We live in a world of ever increasing connectivity, where we have access to as much information as we want, from around the world, at our very fingertips. Cultural diversity is more a part of daily life, both locally, and globally, as more and more people have access to technology and social media, making the world more connected than ever before. However, despite the shrinking space between interactions, having a society that respects cultural diversity is more difficult than one would think. In fact, a full three quarters of conflicts still have some cultural dimension. That is why today, on May 21st, we recognize the UN World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

On an international policy scale, the UN recognizes that cultural diversity is vitally important to development, as well as to peace. Irena Bokova, the Director General of UNESCO says, “Experience shows that efficient development models are those that actually integrate local cultural specificities, thus eliciting the involvement of the communities concerned.” In addition, keeping culture central to developing educational, environmental, communication, and other policies, means that marginalized groups are better represented. Diversity Day focuses on encouraging cultural and religious dialogue and plurality locally, as well as internationally, while creating a better balance between the exchange of cultural goods, and preserving the most vulnerable cultures.

Celebrating World Diversity day and experiencing cultural diversity doesn’t only have to be the project of international policy, it can just as easily be done at home. Do one of the things on the list provided by the Do One Thing Campaign for Diversity and Inclusion, from the UN’s Alliance of Civilizations:

1. Visit an art exhibit or a museum dedicated to other cultures.
2. Invite someone in the neighborhood from another culture or religion to share a meal with you and exchange views on life.
3. Rent a movie or read a book from another country or religion than your own.
4. Invite people from a different culture to share your customs.
5. Read about the great thinkers of other cultures than yours (e.g. Confucius, Socrates, Avicenna, Ibn Khaldun, Aristotle, Ganesh, Rumi.)
6. Visit a place of worship different than yours and participate in the celebration.
7. Play the “stereotypes game.” Stick a post-it on your forehead with the name of a country. Ask people to tell you stereotypes associated with people from that country. You win if you find out where you are from.
8. Learn about traditional celebrations from other cultures like Hanukkah, Ramadan or about the amazing celebrations of New Year’s Eve in Spain or the Qingming festival in China.
9. Spread your own culture around the world through our Facebook page and learn about other cultures
10. Explore music of a different culture

Information from UNAOC. Find out more about the Do One Thing Campaign here.

In honor of UN World Diversity Day, you can also donate to a project here at Jolkona, which will not only contribute to celebrating cultural diversity and identity, but also to aiding and empowering people in developing countries, which will soon be the epicenter of the development questions put forward by UNESCO. Through Potters for Peace, donate just $25, to train a Nicaraguan artist in making traditional pottery, for up to a year . This not only provides a steady source of income for those living in extreme poverty, but also preserves cultural heritage. Similarly, a donation of only $15, through Awamaki, supports a woman weaver in remote indigenous communities in Peru . The donation provides workshops and business training so the women can be self-sufficient, and giving them access to an international market for their traditional Peruvian weavings.

Though globally recognizing and celebrating cultural diversity may seem like an incredibly massive task, you can do your part with just a small act of seeking out and experiencing a new culture, whether it is exploring a new cuisine, or donating to help someone turn their culture into a source of well being, and have a stronger global presence. Today, on UN World Diversity Day, make a difference, be inclusive, and be part of the dialogue.

You can also help spread the word by liking us on Facebook, and by following us on Twitter,  Pinterest, and Instagram.

Chances are, if you are reading these words, social media brought you to our blog. It is a trend that has transformed the way that philanthropies operate, and reach out to donors, connecting almost everyone with the opportunities and means to be involved in charitable giving. Here at Jolkona, we use these strategies to inform potential and current donors about our low cost chances to make a difference.

With the proliferation of the non-profit sector in social media, there have been a number of studies of exactly what have been the most effective strategies. For instance, studies like the 2013 eNonprofit Benchmark Study, or those from the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) find who and what are more successful on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Intuitively, posts with pictures included are more likely to spread, and promote dialogues and actions. Less intuitively, smaller organizations have the highest average Facebook fans and Twitter followers, and their posts go more viral. Check out this infographic for more in formation about just how much social media benefits non-profit organizations.

We are seeing a new freedom in the way the nonprofit sector operates. Organizations can find donors and inform people about their causes more easily than ever, no matter how big they are. It could mark a transition away from the reliance on major donors, and influential people, and put philanthropy more firmly in the hands of anyone who wants to contribute.

The biggest online charitable giving event that Jokona will be participating in is the Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG event, on Wednesday May 15th. Donations made on the Seattle Foundation’s website will be matched from a “stretch pool,” the size of which is related to how much is donated throughout the day.

This is a huge event, since it allows local Seattle area non-profits to all benefit from matched donations, which can be stretched up to $25,000 per donation per organizations. Last year’s GiveBIG generated $7.43 million in online contributions, demonstrating just how much social media and online charitable giving can benefit non-profits. GiveBIG 2012 more than double the amount given in the previous year, and we can do even better this year! Keep an eye out for Jolkona, and participate in GiveBIG 2013.

