Social Good Summit Partners Launch +SocialGood to Connect Global Communities Around Technology and Social Media for Social Change

The Social Good Summit partners today launched +SocialGood, a new approach to global engagement that connects innovators around a shared vision: the power of technology and new media to make the world a better place.

Both an online hub and a toolkit for planning events year-round, +SocialGood invites community members around the globe to connect with each other and discuss how technology and social media can positively impact the issues they care about. This flexible, user-driven platform allows individuals to collaborate, share best practices, influence local and global agendas, and find new ways to translate their vision into action. +SocialGood was developed and launched by a group of the Social Good Summit partners: Mashable, 92nd Street Y, the United Nations Foundation, the UN Development Programme, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Today, the partners also announced the Case Foundation’s support of the +SocialGood initiative, and welcomed its global vision and strategic support.

+SocialGood was launched at the 2013 Women Deliver conference to highlight the importance of bringing together voices from around the world to solve common challenges such as improving health and expanding economic opportunities for women.

Through a dynamic mix of online conversations and real-world events, +SocialGood will support the global community of innovators, social entrepreneurs, and thought leaders. Community members can use +SocialGood resources to host events ranging from Meetups in local communities to digital conversations connected with major events such as the World Economic Forum, SXSW, Women Deliver, or the G8.

+SocialGood’s creation was inspired by the Social Good Summit, a unique, three-day conference held annually during United Nations General Assembly Week to open the dialogues taking place around the UN General Assembly to citizens worldwide.  As part of last year’s Summit, people gathered in nearly 300 cities and 150 countries to discuss how to make progress on local and global challenges. Social Good Summit Austin developed a plan to combat pollution by creating a citywide “Work-From-Home” initiative, which aimed to reduce emissions associated with commuting and received support from the City of Austin.

As part of the launch +SocialGood unveiled a new website to serve as a hub, harnessing social media networks as channels for dialogue and empowering members of the community to host +SocialGood-themed events that can feed back into the online conversation.

Leading members of the +SocialGood community have already planned a number of events. The ever-growing +SocialGood calendar includes:

G-Everyone: +SocialGood on the G8 – A 24-hour digital convening that will unite local groups around the world to discuss the pressing issues addressed at the G8 Summit.

Global Nutrition +SocialGood: A Google+ Hangout about nutrition, global health and global development on June 3 (the first day of USAID’s Nutrition Week), featuring 1,000 Days and GAIN’s Future Fortified campaign.

Young Genius + Innovation Challenge  +Social Good: An event hosted by the Conrad Foundation highlighting students who “design with meaning” and create innovative solutions to social problems.

FHI 360 +Social Good: Thought leadership event giving a 360-degree perspective on connecting the world globally.

Devex +SocialGood: A convening for Barcelona’s aid and NGO workers, consultants, techies, and others who want to discuss how the development landscape is changing in the face of decreased funding, and how the Barcelona development community can find new funding solutions.

Digital Diplomacy +SocialGood: The Digital Diplomats, an alliance of digital media strategists from over 100 Embassies who gather for a discussion around the role of digital media in taking diplomacy into the 21 century.

Fitness +SocialGood: An afternoon of inspiring presentations exploring the different ways that people use fitness to promote social good, hosted by Charity Miles.

Open Source K12 Education Hackathon +SocialGood: EDesign Lab, New Visions for Public Schools, CodeMontage, Developers for Good, and You (developer, creative technologist, educator) come together to address compelling K12 learning needs with technology.

Diaspora +SocialGood: The U.S. Department of State and the International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA) promote a series of gatherings that explores the power of diaspora leaders and their communities to collaborate on solutions to the world’s greatest challenges.

Youth+GlobalProsperity +SocialGood: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) brings a conversation on International Youth Day to the world on how engaging youth is the essential ingredient to Global Prosperity.

DC+Youth +SocialGood: Vanguard Communications will host a SocialGood Hack; Washington, D.C. youth will be invited to participate in a 24-hour intense brainstorming and creation event to identify their biggest challenges, along with citywide solutions that we can explore collectively.

Quotes from key principals:

“+SocialGood empowers people everywhere to start a global conversation, take action, and create change. This movement isn’t about one organization, one voice or one timeline; this is a way to leverage technology and our voices to shape the world in which we want to live.”

– Kathy Calvin, President and CEO, United Nations Foundation

“+SocialGood is the latest step in the evolution of Social Good. +SocialGood is a place where people can come together around local and global issues, start a conversation, and continue that conversation digitally through modern media and technology.”

– Stacy Martinet,  Chief Marketing Officer, Mashable

“Our experience with the Social Good Summit has revealed the profound connections between local and international communities, issues, and solutions. With +SocialGood the global community of citizens will harness the power of digital to build connections and support for the ideas and projects that can have the most impact in their own localities and around the world.”

– Henry Timms, Deputy Executive Director, 92nd Street Y

“+SocialGood provides a space to hold these truly global conversations. The platform will highlight concerns; facilitate discussions regarding the economy, environment, poverty, education, women’s rights, and global health with like-minded individuals, NGOs, world leaders and private sector partners.”

– Sigrid Kaag, UNDP Assistant Secretary General Bureau For External Relations and Advocacy

“We’re excited about +SocialGood and its potential as a force for positive disruption, using technology to open development discussions to the  global online community – connecting policy makers to the next generation of innovators and development advocates.”

– Kate James, Chief Communication Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“We’ve long been passionate about developing and supporting communities, whether in person or on the web. Through the launch of  +SocialGood, we can demonstrate the power of technology to bring people together online to drive offline action that will truly change the world.”

– Jean Case, CEO, Case Foundation

For more information on +SocialGood please visit http://www.plussocialgood.org/.

Tweet this: How is #technology making a difference around the world? Find out with the @Plus_SocialGood community #socialgood

Save the date: The 2013 Social Good Summit will take place from 22-24 September.

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+Social Good is a global community of innovators, social entrepreneurs, and thought leaders united around a shared vision: Leveraging the power of technology and new media to make the world a better place. Through a dynamic mix of online connections and real-world events, +SocialGood will provide a place where connectors can collaborate, share best practices, influence local and global agendas, and find new ways to translate their vision into action. To learn more about the partners, please visit: Mashable, 92nd Street Y, United Nations Foundation, UN Development Programme, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Case Foundation.

About Mashable: Mashable is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable’s 20 million unique visitors and 6 million social media followers have become one of the most engaged online news communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.

About 92nd Street Y: 92nd Street Y is a world-class nonprofit community and cultural center that connects people at every stage of life to the worlds of education, the arts, health and wellness, and Jewish life. Through the breadth and depth of 92Y’s extraordinary programs, we enrich lives, create community and elevate humanity. More than 300,000 people visit 92Y’s New York City venue each year, and millions more join us through the Internet, satellite broadcasts and other digital media. A proudly Jewish organization since its founding in 1874, 92Y embraces its heritage and enthusiastically welcomes people of all backgrounds and perspectives.

About the United Nations Foundation: The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by global corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals.

About the UN Development Programme: The UN Development Programme partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, UNDP offers global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. The Social Good Summit offers a unique opportunity to discuss how to eradicate extreme poverty, an effort UNDP leads within the United Nations system.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

About the Case Foundation: Established by Jean and Steve Case in 1997, the Case Foundation invests in people and ideas that can change the world. In our efforts to address social challenges, we unite the principles of entrepreneurship, innovation and technology to identify, test, prove and scale ideas and models designed to create exponential impact.