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Bill Moyers: Finding Justice In Charity

Bill Moyers recently delivered a talk on Finding Justice In Charity to a forum on wealth and giving. Too many nonprofits in the United States, as well as too many philanthropists, play it safe with their work in ways that seems to say that there is such a thing as charity that does not concern itself with justice. Moyers mounts a strong moral and logical attack on that kind of philanthropy and calls upon us to see and work with both eyes open. Posted: 10/28/05; 7:17:06 PM #

Q & A with Bill Drayton, Founder of Ashoka
	I am a big admirer of Ashoka, an organization that has done a lot to promote genuine social entrepreneurship around the world. U.S News interviews founder Bill Drayton and reveals the disciplined optimism that I believe is an essential characteristic of innovative leaders. Posted: 10/28/05; 7:10:30 PM #

Multiethnic Hurricane Poll Says Ending Poverty is Key

The passion of American citizens for justice has often been twisted into a means for vast private profit by well-connected corporations. The war in Iraq is one example and the rebuilding contracts after Katrina are proving to be another. So, it makes me happy to learn that a new Multiethnic Hurricane Poll Says Ending Poverty is Key. With any luck, that's good news for American civil society. Posted: 10/28/05; 6:59:09 PM #

Loosely Coupled Communities and the NPTech Tag

In the late nineties, I wrote a piece of software called InWeb, a web based knowledge management system. One of its key paradigms was the use of tagging, rather than the folder metaphor, for organizing content. Users maintained their own bookmarks and assigned tags (technically facets) and short descriptions in a way that any user of one of the current crop of social bookmarking systems like del.icio.us would immediately recognize. We added RSS feeds and all the rest. Users hated it. Over and over again, we got the same complaint, from people who I thought would know better: Where are the folders? So, it's with a complex mix of feelings that I've taken note of the distinct interest now being shown to tagging by nonprofit techies. In her notes for a talk that she'll be giving at Tag Camp, Marnie web explores Loosely Coupled Communities and the nptech Tag. It's well-linked, thoughtful, and poses many interesting questions. Posted: 10/28/05; 6:52:52 PM #