You can also help spread the word by liking us on Facebook, and by following us on Twitter,  Pinterest, and Instagram.

April 22nd is Earth Day, a day to appreciate our planet, and become a little more environmentally friendly. It was established in 1970, to celebrate the passage of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Air act among others. For me, it is an event that I remember fondly as a child, as it always had special emphasis. In elementary school, my teachers always impressed the importance of the environment, taking Earth Day to teach us about cleaning up litter, or ways that we could reduce waste in our day-to-day lives. I even remember a reusable shopping bag my parents had – a canvas affair with a picture of the earth, and neon pink text saying ‘EARTH DAY,’ urging us to reduce, reuse and recycle.

However, this was just a few years away from the sudden realizations of climate change – how serious an issue it was, and how little time we had to rectify our mistakes. While Earth Day will still be a time when many will connect with others in their community to pick up trash, plant trees, and celebrate the planet, it should also be used as a time to understand the true impacts of deforestation, the loss of arable land and climate change. In the same way that my interactions as a child with Earth Day had an important personal impact on me, climate change has a significant impact on individuals worldwide, human or otherwise.

Earth Day 2013 is about the Face of Climate Change, a campaign, which means to show that climate change isn’t a matter of government policy, or of glaciers melting in far away places. It is an issue that impacts farmers and fishermen, who deal with droughts and declining fish populations, and the people displaced due to the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes and other natural disasters. It also impacts animals suffering from habitat loss whether it is from human activity, or rising temperatures. The Face of Climate Change project accumulates photographs of people, animals, and environments that have experienced the negative effects of the changing planet. It also documents the efforts of individuals, like you, or my elementary school teachers, who work to fight climate change, and improve the planet for all beings.

One organization and Jolkona partner making a difference for the environment is Trees for the Future. They approach environmental sustainability, responsible farming practices, forest recovery, and providing opportunities for farmers all over the world in one fell swoop, by planting trees and training communities in agroforestry. A donation of $5 provides the fund to plant 50 trees, an astounding amount. And, Trees for the Future has a presence in a number of countries from Burundi to Brazil, and from Ethiopia to Cameroon.

Working with Trees for the Future provides an incredible amount of impact, especially for Earth Day 2013. Planting trees and teaching sustainable agroforestry to communities directly helps some of the people most affected by Climate Change. In addition, the sheer number of trees planted from each donation works to restore canopies, and scrub excess carbon dioxide from the environment. Not only can you reduce your own carbon footprint, you can help communities affected by deforestation, soil loss, and the loss of livelihood. On this planet, everyone is a Face of Climate Change, and we can all do our part. In honor of Earth Day 2013, donate today, and spread trees all over the world.

You can also help spread the word by liking us on Facebook, and by following us on Twitter,  Pinterest, and Instagram.

Last week, as part of our Give2Girls campaign and Women’s History Month, Jolkona attended Women Hold Up Half The Sky, a SHE Talks Soiree from ChickChat. The focus of the event was to bring awareness to issues facing women and girls all over the world, featuring non-profits that work with girls in India, Ethiopia, Nepal and Haiti.

ChickChat is a marketing research company that works on increasing the market power of women as consumers. As women make the vast majority of purchasing decisions in the US, ChickChat uses focus groups of women to give real feedback to major companies, as to what their biggest consumer demographic really wants. With their SHE Talks Soiree, Women Hold Up Half The Sky, they bring economically empowered women in contact with non-profits and philanthropy projects, like Jolkona, that work to empower women in developing countries across the world.

As part of their market research, where ChickChat connects female consumers with producers, they also work to connect their members with charities, and donation opportunities. That is the central reason behind Women Hold Up Half The Sky, which promotes local non-profits founded by women seeking to help women. While Jolkona is promoting Give2Girls, other great non-profits were featured as well.

• “1 in 10 children in Haiti lives in an orphanage”. Haiti Baby: Haiti Babi makes hip baby products that empower and employ Haitian moms to provide and care for their families.
• “75%+ of India lives on half a $1 a day or less!” Upaya Social Ventures: is building the businesses that will create jobs and improve the quality of life for families living in extreme poverty in India. Upaya is a partner of Jolkona, with great opportunities to donate.
• Maiti Nepal, whose mission is to prevent, rescue and rehabilitate Nepalese women and girls from sex trafficking. It’s estimated that 5,000+ Nepali girls are sex trafficked each year; with another 20,000+ currently working in brothels in India.
• Crooked Trails is a Seattle-based non-profit that leads small group trips to developing countries

The event was a fantastic opportunity for Jolkona to connect with new people, promote our partners, and recruit new volunteers. ChickChat’s Half the Sky Soiree was an evening of learning, inspiration and recognizing the unlimited potential of the ‘power of one’. All of the presenters made us feel proud to be a woman! It was truly inspirational!

