keeping communities connected
Social Enterprise Day is held each year by Social Enterprise UK during Global Enterprise Week, and this year’s day is preceded by the Society Profits campaign. The goal of the campaign “is to put social enterprises and the people who support them at the forefront of promoting a simple message to consumers: ‘Choose Social Enterprise and Society Profits’.”
Being celebrated from 14 – 20 November, Global Entrepreneurship Week “is a celebration of the past 51 weeks, and sets the scene for the next year ahead. Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011 will address the concerns and anxieties of budding entrepreneurs; enabling many more people to create new opportunities and successful ventures that will continue to flourish all year round.”
A private members’ bill, the “Public services (social enterprise and social value)” bill proposes that public bodies take into account social value when putting a contract out to tender. Ideally, this would help local organisations, and social enterprises in particular, win more of the public sector contracts that they often lose out on due to lack of finances and ability to bid with the lowest price. A more in-depth examination of the bill is available from The Guardian.
Ed Miliband’s recent reshuffle of the Labour shadow cabinet brought additional women to the forefront of the UK’s political opposition. There are now 11 women in the 27-member shadow cabinet. The Guardian profiles the new appointments here.
As The Guardian headline put it – Nobel peace prize given to only 12 women in 110 years. Now it’s 15! Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, Leymah Gbowee, a social worker turned peace campaigner from Liberia and Tawakkul Karman, a journalist and pro-democracy activist in Yemen, share this year’s prize.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, at the Global Colloquium of University Presidents, that universities can play a significant role in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Founded by Masha Hamilton, the Project believes that the right to tell one’s story is a human right and “empowers Afghan women to share their voices with the world, despite a deteriorating security situation.”
Reuters reports on Amadou Toumani Toure’s decision to appoint Cisse Mariam Kaidama as prime minister, the first female to hold the post.
Connector Media is pleased to announce the development of an exciting new project called The Sewing Rooms.
The Sewing Rooms will work with women suffering from mental health problems to establish a route to recovery through vocational training and personal development. This will be done through the upcycling and remodeling of cloths and textiles.
Interesting lists from both the Guardian and the Daily Beast of inspiring women who shake the world, in categories ranging from activists, to medicine, sport, fashion and business.
