PLAY IT FORWARD ~ Adventure Travel with a Moral Compass

In collaboration with Miles Jay, The FN Group is proud to have added the soundtrack to a great business idea. Travel with a purpose.

MILES JAY in action.

As the dollar looses value and we all marinate in the media’s green embrace, one can ask oneself, “Is it even responsible to (or economically savvy) to travel overseas?” I mean, you can buy carbon offsets when you fly and earn your Green Scout status by “leaving no trace”. However for many of us, this is not enough.

Many of us have been on enough vacations to places where the dollar is strong to rest and relax (important things coming from a country where people work more than ever and vacation less than 2 weeks out of 52). There comes a point in the lives and travels of those with nomadic hearts that demands a new way of participating in the world. AND it is exactly that, participating, not just vacationing.

For those who have not invented a solution for themselves through our professions or relief efforts or missionary type work, there is a great option. Travel with a purpose brought to you by Play it Forward: Adventure Travel with a Moral Compass. PIF is now offering adventures in Guatemala and Tanzania with trips to the rest of Africa, Nepal, Romania, Chile and Argentina to soon follow.

The FN Group had the pleasure of scoring Play it Forward’s new video featuring an adventure in Guatemala. The composer for this track is Miles Jay. Miles Jay comes from a talented family of musicians, filmmakers, visual artists, and llama herders. When not collaborating with his genius family at the elusive Muse Ranch, Jay (who also speaks fluent Arabic) performs around the world with the likes of Youssou N’Dour & Fathy Salama from Carnegie Hall to royal homes in Europe and the Middle East.

Check out Play it Forward, their new video, and the music of Miles Jay at http://www.pifadventures.com/ .

Enjoy.

Much Respect,

Papa Ganda

REINVENT THE WHEEL? Yep, this time, just add WATER.

Every once in a while there is a great idea that is so simple and practical that it can make you smile, laugh, scream, shout, or do some strange & wonderful celebratory dance. These ideas in action are called SOCIAL INVENTIONS and they renew my hope in people.

Here is a great example. The Q-drum.

Water is life. In water rich areas we take that for granted.

For those without the luxury of running water the most common solution is carrying it, usually on their heads. Water is very heavy and this is most commonly the task of women and children. People (especially in Sub-Sahara Africa) carry impossibly heavy loads of water or firewood on their heads for long distances on tricky unpaved terrain.

The first time I witnessed this I thought, “Apes, fugettaboutit, what about our ANTcestry.” (Jokes that bad are reserved for dads of all ages. I gotta just embrace it.)

Here is shot from a trip to Harar, Ethiopia.

Seriously.

The beauty of the Q-Drum is its simplicity. A wheel reinvented so that a child can easily transport up to 50 liters of water.

While this invention is exciting and inspiring some questions and concerns still remain.

I have yet to find out how much the Q costs or how it is distributed to those in need. The company is based in South Africa (which is a good sign). I have contacted the company but have yet to hear a response. I will report back as soon as these questions are answered.

The second issue is the safety of the material used to make the Q. The Q is made from a Linear Low Density Polyethylene, or LLC PE. I know, any ingredient list that includes an acronym for a polysyllabic manmade product, scare me too.

The site describes the material as having “a high compatibility with foodstuffs and water”. And most likely, you use it. This is often the same stuff you put your produce in at the grocery store. The FDA approves it for food and water usage, but hell, the FDA approves Monsanto’s Frankenstein corn, soy, and canola, so, go figure.

All questions aside, congratulations to the inventors and here’s to hoping this product is truly safe and becomes available to those who most need its assistance in basic survival.

My hope is that Q-Drum will set up a “gifting” system like Heifer.org has set up for their programs of social enterprise, making the product available to members of developed nations to purchase the Q as a “gift” to friends and have it delivered to family in need.

Do you have a SOCIAL INVENTION? I would love to hear about it.

Much Respect,

Papa Ganda

The Don of Social Enterprise

If Don had a soundtrack, for me it would be Johnny Cash’s “I’ve been everywhere man”. In his brief 37 years on the planet, Don has been everywhere social responsibility and business meet.

Whether it is running Comet Skateboards with Jason Salfi where they build sustainable skateboards or in his work to expand & finance The Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (B.A.L.L.E.) a network of over 15,000 businesses or in his new position at RSF Social Finance, Don Shaffer has his finger on the healthy economic pulse of the new US economy.

