Last Day to Vote for Google’s Project 10^100

What tsunamis have to do with online banking, public transit and better street cred for geeks.

Last fall, Google launched Project 10^100 — a global call for world-changing ideas that help as many people as possible. After over 150,000 submissions from more than 170 countries, 16 inspired finalists emerged and The Big G handed it over to us the people to cull the top 5 who will enter an RFP process and hash it out for the grand funding.

And today, October 8, is the last chance we the people have to cast our votes for ideas that range from fighting for a positive media depiction of scientists, to free online education, to a global genocide monitoring and alert system.

So go ahead, take a look at the contenders and make yourself heard. It may sound like a pageant line, but we are indeed the world — our actions and choices drive its direction, so if Google is willing to put some money into something good, we better make sure it’s the best possible. Vote now.

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Philanthropy Spotlight: 100 Girls Back to School

What 100 girls in Asia have to do with Copa Cabana beaches, or why private-sector philanthropy is the real global game-changer.

In October 2007, Victoria Orizarska, a successful thirtysomething finance professional with a fantastic career, riveting social life and enviable wardrobe, decided to trade it all in for something completely irrational and unmarketable — the pursuit of a lifelong dream. So she armed herself with a backpack and a camera, and set out to travel the world.

But besides the incredible richness of experiencing new cultures, Victoria was struck with something else — the devastating poverty stifling certain regions of the world. So instead of tossing some spare change at some charity to alleviate her privileged guilt, she decided to start a philanthropic effort of her own — the 100 Girls Back to School Appeal was born.

Sitting at the beach at Copa Cabana, it was very difficult to ignore the kids that rush to collect my beer can as soon as I empty it, so they can make 1/20 of a $1 on it.

The effort aims to to raise funds for at least 100 school scholarships for girls in South East Asia, India and Nepal — some of the least-developed areas, where cultural bias and economic constraint prevent girls from getting the education needed to break the cycle. To put this in the context of numbers, it will take roughly $250,000 to achieve the project’s goal — $250 per girl per year, for 10 years.

But heartwarmingness aside, the effort oozes one very important takeaway — you don’t have to be, or work for, an NGO to make a tangible difference. The private sector holds formidable potential for solving global problems — just ask Acumen Fund’s Jacqueline Novogratz.

So far, the effort has amassed over $28,000. Learn more about it, see the other side like you never have before (did me mention Victoria’s photography goes well beyond her self-described hobbyist level?), and contribute to one of the best grassroots causes we’ve come across in a while.

LBB + OLPC = GOOD

Why egocentricity is the new philanthropy, or how to turn your city know-how into a child’s bright future.

It’s a well-known fact that the advertising industry is a self-revolving beehive that buzzes solely about itself, glorifying and aggrandizing every effort that leads to awards meaning nothing to anyone else. Or so the stereotype goes.

But regardless of its veracity, we applaud it when someone takes a perceived fault and turns it into something that benefits others.

That’s exactly what Little Black Book, the publisher of guide books and online city directories for ad folk, is doing in their charity partnership with One Laptop Per Child. (Which, as we all know, we’re big proponents of.) All you have to do is recommend a restaurant, bar, hotel, squash club — any good place to take a client — in a major advertising city. LBB has pledged to donate £1 for every new recommendation, up to £20,000.

In essence, all you’re donating is your time, and a child in the developing world gets a shot at a life of knowledge and self-sufficiency. You’ll never feel better about your bar-hopping expertise.

via Creativity Online