Ideas Unbound: Kailash Satyarthi and the Global March Against Child Labor

A dialogue with Nobel Peace Prize winner and Ashoka Fellow Kailash Satyarthi, a human-rights activist from India who has led the rescue of over 78,000 child slaves, and developed a successful model for their education and rehabilitation. Kailash has founded the single largest civil-society network for exploited children, the Global March Against Child Labor. Global March is a worldwide coalition of NGOs, teachers’ unions and trade unions. (This is a rebroadcast of our interview from this past March, in which Kailash Satyarthi talks about the longstanding work that led up to the Nobel Peace Prize last month.)

Global March Against Child Labor on Facebook

Global March Against Child Labor on Twitter

Tune into the interview with Kailash and click through the corresponding slideshow below....

Dennis Lennartsson and the European Sign Language Center, Harnessing the Power of Nonverbal Communication

Dennis Lennartsson, CEO and founder of the European Sign Language Center, has been instrumental in documenting and making accessible sign language dictionaries and translations for millions of hearing- and non-hearing impaired people around the world. Using an online platform that serves, connects and expands the number of sign language users globally, the European Sign Language Center is not only improving literacy rates among deaf persons and breaking down barriers to communication, but it is also tapping into the use of sign language as a powerful tool to augment early childhood development and universal nonverbal communication between both deaf and non-deaf populations. 

Dennis Lennartsson on LinkedIn

Spread the Sign website

Tune into the interview with Dennis and click through the corresponding slideshow below...

Sophia Sunwoo, The Water Collective: Employing a Big-Picture Approach to the Water Crisis

By the lowest estimates, 800 million people in our world today live without access to safe drinking water; many specialists suggest that number is closer to four billion. Sophia Sunwoo, CEO and cofounder of The Water Collective, envisions revolutionizing the water access problem by providing solutions that last through community involvement and economic empowerment. The Water Collective has established projects in 13 different Sub-Saharan locations to-date, and since its founding in 2011, has secured clean water for 25,000 people. 

Ben Simon and Cara Mayo, Food Recovery Network and Food Recovery Certified

Ben Simon, founder and director of the Food Recovery Network, and Cara Mayo, project manager for Food Recovery Certified are leading a movement that advocates for change in the way our country addresses the problem of hunger. Students, community members and businesses are uniting in this nationwide network by collecting surplus perishable food that would otherwise be thrown away, and donating it to community members in need. Food purveyors and restaurants with a seal of approval from Food Recovery Certified shine in their communities as examples of socially conscious and resource-smart business models. Since September of 2011, over 400,000 pounds of food have been recovered and reallocated to the 1/6 of Americans who are currently food insecure, and 46 businesses have been accredited by Food Recovery Certified. 

Thought Leaders: Dean Christian Brady, Higher Education as the Bridge to Leadership and Service

A dialogue with Dr. Christian Brady, Dean of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University, regarding his biblical scholarship, his career, the impact of social media on higher education, and the importance of social and emotional learning and leadership development in honors education.

Christian Brady on LinkedIn

Schreyer Honors College on Facebook

Christian Brady on Twitter

Schreyer Honors College on Twitter

Tune into the interview with Christian, click through the corresponding slideshow below and watch the featured videos to learn more about Schreyer Honors College's impact on higher education...

Oxford, 1998: Viva 1998 - Christian heading in for his doctoral degree

Atherton Hall, home of Schreyer Honors College

Dean Brady with the iconic Nittany Lion mascot

For the Future Fund Campaign close at the Schreyer home with Penn State President Eric Barron and President Emeritus Rodney Erickson

Christian meets with students in Atherton Hall

Dean Brady engages with students at the Welcome BBQ

Exploring the SHC mission of academic excellence with integrity, global perspective, leadership and civic engagement. 

Scholars talk about Schreyer Honors College and answer the question: Why Schreyer?

A conversation with the Dean.

Ideas Unbound: Rupert Scofield: Leading Microfinance Across the Globe Through FINCA

A dialogue with Rupert Scofield, cofounder, president and CEO of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), with a mission to provide financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs so that they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living. FINCA is internationally recognized as a global leader in microfinance, having reached more than a million clients through its global network in Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East and Latin America, with a loan portfolio exceeding $750 million. Rupert is also the author of The Social Entrepreneur's Handbook: How to Start, Build and Run a Business that Improves the World, a powerful guide for emerging social entrepreneurs. Our dialogue also takes up key ideas in this important work.

Rupert Scofield on LinkedIn

FINCA on Facebook 

Rupert Scofield on Twitter

FINCA on Twitter

Tune into the interview with Rupert and click through the corresponding slideshow below...

Ideas Unbound: Kajal Nisha Patel, Photography and Cross-Cultural Civic Engagement

A dialogue with award-winning photographer Kajal Nisha Patel. Kajal is the founder and CEO of Lightseekers, a social enterprise based in the United Kingdom that leverages the power of photography to promote cross-cultural civic engagement. 

