This year at SXSW at the CNN Grill, I was introduced to Adam Braun from Pencils of Promise. Since then, I've had the chance to learn more about what he and his team are doing and the growth of their impact through the world. He recently gave a talk to Google Zeitgeist and walks through what he believes is the future of social good, the ideas around Profitable Purpose. Tying in a lot of the ideas that I am kicking around as it pertains to the mindset of a Philanthropreneur, I thought it was definitely worth sharing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND5BjWd2xo4

On of the most important things for me in the organizations that I choose to get involved with is measured and managed results. Earlier this week I wrote a post about how much I enjoy being a part of Kiva and offering some invitations for other to get involved. I was pumped to see folks take me up on the offer. But even more exciting than that, they then invited some of their friends to get involved. And then they invited their friends. And, less than 12 hours later, 26 people had joined up with Kiva and made 31 new loans to help entrepreneurs in 17 different countries.  I was able to pull all this information together because of Kiva's awesome website and being able to see the impact that each person chose to make.

And, as I recently revealed, I carry Crayola markers in my backpack. Over coffee this morning I made my own version of an Infographic to depicted the spread of the impact.

Thanks to everyone who got involved and big props to Kiva for making this initiatives something that was so easy to be a part of and so transparent to show the reach of the impact.

Since the day she was born, my sister Katie has been the first to do a lot of things. The first in our family to get a tattoo. The first to skydive. The first to give up her Thanksgiving holiday to serve people in India. Today she's begun her next first: riding her bike across New York. The whole state. In five days. Katie first told me about her ride last year and that she had found an awesome way to do something adventurous and bring awareness to an issue that is important to her (and the world), human trafficking. There are millions of men, women, and children that are suffering the injustice of slavery and worse around the world and Katie's heart for these mostly unknown and voiceless people group compelled her to action. When she arrives in Buffalo today, she'll be meting up with a group of other passionate adventures from around the world and their bikes and beginning a trek across the Empire State. Each day they'll ride as a team and each night they'll be hosting rallies and meetings in the cities where they'll be staying to bring awareness to the cause and share how folks can get involved and help.

To say that I am proud of my sister would be a huge understatement. She is the most selfless and authentic person that I know and I can't wait to see her next weekend when she rides into the Big Apple.

If you want to keep track of her journey, or cheer her one, check her out on Twitter: @Ellweezie

It could be called the Sundance for Social Entrepreneurs. Or perhaps the SXSW for those with intent to change the world. Maybe even the Davos for the doers. Whatever analogy the strikes your fancy, the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England was more than most could have imagined.  From performances by Peter Gabriel and Baba Maahl to a brand new film being premiere by the Sundance Film Institute to tmoving ideas shared by Princess Noor of Jordan and the incredible wisdom Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu - there wasn’t a shortage of incredible moments. But aside from the headliners and names that everyone knew before the event started, the new names and faces of social entrepreneurship have stolen the show.  From the moving speech of Rebecca Onie from Health Leads to the inspiring vision of Ned Breslin from Water for People, the big ideas and new level of accountability in action has been the undertone of the event.

Having attended Sundance, SXSW, and now Skoll World Forum this year, it was clear that each event had the potential to be an echo chamber for its audience.  Not every film at Sundance was amazing, nor every start-up at SXSW revolutionary.  The same could be said of Skoll: not every good intentioned entrepreneur had an idea that will change the way that you and I think about life in the community or field that they are working in.  But, the overwhelming and incredible part about the community that descended on Oxford is this: that’s okay.  Failure is accepted as a normal part of innovation and a possible outcome for the current strategies being played out by the teams that were in attendance.  The further they sail from the shores of conventional wisdom, the closer they are to create a new normal for the constituency they serve. A new normal that brings about permanent change in the real world and for generations to come.

When we understand that failure is a natural part, and even a predominate part, of the road to success, the less fear we have as we approach a new initiative or big idea that we don’t know will work.  As seen by the incredible stories of change at the Skoll World Forum, the timeline on which success must be viewed is much longer than we expect and will require the input and buy in of more people than we know.

Cara Mertes, the Director of the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program and my host in Oxford, has shared a quote with me a couple of times that I believe sums it up nicely.

“Every moment of major social change requires a collective leap of imagination” - Jeff Chang

When Annie snapped this photo of me, I had no idea I would love how well it turned out.

The Plaza Hotel, a chauffeured Maserati, and my Pocketsquare all in one shot? Love it.

There is still time to help with Katie and my birthday wish.  Check it out: http://bit.ly/OurBDay