Tagged in the Changeblogging meme

Beautiful Qui Diaz tagged me in her Changeblogging meme on the Buzz Bin.

I'll be honest, I read her post and thought to myself, what can I do? I mean, I care about certain issues, sure. I care about the environment. I care about LBGT rights. I care about supporting the arts, I care about urban renewal. But I don't know that I care enough to expend a lot of energy into raising money for any one cause. I am very lucky to not have had anyone in my family touched by any huge and awful diseases - though most of my friends have. I care in little ways, but not in big ways. I'm not one of those people who give so much of themselves to help others. I'm too selfish, and I worry too much about just getting my next paycheck so I can pay the mortgage. I'm squarely middle class, with a nice standard of living, but, like many, I don't have a dime to spare and my credit card companies love me.

But then I read this in her post:

The unofficial and growing network of Changebloggers is another testament to the trend toward good. Changebloggers, as defined by Britt Bravo, are “people who are using their blog, podcast or vlog to raise awareness, build community, and/or facilitate readers/listeners/viewers’ taking action to make the world a better place.” These actions occur across nonprofits, government, corporations and the general civic sector.

Here’s the great news: Social media platforms give anyone with a little reach and commitment the ability to influence, if not outright persuade. You needn’t be solely focused on societal impact to afford changeblogger tendencies. It’s a question of what are you influencing and to what end?

And I thought to myself, there ARE things I can do, even if they are small.

I can help spread the word for friends who have causes they care about.

I can blog about non-profits doing great things like Idealist.org and change.org; I can post examples of non-profits successfully using social media; I can promote creative sites like Remarkd.

I can link to other resources to help non-profits engage audiences in this space.

I can create spaces where people can talk about issues they care about; I know at least one YAPstar who volunteers relentlessly and whom we'd love to help with her causes.

I can make sure my children understand about taking care of the world they live in.

Qui's meme goes like this:

* What is one change - big or small, local or global - you want to see in your lifetime?

I'll start small and local - I love my city, Washington DC, and I want to see it have a truly great public school system, worthy of the nation's capital, instead of possibly the worst in the country.

* Who is already working this issue that you think others should support?

Our new DCPS Chancellor, Michelle Rhee, is an inspiration. I read a great article about her in Fast Company which tells a story about how her daughter's friends were complaining about the fact that DC didn't get a snow day that year. "Rhee explained that every snow day is a day when many poor kids won't get breakfast and maybe lunch." She puts kids' wellbeing and education first, in the face of plenty of criticism, and she is truly awesome.

* How are you going to use your Web/tech/marcom skills to further this cause? (Or, what are you already doing that works?)

I answered this question above more generally, but now, I plan to find out more about how I can really do more for DCPS. I already set up the community listserve last year for my kids' public school, maybe there's more avenues to explore through that. The DC Government is already exploring social media, wouldn't it be great to get involved somehow!

It's now my turn to tag some folks, and I thought I'd choose a few who either already strive to make life better and who probably also never thought of themselves as changebloggers, and/or people whose opinions I listen to and value, and therefore I am curious about what their pet causes might be.

Chris Bailey
Patti Digh
Elizabeth Weaver Engel
Ira Koretsky
Jeff De Cagna
Matt Baehr
Dennis McDonald

Thank you, Qui, for tagging me, and making me stop for a minute and think about all this stuff, and helping me realize I can do something - we all can.