What new US economy? For Don it begins in the rapidly growing market of socially enterprise which represents dozens and dozens of industries including green building, alternative energy, Fair Trade, Organics, FSC certified products, and on and on. However, Don’s passion goes beyond just these social entrepreneurial ventures and tackles the issue of Local Economies.

Hanging out with Don it is only a matter of time before you’ll get a great book recommendation… but not in an annoying way… my father does the same thing… must be a Cornell thing. Among the impressive list of social and economic theorists, great historical leaders, and philosophical minds is a consistent reference to an old farmer who writes fictional novels and short essays. Surprising? Not when the 74 year old farmer is Wendell Berry.

For those who are unfamiliar, Mr. Berry uses his fictional stories to communicate the social and economic benefits of healthy LOCAL economies. My genius-Amish-farmer-looking younger brother turned me on to Wendell Berry years ago and his book JAYBER CROW was a transformative experience for me.

Like Wendell Berry, Don Shaffer believes there are great social and economic benefits from strong local economies and has dedicated the last several years to developing local business networks throughout North America… a whole lot of them.

Now Don is taking his solid judgment, wealth of connections, and much admired management skills to RSF Social Finance as their new CEO and President.

Don will be in a position to recommend investment in businesses and industries that he believes are economically sound and going to make a positive difference for people and the planet.

Can I get a “Hell Yeah”! This is one for the good guys. The Don’s do exist.

And it is good to know there are Don’s out there doing what Don’s do.

Much Respect,

Papa Ganda

On BALLE… my only criticism at this point is with their marketing, branding & technology. There may be 15,000 business who are part of BALLE but only BALLE members know what BALLE is AND can you possibly make your website any harder to find or any less GOOGLABLE. (GOOGLABLE is such a fun word to say… it’s almost Zoolander-ish when he tries to pronounce Eulogy, and it comes out ‘yoogoogly’, but better because people know what you mean when you say it.)

Calabash Music & Bole2Harlem

Love, food, and music are the best ambassadors of any culture. International affairs with beautiful people, wonderful foods, and inspirational sounds from foreign lands have made many of us conscious of the rest of the world in a way we can feel.

Can you imagine life with out music? Every culture around the world holds a special relationship with its music. Music is often the bridge between cultures and allows savvy travelers to better acclimate themselves with their new surroundings.

However, Finding a balance between art and commerce is a difficult task, one that the music industry has historically done badly. Now record labels are struggling against a tide of technological “piracy” to remain profitable and new models for sustainable business solutions that protect artists are all the more critical.

Fortunately, the enterprising social entrepreneurs at Calabash Music are working give us new music packaged in a fair business model.

Calabash Music’s tastefully designed and easily navigated website allows users to explore globally significant music that would be near impossible to gather otherwise. In a similar format to iTunes users can purchase individual songs for $0.99 or purchase album packages with one MAJOR difference. The artists keep HALF the money.

So what does Fair Trade music mean? In there own words, this is what Calabash Music means when it says Fair Trade.

“Our equal exchange business model and focus on international artists is revitalizing the music industry in developing nations around the globe. When our artists sell their music directly to you, they keep half the money from each sale and they avoid the high costs of manufacturing, marketing and distributing their music on CDs.”

If you hustle down to the site this week you’ll find a free track from a tremendous project called Bole2Harlem. The brainchild of mix master and international music impresario, David Schommer, Bole2Harlem respectfully braids the work of Ethiopian musicians who have relocated to NYC with the sounds of their new home. The result is a tasty cultural exchange that is world music at it’s finest.

Full disclosure: The FN Group is proud to have worked with David and Bole2Harlem on the soundtrack for the short movie PURA VIDA Coffee Profits Children which can be viewed at www.eq.tv under “Originals”.

For a more information on Calabash Music visit their web site at http://news.calabashmusic.com/world/fairtrade

Much respect,
Papa Ganda

Testimonials/ Reviews

“Calabash Music™ is the online reincarnation of your favorite backstreet music store: that long-lost specialist record emporium whose walls were plastered with community music notices, whose access was by means of some rickety old stairs from street level and whose salespersons were as keen to talk to you about what they were selling as they were to part you from your money.” – Andy Morgan, The Independent

When the mountain turns green Snowrider Foundation keeps it clean.

Whether you’re a knuckle dragger or a two planker, the enlightened ones know they are just different ways to ride big mountains of snow. Most people wouldn’t expect a person who talks about “pow pow” and “The sick line of the day” to even be able to pronounce Hydrologic Cycle much less teach people the importance of this concept. Meet mister Mike McCann, a man who can “huck a cliff” and organize hundreds of people to learn about their impact on the earth and keep it clean.

