I’m doing another rewind this week to honor another person / community that is featured in my upcoming book, Simple Giving.
Jennifer James is an inspiration to me. She is the founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good and the Global Team of 200. She travels the world and shares empowering stories of women and girls around the globe to a wide audience. She’s a changemaker and friend. It should come as no surprise that she and her endeavors would be in Simple Giving.
So far I’ve shared the first five giving models (out of six): Everyday Acts of Kindness, A New Approach to Traditional Philanthropy, Shopping With a Conscience, Taking Action on Your Passion, Giving as a Business Model and a bit on the psychology of giving.
The sixth and final giving model in the book is Giving it Forward. Giving it forward is all about how our everyday actions can inspire others to do good deeds.
Today I share with you the original post featuring Jennifer and how Mom Bloggers for Social Good was born. If you are a mom and a blogger who cares about global issues, you should absolutely become a Social Good Mom (if you aren’t already). It’s a great way to give it forward.
The following post was originally published on June 28, 2013.
Jennifer James started blogging back in 2004 at a time when most people had never even heard the term “blog”.
She founded the oldest and the largest social network dedicated to mom bloggers in the world, Mom Bloggers Club, in 2007.
Clearly ahead of her time in terms of using the power of social media and creating online communities, Jennifer James has had the unique perspective of seeing how mom bloggers, in particular, have grown throughout the years. From sharing stories about theirs kids to working with the largest brands in the world, mom bloggers have come a long way.
It was around Christmas of 2011 that Jennifer had the idea of harnessing the power of mom bloggers to create a community for social good. She already had a community of bloggers and wondered if they would be open to writing and using their social media influence for good.
The idea was sparked from a trip to Kenya with ONE.org and ten other mom bloggers in July of 2011. Jennifer describes the trip as life changing. It was her first time out of the United States. The purpose of the trip was to see programs funded by US government that included health care clinics who worked with mothers, smaller hospitals that helped children, CDC programs and some cultural programs.
In January of 2012, Mom Bloggers for Social Good was created. This new platform, which partners with nonprofits and NGOs around the world, gave bloggers options for spreading the word about social good initiatives.
Jennifer makes it easy by sending out information via the blog that is simple to tweet or share on Facebook. This infographic illustrates how it all works.
Turns out, Jennifer’s community of mom bloggers were more than ready to embrace social good. She started getting emails from people who wanted to do more. They wanted to understand and tackle the issues and get more involved with the partners and initiatives. That’s when the Global Team of 200 was created.
The Global Team of 200, of which I am a member, is a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health. Members commit to writing at least two posts per month for the teams and its partners.
The motto of the Global Team of 200: Individually we are all powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.
Mom Bloggers for Social Good and the Global Team of 200 is an all volunteer effort, and its voices are being heard all around the world. According to Jennifer, from the beginning of last year to this year, members’ social media shares and blog posts have reached 50 million people worldwide.
And nonprofits and NGOs are excited about working with social good moms and the global team. They see a group of highly intelligent women who care and have the influence to make a big impact. In fact, Jennifer has so many inquiries from potential partners, she has had to turn some down. She is also working with several NGOs to coordinate insight trips for bloggers in order to replicate the experience she had with ONE.org. She and Nicole Melancon of ThirdEyeMom recently visited India. (editor’s note: I represented Mom Bloggers for Social Good in Nicaragua last year.)
If you would like to get involved with this global coalition of mothers who care, join the Mom Bloggers for Social Good. It’s as easy as filling out a simple contact form. There may also be an opportunity for active members to apply for the Global Team of 200 throughout the year as well.
Take it from me, if you want to make a difference in the world, it’s worth your time to join this community.
Do you use your blog for social good?
Simple Giving is available for pre-sale on Amazon, B&N, Books-A-Million, Indiebound and more.
Each Friday, the another jennifer blog shares stories of those who incorporate philanthropy into their everyday lives – personally and professionally – in a creative and unique way. If you have a story you’d like to share, please contact Jennifer.
