Author: Ananda Leeke

Thriving Mindfully Coach + Author + Artist + Human Design Doula

Opening Your Heart to Haiti: I am a Heart of Haiti Ambassador

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Happy Sunday!

Guess what?  I am a Heart of Haiti Ambassador!  You may be wondering what is the Heart of Haiti?  The Heart of Haiti campaign is a Macy’s partnership that was created to provide sustainable income to Haitian artisans impacted by the January earthquake.  Through the partnership, the artisans create artwork that is sold as the Heart of Haiti collection in Macy’s stores.  The sales from these hand-made products including quilts, metalwork, paper måché, painting and jewelry generate the sustainable income and provide trade instead of aid to the Haitian artisans.  The Clinton Foundation inspired Macy’s to create this amazing partnership.  Macy’s is selling the Heart of Haiti collection at 25 stores including the Metro Center location in Washington, DC  (for all my DC area folks) and on macys.com.   

Ananda holding Haitian artwork at Heart of Haiti booth at the Blogalicious Conference held in Miami, FL in October 2010

I learned about the Heart of Haiti campaign during the Blogalicious 2010 Conference held on October 8-10, 2010, in Miami, Florida. During a speed networking session, I met Danica Kombol, a managing and founding partner at Everywhere, who introduced me to the Heart of Haiti Campaign. Click here to listen to my interview with Danica: www.cinchcast.com/anandaleeke/100144.

Later that morning, I listened to a Heart of Haiti campaign presentation featuring Willa Shalit and two Haitian artisans.  They discussed the powerful work they are doing to create artwork and support Haitian artisans as they rebuild their lives after the January earthquake.  That’s when I fell head of heels in love with their work.

After the presentation, I visited the Heart of Haiti booth in the Blogalicious Exhibitor Hall to learn how I could support the campaign. Lauren Thomas, former digital coordinator with Everywhere, gave me more information about the artwork and campaign.  My conversation with Lauren turned into an interview. Click here to listen: www.cinchcast.com/anandaleeke/100204.

A week after I returned to DC, I received emails from Lauren and the Blogalicious team about a local Heart of Haiti event at Macy’s at Metro Center featuring my favorite Haitian singer Emeline Michel. Visit www.emeline-michel.com.  I decided to attend and invite my dad so he could learn more about the campaign.  We were both impressed with the campaign and collection.  Click here to see photos of  the Heart of Haiti events I have attended: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anandaleeke/sets/72157625478398964.

My dad has become a big fan of the Heart of Haiti collection.  So has my mother! I plan on recruiting other family members, friends, and people who read my blog by serving as an ambassador!

Please support the Heart of Haiti campaign by purchasing a product from the Macy’s collection this holiday season!  See the links below for more information.

Macy’s Heart of Haiti:

http://bit.ly/heartofhaiti
Heart of Haiti on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/heartofhaiti
Heart of Haiti Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/HeartofHaiti
Fair Winds Trading:  http://fairwindstrading.com
Willa Shalit on Twitter: http://twitter.com/willashalit
 
 
 

 

Ananda submitted her Ignite DC #6 Speaker Submission on Digital Sisterhood today!

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039, originally uploaded by anandaleeke.

Have you heard of Ignite DC? Visit http://www.ignite-dc.com.

Ignite DC is a fabulous five minute speaker event held several times a year in DC. During the event, 16 speakers take the stage to share their thoughts in five minutes with 20 slides. Speakers include artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities. Their presentations spark new conversations and collaborations across cultures and disciplines.

I participated in Ignite DC #4 on June 16. My topic was “Who’s living inside of me?” and used excerpts from my book That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (2009 – Amazon.com).  Click here to watch a 5 minute video of my presentation.

Ignite DC #4 was a positively fantastic experience! I learned so much from my fellow speakers and enjoyed networking with audience members. It was so great that I decided to submit a topic proposal for Ignite DC #6 which will be held on February 3, 2011.

My Ignite DC #6 topic is “What is Digital Sisterhood” It utilizes my research and excerpts from my next book Digital Sisterhood (December 2011). See the summary below.

Ananda’s Ignite DC #6 Summary

What is Digital Sisterhood? (excerpt from Digital Sisterhood by Ananda Leeke, December 2011)

Copyright 2010 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All Rights Reserved.

What is Digital Sisterhood?

Did you know women represent 87.1 million of the total U.S. adult online population (163.8 million) in 2010? According to the BlogHer-iVillage 2010 Social Media Matters Study, co-sponsored by Ketchum and the Nielsen Company, there are 67.5 million women (18 to 76 years old) out of 126.9 million social media users in the U.S. Now that’s digital sisterhood!

Digital sisterhood is the feminine currency women use to create relationship wealth through the connections they make, conversations they have, communities they build, causes they support, collaborative partnerships they establish, and commerce they engage in with women they meet online and offline. The relationship wealth of digital sisterhood is based on what women care about and their shared interests and experiences. How do women connect? What are their conversations? What communities do they build? What collaborative partnerships do they form? What types of commerce do they engage in?

