See us at SOCAP11

Posted on 1 August 2011 by Kohl

We just registered to attend SOCAP11 (http://socialcapitalmarkets.net/), the largest convergence of social enterprises and social capital investors out there. We couldn’t have made it this far without the help of our supporters, including the staff and investors in the Hub Ventures (http://m.youtube.com/?dc=organic&source=mog&hl=en#/watch?v=R4iOwjoA_Mo) program.

This will give us a great opportunity to meet with great socially-minded companies to work with, as well as investors that share our values.

Is there anyone in particular we should be looking out for? Will you be at SOCAP11? Let us know!

(Oh, and I took this on the train.)

20110801-150354.jpg

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Intuit’s txtWeb and Not For Sale’s Abolitionist Academy

Posted on 28 July 2011 by Kohl

It’s been a busy week! On Monday, Intuit invited LaborVoices to speak at their Idea Jam, to help generate ways of using their innovative SMS-based platform, txtWeb. I tried to pitch LaborVoices, without being too annoying. The Intuit folks seem interested in pursuing some of our issues using their tech, even devoting some developer and designer time. We’re pretty psyched.

And today, an opportunity just popped up to speak before a class of modern-day abolitionists at Not For Sale’s Abolitionist Academy, here in San Francisco, focused this time on slavery in supply chains. I look at it as a great opportunity to captivate a focus group of activists and pull in some valuable feedback.

Thanks, everyone, for your support!  We love these opportunities to evangelize, so keep them coming!

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Speaking at ATEST Tomorrow!

Posted on 13 July 2011 by Kohl

The LV team has been invited to speak at the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) tomorrow at noon EDT at the Humanity United offices in Washington, DC.  I’m honored—and, yes, a little nervous.

ATEST Logo

Our goal with this talk is to offer our approach to the ATEST members—non-profits, unions, and activists in the anti-trafficking space—and recruit them and their networks into implementing partnerships.  We’re hoping that the ATEST folks will help us gather members in new pilot projects in the US, India, and elsewhere.  In return, we’re offering to collect boatloads of data for them to use in their education, advocacy, and other anti-trafficking programs.  It should be a fun conversation.

The room has reached capacity, but for those of you interested in listening in, the dial in information is 1-866-206-0240, pin 930181# .

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Great Video on Garment Workers in Bangalore

Posted on 9 July 2011 by Kohl

I just saw this excellent video on the status of the 500,000 garment workers in Bangalore.  We’ve been working with Bangalore garment workers for a few months now, but we’ve only scratched the surface.  The folks who made this video at Cividep have done some great work, reaching out to these women and gathering their stories.  We’re hoping to make a connection with Cividep soon to see how we can work together, combining their deep understanding and relationships with our mobile-enhanced approach to draw out their stories and opinions, inform other workers, brands and consumers, and bring lasting change to this industry.

If you have connections to Cividep or similar organizations, let us know!

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