Grace Bahng

Unite for Sight is a global health NGO (eyesight specifically) focusing on best practices and social entrepreneurship. They are taking applications for their Global Impact Corps program for both students and professionals. Fellows receive a Certificate Global Health and Delivery when all is said and done.

Find more information here.

They also have a optional program for global health research called the Global Impact Lab.

They also have a Social Entrepreneurship online course that’s a good resource to look through.

Dell is partnering with U of Texas and holding a contest looking for the next great idea for a better world. If you’re a college student and have an idea you’d like to try and pitch, submit your idea here. Here are more details courtesy of CGI:

The Dell Social Innovation Competition is a real-world exercise to refine your idea, build a concise plan of action and practice your pitch to investors. Build your resource networks and gain valuable contacts while doing good! Do you have groundbreaking idea? With your fortitude and personality, can you mobilize people and resources to affect social change?

For more details go to the Dell Social Innovation Competition

The deadline is March 1!

If you don’t have an idea, you can still participate by VOTING.

The Urban Institute Summer Academy for Public Policy Analysis and Research is now accepting applications for their summer program. The program is designed to mentor minority undergrads who are interested in public service and policy analysis. See more information at their website.

Applications are due March 5th!

For those that are interested in international volunteering, Idealist will be having its Global Volunteering Fair this Thursday (Feb 25th) at UCLA.

Here’s the info:

The fair will be held at the UCLA School of Public Affairs at 337 Charles E. Young Drive in Los Angeles, and will offer you the opportunity to meet one-on-one with representatives of organizations that coordinate volunteer projects around the world, including:

* Cross-Cultural Solutions
* Global Citizens Network
* Good News Corps
* Humanitarian Travels International
* International Education Programs
* International Student Volunteers
* MASA Israel Journey
* Peace Corps
* SIT Graduate Institute
* Village Volunteers
* WorldTeach

You can also attend free workshops on topics like the basics of volunteering abroad and strategies for making international volunteering affordable.

For more information, including a schedule for the day and an updated list of organizations that’ll be there, as well as to register (it’s free but we need to know how many people to expect), please visit:

http://www.idealist.org/globalvolunteering

According to the Nations Brands Index (NBI) survey, the US is back on top as the most popular or admired nation in the globe. Jumping an unprecedented 6 places to go from seventh place last year to first place this year, this continues the message from many in the world to the US that they seem to like POTUS #44 much better than POTUS #43.  The jump is even more remarkable considering the major role that the US played in the global financial crisis earlier this  year.  POTUS #44 may be criticized for not doing substantially much but he seems to be improving the global image of the US abroad (I suppose many are overlooking his refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama who was visiting Washington on account of POTUS #44’s visit to China next month).

The NBI survey is an annual survey that measures the image of 50 countries with regards to: “Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment”.  According to the website, approximated 20,000 adults from 20 countries are interviewed online.

See more rankings here.

The big news today is two Americans win the Nobel in Economics today. Both have been important contributors to public administration research. Even more notable is that Ostrom is the first woman to receive the honors and has a background in poli sci out of UCLA. She currently works out of Indiana University’s Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis and focuses on common pool resource management.

NY Times article on Nobel

With all this chatter about Nobel prizes, debate continues around the which strategy to take in Afghanistan. You have Biden (Newsweek cover) on one side arguing the focus needs to be in Pakistan and you have McChrystal and his report arguing we need more troops to protect the Afghan people who have been abandoned more than once by the US. Counterinsurgency vs. counterterrorism…meanwhile, we’re 8 yrs into Afghanistan…