The answers to these questions lead to one truth. Women are standing in their power and reclaiming themselves online and offline. They move with a power not seen before. It is rooted in women being fully,

P – Present when they

O – Own their lives as

W – Women who believe they have

E – Everything they need to live out their

R – Revolution of authenticity.

May all women know their investment in themselves and each other will yield a high return!

Ananda Launches Her December Digital Sisterhood Birthday Fundraiser Today!

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156, originally uploaded by anandaleeke.

Happy November 18th All!

Did you know that in 30 days I will celebrate my birthday on December 18th? In honor of my special day, I have decided to launch my December Digital Sisterhood Birthday Fundraiser on Kickstarter.com today.

Here’s how my December Digital Sisterhood Birthday Fundraiser works. Between now and December 18th at 11:59 pm, I am asking my family, friends, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections, and social media peeps to make a donation of $1, $5, $10, $15, $20, $25, $30, $35 $40, $45, $50 or more by clicking on the link: http://kck.st/avHVlu.

Guess what? You get a special award for each donation you make! Visit my Kickstarter.com page to learn about the special awards: http://kck.st/avHVlu.

All donations will be used to cover the cost of my self-publishing fees with iUniverse, Inc.

FYI – To date, 28 generous folks have donated $827 towards my goal of raising $1,600 by December 23. Isn’t that amazing? I think it shows how powerful social media and the generosity of people are when they come together to do good. What blessings!

Thank you in advance for your positive energy, support, and generosity!

Blessings, Gratitude and Deep Appreciation,

Ananda
www.anandaleeke.com

My Six-Word Memoirs about Digital Sisterhood & Digital Life

Posted by on in digital sisterhood, Digital Sisterhood: A Gen X-er Memoir of Life & the Internet, Six-word memoirist, Six-Word Memoirs1 Comment

It’s Friday confession time.  One of my favorite past times is writing and sharing six-word memoirs on the Smith Magazine six-word memoir web site.  Today, I posted one that I wrote during a six-word memoir networking icebreaker held on Day #2 of the Blogalicious 2010 conference. After posting it, I rediscovered 30 (yes 30) six-word memoirs I posted.   See below. Some of them are gonna show up in my next book Digital Sisterhood: A Gen X-er Memoir on Life & the Internet.

Do you have a six-word memoir? Share it.

Go ahead and join the six-word memoir movement on Smith Magazine’s site: http://www.smithmag.net. It’s a lot of fun!

My 31 Six-Word Memoirs About Digital Sisterhood & Digital Life: http://www.smithmag.net/community/people.php/Ananda_Leeke

Recap of some of October’s best Twitter definitions of #DigitalSisterhood

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October has been a powerful month for #digitalsisterhood on Twitter!  Check out some of my favorite #digitalsisterhood Twitter definitions below.  Do you have any? Please share.  Thanks in advance.

Ananda’s New Book Title News – Digital Sisterhood: A Gen X-er Memoir of Life & the Internet

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Blessings All,

So many wonderful things have happened since I started my Kickstarter.com fundraising campaign in September. The first wonderful thing that happened was online and offline support for my fundraising effort. So many people used Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, blogs, email, web sites, other social media tools, the telephone, and word of mouth to spread the news about my efforts. I am so grateful for everyone’s support! Many thanks!

The second wonderful thing that happened was receiving $547 in pledges from 17 generous people in less than a month. Gratitude and deep humility are the best words to express my thanks to these special people.

When I started my Kickstarter.com campaign, I had a goal to raise $500 by December 23. It was a conservative goal that I thought would help me taste the Kickstarter.com fundraising process. Well, as you can see, I have been blessed abundantly. So I decided to relaunch my fundraising campaign today with an additional goal of $1,053 to meet my overall goal of $1,600 by December 23. This money will be used to cover the cost of my self-publishing and mailing fees.

The third wonderful thing that happened was gaining clarity about my book title while attending the Blogalicious 2010 conference on October 8 to October 10 in Miami, Florida. While I was at Blogalicious, I co-moderated an open-mic luncheon and conducted audio interviews with women bloggers about digital sisterhood. My great takeaway from these experiences was the power of the phrase “digital sisterhood.”

After I returned home from Blogalicious, I began hosting a weekly event called #STB10 #DigitalSisterhood Wednesday where women in social media are encouraged to celebrate, promote, and tweet about their favorite digital sisters on Twitter. The Twitterstream from the October 13th and October 20th events produced an “aha” moment for me about moving forward on changing the title of my book project. So today, I am proud to announce the new name of my next book: Digital Sisterhood: A Gen X-er Memoir of Life & the Internet. Let me know what you think about the title. I am open to your feedback!

As a side note, I have reserved “digital sisterhood” as a web site, Twitter account, and WordPress blog:

Look for more news about these digital properties going live in 2011.

One last thing … Join me in getting the word out about my fundraising efforts online and offline. Please make a donation too! Click on the link to donate $1-$25: http://kck.st/avHVlu. Thank you in advance for your support!

