Welcome Idealists!

You already know that you can come to Idealist.org to find an awesome job, volunteer opportunity, or internship, but did you know that you can also find some awesome people?

There are thousands of people working for social change on Idealist.org and they’re all right at your fingertips, ready to answer your questions, partner with you on a project, or help with an idea you’ve been developing.

Here’s a sampling of some of the people who want to meet you.  Don’t forget that in order to view their full profiles, you need to have a profile too. It’s super easy to sign up.

Jennifer is a CPA who has been working in the nonprofit sector for over five years. She has a wealth of experience in finance and HR, and also serves on the board of an organization focused on sustainable agriculture. Feel free to contact her whether you’re an aspiring treasurer or an eco-friendly farmer! She’s also interested in meeting other types of nonprofit professionals, so reach out and make a connection.

Katerina recently moved to New York City from Toronto, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Psychology at Pace University. She’s particularly interested in mental health issues and working with seniors. She’s looking for advice from people that have careers in the of field of psychology, so if you can help her out, connect with her!

Rob just returned to the United States after working for USAID in Iraq for two years. Before that, he was studying English Literature in Ohio. Check out his profile to find out how he got from the Buckeye State to Baghdad, and keep in mind that he’s looking for friends and collaborators!

Leslie just graduated from Simmons College with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work. Congrats, Leslie! Her goal is to become a holistic psychotherapist, so if you have experience in that field, send her a message! She’s also looking to collaborate and share knowledge with other social workers.

Ullas is kind of a big deal when it comes to biology. He’s got a Master’s in Microbiology and a Ph.D. in Virology, and speaks five languages to boot. He’d like to do whatever he can to remedy economic disparities, so if you’re a fellow researcher or interested in socially relevant biological research, send him a message!

Looking for more Idealists who want to connect and collaborate? Check out the previous installments of this series, and spiff up your profile to make sure people can find you on the site. Happy connecting!

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If you don’t have one already, create a profile to offer your expertise to the community, and find people who can answer your questions. Sign up here and include information about your past work and what you’re looking to get involved in.

Sean McGrath has worked in Albania and Italy, currently resides in New Jersey, and is planning to move to Sweden. When he’s not trotting the globe, he’s on the lookout for volunteer opportunities where he can help the homeless or youth. He also completed college and high school in just 6 years, which makes Sean the closest thing to Doogie Howser, M.D. on Idealist. Page him if you have advice on moving to Sweden or share his other interests!

Inga Carey grew up in the Bahamas and went to school in Canada. She currently serves as a trust officer for a bank in Nassau, but wants to break into the nonprofit sector. She could use advice from anyone with experience in sector-switching, so get in contact with her if you’d like to help out or have some useful tips.

Bud Zapata is a web developer looking to donate some of his spare time to a good cause. He can take a design and turn it into a functioning website, which is an invaluable skill for many nonprofits. Send him a message if you represent an organization that could use his talents, but make sure to read his profile first to see what he can do for you!

Hailing from Montmorency, France, Marion Dupont is a ballet dancer, speaks four languages, and has experience in marketing and sustainability. She’s on the lookout for friends and collaborators, and has plenty of knowledge to share after living and studying in the USA, China, and Ghana. Check out her profile and send her a message to start a conversation.

Lisa Much lives in Columbus, Ohio and recently graduated with a degree in Sustainable Theater. She works for the Ohio CDC Association and is also a freelance stage manager and prop designer.  She’s searching for like-minded individuals and organizations, and would be happy to share her expertise in community development and theater with fellow Idealists.

Looking for more Idealists who want to connect and collaborate? Check out the previous installments of this series, and spiff up your profile to make sure people can find you on the site. If you don’t have one already, create a profile to offer your expertise to the community, and find people who can answer your questions. Sign up here and include information about your past work and what you’re looking to get involved in. Happy connecting!

Photo credit: Donna Cymek, Creative Commons/Flickr

You sure can! And each of the individuals below would love to tell you how!

