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SO, WHO HAS FORWARD 100 WORKED WITH? I could not ask for a better client list so far. In some cases, I was contacted by the company directly, in other cases, I was brought in to support projects for Trend Influence, Modo Group and others for the companies below. In all cases, the experiences were interesting and absorbing. Here's a starter list of clients and brands: CIBA Vision And let's not forget the prior clients (in Jeff's Pre-Forward 100 life) of… P&G In addition to the above, there are also many interesting non-profit clients. Many of the locally based clients may not ring a bell, but here are some highlights: PSI (Public Health) OK, those were the non-profit headlines… here is more context for those interested: PSI (Population Services International, www.psi.org) - Washington, DC based group that does a lot of amazing life saving and life improving work in the poorest parts of the world. Their areas of impact include addressing treatments and prevention relating to: HIV … and MANY other important areas of intervention. PSI is really interesting for a lot of reasons…they use a lot of private sector methods (e.g., branding, distribution, advertising) to impact public health. Elsewhere on this site I referred to learnings I have earned through some stumbles… while there were many great aspects of working with PSI, I also stumbled in several ways… while frustrating and a little embarrassing (rookie mistakes) initially, this turned out to be a great gift because it taught me no fewer than 8 important lessons about working with non-profit organizations… all future projects have benefited as a result. This project also taught me that there is an amazing opportunity to help groups like PSI develop more effective donor resonance stories… not what this project was meant to be about, but a great residual for future thinking and consideration. For anyone interested in specific points of contact / expertise in public health, I highly recommend you check out: Dr. Craig Lefebvre (leading thinker on a ton of public health topics and innovation) Sally Cowal (was really impressed with her passion for so many public health projects that are often overlooked… plus, she introduced me to the great work that her field of expertise is doing with P&G's PUR brand in terms of water filtration in the 3rd world. Plus, she is really cool). Another group that I had the privilege of interacting with is No Limits Media. I learned from a good guy there named Dan Jones that this group is special for many different reasons. First, gotta love the idea that many of the PBS pioneers (the good people who brought us Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch (my personal favorite), and many other great memories and educational interactions) still want to help people through media later in the careers. Many of these PBS pioneers are involved with all kinds of great projects with No Limits Media, including the awesome www.BeyondLimits.tv program and The Gift: A Photographic Exhibition Exploring Life Beyond Limits. Their goals of positively changing how people think about those who live with disabilities is truly impressive. Please consider checking out their links above or here for more information. As
unfortunately happens in times of recession, corporate donations
to this great group are not what they used to be… if you
have any funding or donor suggestions for them, please consider
pinging them at info@nolimitsmedia.org. Hope I get to reconnect with these people, especially between April and October since I hear their chairman has rock star season tickets at Fenway Park. Let's talk about Common Ground Consulting. I have known its founder, Mr. Craig Bowman, for over 20 years. Proof that 1 person can truly make a difference at the local, state, national and international level. Love what he has done, love what he continues to do. For 19 years, Common Ground Consulting LLC™ has been providing world-class consulting services for community based, national, and international nonprofit/NGO (social profit) organizations. As a leading social sector futurist, Craig has spent his career developing a philosophy of leadership that harnesses passion and trust as a bridge between human potential and social responsibility. Please check out this site for more… very important stuff relating to social responsibility. Forward 100 has been fortunate enough to support Common Ground's work. It is really interesting how a lot of the non-profit projects and clients have fallen into my path through serendipity. This is the case with my work with The African Women's Health, Education and Empowerment Center. The nature of my support for this group is helping them with their local efforts in Atlanta and Decatur, Georgia to assist in the many life transitions affecting hundreds of war refugees who have resettled in this area. Until my discussions with this group's president, Doris Mukangu, I had very little idea of the sheer hardships many of these relocated refuges often face, despite getting out of genocidal, war-torn parts of the world. Imagine the terror involved in fearing that your family will be separated, killed, tortured or other horrendous type of violence, only to be lucky enough to relocate to the US, only to be discriminated against in housing, jobs, and elsewhere, wrongly seen as illegal immigrants in the eyes of ill-informed locals (note: these refugees are green card holding, tax paying, extremely hard working individuals), and trying to assimilate in terms of language, customs, and culture. We are trying to learn of "best practices" regarding refugee assimilation from other parts of the country… these are often grass root, church based efforts at local and city levels… if you happen to know of any examples or references, Please send Doris or me a link… Many Thanks! And what about this recession? Forward 100 has been stepping up with an interesting use of lessons learned from life course sociology and social marketing. The Forward 100 Network Summit process is being piloted here in Atlanta and, soon, in other domestic markets to help good folks in job searches to help each other out in win/win manners. Over 60 days have been invested this year in meeting with specific talented, smart and earnest professionals who, for no fault of their own, have been on the frustrating end of restructurings and layoffs. The Network Summit process is being refined and will be published on this site soon in hope others might consider replicating it in their local areas. August 2009 marked the first ever Forward 100 Food Bank Project… helping the Atlanta Community Food Bank through a great group of organized volunteers. Our task is to help with the Product Rescue Center. Great Organization + Great Cause + Specific Tasks + Cool Group of Volunteers = Great Impact + Great Time. Our team's work led to the rescuing of over 4,790 pounds of food and beverages, which will yield an additional 3,190 incremental meals for those families in dire need in the Atlanta area. Can't say enough about the GREAT team that worked on this project. |
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