Girls In Tech

Today Twitter is announcing their foray into two things we love — wine and Room to Read .  As part of their Corporate Social Innovation initiative, Twitter has chosen Room To Read, an organization that promotes literacy in some of the poorest regions  of  the  world,  to be their first charity partner.  The creation of the Fledgling Initiative will produce a new wine label called Fledgling Wine in partnership with San Francisco Do-it-Yourself winery Crushpad, with proceeds going to Room To Read.

Twitter staff will participate in making a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay with Crushpad and the public is invited to pre-purchase bottles of the wine, follow the wine-making process on Twitter, and possibly even participate in its creation at Crushpad’s 50,000 square foot urban winery in the Dogpatch district of  San Francisco.

To kick off the Twitter-Room To Read-Crushpad first of its kind initiative, come join the proud partners and Girls in Tech at  Room To Read’s Annual Fundraiser and Gala taking place tonight at the SF War Memorial.  A few tickets are still available, inclusive of sumptuous food and wine, live music, and a live auction, which will include some very limited edition wines! Buy tickets here for $50, VIP $125, or at the door for $75.   See you all there!

Tags: Corporate Social Innovation, Crushpad, Fledgling Initiative, Room to Read, Tina Tran, twitter, wine
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Two-thirds of the 770 million illiterate people in the developing world are girls and women.  Room to Read has awarded long-term scholarships to nearly 7,000 girls.  Last year, 1.2 million books were checked out from 7,000 libraries established by Room to Read.

Girls in Tech is proud to be a media sponsor for Room to Read’s annual fundraiser and gala, taking place at the beautiful San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.  Come join us for a great cause and a fabulous evening filled with live music, a lively auction with John Wood, and sumptuous food and wine in a gorgeous setting.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, Green Room
401 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. VIP Recption with John Wood and Erin Ganju
6:30 – 8:30 p.m. General Reception – silent and live auctions, music, presentations, wine and hor

Purchase tickets here
VIP Tickets: $125
General Reception Tickets Advance Purchase: $50
Purchase at the Door: $75

Tags: Room to Read, Tina Tran
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Last night at The Biz Tech Day cocktail party, I ran into a friend, Tim Ferriss, who was telling me about why he supports RoomToRead. Knowing about the organization, but not really investigating and researching how it works, the history of the organization or learning about the inspiration behind why CEO, John Wood launched the organization – I was floored. The impact that this organization has made around literacy of school children since 2000 is unbelievable – The sad truth is that there are 76 million primary school children that are not enrolled in school, 80% of these children live in rural areas of developing countries, there are 774 million adults around the world who cannot read or write, 64% of these people are women – this is why I am committed to helping RoomToRead, through Girls in Tech, SmittenWithMittens and my personal capital and voice.

Since their inception in 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 3.1 million children in the developing world by:

• Constructing 765 schools
• Establishing over 7,160 libraries
• Publishing 333 new local language children’s titles representing over 2.8 million books
• Donating over 2.8 million English language children’s books
• Funding 7,132 long-term girls’ scholarships
• Establishing 179 computer and language labs

Here is a little more information surrounding the organization. You should help Room to Read too!

They partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. They seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, they strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

Tags: Adriana Gascoigne, children, Girls, girls in tech, Literacy, non profits, Room to Read, Social Good
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I was recently introduced to the non-profit organization, CARE, by a friend CEO of WITI, David Leighton. After reading through the organization’s site and learning more about their upcoming Global Action Forum, I was inspired to write a blog entry and promote such an amazing movement.  As citizens of the world, it is our responsibility to help create solutions to end poverty in developing countries. With the technology and innovation that surrounds our daily lives, there is no reason why we can’t continue to create platforms to get resources to those who need it the most. Thanks to RoomtoRead, Kiva, Samasource, Extraordinaries for serving as great examples for this social entrepreneurship movement.

This movement is underway to inspire people across the United States to take action against global poverty. On Sunday, September 13, at the Power to the Peaceful Global Action Forum & Celebration in San Francisco, you can learn from local and international social change advocates about how you can make substantive difference on behalf of the world’s poor.

Founded by singer, activist, and CARE Ambassador Michael Franti, Power to the Peaceful is an organization dedicated to the promotion of cultural coexistence, nonviolence and environmental sustainability through the arts and music. Cohosted by Power to the Peaceful and CARE, the Global Action Forum & Celebration will feature representatives from CARE, Back to Earth, the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Potentia Foundation, Room to Read, Spark, UC Berkeley, Vitamin Angels, and others in conversation about critical issues including global climate change, girls’ empowerment, and hunger and food security. Each session will examine challenges and solutions, and participants will leave with tangible strategies to affect change at home and around the world. Special guests include artists, dancers and musicians.

The Forum will close with a reception and celebration featuring an acoustic concert by Michael Franti and friends, a presentation of the Stay Human award to a celebrated humanitarian, and much more.

To purchase tickets, please click here.

Tags: CARE, End Poverty, Extraordinaries, girls in tech, Global Action Forum, Kiva, Room to Read, Samasource, women in tech
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