that it was one of the first cities I visited abroad. When I lived in London, hopping around Europe

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Eiffel Tower

Seva Café Grasse

The Seva Café in Grasse, France serves a cuisine based on love and sharing. But this French cuisine has its roots in Berkeley, where it started as the Karma Kitchen.  Karma Kitchen first opened in

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Paris

Tête en l’air

Where you live makes such a difference. The environment where you live feeds your vitality hence, a worn down cramped and dirty place drains you energy almost as quickly as you can find it. And

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Eiffel Tower

Singa and Refugees in France

2015 was a year of Syrian refugees. There was so much news about whether to let people in, or to keep them out, but little word came about from the organizations that actually supported them.

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Paris

Les Restos du Coeur

No one says Bon Appétit better than the French. I love this story about the French comedian Coluche having a little idea of finding sponsors to open a free soup kitchen in Paris in 1985.

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