Behind the support of the Arrow clothing line, Save Ellis Island has created nation-wide buzz and attention to the hugely important role Ellis Island had in the flux of immigrants into the United States with their We Are Ellis Island campaign. Celebrities and average Americans who's lives and families began at Ellis Island have taken part in the campaign.

On DoGooderTV, Save Ellis Island has put together a compilation of their PSA's.

Go here to view the We Are Ellis Island channel on DoGooderTV, and go here to get one of those "We Are Ellis Island" t-shirts.

Brought to us by Google and Specialized Bicycle Components, the Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest was a contest designed to inspire innovation and environmental change by highlighting the benefits of cycling.

The Challenge: Invent and put together machines that transform zero-emission human energy into new and useful purposes.

The Result: Success- hundred folds. Entries from all around presented their own ideas, the winner however, took a Playpumps-esque idea and made it mobile. The Aquaduct:  Mobile Filtration Vehicle, a bicycle that not only provides an environmentally friendly transportation, but also provides a means to create and move clean filtered water long-distances. It was designed to target problems in areas where clean water is not readily available, and as a result, leads to millions of deaths every year.

I present to you the winner the Innovate or Die contest, The Aquaduct:  Mobile Filtration Vehicle...

Be sure to also check out the other entries on their YouTube page here.

Sources:

• Google Blog
• Innovate or Die Contest Page

ONE, the huge (2.4 million members) non-profit humanitarian organization that is best known for fighting hunger has recently developed their "On the Record" campaign. The sub-portal on the ONE website, One the Record, interviews presidential candidates from Republican and Democratic parties, and briefs visitors on the candidates stance and approach to ending hunger if elected president. It also allows visitors to select and compare the responses of up to 3 candidates on questions about reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, improving child and maternal health, universal primary education, and some others.

Visit the On the Record website

Learn more about ONE

Founded in 1995, the Rainbow Network is a Christian ministry working in rural Nicaragua with some of the poorest people in the world. They focus on four areas: healthcare, education, housing, and micro-loans.

In order to further awareness of their mission and highlight some of their work, they've developed a YouTube Channel where they post several related video.

Seems small, but channels like this one exemplify the far-reaching uses of Web 2.0 that are being use to benefit non-widely known foundations.

Today, the Clinton Global Initiative begins, be sure to watch it live at www.clintonglobalintiative.org.

From the Clinton Global Initiative website: President Bill Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005 as a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

As a non-profit, 501(c)(3) endeavor of the William J. Clinton Foundation, CGI draws strength from a highly diverse membership base that represents the full spectrum of political, ideological, religious, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. Members include current and former heads of state, top business executives, preeminent scholars, and representatives of key non-governmental organizations working together for a common cause.

The defining characteristics of the Clinton Global Initiative are its action-oriented nature and its track record of converting pioneering ideas into viable solutions with tangible results. CGI members develop ‘commitments to action’, focusing on practical, effective problem-solving measures that can be taken now. Member commitments are comprehensive, formal plans of action with timetables for evaluating progress. They are developed within one or more CGI areas of focus, which change annually to address the most imperative global issues requiring attention. We have designated education, energy & climate change, global health, and poverty alleviation as the areas of focus for 2007.

In this era of remarkable global interdependence, ensuring more equitable access to existing and future resources is a moral and practical imperative for us all.

Here is the video the speech Bill Gates gave last week at Harvard's commencement. As one of the world's leading philathropists, Gates attempts to set a tone of service for the graduates.

This video is almost a year old now but we thought we'd post. For one, we didn't have this nifty mediablog a year ago. And it's also interesting to reflect on this "biggest-ever" philanthropic commitment after a year. Here's Charlie Rose with Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates.

At last month's Council on Foundations confab, PhilanthroMedia interviewed select leaders regarding their advice for high net worth donors also looking to address these challenges.  This terrific six-minute video highlights some of what we learned from the heads of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, the Heinz Endowments and others.  Definitely a good, quick way to get an overview of what major foundations players are thinking about.

Over at his Tactical Philanthropy blog, Sean Stannard-Stockton has another in his terrific podcast serieson philanthropy - this time with Jeff Martin, director of media relations for the Council on Foundations. The podcasts covers "the events that led up to bloggers being invited to attend the recent conference, plans to provide streaming video of conference sessions next year and the need for transparency to be embraced by foundations." Good stuff.

• Listen to Podcast