Today I am sharing a video that I recorded yesterday about my Digital Sisterhood Part 2 Kickstarter Fundraiser. My goal is to raise $500 by June 28. Click on the link to make a donation of $1, $5, $10, $20, $30, $40, $50 or more: http://kck.st/i15fwC. Each person who donates will receive a gift. Check out what you will receive with your donations: http://kck.st/i15fwC.
The Story Behind My Current Fundraiser:
In September 2010, I launched my first Kickstarter campaign to raise money for my book, Digital Sisterhood, a memoir that discusses her Internet adventures, digital sisterhood experiences, and reflections about women and the Internet during the period of 1986 to 2011. My short-term goal was to raise $500 by December 23, 2010. My long-term goal was to raise $1,600. Guess what happened? With the support of 39 backers, I successfully raised $1,159 online and an additional $70 offline. The grand total was $1,229.
To date, I have $371 to raise in order to meet my long-term goal of $1,600. That’s why I have come back to Kickstarter with Digital Sisterhood – Part 2. My Digital Sisterhood Part 2 book fundraising goal is $500 by June 28. This amount will cover the balance of my self-publishing expenses and help offset the cost of mailing and photography expenses.
More on Digital Sisterhood:
To learn more about Digital Sisterhood, visit the web sites below.
Something special is happening in August. I am going to the BlogHer conference as a speaker. I will join a dynamic panel of women who will discuss peer networking. Check out the BlogHer agenda description below (text from BlogHer web site).
Session Description: Much of our online business is conducted with online friends. And we all know that blogging has provided a source of support and understanding. Are you regularly taking that support offline? Are you using that support to the advantage of your business? Have you put some structure around it? This session will look at the value in creating structured peer networking groups…offline if possible, online if not…in order to accomplish specific professional goals. Whether you want to work on your writing, your business model or your value proposition, being supported by and accountable to a group of trusted peers can be exactly the boost you need. Liz Strauss moderates the conversation with Ananda Leeke, Heather Mann and Vikki Reich, who will help you figure out what kind of group you need, and how to set it up to deliver.
If you recall, Smith Magazine is one of my favorite online destinations. Why? It’s simple. Six-word memoirs. Click here to learn more about the six-word memoirs movement.
Six-word memoirs have been creative lifesavers for me, especially when I was writing my book, That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery ( 2009). have also used them in my creative coaching practice. Click here to watch a creative coaching session (15 minutes) I hosted on UStream.tv last year about six-word memoirs. I am also using them in my current book project, Digital Sisterhood, a memoir.
My six-word memoir for today is: rainy skies don’t stop rainbow news.
Do you have a six-word memoir you would like to share today? Include it in the comment section of this post below. Thanks.
Great news! I am speaking about digital sisterhood and the women’s movement as a panelist for the “Conversations across the Generations on Women’s Issues and the Women’s Movement” workshop at the YWCA‘s annual convention on April 9 from 1:45 pm to 3:00 pm. The event will be held at the Mayflower in Washington, DC. The YWCA’s conference theme is “Own the Future.” Click here to learn more.
I hope this month has been a good one for you and your family. It’s been a wake up call for me and a time to get real about where I am in my writing process for my Digital Sisterhood book. This morning I made a video update on my writing process so you would know exactly what I have been doing since January and what I am planning to do in April. See the video below.
As many of you know, my first Kickstarter.com fundraiser (September-December 2010) was extremely successful. With the support of 39 backers, I successfully raised $1,159 online and an additional $70 offline. The grand total was $1,229.
I have $371 to raise in order to meet my long-term goal of $1,600. That’s why I have returned to Kickstarter with Digital Sisterhood – Part 2. Our $500 fundraising goal will cover the balance of the iUniverse, Inc. self-publishing, mailing, and photography expenses.
Click here to listen to my audio blog about the fundraiser.
Click here to learn more about the fundraiser and make a donation.
On Sunday, I was thinking about the Haitian presidential election. Haiti was on my mind in a major way! I found a great Fast Company article about the impact of mobile technology on Haitian people’s lives after the earthquake in 2010. It reminded me of my recent trip to Haiti as a Heart of Haiti blogger ambassador in February. Click here to listen to my audio blog about what I learned from the article. Enjoy!
I was honored and excited to receive Spelman College’s invitation to participate in the Digital Doyennes: Wisdom from the Women who Lead in Social Media and Digital Innovation. Why? That’s a no brainer for me because Spelman embodies digital sisterhood, 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.