Kajal Nisha Patel on LinkedIn

Kajal Nisha Patel on Twitter

Lightseekers on Facebook

Lightseekers on Twitter

Tune into the interview with Kajal, click through the corresponding slideshow below and watch the featured videos to learn more about Lightseekers' impact on our world...

Taking this particular photo was a turning point for Kajal, transforming her photography practice into a form of art. 

A photo taken by a student from one of Lightseekers' partner schools

The Trading Places project researches the decline of Leicester’s textiles and hosiery industry and catalogues the lives of people that worked in factories to gain a deeper understanding of why Leicester flourished during the industrial period. The project explores displacement, migration and new beginnings of the British South-Asian community, from India after WWII and those expelled from East Africa in 1972.

The Trading Places project researches the decline of Leicester’s textiles and hosiery industry and catalogues the lives of people that worked in factories to gain a deeper understanding of why Leicester flourished during the industrial period. The project explores displacement, migration and new beginnings of the British South-Asian community, from India after WWII and those expelled from East Africa in 1972.

The Trading Places project researches the decline of Leicester’s textiles and hosiery industry and catalogues the lives of people that worked in factories to gain a deeper understanding of why Leicester flourished during the industrial period. The project explores displacement, migration and new beginnings of the British South-Asian community, from India after WWII and those expelled from East Africa in 1972.

A photo taken by a student from one of Lightseekers' partner schools

This video explains Connecting Cultures, an initiative to develop photography and storytelling skills of children in the UK and India while increasing their understanding of the world around them.

This video captures the discipline, resourcefulness and agricultural livelihood of Adivasi students at the Vanasthali School in Gujarat, India. 

This video titled "Protection" profiles some of the cultural constructs of Indian society. Kajal reflects on her own family life and how her heritage continues to influence her today.

Produced by Kajal Nisha Patel; Co-Produced by Dimple Patel

Ideas Unbound: Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss

Our interview with Eric Weiner—award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of two critically acclaimed books, The Geography of Bliss and Man Seeks God—explores different cultural definitions of happiness and the influence of place.

Eric Weiner on Facebook

Eric Weiner on Twitter

Tune into the interview with Eric and click through the corresponding slideshow below...

Eric participated in the 2011 Aspen Ideas Festival and shared his perspective on the meaning of happiness.

Eric appeared on The Colbert Report in 2008, discussing The Geography of Bliss and why being wealthy does not necessarily mean being happy. 

Eric discussed his travelling the world on a search for a "faith that fits" at a TEDxMontclair event.

Ideas Unbound: Esra'a Al Shafei and Mideast Youth Giving a Voice to Social Change

A dialogue with Esra'a Al Shafei, founder and director of the Mideast Youth Network. At age 27, Esra'a has been instrumental in facilitating the discussion of and providing a voice for progressive social change movements in the Middle East and North Africa. The network consists of six different websites—mideastyouth.com, mideastunes.com, crowdvoice.org, ahwaa.org, kurdishrights.org and migrant-rights.org—all harnessing the power of web platforms to shed a light on the struggles of ethnic, social and religious minority rights. 

Ideas Unbound: Ángel Cabrera, President of George Mason University, Being Global

A dialogue with Ángel Cabrera, the visionary president of George Mason University and coauthor of the book Being Global: How to Think, Act and Lead in a Transformed World.

Ángel Cabrera on LinkedIn

George Mason University on Facebook

Tune into the interview with Ángel and click through the corresponding slideshow below...

Ángel during the "A, B, C's of the New Health Care Law: How does it work and what does it mean for you" talk in Mason Hall on February 12, 2014. Photo by Craig Bisacre/Creative Services/George Mason University

Ángel receives the keys to his office and the University from President Emeritus Alan Merten at Mason Hall on Fairfax Campus. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University

President Ángel Cabrera speaks about the Mason Vision statement at a faculty, student and staff town hall meeting at Fairfax campus. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University

Ángel speaks with Louise Shelley, Professor and Dir. of Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center and Ambassador (ret.) Richard Kauzlarich, Deputy Dir., at the School of Public Policy, Arlington. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University

President Cabrera and students read and discuss Martin Luther King, Jr.'s letters from a Birmingham jail. The Presidential Leadership Dialogues were sponsored by Mason L.E.A.D.S.

Student Body officers, President Cabrera and Mayor R. Scott Silverthorne attend the New Student BBQ at the City of Fairfax City Hall. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University

Ángel speaks at the Forum on the Future of Higher Education in Dewberry Hall at Fairfax campus. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University

Ángel greets Patriot Leaders during their orientation at Fairfax Campus. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University

President Cabrera walks with students at the Virginia State Capitol at Mason Lobby Day in Richmond. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University

President Cabrera meets with students to examine Mason's vision statement. Photo by Evan Cantwell/George Mason University

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell speaks with Ángel and Mason students, faculty, and alumni at the steps of the Virginia State Capitol during Mason Lobby Day in Richmond. Photo by Alexis Glenn/Creative Services/George Mason University