Each week, we’ll introduce you to some members of the Idealist community who are out to do good in the world. You can get to any of their profiles by clicking on their picture. Then just click Send a Message to reach out!

Wasim has worked for a wide array of media organizations around Los Angeles and amassed an impressive amount of experience. He founded Kotori Magazine in 2003 and is also an avid photographer, a skill he would like to use to help out organizations and causes he supports. Check out his Idealist profile to see some links to his photos, and contact him if you have any questions about media or want to collaborate on a project.

After graduating college with a degree in anthropology, Sara worked with primates in Oregon, Indonesia, and Chicago. Now she’s moving to Arizona after acquiring an M.A. in Nonprofit Management. She’d love to share her knowledge about anthropology, primates, and nonprofits, so send her a message!

Clay recently moved to Maryland and works with Habitat for Humanity. He’s dedicated to living and promoting a sustainable lifestyle, and would like to meet people that share his concern for the environment. He’s particularly concerned with lessening fossil fuel consumption and revitalizing urban communities. Help Clay make a change and drop him a line!

 For the past seven years, Alissa has owned and operated a clothing boutique in Southampton, NY. She’s an expert in fashion design and has been sharing her skills with others for years. She is particularly interested in teaching young adults and children how to sew and design. If you’re curious about the fashion industry she’s an invaluable resource.

April is one of our editors at Idealist, and loves connecting with interesting people. She can give you advice about everything from urban bike riding to 3-day weekend itineraries. She’s a great person to contact if you have questions about how to start a career in writing or just want some suggestions about getting involved in the NYC nonprofit community.

Are you looking for advice? Or partners and collaborators? Do you have knowledge to share? Create a profile to offer your expertise to the community and to connect with people who can answer your questions, partner with you on a project, or help with an idea you’ve been developing. Include information about your past work and what you’re looking to get involved in. Happy connecting!

Photo credit: Donna Cymek, Creative Commons/Flickr

They’re all Idealists!

Each week, we’ll introduce you to some members of the Idealist community who are out to do good in the world. You can get to any of their profiles by clicking on their picture. Then just click Send a Message to reach out!

April Fredricks is a Peace Corps volunteer working in Namibia. She’s a great resource for people considering volunteering abroad and is interested in sustainability and the environment. She’d love to connect with other Idealists before returning home to the Pacific Northwest, so check out her profile!

Jonviea Chamberlain is an epidemiologist about to graduate from UMASS-Amherst. She will soon move to Switzerland to start a PhD researching spinal cord injuries. If you have questions about her field of work, send her a message! She also enjoys reading and photography, for less scientifically inclined Idealists.

André Dutra works with the Brazilian government as an advisor for Youth Policies. He also ran for office in 2010!  He is looking to meet new people and volunteer overseas. Send him a message if you’re curious about Brazil, politics, or just want to connect!

Aurora Gangan is looking for other Idealists who share her passion for improving the health and wellness of children. Born in the Philipines, she now lives in Seattle, WA. If you know of a volunteer opportunity she might be interested in, or just want to share some knowledge, let her know!

Matt Cifaldi works for Idealist and also wrote this blog post! I’m a member of Idealist’s community engagement team, and I would love to hear from you. Let me know if you’ve found something great on our site, have any ideas on how we can improve your experience, or if you have a great recipe for chicken empanadas.

Are you looking for advice? Or partners and collaborators? Do you have knowledge to share? Create a profile to offer your expertise to the community and to connect with people who can answer your questions, partner with you on a project, or help with an idea you’ve been developing. Include information about your past work and what you’re looking to get involved in. Happy connecting!