Be a part of the Give2Girls movement by helping to spread the word by liking us on Facebook, and by following us on Twitter (#give2girls), and Pinterest.

Let’s not beat around the bush, Seattle, the darling Emerald City of the Pacific Northwest, is known worldwide for many a great thing: coffee, aviation, music, global technology, and probably also soon (or so we dream) basketball. Sure, weather snobs wince when you say you’re from Seattle. And you may think, therefore, that with so much rain and general darkness we must be quite the melancholic types, sitting around feeling tragically sorry for ourselves. Well, of course, you would be completely wrong. Indeed, among Seattle’s brightest virtues is its thriving culture of philanthropy, driven by a people who value altruism and diversity. Truth is, if you want to know what’s happening at the avant-garde of philanthropy, look no further than Seattle.

And true to this point, tomorrow, January 24th, the city of Seattle will be exploring the 21st Century trends in philanthropy at Philanthropy FORWARD. Hosted by City Club, a network of stalwart citizens who work together to boost civic engagement in the city, Philanthropy FORWARD will be a forum exploring trends and leaders who are redefining philanthropy by targeting engagement as well as giving. They will be attempting to answer such questions as, How do today’s philanthropists cross borders between local and global giving? How do they use digital tools to democratize participation and communications? How are priorities decided by individual donors and by giving collectives? How do they measure progress and impact?

Jolkona represented

Seeing that Jolkona has pushed the boundaries for philanthropy, it is appropriate, then, that our very own CEO, Nadia Mahmud, has been asked to be on the forum’s panel. Needless to say, we are immensely proud of her and are deeply honored to be represented at this prestigious occasion!

Where, when?

So if you have any interest in philanthropy and civic engagement, or if you want to know what makes Seattle’s philanthropic community so brilliant, then come! It will be held at the Town Hall. Doors are at 11.30am. General admission tickets with a buffet luncheon cost $30. General admission tickets for coffee and desert only are $15. Get your tickets here!

For more information, go here.

See you there!

Like Jolkona on Facebook, follow us on Twitter , and check us out on Pinterest to keep up with all of our ongoing projects.

On December 14, 1954 the United Nations’ General Assembly suggested each country adopt a Universal Children’s Day, and today, November 20, is the day that is now recognized as such.

The day also marks the date the UN’s Assembly enacted the Declaration of the Rights of a Child and the Convention on the rights of the Child, the former in 1959 and the latter in 1989.

In recognition of this day, on which great accomplishments have been made for the world’s youth, we would like to highlight some of our projects that work to give back to kids everywhere, everyday.

Support the Cause

Help Families Fleeing from Famine in Somalia-Somalia is in a declared state of famine, due to the drought in the African Horn, which is the worst the nation has seen in 60 years. Those fighting famine are more prone to dehydration and the contraction of diseases; children are especially susceptible. With your donation of $50, our partner MADRE will provide 5 health kits to a family. Through your gift you will not only be supporting kids on this year’s Universal Children’s Day, but the families that help provide for them.

Support an Orphan in Kenya: More than one million children have been orphaned in Kenya due to high mortality rates from HIV/AIDS, leaving them without many basic necessities. Your $30 donation will provide one child with an outfit, and you will receive a photo of them wearing the clothes you gave. Any gift you decide to give will be provided to our partner, Global Roots, and to the Baraka Orphanage, which has successfully worked to find homes for over 1,800 orphans in the area.

Provide Maternal and Child Healthcare in Guatemala: With a high infant mortality rate, women in Guatemala are in need of assistance in the execution of healthy deliveries and infant care—the country’s infancy mortality rate is 33 per 1,000 live births, and is even higher in rural areas. With your gift of $166 you can provide a mother and child with one week and pre- and post-delivery care. Our partners program, Project Concern International’s (PCI) Casa Materna (Mother’s House), focuses on preventing disease, improving community health, and promoting sustainable development. Help us and PCI support children and mothers in Guatemala through this great opportunity.

Give an Overnight Experience to Underserved Youth in USA: Inspire our country’ youth to learn: by providing $30 to the Ron McNair Camp-In, you will give one child a partial scholarship to attend an overnight event at the Pacific Science Center, our partner who works together with Blacks in Science to host the event. The child you sponsor will receive the partial scholarship along with three meals during the event, and your donation will help cover the costs of the workshops, educators and supplies for the children.

A Global Gift

In support of both the UN’s Universal Children’s Day and its eight Millennium Development goals, we hope that you will help us celebrate this year’s Children’s Day by giving back to the youth of the world it celebrates. According to UNICEF, children directly benefit from at least 6 of the 8 of the UN’s Millennium Development goals, and are indirectly helped by the remaining two. Take a second to look at any of our projects, which address at least one of the goals in some way, and give back to our kids however you would like.

