The definition of ‘Upaya’ is any endeavor or practice that is used to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve a goal. Upaya Social Ventures, the Seattle-based non-profit, exemplifies this mission of determination and due diligence.

In a nutshell, they work to build businesses and improve the quality of life for families. Upaya focuses on helping the ultra poor – the World Bank defines the ultra poor as a family unit living on $1.25/day or less. Extreme poverty is marked by the lack of even the most basic, essential necessities to live.

From now through December 31^st, a tremendous matching campaign is going on for Upaya’s Jolkona hosted campaigns. Any and all donations made to either of the two projects will be matched on every dollar (up to the first $10,000) by the Skees Family Foundation. It is a wonderful opportunity to double your impact with a few dollars.

Jolkona Partnership and Projects

Steve Schwartz, Upaya’s Director of Strategy & Operations and Co-founder, has been closely linked with Jolkona since the latter organization began in 2007. His friendships with Jolkona founders Nadia and Adnan blossomed into a non-profit alliance following Upaya’s start in 2011. The two organizations have collaborated in making several Upaya projects available through Jolkona’s platform.

You can help Delhi’s poorest earn a dignified living by making a gift of $250. The meaningful, long-term impact such an amount can make on a family is incredible. The gift will help create a stable and dignified job for someone; this is will greatly increase their family’s income, food supply, and overall quality of life.

Upaya has also teamed up with a startup in Bihar; the startup trains silk weavers in the community to improve their skills, resources, equipment and more. Once again, with a one-time gift of $250 one new job will be created and maintained. Create Stable Jobs for Silk Weavers in Bihar and change the lives of a family for the better, forever.

A Gift of Life and Prosperity

Every person deserves the dignity of a job to call their own to provide for their family’s needs. Upaya is devoted to empowering individuals with skills and stability, thereby influencing their friends, families and communities for the better.

This holiday season, every dollar counts twice. The matching campaign makes it an ideal time to give. These are solvable problems with dedicated means to solve them. Consider giving the gift of impact by supporting one of Upaya’s projects. Doing so will voice your love and support for their mission, Jolkona’s, philanthropy’s and – most importantly – for the hope and happiness you will impart to others.

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

When we start talking about Global Health, there’s always the risk of creating an impression of generality. We can easily succumb to the idea of a vast plethora of ‘worldwide issues’ clumped together, one indistinguishable from the other. Needless to say, this is not the reality. So this month, Seattle’s Global Health month, Jolkona is bringing the Global to the personal. Today we’re thrilled to launch the Give Health matching campaign. By donating to any one of our Global Health projects we’ll directly show you the impact your donation makes in the lives of those the project supports. Even better: we’ll match your donation, double the impact, double your proof. The match will be up to $3,500, which has been generously provided by a group of anonymous donors.

What is Global Health?

Global health refers to health problems that transcend national borders or have global political and economic impact. This includes not just problems such as infectious and insect-borne diseases which can spread from one country to another, but also health problems that are of such magnitude that they have a global political and economic impact, such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic and malaria.

Why Global Health?

Because health is one of central foundations of a good and just society - and we passionately believe that. Because Global Health indirectly and directly impacts all of us: the spread of a crippling disease in another country, while confined to its borders, can still have major economic and political repercussions in your country. Furthermore, an uncontrolled disease that transcends a country’s borders obviously has the potential to wreak havoc on a truly global.

But we care most about Global Health because we know what it means be in good health and, more importantly, because we know what it means to have the support of healthcare facilities and medications when we are not. The tragedy is that there are billions of people worldwide who do not have access to the most basic healthcare. It is devastatingly unjust – almost unthinkable to us – that a mother should lose her child because of something as mundane as diarrhea.

Bring the Global to the Personal

During this campaign we want to show you that you can make a difference by showing you how you make a difference. So give to any one of our 30+ Global Health projects and we’ll match your donation, whilst you see double the proof of impact. For example, give $10 to save a child in India from diarrhea, we’ll donate an additional $10, and we’ll send you copies of both the discharge certificates for the children whose treatment you provided. You are the person who makes the difference, and you see the difference made in the person’s life. This is how we’re making Global Health a personal issue.

Go to our campaign page to view our Global Health projects. Find one you care about. Donate.

Giving Health, socializing for change

As part of the campaign, our friends at Socializing 4 Social Change (S4SC) are throwing us a party to help draw awareness to three of our Global Health projects. The evening will be replete with giveaways, music, food and drinks, as well as a silent auction. Buy a ticket for the event and the full amount will go to one of the three projects of your choice. The event is on the evening of July 26 and you can get your tickets here. At $10 a pop, how could you not?

Give Health and make Global Health a personal issue.

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