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”  - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This Monday, January 21st, is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Since 1994, MLK Day has been a national day of service for people willing to take a “day on, not a day off.” If you’d like to invest some time helping a good cause this weekend, perform a quick search on Idealist and explore the dozens of organizations hosting events. To help you get started, we’ve put together a few opportunities below:

• If you live in the Pacific Northwest and want to do good on the 21st, you’re in luck! In Seattle, the Doric Lodge will be assembling emergency kits for victims of natural disasters, while outside Portland, the Ridgefield National Wildlife refuge needs volunteers to plant and protect native trees. Farther inland, the Red Cross is teaming up with the Spokane Fire Department to promote fire safety, and you can help spread the word!

• For green residents of the Golden State, check out Urban Releaf’s tree planting event in Oakland, or head south to Santa Barbara and join Channel Islands Restoration in the San Marcos Foothills to restore a creek-side habitat.

• In the Midwest, you can choose between several volunteer activities with the H.O.W.A. Family Center in Minnesota, or donate food or clothes to the Urbandale Food Pantry in Iowa. If you’re busy on the 21st, don’t worry, because the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago is cleaning classrooms at a local school on the 19th.

• If you haven’t touched your copy of Where the Wild Things Are for a decade or two, head to Raleigh, NC and drop off your surplus Goosebumps at Bonnie’s Book Foundation. If you want to get some exercise on the 21st, plant some trees in Nashville with the Harpeth River Watershed Association or help the Center for Academic Service provide relief from the tornado that swept through parts of Alabama on Christmas Day.

• Of course, no post would be complete without a few opportunities from the Northeast! In New York City, Congregation Ansche Chesed and the Advent Lutheran Church will organize several family activities on January 20th, including creating birthday cards for elderly neighbors and assembling care packages. On January 21st in Cambridge, MA, create quilts, bookmarks, activity kits and more with Many Helping Hands. Last year over 800 people attended, and this year should be even more successful!

Wherever you live and whatever you want to do MLK day, Idealist has you covered. If you want to stay up to date on what’s new, just set up an email alert based on your favorite search. Have a great long weekend, and enjoy your day on!

Are you 50 or older? Check out these tips from nextavenue.org on how to make a difference on MLK Day.

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  With nearly  27 million people trafficked each year, people and organizations around the world are coming together to draw attention to this pressing issue. To help you explore ways to get involved, we’ve put together a list of job opportunities and events around the world.

If you want more information and opportunities on human trafficking, set up an email alert based on a search for the term “human trafficking”. Idealist will deliver dozens of jobs, volunteer opportunities, events, and internships directly to your inbox.

Photo credit: thomaswanhoff, Creative Commons/Flickr

Opportunities in Cambodia

• If you live in southeast Asia, or would like to work there, check out Transitions Global. Although based in Ohio, this organization works extensively in Cambodia and runs a center for girls rescued from sex trafficking. They’ve currently got three positions posted on Idealist, all of them in Cambodia.

Opportunities in the United States

• If you would like to work in the U.S., there are dozens of organizations devoted to fighting trafficking all across the country. In New York City, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund is currently seeking a Community Organizer for its Anti-Trafficking Initiative, while Safe Horizon needs an Administrative Director for its Youth and Anti-Trafficking Program.

• For the tech savvy Idealist user, the OLP Foundation in Washington D.C. is looking for a Website Manager for www.humantraffickingsearch.net. Not into code? Bone up for your Bar exam and head to the Lone Star state for jobs in the legal field. Apply to be a paralegal in Houston with Kids in Need of Defense, or check out Children at Risk’s posting of Staff Attorney in Dallas if you already sign your name with Esq.

• If you’re more into palm trees than wide open spaces, Idealist has you covered with plenty of opportunities in sunny California. Opening Doors offers a fellowship with its Human Trafficking Department in Sacramento, and the International Rescue Committee has an opening for a Human Resources Partner in Oakland. Maybe I lied about the palm trees.

Special events

• Not in the market for a new job but still want to make a difference? On January 29th in New York City UNICEF is screening Not My Life, a documentary about human trafficking filmed over four year across five continents. After the screening, there will be a panel discussion with advocates from the movement.

