Now that I feel more settled in Washington, DC, I hope to post more regularly, starting with this update.

I’ve begun working on what should have been the first toolkit, the one that ties together all the toolkits.  But I needed to work on the individual chapters to get a sense of how they will all hang together.

What I’m working on is a Pocket Guide to Social Change, which maps out the basic journey of a changemaker.  What basic steps should one take to produce impact on the world?  That’s the question I will attempt to answer.

If you’d like to be one of the first to view this guide, just send me a note on what you think should be one of the basic steps.  I’m limiting the steps to five so pick your step well.

It’s already getting a good response but I look forward to additional feedback in the weeks ahead.

Youth can offer so much in terms of great ideas and positive action, but are often dismissed as being “kids.” How can we as a society best serve and cultivate their potential?

Don’t talk down to them. Young people truly want to make a real difference in the world. Let’s not confine them to bake sales and car washes. Let’s help them innovate solutions and create tangible outcomes.

We should do all we can to help youth get better at creating change. To quote Kathy Sierra: “People can’t be passionate about things they suck at.” So the better young people are at creating change, the more passionate they will be.

And we need them to be passionate. The future they face – we all face – demands nothing less.

Link: Change.org Interview

A companion chapter to Perfect Your Pitch (Chapter 7), this one offers a template that you can use to create a funding pitch for your social change project. It’s also available in PowerPoint format.

If you ever have to present your project to funders, this chapter on how to “perfect your pitch” may come in handy.

Chapter 6 of The Creative Activist Toolkit deals with MacGyver’s approach to problem solving and why social change leaders might want to learn from his example.

The fifth chapter of the Creative Activist Toolkit. This one applies teachings of Made to Stick to storytelling and social change.

I’ve been itching to get this chapter completed for the Creative Activist Toolkit.

It speaks to an aspect of social change that is too often neglected – outcome. People tend to focus on what they do – their program’s activities – rather than what change they’re bringing about. It’s not always easy to measure outcome but I hope you will agree that it’s what really matters, in the end.

This is the third in a series of toolkits for “creative activists.”

This time, we offer just a few suggestions to youth projects that need to “get the word out” or get the media’s attention.

How do you spread your message beyond writing a standard press release? We look at two case studies.

If you have suggestions, please post them below.

The second chapter of the Creative Activist Toolkit is now posted. This is meant to guide youth in creating a simple video to introduce their social change projects.

Basically, I use a video from GOOD Magazine as a case study to show the basic ingredients of an effective “project profile.”

If you have produced videos about your own project, I’d love to see how you did it. Feel free to post or embed in the comments.

This summer, I’m taking some time to work on a personal writing project – The Creative Activist Toolkit, which is designed to guide young people through the process of creating change and sharing their success.

I only have one sample chapter developed so far (see above) but more will be produced in the coming weeks.

Take a look at the Root Cause Analysis chapter. Your feedback is appreciated.