Gratitude and Joy,

Ananda Leeke
Author of Digital Sisterhood: A Gen X-er Memoir of Life & the Internet (December 2011)
www.anandaleeke.com

Latinas and Web 2.0 – The Sweet Spot Session @Blogalicious 2010 was inspiring to me!

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Before I attended Blogalicious 2010, I interviewed my LATISM hermanas Julie Diaz-Asper and Elianne Ramos about the Latinas in Social Media Bloguera (blogger) Survey on the October 5th episode of Blogatique with Ananda Leeke on BlogTalkRadio.  Click here to listen to the amazing show. Julie and Elianne confirmed what I already knew: Latinas are a powerful force online and offline! FYI: I also witnessed the power of  Latinas at BlogHer 2010!

Side Note:  I met Julie and Kety Esquivel at She’s Geeky DC held at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) in November 2009. They convinced me to attend and teach yoga for social media users at the LATISM DC conference in December 2009. While at LATISM DC, I met LATISM’s co-founder Ana Roca Castro, Elianne, and so many other members of the Latino social media community.

Kety Esquivel - Photo Credit: Carol Cain
Latinas and Web 2.0 session panel - Photo Credit: Carol Cain

Kety moderated the Latinas and Web 2.0 – The Sweet Spot session on October 8 at Blogalicious.  The session featured four of the key Latina Web 2.0 influencers:  Veronica Arreola, DeAnne Cuellar, Aurelia Flores, and Maura Wall Hernandez.  Each of the panelists shared some great points. See my takeaways below.

  • Aurelia Flores: “Doing what I have done has actually not only underscored, but made very clear to me that every woman has a story… and an amazing story. And it is really really important that we listen to each other and tell those stories. And so for me online is a medium to do that.”
  • Veronica Arreola: “Be patient. Don’t jump at every opportunity. You need to be responsible… Our blogs, our social media platforms are very powerful… We are very powerful women using powerful tools. And we need to be responsible with that.”
  • Maura Hernandez: “Find your own niche and own it. It is so important to focus. If you find your niche, people will begin to know you as an expert.”
  • DeAnne Cuellar:  “If you start using a specific tool or begin an account with a specific network, and it doesn’t work, move on. It’s okay if you don’t want to tweet…Find what works for you.”

Watch the video (1 hour 10 minutes – totally worth watching!) below.

Miriam Muley’s Powerful Blogalicious 2010 Presentation on Marketing to Women of Color

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Blogalicious 2010 began with a powerful presentation on marketing to women of color by Miriam Muley, President/CEO of The 85% Niche and author ofThe 85% Niche: The Power of Women of All Colors, Latina, Black, and Asian.  The title of Muley’s presentation was “Unleashing the Power of Women of Color.”

I learned so many  facts about my power as a woman of color in America (see below).

  • Women of color are incredibly entrepreneurial.
  • Women of color are the quintessential market.
  • 9 out of 10 out the new females in the last decade are Latina, Black or Asian.
  • Women of color have $1 trillion in purchasing power! That means women of color’s purchasing power is equal to Brazil’s gross domestic product. We got some deep pockets!
  • Black women are the crown jewel in the women of color purchasing power: $500 billion.
  • 56% of women of color are the prime decision makers in their households.
  • Women of color are increasingly well-educated: 43% Asian, 17% Black, and 11% Latina.
  • Businesses owned by women of color are the fasting growing segment of the US economy.
  • Women of color are pioneers in business.
  • 42% of a majority-owned businesses are owned by women of color.
  • Women of color businesses generate $230 billion in sales.

Check out the video (1 hour 3 minutes – totally worth watching) below.

Ananda’s Blogalicious 2010 Day #3 Re-Cap – Meeting Marc Morial, President & CEO

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Me and Marc Morial at Blogalicious 2010
Marc Morial, President/CEO of National Urban League speaking @ Blogalicious

 

Blogalicious 2010 was filled with many special moments. One of my special moments was meeting Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League on October 10 after his keynote address.  I had a chance to thank him for all of the work he is doing. I also told him about how much my father supports his work.  That made him smile!  My dad got a kick out of hearing that story too!

To learn more about Morial’s keynote address at Blogalicious, watch the video (17 minutes) below. It is powerful!

PS: I had a chance to live blog President Obama’s education reform speech with the Blogalicious B-Link members in the DC area at the National Urban League’s Centennial Conference in July! Now that was another Blogalicious special moment!  Check out the blog about the experience: http://blogaliciousweekend.com/2010/08/blogalicious-and-president-obama.

Get ready for digital sisterhood moments in the Be Blogalicious film! It’s coming later this fall!

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Today, Tyler New Media released the trailer for the Be Blogalicious film. Check out the trailer video below.  I am so happy Rosa Alonso, founder of My Latino Voice, discussed digital sisterhood.  What a powerful film! Click on the link to pre-order the film (only $15 – I ordered mine today): http://blogaliciousweekend.com/the-film.

PS: Tyler New Media interviewed me for the film. So I may be in it! Stay tuned!