Child and women abuse has diminished. A lot still needs to be done, but a lot has been done already. We can encourage the decrease of violence… We all know the factors related to the decrease of violence and we could encourage this idea: women social status, democracy… Let’s take Europe for example. In the 14th century, there were 5000 political entities in Europe; under Napoleon, there were 250, and, nowadays, there are about fifty, which are all democratic and make business together… The risk that Belgium starts a war against Italy is zero. Countries in conflict with other countries have a dysfunctional democracy. Undoubtedly, humankind has evolved and we... posted on Jan 27 2014 (7,900 reads)

resilience project? Mr. Zolli: Yeah, it sort of got going in 2007. And just with the idea. Remember 2007 we were on an upward trajectory and everything was fabulous. And remember the stock market was booming. Ms. Tippett: I vaguely remember that, yes. Mr. Zolli: Yes, exactly. It's hard. It's amazing how quickly things fade. But, so in 2007 we could start to see the patterns of this new frame begin to emerge. And then at the beginning of 2008, I had my business partner and the person who was my kind of closest working collaborator at the time he got sick. And we thought he had a cold and actually he had a brain tumor. Ms. Tippett: Was he als... posted on Dec 5 2013 (22,863 reads)

It was a meditation class and he was the instructor. This past fall, that same class enrolled 603 students and took place in one of the largest lecture halls on the UC Berkeley campus. A philosopher, author and lecturer of peace studies, Americ slips through all of these categories. Serendipitously he became the acting CEO of a company in a field for which he had no formal training. He's taught an unlikely mix of university classes (philosophy, religion, leadership, finance, business and information systems), developed several virtual companies, directed the Innovation Center at Golden Gate University, and held the first podcast at UC Berkeley in 2005. Today, he co-t... posted on Nov 12 2013 (29,357 reads)

widely viewed as possessing wisdom—an accomplished group of civic leaders, theologians, scientists, and cultural icons. They compared these wise people with a control group of professionals who were successful but not nominated as wise (including lawyers, doctors, teachers, scientists, and managers). Both groups answered questions that gave them a chance to demonstrate their wisdom. For example, what advice would they give to a widowed mother facing a choice between shutting down her business and supporting her son and grandchildren? How would they respond to a call from a severely depressed friend? A panel of experts evaluated their answers, and the results—along with sever... posted on Nov 20 2013 (57,835 reads)

becomes sustainable only when at least a third of the faculty are engaged and committed. "If nothing exists in isolation," writes famed essayist Wendell Berry, "then all problems are circumstantial; no problem resides, or can be solved, in anybody's department." Even if problems defy solution by a single department, school districts are often structured so that responsibilities are assigned to isolated and unconnected divisions. Nutrition services may report to the business manager, while academic concerns lie within the domain of the director of curriculum. To achieve systems change, leaders must cross department boundaries and bring people addressing parts of ... posted on Dec 12 2013 (32,975 reads)

Manuela goes to see Hussein and has a little pile of money to give him. And on the third day, something incredible happens when Hussein is able to secure a storefront in a dilapidated building adjacent to his shop. No electricity, no running water, but there is potential in this spot. Manuela and veterinarian Dr. Osman come by to help with the painting and clearing of rubbish while electricians and plumbers make all the necessary connections. In less than two weeks, the barber is back in business again, his whole world restored through the kindness of strangers. And as for the cats, Manuela reports that the barber shop’s smallest customers are doing just fine. They are among the... posted on Dec 17 2013 (186,740 reads)

Laura Lavigne, life holds the magic of a treasure hunt. A keeper of small moments, a spreader of joy, a mother, a dreamer, a doer, not to mention a French baker, Laura is a bright splash of color on any canvas. And she’s walked down quite a multifaceted road along the way. In this Awakin Call conversation with Afreen, she shares stories and lessons from her experiences working as a make-up artist to turning down corporate sponsorship, tossing out her well-rehearsed TEDx speech for spontaneity’s sake, and, time and time again, meeting strangers from the heart. Afreen: What drives you? Laura: I think it started when I was really little. I remember telling my parent... posted on Jan 11 2014 (28,649 reads)

about himself, his family or the work he does. Extremely reticent, he sticks to his schedule of opening his tea shop on the Ponmeni Narayanan Street in S.S.Colony at 4.30 a.m. sharp and serves the day’s first round of steaming chai to about two-dozen watchmen who do night duty in the area. He runs the shop till 11 p.m. selling over 300 cups of tea, coffee and milk besides biscuits, cakes, laddus, murukkus and other savouries. Communication with customers is restricted to business only. Yet the Meenakshi Coffee Bar which he runs with his two brothers in S.S.Colony is popular. Not for the knick-knack items it sells. Not even for the hundreds of cups of tea and coffee... posted on Feb 15 2014 (27,904 reads)

capital” in those entrepreneurs—allow them to experiment, fail, fight bureaucracy and the status quo and corruption, and build real solutions. Any money that comes back to Acumen, we reinvest in innovation for the poor. We’ve been able to invest about $90 million in seventy-five companies in India and East and West Africa. In turn, those companies have been able to raise additional funds and bring 100 million people services and create 60,000 jobs. It’s this kind of business approach to social problems that differentiates us. It’s a very powerful way to create real change in the world. GM: You started out in the traditional banking world. Why did yo... posted on Feb 6 2014 (22,685 reads)

was a bad time to be older and to be a woman trying to get into medicine. It was just before the wave of feminism hit. So that's a long introduction about how I decided to take care of HIV patients. I was in training at San Francisco General, which was the world center of the HIV epidemic, in terms of the United States in 1983.   RW:  Right, Right.   Grace:  So most of the patients I got were HIV infected. For example one day I ran the Bay to Breakers race. I had no business running it, because I had not trained a minute for it and I'd been on call the night before. So I got up and went to the starting line where I started to cry. I knew I was never going to ... posted on Dec 31 2013 (26,863 reads)

