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WHICH LENS ARE YOU LOOKING THROUGH?

There is general agreement that one of the best movies of this year is Frost/Nixon, the story of David Frost’s series of interviews with disgraced ex-president Richard Nixon. Because the end of this movie is no surprise it is safe to say that we can share with you one key moment in the film without ruining it for those of you who have yet to see it (which you should consider doing).

The Joy of Giving

This post comes at a time when many of you are giving gifts to friends and family for Christmas, Hanukah, or some other occasions. But for the team at A.R.E. it is also a chance to encourage you to think about how your giving makes a difference beyond your immediate circle of family and friends. We want to encourage you to give to causes that touch your heart and further your passions for the world around us. Here’s a list of the places that A.R.E. is giving ten percent of our proceeds this year.

Building a Team (the right way)

Like many of us this time of year, shopping for gifts for friends and family was a mandatory project. My first stop was a major chain electronics store that is closing just three months after it opened (it was not a good experience and will not be named here!). After getting a poor response from the person at the cash register, I left without even buying the one thing I intended to get – deciding the hassle wasn’t worth the savings and that I would rather give a few dollars more to someone else if necessary. I was willing to look elsewhere to get what I wanted.

A Renewable Holiday

Looking for a great last-minute gift for a person you care about? Well, as you shop, try to do the right thing for the planet, too. Below, we've listed a couple of sites offering intriguing and affordable products that try to blend "fashion" and sustainability...just in time for the holidays!

What Would Your Caption Say?

In Renewable Organizations, people thrive because they know that their passions, questions, ideas, intelligence, gifts, talents, insights, dreams, efforts, and lives make a difference. 

This photo essay is a beautiful reminder that people do, in fact, matter.

 

 

If your photo could be included in this series, what would your caption say?

Hey, Hey, Do Your Homework!

We were on a subscription-only webinar the other night with a bunch of people who have committed to working their butts off over the next year to help turn around the organizations they care about. This was the second webinar in a year long series, designed to support the work we're also doing with them on the ground. After each webinar they'll have "homework" to do, in their teams and in their organizations. What they didn't know until this second webinar is that, each month, we're going to ask them whether or not they did it.

As it turns out, most of them didn't.

From The State Of Corruption: A Powerful Lesson

The international headquarters of A Renewal Enterprise are located in Chicago, the largest city in what has been named the 18th most corrupt state in the union according to research by the staff of USA Today.  Many of you are scratching your heads. The eigthteenth most corrupt? How can you get any worse?!?

A Marriage Of Passions

One of the most important things any leader can do for his or her organization, community, or movement is to practice "seeing possibilities." If you can't see a future and believe that things can be new, probably no one else will, either. Well, talk about "seeing possibilities..."

Four years ago, 26-year old grad student Jessica Flannery came up with the idea for Kiva after listening to a Nobel Prize winner give a speech, partly as a solution to what she describes as a "marriage problem" she and her fiance uncovered during pre-marital counseling at their church (watch the YouTube video below). She wanted to work for an organization trying to solve poverty in Africa; her fiance wanted to work in Silicon Valley. Their resulting marriage of interests and passions created Kiva.

The Kiva website explains:

Out Of Control No More

We spent one full day over the Thanksgiving holiday rearranging our office space. It was overdue, especially for a team that says "taking place seriously" is one of the guiding principles we're committed to practicing. 

The truth is, our stuff had gotten out of control.