Like Jolkona on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and check us out on Pinterest to keep up with all of our ongoing projects.

Life and Times of the Seattle Center

I have fond memories of afternoons spent at the Pacific Science Center as a child. Interactions with the fast-talking robot were always entertaining, while the proto-virtual reality soccer sequences always had eager kids waiting their turn. And who can forget the dinosaur exhibit or the labyrinthine network of brightly- colored tunnels that the naked mole rats amble through? My experiences were engaging and formative, and by no means a rarity among my peers; the Seattle Center has served as the literal and symbolic epicenter for our youth’s – or rather the whole city’s – engagement in education, technology and social connections for half a century.

For much of this year, the Seattle Center has been curating historic events to commemorate 50 years since Seattle’s 1962 World Fair. The Next Fifty aims to inform the community about past endeavors and inspire new aspirations and plans. Compassion Games, a month-long celebration of human kindness organized by Compassion Seattle and United Way Day of Caring, is tied into this year’s culminating events. Running from September 21^st through October 21^st (the final day of “The Next Fifty”), the Compassion Games rewrites what it means to be a winner, and how one goes about cultivating care and generosity in their daily life.

Living Selflessly

Compassion Games’ acts of compassion are intended to build trust and communion between you and friends, family, and strangers. Call a mentor to say thank you; donate blood; read to a child; or simply list what you are grateful for and share it with others. Use your imagination about how you can make the world better one gesture or thank you at a time.

I would like to take this opportunity to share what I am grateful for in my life, as well as include the thoughts of a few of my fellow volunteers.

Dania Primley
I am thankful for all of the wonderful volunteers and interns we see at Jolkona. The volume and quality of volunteer applicants I get always inspires me. The idea that smart, dedicated, passionate people would work for free to help others in need really makes my heart happy.

Mari Hirabayashi
As a new mother, I am thankful for the innocence I see in my son’s eyes and the compassion it gives me.

Santina Rigano
I am grateful for the fantastic experiences and opportunities that I have been given throughout Australia and America. It is absolutely unbelievable to think of what one can achieve, and although my notches are not off my belt as yet, they are getting there. I am truly grateful for the amazing friends and family that I have created here in Seattle and for the West Seattle community which are so supportive, fun, and always there for me. 

Gabriel St. John:
I’m grateful for my stellar community of friends and family – those near and those not so near.

Cameron LaFlam
I am thankful for the family and friends I call my own; I have learned so much about love, friendship, and generosity from our relationships together. I am also grateful for becoming a part of Jolkona – the good will and tenacity I see in others here is humbling and inspiring.

Thank you to the wonderful volunteers and philanthropists of Jolkona who took the time to share what they are grateful for! Here, here to making Seattle more compassionate hour by hour, day by day, and year by year.

In the spirit of Compassion Games’ community involvement and philanthropic gusto, consider giving a gift through Jolkona. Our endeavors range far and wide, capturing the hard work of non-profits in education, healthcare, employment, art and more. Check out our up-to-date project list to discover non-profits doing amazing work in the world; right now!

What will your compassionate act be today?

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and keep up to date with all we are doing and the impact you are making.

Jeans donned, tie loosely knotted, and shirt un-tucked, I followed the instincts of my sufficiently empty stomach and made a bee-line down the hill to the Blue Ribbon Cooking School on South Lake Union. My only hold up was a seemingly interminable red light whilst trying to cross the I-5. The rest of the evening was a go!

Food, glorious food!

Soon after a beer and a few too many appetizers later, I was rolling gnocchi and chopping sage with a group of friendly strangers – there’s nothing like the preparation of food to get people interacting! Who rolled the best gnocchi? Despite my three years in Italy, not me. I then powered straight onto Cocktail Mixology, where I learnt all about muddling and a French 75, named after the 19th Century French 75 mm field gun (Why? Think boom. Enough said).

I also connected with a couple fellow Brits. We dubbed ourselves Team GB. Many a “God Save The Queen!” later and I was onto the steak and salmon. Feeling the delicacies of the fish were a little too on the dexterous side for me, I passed to the meat. Steak in pan. Cook for 3 ½ minutes. Turn. Cook for 3 ½ minutes. That part went swimmingly. But when it came to the sauce, it was my pronunciation of tomato that drew heavy criticism. I made amends at the crepe station, however, where I teamed up with one of my fellow Team GB companions. We practically ran the show – our crepes looking as bright, round, and winsome as any gold medal.

To follow was the shrewdly observed silent auction with an incredible array of items. Then we were called to the table where we were treated to the buzz and clamor of our live auction and, of course, our much anticipated dinner. Everything- auction, dinner, and all – was as delectable as it was full of mirth.