• On the West Coast, the Freedom and Fashion Collective Conference on March 23rd needs volunteers for backstage production and foreground logistics. The Conference will bring together  the non-profit, fashion, business, and media industries to fight human trafficking.

• Finally, the Human Trafficking Awareness Council is planning a national awareness campaign that will culminate the week of August 6th with a rally in Washington, D.C. Send them an email and see if you can help out in your hometown!

What are YOU doing for Human Trafficking Awareness Day?

Photo credit: max_thinks_sees, Creative Commons/Flickr

Saturday, December 1st is World AIDS Day. It started in 1988 and soon blossomed into a global event. Whether you’ve worn a red ribbon for years or just recently decided to get involved, Idealist has jobs, events, and volunteer opportunities from dozens of countries to help you make the world a better place!

To start off, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, based in Washington D.C., currently has nine jobs posted on Idealist, including positions in Lesotho and Tanzania. If you’re looking to stay local, you can’t do much better than Housing Works, in New York City. They provide a wide range of services for over 20,000 homeless or low-income New Yorkers that live with HIV or AIDS. Housing Works currently has eleven jobs on Idealist, ranging from Art Therapist to Van Driver.

If you’re in Central America, check out Fundación Nimehuatzin, in Managua, Nicaragua. Founded in 1990, the Fundación works to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS while simultaneously defending the rights of individuals affected by the disease.

Across the Atlantic, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance works all over the world to support communities in their fight against AIDS. The Alliance offers positions in the United Kingdom, as well as in various other countries, including Myanmar.

If you’re not currently searching for a job but still want to get involved, there’s always an AIDS/HIV awareness event around the corner. Visit the Southwest Branch Library in Altanta, Georgia on World AIDS Day for their “HIV Stops with Me” event and test your knowledge of AIDS while networking with other activists. Or head north a week later to Washington, D.C. for the Foreign Policy Association’s panel “Do Good Abroad”, which includes a discussion on preparing for a career in humanitarian aid.

Finally, if you feel the need to combine your philanthropic efforts with physical exertion, check out Bike Zambia. It’s a 300-mile bike ride that takes place every June and raises money for AIDS groups.

Remember that every person can make a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and each little bit helps! So find an organization near you that needs volunteers and donations, or just wear that red ribbon tomorrow!

Photo credit: kate.gardiner, Creative Commons/Flickr

This Sunday, November 11th, is Veterans Day. There are hundreds of organizations that work with veterans listed on Idealist; some are very small and focused on fixing one particular problem while others encompass hundreds of employees and touch the lives of thousands of veterans.

With over 200,000 members, the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) is one of the largest veteran organizations in the country. Membership is free for vets, and by joining you gain access to IAVA’s health, education, and employment programs, not to mention events held across the country.

If you’re looking for something more local, almost every state has a veteran’s association of its own. In Texas there is the Lone Star Veterans Association, which helps vets transition back to civilian life and also organizes Operation Lone Star Santa every Christmas. In San Francisco you can look up the Coming Home Project, which provides retreats, counseling, and community programs.

Although large associations are great, there is always room for smaller projects with unique ideas. One of the most specialized veteran orgs on Idealist is Racing4Vets, which offers racing programs in Mason, Ohio. Whether training with go-carts or race-cars, Racing4Vets helps veterans have fun and gain valuable skills in the process.

If you’re not into speed, check out the Veteran Artist Program in Arlington, Virginia. Founded by three men from different military branches (Army, Marines, Navy) the VAP disproves the belief that the military and the arts don’t mix. Any interested vet can contact the VAP and get involved in theater, painting, filmmaking, and much more.

Interested in art, but not ready to take a brush to canvas? Visit the Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, which displays pieces made or inspired by our men and women in uniform.

Finally, if you’ve ever owned a dog, you know what a comfort man’s best friend can be in times of trouble. Perhaps for that reason, there are several nonprofits that match returning veterans with their own pooch. At K9’s for Warriors in Ponte Vedra, Florida, dogs from shelters are paired with veterans that have suffered from traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. In Oregon, Paws Assisting Veterans (PAVE) performs the same service. Pets for Patriots in Long Island includes cats, if you are not a fan of canines.