We live in an incredible time in history when humans can transport themselves effortlessly thousands of miles to magical wilderness areas, strap on some expensive high tech gear and RIDE Mountains of snow from top to bottom. With that opportunity comes great responsibility to preserve the very thing that brings us so many good times.

As a surfer, snowboarder, educator, cross-country cyclist, author, fundraiser, environmentalist, and connoisseur of well-crafted brews, Mike McCann is living proof of the wise old saying, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”

After Mike had established the University District Youth Center, a high school drop-in center for street kids to continue their education, he wanted to do something to preserve the mountains he rides. As a surfer, Mike belongs to the environmental organization Surfrider Foundation and stumbled onto an idea within the organization for a Snowrider branch. The problem was time and money. Surfrider already stretched thin with its own commitments, couldn’t actively spearhead the snow branch. Mike decided that he would do it.

(Mike ~ the shirtless gourmet)

With the energetic support of Surfrider Foundation, Mike began working to create an environmental education program that is the basis for the Snowrider project. The curriculum is based on the concept of the hydrologic cycle.

The hydrologic cycle according to NASA

“The water we use today has been around for hundreds of millions of years, and the amount available probably hasn’t changed very much. Water moves around the world, changes forms, is taken in by plants and animals, but never really disappears. It “travels” in a large, continuous cycle. We call this the Hydrologic Cycle."

Duh, right?

The cycle is made up of 5 stages

1. Condensation

2. Precipitation

3. Infiltration

4. Runoff

5. Evapotranspiration

Water vapor condenses to form clouds, which result in precipitation. Precipitation falls to the surface and infiltrates the soil or flows to the ocean as runoff. Surface water (e.g., lakes, streams, oceans, etc.), evaporates, returning moisture to the atmosphere, while plants return water to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration.

Problems of water contamination can arise at all points along the cycle. Mike and Snowrider’s commitment is to keep the mountain runoff as clean as possible and educate people on their impact of the cycle.

Mike’s programs have been very successful organizing mountain clean-ups, raising awareness, and raising funds to make the project sustainable. Along with a small crew of volunteers, Mike has made the Northwest Chapter of the Snowrider Foundation a national example of what is possible. Now Mike is working hard with leaders from around the country to elevate Snowrider’s effectiveness in mountain towns and ski areas around North America.

How does Mike do it? Join Mike for a fundraiser or a mountain clean up and you’ll see that Mike’s made his life a party with a purpose.

To find out how you can help, contact Mike McCann at Snowriderproject@hotmail.com.

Water is life. So, for all the little rippers out there… be like Mike and keep it hydrological.

Much respect,

Papa Ganda

(The Snowrider crew represents… Mike in the middle.)

ANNOUNCING The FN Conscious Films Department

The FN Group is proud to announce our new Conscious Films department HELLO FILM EVOLUTION. We have worked over the last several years to provide our clients with cinema quality movies for the purposes of fundraising or marketing but now that work will be 100% under our own roof. The only thing that has changed with this arrangement is our ability to offer socially responsible businesses a far more competitive price for our full service productions.

For some examples of our latest work at the B.A.L.L.E. (Business Alliance of Local Living Economies) Conference in Berkeley, California see “Our Heroes Are Green” at www.eq.tv and meet two great women leading our country towards positive change.

Our Heroes Are Green ~ Episode #1 featuring Simran Sethi

Simran Sethi is a sustainability journalist telling the positive economic stories of our time. She can be seen weekly on Sundance Channel’s The Green, heard on Treehugger.com, and often spotted interviewing the likes of Oprah and Al Gore.

www.eq.tv

Our Heroes Are Green ~ Episode #2 featuring Judy Wicks

The legendary Philadelphian turned her restaurant, The White Dog Cafe, into a tool for community development and one of the best national examples of a successful LOCAL food economy. Judy Wicks is a national leader in world of social entrepreneurs co-founding B.A.L.L.E. and founding the White Dog Community Enterprises responsible for everything from local farmer’s markets to film festivals educating the public on local food issues.

Stay tuned for the complete unveiling of HELLO FILM EVOLUTION in the coming weeks.

If a picture says 1,000 words, imagine what a film can do.

Much Respect,

Papa Ganda

Spacecraft Clothing ~ Irreverent social entrepreneurs doing it right.

In the mid to late 90’s a young genius art student, Cascade powder hog, and tech nomad named Stefan Hoffman was making it up as he went along.