of gold, copper, and palladium from the discarded devices. Sometimes, this involves concocting a noxious stew of cyanide and nitric acid, then burning the remaining plastic in crude firepits. Throughout the process, workers are exposed to lead, mercury, and cadmium, among other toxic substances. One place our waste ends up is Guiyu, China, a port city of 150,000 on the South China Sea. As documented by the Basel Action Network, Guiyu is home to more than 5,000 small, mostly family-run businesses that trade in e-waste. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives found that children living in Guiyu had significantly higher levels of lead in their blood than ... posted on Feb 17 2014 (13,511 reads)

this is what our brains were wired for: reaching out to and interacting with others,” writes Lieberman. “These social adaptations are central to making us the most successful species on earth.” Lieberman thinks we should accept this about ourselves and use the information to change our social institutions for the better. For example, he points to studies that show how social capital in an organization is tied to its economic success. If this is true, it makes sense for business leaders to develop social skills to better understand the needs and motivations of their workers in order to gain a more productive workforce. Schools need to encourage better social clima... posted on Feb 24 2014 (20,735 reads)

on: 1. Labor rights The Harry Potter Alliance took off when Slack and his friend Seth Soulstein, from their traveling comedy group, the Late Night Players, joined with the group Walmart Watch and created "Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart" YouTube videos. The featured main character is a cloaked figure with a Walmart smiley face for a head, the evil Waldemart. The videos describe Walmart's unjust labor practices and how their low prices force local shops out of business. Just as Lord Voldemort treats his servants poorly (for example, SPOILER ALERT!, he chops off Wormtail's hand and murders Professor Snape), Walmart, the world's largest private emp... posted on Feb 25 2014 (30,361 reads)

him open and close the door, because he does it so completely. For him, the door is it. He is there. All his life comes down to that one point, when he's closing and opening that door. He is just closing and opening that door. That is it. He has that detachment with outcome which lets him fully experience the present. But then everyone can ask all sorts of cynical questions about it, right? Well, if you don't care for the outcomes, how can you really get anywhere? What if you had a business and you did all this? How are you going to get anywhere? You're not going to do anything. And that's a legitimate response. But I've experienced quite to the contrary with Service... posted on Mar 7 2014 (46,005 reads)

the package?” confirms the woman dispersing my spice-scented-daydream.      “Yes,” says the man. A stamp is applied to the troublesome package. And it is tossed out of sight.      But three days later it still lingers in my mind. I relate this story to my husband, wondering why I feel so invested in this stranger and his unopened package, so implicated in their fate. “Odd to feel like this when technically it’s none of my business,” I muse.      “Only technically?” smiles my husband.      “Yes, only technically,” I reply, “because the truth i... posted on Mar 26 2014 (26,964 reads)

I’ll send the rest.” It’s a training, it’s a process, layer by layer—that is how the body and the psyche work. Six: Set your intention. There is a whole complex and profound teaching in Buddhist psychology about the power of both short-term and long-term intention. When you set your intention, it sets the compass of your heart and your psyche. By having that intention, you make obstacles become surmountable because you know where you are going. whether it is in business, a relationship, a love affair, a creative activity, or in the work of the heart. Setting your intention is really important and powerful. Seven: Learn the inner and outer forms of forgive... posted on Mar 15 2014 (62,784 reads)

no to Rwanda, I would be saying no to my own spiritual growth. Rwanda changed my life. Crossing the line at the Nevada Test Site changed my life. The Gulf changed my life. I'm still in contact with some of the people I met there who I interviewed, Becky Duet among them, who runs a convenience store in Galliano, Louisiana. She now is riddled with an autoimmune disease that they cannot diagnose. She has been on chemotherapy for the last two years. She can barely walk. She has lost her business. She called me and said, "Terry, can I tell you what we're seeing in the bayou now? One-eyed shrimp." She told me how night after night as members of her Cajun community were si... posted on Mar 22 2014 (12,572 reads)

makes some people more successful in work and life than others? IQ and work ethic are important, but they don't tell the whole story. Our emotional intelligence -- the way we manage emotions, both our own and those of others -- can play a critical role in determining our happiness and success. Plato said that all learning has some emotional basis, and he may be right. The way we interact with and regulate our emotions has repercussions in nearly every aspect of our lives. To put it in colloquial terms, emotional intelligence (EQ) is like "street smarts," as opposed to "book smarts," and it's what accounts for a great deal of one's ability to navigate l... posted on May 1 2014 (114,819 reads)

lives through books and films is one of the best ways of doing it. As the novelist Ian McEwan put it, "Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion, and it is the beginning of morality."Why all this interest in the Empathy Library? One major reason is that empathy is a more popular concept today than at any time in human history. Everybody's talking about it, from the Dalai Lama to agony aunts, from business gurus to happiness experts. And it's not surprising, since in the last decade neuroscientists have discovered that 98 percent of us have empathy wired into our brains. The old story that ... posted on Apr 17 2014 (25,208 reads)

and variety of produce at the Chesterhill auction impressed Rapposelli enough that he started buying it for Ohio University. And because he was able to communicate his needs to farmers face-to-face, they started growing more of the types of produce he wanted most in the following year. "They were really responsive," Rapposelli said. Today, he supplies his two private restaurants with food from Chesterhill. But buying from a produce auction isn't exactly easy for a busy business owner. "It's the least convenient thing you could possibly do," Rapposelli said, laughing. A typical restaurant owner could source ingredients more quickly through a few Inte... posted on Apr 26 2014 (8,507 reads)