One person’s determination to engender change

There were many memorable moments from the evening – the cooking classes, the food, the incredible auction items, Team GB – but, for me, one thing stood above all those: Adnan’s story about Jolkona. It was compassionate and compelling; an extraordinary reminder of how one person’s idea and determination could result in so much change – change for the good. It was truly inspiring to see how from the desire to help one Bengali man, who couldn’t afford to bury his own son, it could end up with where Jolkona is today: over 150 projects and over $500,000 donated. And more importantly, the numerous lives that have been impacted the world over.

The Jolkona team produced a special film for the event. Check it out:

The evening’s impact

Thanks to everyone who participated, donated, and put their time, energy and compassion into the Corks & Forks fundraiser, we were able to raise over….

$32,000!

Thank yous

First of all to everyone who donated so generously to the Kona fund.

We have to thank, of course, our brilliant sponsors: Coinstar inc., Ja Warren Hooker Fitness Performance Group, and Cornerstone Advisors. Little could have been achieved without them.

We also need to thank all those beneficent people who donated auction items: Adnan and Nadia Mahmud, Alexander Resource Group, Amazon, Andy Hytjan, Art Wolfe, Axtion Club, Barbara Grant Consulting Group, Barri Rind, Big Dipper Wax Works, Bob Colleran, Canlis, Carisa Marie, Chateau St. Michelle, Christos on Alki, Coach Aina, Coinstar Inc., Dave Henderson, David Jofre, Dennis Tom, Dreams Performing Arts, Edgar & Holli Martinez, Envy on Alki, Fairmont Hotel Group, FlyWheel Spin Cycle Studio, Gary Manuel Salon, Gene Juarez, Heide and Matthew Felton, Ivars, Kid Valley, JaWarren Hooker, Jen Duffy, Jenny Almukhtar, Jordan Belmonte, Justin and Jen Spelhaug, K2 Sports, Lauren Burman, Lisa Arlint, Long Provincial, Mary Hoy Shampoo, Material Good, Megan Fleming, Microsoft, Miir, Mission Latin Restaurant, Moshe Dunie, Mynt Expressions, Nancy Xu, Pacific Science Center, Parichey Gandhi, Pavan Potaraju, Pete Morse, Pete’s Market, Punit Java, Raghu Murti, Reconstruct Remodel, Quixotic Designs, Salon 08, Santina Rigano, Seattle Symphony, Tam Nguyen, Teatro Zinzanni, The Bridge, Trudy Muller, WaxDiva Lucy, Wing Luke Museum, Woodland Park Zoo.

I’m not ashamed to admit it, my love language is food. Food is affection. Food is happiness. Food is love. Cook me a bowl of warm soup on a wintery day and I might love you forever. Likewise, if you’re someone important to me, I’ve probably already cooked you dinner (or at least I’m planning to). You can probably imagine, then, my unabashed glee when Jolkona initially drafted up our Corks & Forks fundraiser event. And as each decadent, mouth-watering detail has been finalized, my pangs of anticipation have risen to a steady crescendo. Much grumblings of stomachs later, the event is here!

Great food, a better world

Hosted at the delectable Blue Ribbon Cooking School, this Thursday October 4^th Jolkona will be throwing a soiree of cooking classes, dinner, wine, hearty slaps on the back, and much jollity – and all in aid of making this world a better place.

Guests will be greeted with a beautiful selection of appetizers and beverages. During this time of mirth and mingling, attendees will select 4 of 5 different classes to attend. The cooking stations for the evening are as followed: (1) gnocchi (2) steak & salmon (3) crepes  (4) wine tasting (5) cocktail mixology.

And then – we get to eat it! And just in case that doesn’t sound tempting enough for you and you haven’t seen it already, here’s the menu:

The menu

Appetizers

Vegetarian Samosas with Traditional Indian Chutneys

Tostones topped with White Fish, Pineapple Salsa and Cilantro Infused Sour Cream

Thai Grilled Chicken Skewers with Honey-Peanut Coconut Glaze

Dinner

African Spiced Carrot, Orange and Parsnip Salad

Salmon en Courte with Creamy Spinach and Walla Walla Sweet Onion Sauce

Steak au Poivre with Brandied-Peppercorn Sauce

Homemade Gnocchi with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Medley of Pike Place Market Style Grilled Vegetables

Dessert

Seasonal French Dessert Crepes

Blue Ribbon Coffee

Afterwards there will be a live fundraising auction. One of the stellar items up-for-grabs is a 5 night’s stay in the Fairmont Heritage Place in Whistler. There’s also a pair of K2 skis. Buy them both and that’s ¾ of your winter vacation covered!

The Kona Fund

The Kona fund has a special place in our hearts. Why? – because it’s really the cornerstone of our Foundation. Through it we offset all our operating costs, which then allows us to allocate 100% of your donation to your chosen project. All the evening’s proceeds will go to the Kona fund.