This Sunday, if you know a veteran, make sure to let them know you appreciate their service. If you are a veteran, relax. You’ve earned it.

As Election Day draws closer, Idealist is brimming with related events, jobs, and volunteer opportunities. We’re bringing you a small sampling of what’s currently on the site, but just search for keywords like “poll”, “vote”, or “election” and you’ll find plenty more!

Photo Credit: boxer_bob, Creative Commons/Flickr

First off, if you’re reading this blog post and just remembered that you never registered to vote or receive an absentee ballot, you should immediately head to Turbovote.org. Chances are, you’re too late to vote this year, but for the next cycle Turbovote can help by sending you all the required forms and keeping track of deadlines. It will even send you a reminder texts and emails!

If you are ahead of the game and have already sent in an absentee ballot or have free time on Election Day, why not be a polling monitor? You can volunteer in Washington, D.C. with the ADC (American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) or in Chicago with the Asian American Institute.

After a hard day of civic engagement, Bostonians can unwind at the Election Night Viewing Party arranged by SoJust Vote. If your candidate wins, you can celebrate in the company of other people! If they lose, you won’t want to be alone when the depression hits.

After the ballots have been counted, try to make sense of the results by attending the panel “What Do We Do Now?” at the University of Pennsylvania on November 19th. Hosted by the National Constitution Center, the panel will discuss how the recent election results will change the political landscape. It features a Congressman, a U.S. Ambassador, and a bestselling political author.

Finally, if in the past few months you’ve found yourself engrossed in every poll and analyzing every speech, perhaps you should consider a career on voting and elections. A quick search with the keywords “election” and “vote” brings up a campus organizer position in New Jersey, an elections policy analyst job in New York City, and a political data manager post in California.

At Idealist, we’re proud that we have such an engaged community. So, remember to set time aside on Tuesday, November 6th and vote!

Photo Credit: World Food Day US and Cananda, Flickr

Every night, 1 in 8 people goes to sleep hungry. To address this statistic, on Tuesday, October 16th, people around the world came together and participated in World Food Day, an annual event that since 1981 has encouraged people to take action to end hunger. While World Food Day has passed, if you’re interested in being part of this movement and changing that statistic for the better, there are plenty of jobs and internships on Idealist that focus on fighting hunger.

• If you’ve always wanted to eliminate hunger while having a cool job title, check out the Director of CHOW position at the Broome County Council of Churches in Binghamton, NY. CHOW stands for the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, which distributes over 130,000 pounds of food every month through over 30 soup kitchens. Just think how snazzy your new business card would look.

• If you want to work in NYC,  take a look at the Development Associate position at Edible Schoolyard, an organization that helps teach healthy, organic eating habits to public school kids in New York City.

• Moving to the Midwest, we have a pair of Chicago-based organizations: Feeding America currently has two job openings, while the Greater Chicago Food Depository has five jobs listed on Idealist and one internship opportunity.

• For people interested in affecting the roots of the hunger problem, Just Harvest is a public policy advocacy group in based in Pittsburgh, PA. It works with a variety of public programs, from farmers markets to food stamps, and it currently has a bountiful autumn crop of jobs posted on Idealist.

• Of course, interesting jobs that fight hunger are not limited the the United States. You could be part of the effort to lessen dependence on food aid at the One Acre Fund in Kenya. Ten jobs were listed in October, so the Fund is serious about helping African farmers become more productive.

• If working in one country is too much of a commitment for you, check out Medair. It’s a relief organization that works across the world in conflict spots, natural disaster zones, and basically anyplace where hunger is a problem. You could work in Afghanistan, Madagascar, or Haiti, to name just a few of the available job opportunities.

Finally, if none of the above postings appeal to you, don’t lose hope. You can always apply to be a beekeeper in Cameroon.