Since 2008, I have been researching women in social media (for my next book project Digital Sisterhood, a memoir) and tracking the unique ways Spelman uses social media and technology to promote its mission, academic programs, research, students, professors, alumni, social justice efforts, and community activities. What I learned is Spelman has become a social media and technology trailblazer for women of color! As an institution, it uses a wide an array of social media tools including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, blogs, ezines, and webcasts.
Technology also plays a major role at Spelman. In October 2010, AT&T announced Spelmanites Jonecia Keels and Jazmine Miller won the 2010 AT&T Big Mobile on Campus Challenge with their HBCU Buddy, a mobile application created to educate and inform users about Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States. Keels and Miller received $5,000 each, a mobile device of their choice, a lifetime development license for Spelman, and all-expense paid trips to the AT&T Higher Ed Board of Advisors meeting and the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference.
Did you know Spelman is located in Atlanta, the second most socially networked city in the United States according to Men’s Health (DC was ranked first — had to give my city a shout out)? Men’s Health published its socially networked city rankings in March. The Atlanta metropolitan area is also home to a dynamic blogging community of women including:
While I am in Atlanta, I will get to see my attorney, best friend, and Howard University School of Law classmate Lauren Medlock Smith, founder of Catch the Verve, LLC. Lauren is currently serving as the sponsorship chair for Women in Film & Television Atlanta, a co-sponsor of the Digital Doyennes event.
I also hope to spend time with my digital sister and fellow Heart of Haiti tripster Danica Kombol, a managing and founding partner of Everywhere, another co-sponsor of the Digital Doyennes event.
So now you can see why coming to Spelman and Atlanta in April is a digital sisterhood dream come true!
Saturday afternoon was filled with powerful moments at the WOMANIFESTING in ACTION event held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Washington, DC.
Jasmine
My digital sister Tracy Chiles McGhee, founder of Womanifesting, co-sponsored the event with the DC Public Library. It featured a call to action by Yasmine Arrington, a DC high school student who created ScholarCHIPS, a scholarship fund for aspiring college students with incarcerated parents. Yasmine is a senior at Benjamin Banneker High School. She is fierce, forward thinking, and filled with positive energy. She is also a true leader and fashionista! Watch a video of her call to action below.
I served as a panelist for the event and shared lessons learned from my recent trip to Haiti as a Heart of Haiti blogger ambassador and work with the Digital Sisterhood Network. Check out my video recap below. See the list of program participants below.
Discussion Moderators:
-Marita Golden, Acclaimed Author, Master Literary Teacher and Co-Founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation
-Nikita Mitchell, Gen Y Writer/Blogger, who was recently named one of the Top 10 Nonprofit Bloggers to Watch in 2011
Program Participants:
-DC Councilwoman Muriel Bowser
-Patricia Nalls, Founder & Executive Director, The Women’s Collective, 2010 Washingtonian of the Year
-Carrie L. Ellis, Director of Project Management, KaBOOM! & Board Chair, Teaching for Change
-Marielle Mariano, East Coast Coordinator, Chalk4Peace
-Jessica T. Solomon, Founder, The Saartjie Project & Chief Visionary Officer, Spark Creativity
Click here to listen my audio blog about the event.
Young Haitian women painting picture frames at KOFAVIV in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Yesterday, the Haitian people went to the polls to elect a new president. Throughout the day, I wondered about the young Haitian women I met at KOFAVIV, a Haitian women’s organization that serves women and girls who experience violence, during my Heart of Haiti blogger ambassador trip in February. Before I left, we took a lot of photos together. I took some time to look at our photos and noted the pride they displayed on their faces as they showed me their beautiful hand-painted picture frames (see photo- omitted the young women’s faces to protect them). They were works in process that are probably finished by now. I am hoping the young women will be able to sell them as a part of their work with KOFAVIV’s young women’s microenterprise program (funded by MADRE). Two young ladies asked me to keep in touch with them via email. So I sent them an email in French with the photos. I hope they respond so we can begin a digital sisterhood connection. I know this email exchange will open the door to ways in which I can expand my support of KOFAVIV in 2011 and beyond.
Click here to listen to my audio blog about my email and the KOFAVIV young ladies.
FYI: This morning I also sent the KOFAVIV staff (listed on their Facebook page) an email about the photos so they would be aware of my communication with the young ladies.
Ananda Leeke 