NextGen Tickets are $100 and General Tickets are $120.

VIP Tickets are $175.

Make (and eat) great food; make the world a better place. Come to Corks & Forks! Miss it, miss out.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and keep up to date with all we’re doing and the impact you are making.

Jolkona’s 1st annual Corks & Forks auction and dinner event is coming up quick! Join us on October 4th from 6:30-9:30pm at the Blue Ribbon Cooking School for an evening of cooking, drink-making, and bidding to unite the community around a mission of giving. Hosted by auctioneer Jim Dever of Evening Magazine, the night is sure to be full of laughs and fun!

The assortment of hands-on classes will teach you how to craft everything from savory truffles to sophisticated cocktails to mouth-watering soups and salads. Come ready to wow family, friends, and co-workers at future dinner parties!

Excellent prizes and getaways will be up for auction – not to mention the plethora of items available in the silent auction! Take a look at the complete auction item list for the big night.

Grab yourself a ticket while they are still available right here!

Sponsors

A huge thank you goes out to the major sponsors of Corks & Forks, Coinstar, Inc. and Jaa’ Warren Hooker Fitness Performance. We went ahead and asked them a couple of questions about partnering with Jolkona and the importance of food to them.

Coinstar, Inc.

A local company, Coinstar, Inc got its start in Bellevue, WA in 1991. Jolkona is so excited to have Coinstar onboard for the upcoming auction and fundraising event. By backing our mission, their resources and reputation help illuminate the projects we are dedicated to.

Thank you Coinstar for your sponsorship and support!

Why are you a sponsor for Jolkona?
Coinstar, Inc. is proud to sponsor Jolkona for its innovative approach to giving. Jolkona’s use of technology brings donors and grantees closer together by reporting on impact. It’s an excellent method to entice more people to give!

What has food meant to you?
Like Jolkona, we feel lucky our company is headquartered in Seattle, surrounded by a robust local food movement. Our region’s focus on food feels special and serves as another way to bring our community together, whether that’s at the community garden, co-op grocery or family dinner table.

Jaa’ Warren Hooker Fitness Performance

Jaa’ Warren Hooker Fitness Performance is made up of a team of fitness professionals who provide mobile services for exercise, nutrition, and rehabilitation needs. Jolkona is thrilled to have Jaa’ Warren’s involvement and support. It means a lot to have meaningful, local sponsors for a special event like Corks & Forks.

Once more, thank you to Jaa’ Warren Hooker Fitness Performance!

What has food meant to you?

Thanksgiving and Christmas have always been my favorite holidays, gathering with friends and family to tell stories and create a positive community. Besides the food always being spectacular, food brings people together.

Local Projects

Jolkona works intimately with a number of local organizations dedicated to furthering education, employment, and personal well-being. We would like to spotlight a few of these to give you a better idea about the kinds of non-profits we support in our own backyard.

Washington CASH aims to educate and motivate low-income individuals with entrepreneurial ambitions. Their means of empowerment include personalized business training, professional workshops, business development training courses, and even microloans to help legitimately finance start up businesses. CASH strives to give people the skill sets and confidence necessary to achieve success in today’s tumultuous economy.

The Pacific Science Center is a leading light for education and culture in Seattle. It has been a pillar of the community for fifty years as the nation’s first science and technology-based museum. Jolkona partners with the Pacific Science Center to give children the opportunity to attend science camp by sponsoring campers. Camps for Curious Minds are made up of countless programs for every age and inclination. These experiences prove to be exciting, edifying, and life-changing for our youth.

Jubilee Women’s Center provides housing, staffing resources, and life improvement services for homeless women in the community. They are determined in their undertaking to restore dignity and self-sufficiency to the lives of women who have endured an array of struggles. Jolkona facilitates shopping excursions for women to boost self-confidence, as well as thorough one-on-one professional care. Jubilee’s focus on comprehensive services from employment to education to mental health makes it a meaningful hub in our community.

Proceeds

100% of the proceeds from Corks & Forks go to the Kona Fund for Jolkona, which sustains our goals in several ways. The contributions help maintain our operations, which allow us to take young philanthropists under our wing, while also ensuring 100% of the donations we receive are given to their rightful cause and actualized. It is because of your generous support that Jolkona is able to devote its time and energy to those in need.

Please, come join us for this exceptional opportunity to show your support for one another in the community and Jolkona!

General Tickets are currently $120, while tickets for our NextGen young philanthropists are at the special price of $100. VIP Tickets (which include awesome bonuses like champagne and wine, appetizers, and your own apron) are $175 a piece.

Buy tickets now for you and your party before ticket prices increase on Oct. 3rd at 5pm!

See you at Corks & Forks on Oct. 4^th to celebrate the generous world of giving!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and keep up to date with all we are doing and the impact you are making.