In his words, “Conceived in a swirl of TNT smoke and heated pools in the Cascade backcountry, the snowcat was captured on film, and Spacecraft was born in the back of a big jet airplane amidst the whistles of Balinese lefts.”

I don’t know a Balinese left from an Indonesian right but trust me…

It really was that poetic. Stefan is an artist and an idealistic dreamer who figured out a way to live for a living. I was fortunate enough to be around in the beginning when Stefan was the “stealthy sticker sticking guy” who was fascinated with this distressed image he’d captured of an old rusted out snowcat.

His quality of life was greatly improved when he attracted a tenacious young woman who had a good eye for style and solid business instincts. The two balanced each other out and built Spacecraft Clothing up from a graffiti art project into a clothing line that sells in more than a dozen states and half a dozen countries.

Globally inspired designs and irreverent branding of anything stickers and spray paint stencils stick to… the image of the snowcat became what it was intended to be… a symbol of the collective unconscious becoming conscious.

Suits, hipsters, gibbers, pros, tech geeks, eco hunks, dreamers, doers, producers, consumers and even mainstream retailers can feel it. The snowcat is everywhere and once you know it you’ll love finding it…. on cop cars, UPS trucks, bridges, busses, chairlifts, laptops, espresso machines, overpasses, and every major ride-able mountain or surf spot. It’s like worldwide where’s Waldo but the symbols connect to a community of like-minded irreverent entrepreneurs, cultural creatives, and generally wild people who live life all the way.

Obviously, I drank the cool-aid. I am a Spacecraft junkie. I admit. For me it grew from my deep respect of Stefan & Sarah’s struggle. They work hard. The artistic, cultural, social, and product integrity that they exhibited each step of the way was something that I respected. I am a believer but I believe because the people AND the products are top de kine.

The FN Group is proud to work with Spacecraft on Relief Marketing Strategies helping them continue to be leaders in the world of social justice and inspirational business.

Here is the new hang tag text for Spacecraft’s Fall/Winter line created by the FN Group.

Be sure to check out Spacecraft’s gear at www.takeustoyourleader.com

Much Respect,

Papa Ganda

What has all the rights of an individual, can live forever, and never be jailed for a crime?

That’s right a U.S. Based Corporation. Did you know that corporations are LEGALLY beholding to their shareholders to make as much short-term profit as possible? In theory that may be fine, however in practice this can translate into social and/or environmental neglect. But before you get your Birkenstocks in a tangle, there may be some light at the end of the… ehh… boardroom.

Many corporations are run by responsible people working hard to provide a good product or service to humanity while making profits for themselves and their shareholders. However when that corporation wants to make decisions that responsibly account for their impact on people and the planet, things can get ugly.

In short, we have built an economic structure that is designed for one thing, economic growth at any cost.

“If the rules of the game are wrong then you’ve got to change the rules,” says Jay Coen Gilbert who co-founded and sold AND 1, a $250M basketball footwear and apparel company.

That’s easy for Jay to say. Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan, and Andrew Kassoy, are amongst a group of highly regarded business leaders and social reformers who have been working hard on plan B.

Plan B: The B Corporation
The B Corporation was unveiled last weekend at the BALLE Conference on the University of California, Berkeley campus to an enthusiastic but wary crowd.

After limited remarks from Jay Coen Gilbert an impressive number of businesses told us why they were B-Corporation Founding members. Some of these reputable companies include Seventh Generation, White Dog Café, Method, Comet Skateboards, Pura Vida Coffee, and many more.

The crowd comprised of authors, thought leaders, and socially responsible business pioneers seemed to be waiting for the other wingtip to drop. The follow up Q&A session was led hotly with, “Ok. We’ve heard the testimonials but what the hell is it and how does it work?” Like I said, enthusiastic but wary.

From what I understand from Jay Coen Gilbert and the website, the B Corporation is a new business group working towards a new corporate structure who’s services include branding, certification, and social entrepreneur mob boss. Mob boss in a good way, as far as I can tell.

What are the benefits to a participating company?

1. One collective brand/certification for environmental and social responsibility.

2. A legal commitment to your values whether your board, stakeholderes, or even company ownership change.

3. A network of likeminded businesses wiht whom to work, share knowledge & resources, and to leverage corporate law reform.

4. The B-Corporation (and powerful friends) will market the hell out of this concept.

What are the benefits to people and the planet? Perhaps the B-Corp will be a powerful advocate for a serious “rule change” within the corporate structure (as Jay Coen Gilbert puts it). And perhaps, the B-Corp stamp of approval will be an easy way to determine socially responsible businesses from just good marketing (as advertised on the B-Corp site).

