what truly matters

This afternoon I had a wonderful conversation with a new friend down in DC about the essentials for creating a meaningful impact with our lives. The talk reflected a lot of similar conversations that have been taking place down in the New Leaf office these past few weeks, and I finally felt the need to share some of those thoughts.

I am extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a community of Read more →

pushing through failure

Made it through the week and somewhat wish I could do it all over again. Not because there are things I wish I could have fixed, but because I had such a blast doing it all.

The week started with a panel discussion on nonprofits at the Smeal Business School at Penn State. The panel was a part of the “Careers that Make a Difference” month in the school and I had the Read more →

Music in the Tent Camps – Update #2

Days like these always start the same. We rise with the crowing roosters and after grabbing a bite to eat, venture onto the streets to find a string of tap-tap rides into downtown. There are tent camps all over Port-au-prince and it is not hard to come across these communities as you walk around, but the tent camps that we have been largely working with the past few weeks are located beside the now-destroyed presidential palace. Imagine the white house was hit by a bomb and the scene would look much the same. A symbol of Read more →

Music in the Tent Camps – Update #1

Back in March, the pot-holes in the road weren’t nearly filled to the brim with water- but with the rainy season in full swing, the roads of Port-au-prince are a different scene then before, and the water runs in every nook and cranny across the rubble-strewn landscape. Streams form their course along the barely-existent sidewalks and plastic bottles and styrofoam containers sail with ease towards the heap of trash at the bottom of the street. People dart throughout the streets, dodging traffic and raindrops, Read more →

The Social Network Dilemma / Opportunity

As New Leaf expands, we run the risk of our Ally network becoming just another social network.  We are all members of tons of social networks we’ve long since forgotten the passwords for, so what’s our plan?  How do we hope this network is different?  How do we keep it active, useful and real?

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Tshirts are in!

No organization is complete without their very own promotional material. But how often does the promotional material itself (from tshirts and pens to mugs and yo-yos) match the message being promoted by the organization. At New Leaf, we believe sustainability is more than just a trendy phrase. And it is more than just a global issue found in business operations and political decisions. Sustainability has direct implications to the choices we make as consumers and individuals. Read more →

Launch Party Re-cap

Last week we had the grand opening of our Lab space in State College, PA. Roughly 100-150 people dropped in – including students, community members and business leaders – making for some great conversations! The night was set-up to give individuals a chance to meet more of our Ally community and learn about different projects that they could get further involved in. Throughout the night, a few of our allies from around the world Read more →

Haiti’s Gonna Get Some Changemakers Love

Last Friday afternoon, at 4:59 pm, two New Leafers were chatting online from two different cities while frantically trying to submit their entry for the Ashoka Changemakers Sustainable Urban Housing Contest. The entry was a collaborative effort between New Leaf allies and partners Ashley Wisse, Elsa Jagniecki, Tolga Tutar, Ryan Marshall, Sophia Horwitz, Eric Sauder, Neil Brown, Kara Davis (me) and Sam Bloch of Grassroots United, our on-the-ground contact in Haiti, and we were pretty excited about it. Read more →

It’s (Launch) Party Time!

Well we’ve packed our hammers away and hung up our work boots – it’s time to open the Lab to the rest of the world! And we feel that is worthy of having a launch party to celebrate. So come join us February 15th in the Lab from 7:00 – 9:00pm and meet the Directors and supporters of New Leaf. We will also be having some of our allies from around the world joining us online throughout the night to say hi and see the space. So it’s time to get out the banners, hang the streamers (all post-consumer recycled content of course), and get ready to have some fun! Read more →

The Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Series

Ever wish you had access to some of the top minds and thinkers within the field of social entrepreneurship? Ever wish that you could sit down with them and hear about their struggles and successes over the years? And ever wish that something like that was free? Well look no further… Read more →