On Thursday of last week, a group of passionate individuals got together in a trendy building on Lenora and 1st to celebrate Jolkona and make their impact. That’s right, Socializing for Social Change‘s (S4SC) event benefitting Jolkona was a great success! Here’s the story of how the night went, and in true Jolkona fashion, a report of the impact the event had.

Volunteers from Jolkona and S4SC assembled at Maker’s Space at 4:00 to get ready for the event. They prepared food, put out the raffle station, hooked up the sound system, and set up two projectors; one highlighting different Global Health facts and Jolkona projects, the other broadcasting any tweets featuring #S4SC live. At 6:00, guests started arriving.

They were greeted at the door, and given a nametag featuring their twitter handle and the project they donated to with their ticket. They then got food, drinks, and raffle tickets; a chance to win one out of four fabulous prizes. At 7:30, S4SC founder Antonio Smith officially welcomed everyone who attended, and introduced our very own Nadia Khawaja, who gave guests the rundown on Jolkona. At 8:30, the raffle tickets were drawn, and everyone received swag bags filled with great prizes. By 9:30, the event was over, and volunteers helped return the space to the neat order it was in before.

I felt that the evening was very successful; S4SC created a lively atmosphere and a great forum to talk about Jolkona and giving. This kind of event is a great way to attract the vibrant and young community that Jolkona loves. Seeing the twitter wall live, and hearing about the potential amount of publicity for Jolkona, showed me yet again that each and every one of us, each drop of water counts towards making a difference.

The Impact:

-The hashtag #S4SC potentially garnered 30,000 impressions the night of the event!

-80 Event tickets were sold, meaning:

-10 youth will be sponsored to attend the Kick It with Kenya soccer/leadership conference.

-23 children will receive diarrhea treatment in Kolkata, India.

-8 Women will receive training to be community health promoters in rural Peru.

-56 Raffle tickets were bought; and Jolkona received a total of $1,100 for Global Health, finishing our Give Health matching campaign!

A huge thank you from all of us at Jolkona to Socializing for Social Change! Their work and partnership is what made this amazing and fun event possible.

See the total impact our Give Health Campaign had. If this event sounded fun, get ready for Corks N’ Forks on October 4th! Read more Jolkona on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

On Monday afternoon I had the opportunity to volunteer at Global Washington‘s How Girls Can Save the World event. Thanks to a generous donation from Microsoft all 500+ guests were able to attend without any cost. The afternoon had two speakers, Geena Davis of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and Chris Grumm of Chris Grumm Consulting Group; as well as a moderator, former CEO of the Women’s Funding Network and moderator, Andrea Taylor of Microsoft.

The talks were a fascinating confluence of women in media and women in economics, portraying where these worlds intersect and, although vastly diverse, how they are at times inter-dependable. Extremely memorable was Geena Davis’s constant emphasizing of the word feminist. She stressed that we were not be afraid of it as all it means is to believe in equal rights for women.

The event was incredibly engaging and a number of questions were asked at the end. It was refreshing to see young girls (maybe 12 or 13 years old) asking such difficult but pertinent questions. One girl, who was in middle school, asked how she could engage in conversation with her friends about women empowerment and hyper-sexualization. This question and many others were enlighteningly answered by both Geena and Chris.

Some quotes from the evening:

Chris Grumm: “We need system change to help women/girls. Celebrate all success but be five steps ahead.”
Chris Grumm: “The difference between the women of the Global South and the Global North – women in the North are already empowered and the women of the South need more help with empowerment and business opportunities.”

Geena Davis: “Female characters in G-rated movies wear the same revealing clothes as female characters in R-rated movies.”
Geena Davis: “We’re due for a resurgence of the women’s movement!”

Eye-opening statistics that were mentioned:

• 80% of the media consumed worldwide comes from the United States. This is the message we’re exporting.
• If we add women to media at the rate of the last 20 years, it will take 700 years to meet parity. 500 years for congress.
• Teenage girls’ #1 ambition is “reality TV star”.
• There is typically 1 woman for every 3 males in TV/movies/media.
• Research shows the more hours of TV a girl watches, the fewer options she imagines for her life.

Follow #girlssavetheworld on Twitter and you can take a look at the conversation we all had. Tom Paulson at KPLU also wrote a excellent summary of the evening on his blog, Humanosphere.

With our current matching campaign, Give to Girls (#Give2Girls) we can all make a difference and help empower the next generation of women leaders.

Empower women the world over here.

One thing we LOVE about Seattle is the number of do-gooders there are and the amount of innovation that comes out of this city. To help facilitate those that have a business idea for social good or want to be a part of one, our friends at the Hub Seattle are hosting Seattle’s first SocEnt Weekend.



In case you’re wondering what #Socent Weekend is, it’s a 50 hour crash-course in how to start a social enterprise – a business that will have a positive social impact on our world.