Why perhaps? Because the value of B Corporation hinges on the actual criteria “socially just” companies are judged upon, the transparency of the non-profit entity B-Corporation, and the basic integrity of the process.

What are the benefits to the Organizers? If this goes the way Jay and other hope it will, the B – Corporation will be at the epicenter of all socially responsible businesses, controlling club membership, and taking a percentage of each company’s profits (albeit small).

Yeah.

If you’re going to change the rules, I guess you may as well change them in your favor.

And that is precisely what a social entrepreneur (if successful) does. S/he figures out a way to serve the community while making it profitable.

Brilliant.

Take a look and decide what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts, as I’ve only begun my research.

I do have several unanswered questions.

1. On what criteria are B-Corp’s concepts of environmental and social responsibility based?

2. How do you enforce these values with businesses to insure the talk is walked?

3. And, finally… who keeps B-Corp honest?

Once these questions are answered to my satisfaction… The FN Group will consider asking the B Corporation to be our social responsibility mob boss… that is, if they’ll take us after this shifty blog entry.

Much respect,

Papa Ganda

Get Social Responsibility up your sleeve.

Meet Electricbaby makers of smart laptop sleeves for creative revolutionaries, but that’s not all. No actually that is just the beginning.

Electricbaby uses their products as a platform for a recycling program in Bali, a snowboard program for kids who can’t afford it, and a state-wide (Washington) hunger relief agency.

Meet a bonafide social entrepreneur. Electricbaby is led by righteous Eco Tech-nomad, Franklin Joyce, a man capable of balancing art, commerce, and global relief efforts.

Franklin married his skills in art, business, technology, and doing the right thang into a series of beautiful and economical sleeves for laptops. For Franklin there was no other way.

“Electricbaby and friends have designed some very cool laptop sleeves.” Franklin Joyce explains, “The electricbaby laptop sleeve collection supports an organized effort to pair artists with non-profits, bringing visibility to our heroes in the non-profit community.”

Franklin will also tell you that his business has a long way to go in regards to their economic growth but also addressing their impact on people and the planet. Franklin and the Electricbaby crew are constantly working on new ways the company can reduce their footprint while increasing their market share to further support the projects they love.

“Now electricbaby is inviting 30 favorite artists from across the states to create sticker designs for non-profits local and dear to them,” says Franklin. “We will be doing all of the sticker production as a gift to the non-profits the artists support. This will be followed by a gallery tour to create some collective press for all the organizations and artists involved.”

Find out more at www.electricbaby.com

Here are some product shots and photos from their social projects.

The Bali Recycle Program, IDEP Foundation supported by Electricbaby.

“Do you know all the meanings of IDEP? The acronym is Indonesian Development of Education and Permaculture, but the word “idep” in high caste Balinese also means," the ability to think on a higher creative plane,“which is really a more accurate meaning of what IDEP does and what so many of us are working towards.” – Bali resident David Mendoza, co-founder and visionary of Artist Trust

Franklin with the IDEP Foundation Crew

The Service Board – Providing gear & access for inner city kids to ride mountains!

Electricbaby sleeve – 7 zippered, 4 sweater sleeves, and 2 folder sleeves in 13 styles.

Git yer Electricbaby and support a good thing gone wild.

Check them out for yourselves… and be sure to let Franklin know you want to have his Electricbaby!

Respect,

Papa Ganda

Relief Marketing (tm)

Helping people & the planet.

Imagine redirecting your marketing resources towards projects that actually benefit people and the planet while reaching more of your desired market as a result.

This is Relief Marketing. Good works. Gone public.

The fn group developed Relief Marketing as the perfect intersection of humanitarian ideals and business solutions. We saw a need amongst conscious capitalist to both do the right thing and make their companies grow profitably. We are proud to be a part of a positive solution and are confident in our strategy’s combined success.

Relief Marketing is real action, with noble intentions, accurately documented and distributed for the purpose of encouraging people to support the companies who operate in a responsible, humane, and renewable fashion.

Relief Marketing doesn’t work without integrity. It is NOT “Green Washing”.

What we offer is simple. We help develop strategies for companies who want to operate responsibly. We work with them to implement these strategies in a way that both reaches and expands their target demographics.

It is an exciting process, custom built large or small to represent your company’s needs.

Stay connected to learn more about Relief Marketing as we feature some of our favorite clients in the weeks to come.

Respect,

Papa Ganda