Apr16

MOVEMENT121 ON THE MOVE

posted by Tony Chen

I know it’s been a while since we last posted here on the blog, so I wanted to give you all a quick update of all the things going on with Movement121. We’ve been hard at work in several fronts.

Movement121 Store – Coming Soon in a few weeks! First and foremost, we are putting the finishing touches on our online store. We got our product samples a few weeks ago and we were so impressed and touched by the high-quality work being done by our crafters in New Dehli. Here’s a team picture of them packing up the first shipment. You’ll be hearing more about each of these amazing people in the weeks to come. Each person has their own amazing story to tell of the journey they’re on, and we’re humbled to be part of this new chapter along with them.

Our partner leader, Abhishek Gier of CrossStitch/Catalyst, also sent us this picture this morning – it’s where some of our crafter live currently – a heart-wrenching and thought-provoking reminder of what is at stake with the launch of CAUSEGEAR and CAUSEWEAR later this month. Click on the image below to get a closer look, if you can take it.

We want YOU! to join the movement – many of you have asked us, “how can we help?” and “Can I give you guys a donation?” Up until now, it’s really just been about signing up for our newsletter or following us on Facebook. We’re putting the finishing touches on 2 new ways you’ll be able to be an integral part of Movement121 – ACTION TEAMS and M SHARES. Time to put your strengths, passions, and expertise to use for a great cause. More on these soon!

Movement121 Fellowship – The fellowship program has been an absolute blast for us and many of the fellows. We’ve been having weekly video conference calls with our home base at Trinity University (where 9 of our 50 fellows go to school). The fellows were all asked to take the StrengthsFinder assessment to identify their true strengths (which can be different than what you’re “good at”). Based on those strengths, the fellows were assembled onto a few different teams, each of which is now charged to go through the process of starting a social enterprise. Some great ideas and passions have come through at addressing some pesky world problems in creative and scalable ways. It will be neat to see what turns out from all this. I personally am inspired by our amazing Fellows – so much passion, strength, and thoughtfulness.

Speaking Tour – We’ve truly been blessed to have our paths cross with a lot of amazing people in the last few months. Sometimes, it just starts with a casual conversation about what we’re up to. Other times, it starts with a tweet or a blog post that gets shared. One thing leads to another, and we’re excited to be speaking at these 3 events coming up:

Trinity Leadership Conference – Mark Chassman, Dean of the M121 Social Leadership Academy is the keynote, with Brad Jeffery and I speaking at a break-out session. Held in Deerfield, Illinois, this one is geared at one of the most passionate groups we’ve seen time and again – high school students.

Ideation Conference – Brad and I will be interviewed at this conference geared at social entrepreneurs and difference-makers. I look at the line-up of other speakers, and we’re blown away at the cool stuff people are doing to sustainably change the world. If you’re in Chicago and have any interest in social entrepreneurship or impact, come join us!

TEDxPlazaCibeles - Yours truly is headed to Madrid in June to speak at this awesome TEDx event, where the theme is “common people, outstanding ideas.”