Vantage Points
NATIONAL IMPACTS of INDIGENOUS ADVOCACY & COALITION-BUILDING
"In the U.S., when people think of American Indians, they tend to think that we’re all on horseback and that we all live in teepees—the “Noble Savage” stereotype—but almost 80% of us don’t live on reservations. We live in cities."
A SENSE OF PURPOSE: ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT FOR REFUGEES
"We tend to think of refugees as poorer individuals who might have not had a chance to get that much education, but that’s not always or even often the case. At NaTakallam, we’re tackling a forgotten niche in the refugee world and community"
A LIFE OF SERVICE AS A GLOBAL HEALTH CONSULTANT
"The key in all these projects is organization and vision. Many times we have an objective, but that's all. We don't have organization, we don't have vision. If you give people some resources, and you also organize, and give them space to be organized internally, then the objective can be reached with organization and vision."
LISTENING IS THE REAL MEDICINE: SCALING GLOBAL HEALTH INITIATIVES
"Sometimes healing is medication. Sometimes it’s money to get someone back on their feet. Sometimes it’s vocational training. Sometimes it’s making sure that your children are back in school."
THE CHANGING FACE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
"The first references to CSR go back to the 1950s. At that time, CSR was based on short-term interventions, and it wasn't an integral part of overall corporate development or marketing plan. Now, as we are faced with the realities of globalization, the whole role of corporations has altered, and the nature of how companies interact with their client base is hugely different."
THE ART OF EFFECTIVE HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS
"Donating is not as easy as cleaning out the closet. We’re trying to help in a global world now, across languages, cultures, and backgrounds—so you need to work very carefully based on a sensitive regional understanding and cultural awareness."
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL CANDIDATE NATALIA GHERMAN
"Whether we are talking about peace, or about sustainable development, we will be guided by an all-embracive slogan: we will leave no one behind. Leaving no one behind means including, informing, and empowering all the categories of people in our society to feel ownership over processes that are important for them."
PART II: ADVOCATING FOR GREEN BUILDINGS: IMPACT OR RHETORIC?
"Recognition can drive some of that demand from CEOs and clients, and mechanisms like that also help to create that demand and interest, but also guide the specifics to make sure that those buildings are true to being a green building."
PART I: ADVOCATING FOR GREEN BUILDINGS: URGENCY AND POSSIBILITY
"When you look at a vehicle, you see the emissions coming from the vehicle. It's different with buildings—you don't actually see the emissions that come from buildings, even though buildings contribute to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions"
H3C: HELPING HOSPITALS HEAL CHILDREN EXPLORATORY STUDY
"Multiple children in one incubator; crumbling facilities kept scrupulously clean; these scenes are just a few examples of the extreme human dedication amidst extreme resource deprivation and mismatched inputs that we encountered during our exploration of the public medical facilities of Kyrgyzstan"