To kick off the weekend, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will be at the event on Friday evening just before 7pm. Teams will work throughout the weekend towards a final pitch on Sunday evening at 5:30pm. In this time, teams will take an idea to make positive social change and develop an actionable business plan to move forward.

The organizers have got a host of amazing prizes, phenomenal judges and mentors, as well a great group of participants to build up your network.  Don’t miss out on this first-of-its kind opportunity.  If you have a great business idea for social good, or want to be a part of one and can contribute your design or development skills, register today!

With just one day left until the big event starts, SocEnt weekend is specifically looking for a few more designers, techies, or startup junkies. If that’s you, you’re in need of this weekend at #SocEnt Weekend. Teams of social entrepreneurs need your skills and action-oriented approaches to turn their ideas into world changing real businesses.

We can’t wait to hear about the great social enterprises that come out of the weekend!

Credit Karen Ducey

On Monday night, October 3^rd, Jolkona competed along side 13 other social innovators at Social Venture Partner’s Social innovation fast pitch for the chance to win a piece of the total prize money worth $170,000. It was a full house at the Fischer Pavilion at the Seattle Center with a crowd of more than 600 people in attendance all coming to hear 5-minute pitches of the top social innovations in Seattle ranging from high school students, college students, and seasoned social entrepreneurs.  Jolkona was honored to be one of 14 groups to pitch that night, and even more honored to have won the $15,000 Social Endeavors Award for our new initiative– licensing our micro-giving platform to help non-profits improve fundraising online.

While the competition was very stressful, it was also a forcing factor to help us get our “pitch” down. I’d like to thank Social Venture Partners and specifically Will Poole and his massive team of volunteers for organizing such a great event.  And I’d like to give a special shoutout to some of the amazing volunteer coaches/mentors that helped me with my pitch:  Susan Bloch, Ken Pawlak, Ted Weiler, and Dan Kranzler.  Thank you for believing in me and in Jolkona’s work and for helping to take our idea to the next level!  And a BIG thank you to all the Jolkona volunteers, board, and advisers that came to support that night.  Last, congrats to all the other winners that night!

Credit: Karen Ducey

It’s been a CRAZY week at Jolkona HQ, with the big win on Monday, all the follow-up from the great connections we made that night, and the start of Microsoft’s and King County’s Giving Campaign Month, but we are energized and excited to be moving forward with our new innovation.

Check out pictures from the event here and read articles about the event posted on the Puget Sound Business Journal and on Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Blog.

Post written by Jolkona intern Almudena Rodriguez

I had the pleasure to represent Jolkona at How To Be A Changemaker: Combating HIV/AIDS and Eradicating Poverty through Social Enterprise, A Conversation with Thailand’s “Mr. Condom” on June 9, an event hosted by the World Affairs Council.

Known as Mr. Condom for his humorous and unorthodox approach to family planning, Mechai Viravaidya founded the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) in 1974 to address unsustainable population growth in Thailand. The talk he gave at TEDxChange explains some of the innovative methods PDA used to promote family planning and condom use in Thailand — efforts that helped reduce Thai family size from 7 children per family in 1974 to only 1.5 children per family in 2003.

Mechai’s World Affairs Council talk focused on the Village Development Partnership (VDP), a rural anti-poverty project in Thailand for which he won the 2007 Gates Global Health Award and the 2008 Skoll Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The VDP model empowers local communities to improve their quality of life by articulating their needs and aspirations and creating a tailored development plan. Sponsoring companies and organizations provide funds for communities’ development projects in exchange for tree planting. This unique partnership between the private sector and the communities they sponsor has proven successful and sustainable for more than 22 years.

Lesson of VDP’s success that can be applied to Jolkona are summarized in the following diagram:

Even though this model was designed for the Thai population that VDP worked with, it can be applied to other countries and modified accordingly. Portions of this model are already part of Jolkona’s vision.

For example, we support grassroots organizations that collaborate with the communities they serve to develop solutions to local problems. In Sudan, Jolkona partner MADRE works with a local organization to provide seeds, supplies and training to women farmers who have traditionally been denied access to farm aid and credit. Our donors can also support several projects that help low-income people become entrepreneurs, such as a program to teach business skills to low-income people in the US and an initiative to prepare the most disadvantaged Haitian women to receive microcredit. Similar to the VDP model, our donors are empowering the communities served by our nonprofit partners to determine their own destiny.

Almudena Rodriguez is Jolkona’s 
Marketing Coordinator Intern. Originally from Spain, Almu is a firm believer in the need for marketing and communications for any business or nonprofit to reach its full potential. She has an MBA from La Coruña in Spain and a degree in Marketing from the marketing Institute of Ireland. In October 2010, she relocated to Seattle. In her free time she likes skiing, hiking, cycling and staying in touch with her friends spread all over the world. Follow Almudena on Twitter @Mayona80.