Aug 18, 2014 | Female Empowerment, Health, HIV transmission, m2m, mothers2mothers
Fashion designer and pop singer Victoria Beckham celebrated the work of mothers2mothers earlier this year in the pages of Vogue and People Magazine, but she isn’t done yet. Later this month, Beckham will auction off more than 600 items of clothing from her personal wardrobe, in a partnership with The Outnet, to support the work of m2m, a 2012 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, in reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission. In a recent blog item in Vogue, Beckham explains, We approached The Outnet as they have an incredible global reputation and are the perfect partner for us to build awareness and raise as much money as possible for Mothers2mothers. Visit here for more information on the upcoming Beckham auction. RELATED: Read more about the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership Who has won the Kravis Prize? Learn more about past recipients Learn about mothers2mothers at the Kravis Prize... read more
Jul 31, 2014 | Female Empowerment, Health, HIV transmission, Kravis Prize, m2m, mothers2mothers
For Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the key to the successful future treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS must focus on the most intimate human relationship of all. Mother and child. “We are trying to help countries eliminate mother-to-child transmission,” he told an audience at a world AIDS conference held in Melbourne, Australia, “and this is one of the most exciting goals in public health … and essential to achieving an AIDS-free generation.” Mother-to-child transmission has also been the focus of the work of mothers2mothers, a 2012 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, since the organization was founded in 2001. In its efforts to highlight the problem of mother-to-child transmission, the non-profit organization has recently found unexpected allies in the celebrity community, including pop star and fashion designer Victoria Beckham and music producer and musician Ryan Lewis. Beckham spent time with m2m’s founder in South Africa, while Lewis revealed a personal story of his mother’s plight with HIV transmission in a video receiving much media attention. The organization was thrilled to have this issue highlighted by the former president. “Like President Clinton, we at m2m believe that eliminating pediatric AIDS and achieving an AIDS-free generation is possible,” the organization said in a statement. “No one is better placed to address this stigma [of mother-to-child transmission] than the Mentor Mothers” which is a hallmark of m2m’s work. In addition to Clinton’s remarks, the issue was also highlighted at the AIDS conference by several m2m members who served as conference participants. Details of m2m’s participation at the Melbourne conference is described on the m2m website. RELATED: Visit... read more
Jun 17, 2014 | Education, Entrepreneurship, Kravis Prize, Sakena Yacoobi
“Mission creep” is a pervasive and extremely debilitating problem that afflicts all too many nonprofit organizations. According to presenters Kim Starkey Jonker and William F. Meehan III, it is the No. 1 reason why nonprofits fail to achieve the impact for beneficiaries that they desire. Yet mission creep is easily preventable and easily curable. By attacking it head-on, nonprofit leaders can not only prevent suboptimal performance, but also open the way to taking on outsized challenges. Learn how to take your organization to a higher level by joining Jonker and Meehan—along with guest presenter Sakena Yacoobi—for a discussion of organizational mission. In this webinar, Jonker and Meehan will expand on their Stanford Social Innovation Review articles “Mission Matters Most” and “Curbing Mission Creep.” Jonker and Meehan will discuss the countless external and internal pressures that cause mission creep, and they will present tools for counteracting these pressures. Recognizing that mission statements are one of the most useful (but most underused) tools available to any nonprofit, Jonker and Meehan will also outline seven characteristics of an effective mission statement. In addition, they will discuss ways to build a mission-focused organizational culture. Webinar registrants will have the opportunity to ask Jonker, Meehan, and Yacoobi questions during the last 20 minutes of the webinar, which will be moderated by Michael Slind, senior editor of SSIR. This complimentary webinar is for anyone in the social sector—nonprofit management and staff, board members, funders—anyone who seeks to create, support, and grow an organization that can align its mission with its efforts to increase impact for beneficiaries. Thanks to the generosity of the Henry R. Kravis... read more
Jun 5, 2014 | CMC, Helen Keller International, Kravis Prize
A number of CMCers were in New York at the end of May to attend a Spirit of Helen Keller Gala, which raised approximately $1 million dollars for the nonprofit’s global, life-saving work in preventing blindness and malnutrition. Joining the guest list in support of the 2014 Kravis Prize recipient’s gala were: Claremont McKenna Trustee Douglas Peterson ’80 P’14 P’15, CEO and President of McGraw Hill Financial; Ernie Iseminger, Claremont McKenna Vice President for Development & External Relations; Kravis Leadership Institute Board member Mustafa ’76 and Liz Mirza P’13 P’15; Elizabeth Algermissen P’14, Assistant Director of Leadership Giving at Claremont McKenna; Ethos Water founder and Fonderie 47 CEO Peter Thum ’90; Aron Khurana ’09, founder of 847 Hoops; and Kevin Blair ’06, a business valuation and litigation consultant. Oscar-nominated actress Abigail Breslin, star of the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine, was the event’s Honorary Junior Chair. The evening also honored humanitarian and economist Tom Arnold (former CEO of Concern Worldwide) with the Helen Keller Humanitarian Award for his “extraordinary dedication to ending child hunger and improving maternal health in the developing world.” Read more about the gala on HKI’s... read more
May 16, 2014 | Community Development, Education, FAWE, Female Empowerment
Why is 1,200 a magic number? Because it refers to all of the young Rwandan women from vulnerable families who will have a chance to finish their schooling thanks to a project co-created by the Rwandan Chapter of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). The 2008 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, FAWE started in the early 1990s when the female ministers of education in five African countries decided that more education advocacy was needed on behalf of women across the continent. FAWE’s inception in five countries has grown to 32 African countries today. This month FAWE’s Rwanda chapter in collaboration with the Canadian MasterCard Foundation has launched The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Programme to enable as many as 1,200 schoolgirls to continue their educations through the elementary, secondary, and university levels. Already, in the weeks since the scholars program began, some 200 school-age women have been enrolled in the program, according to a report featured in The New Times of Kigali. Eugénie Mukanoheli, the Rwanda chapter’s coordinator, said a similar project will soon be operating in Ethiopia as well. “The idea is to keep as many girls as possible in school,” she told The New Times. “The scholars will have everything they need to study comfortably… but the beneficiaries must be schoolgirls who are academically bright but from vulnerable families.” When the new program is fully operational, organizers plan to identify potential candidates across the country, including at least ten selected high schools. *** In a related story: 15 girls in a FAWE secondary school in Sierra Leone have also received scholarship assistance that will ensure... read more