In June 2013, a group of Melton Fellows will pack their bags with their clothes, skills, and passions to travel to Haiti. Their destinations: Port-au-Prince and the rural Grand Boukan. Their intention: to collaborate with community projects and help to make a difference.

The current red-hot debate over the effectiveness of international aid, especially to Africa, was on full display at the Skoll World Forum. The Zambian economist, Dambisa Moyo, passionately argued in a panel discussion that foreign government AID empowers corrupt regimes and makes African government leaders accountable only to foreign donors, not to their own people.

African voices were heard in full force at last week’s Skoll World Forum in Oxford. The most prominent of these was Kofi Annan. Few world leaders have retained such integrity under such thankless circumstances like trying to be an effective UN Secretary General. In his Skoll speech, Kofi Annan did not disappoint. He described his strategy for overcoming obstacles in the UN: Although “every new idea and initiative is met with resistance… my response was always ‘you never know – let’s test it.’”

After months of online conversations and lots of learning, the eleven new Melton Fellows for 2012 finally met in person in Cologne this March.

I’m now in Oxford, England, to attend the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship which gets underway tonight.  The Forum is a remarkable gathering of social entrepreneurs and other leaders who are creating and applying innovative solutions to today’s most daunting global challenges.

As I read, listen, and watch about today’s Africa I’m struck by the bi-polar way that Africa is often presented. The first story is the land of victims and safaris that can only be saved by foreign aid and charity. Take the Kony 2012 video seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, which juxtaposed singing Californians with Congolese war victims. 

Most people assume that countries like Kenya are not sources of technological innovation. Silicon Valley innovates and Kenya consumes. Wrong! One of my favorite examples is M-Pesa, a pioneer in mobile banking started in Kenya. M is for mobile and “pesa” means money in Swahili.

I visited South Africa in 2004, hosted by Impumelelo, one of a number of national innovations award programs started by the Ford Foundation. At that time, I helped coordinate this network as part of my work at Harvard’s Kennedy School. The places we visited and the people I met, especially at that historic time in South Africa, was a transformative experience for me. Yet I only touched the tip of the iceberg.

Remember your favorite MF moment?
Of course you do, but do you have a photo of it?

If you do then you could win some amazing Melton Foundation merchandise. All you have to do is send us your favorite Melton Foundation photograph, with a caption.

Fellows Carolina Aedo (UFRO) and Hari Ravikumar (BMS) will be joined by Markus Lang and Patty Ortiz (Executive Office). Together, they are supporting the campuses with…

In 2010, the Melton Foundation embarked on a journey to discover itself anew. The strategic planning process led us to the concept around which all our work is now centered: Global Citizenship.

November and December 2012 saw five Melton Fellows participate in a Citizen Media Writing Workshop. Under the guidance of Katrin Zinoun, Lingua Editor Deutsch for Global Voices, the Fellows explored the differences between traditional and citizen media, before venturing on to write blog posts about topics such as:

Being a godparent is a fantastic way to share your stories about the MF in your life, especially the many stories that have never been written down …

The 2nd Annual Melton Foundation Global Citizenship Conference (GCC) will take place August 2-9, 2013, in Bangalore (India). The conference will bring together Melton Fellows with leading experts of global citizenship, from leading practitioners to academics to educators, to explore action paths for the global citizens in us. Plenary sessions and workshop tracks will alternate between skill development and hands-on activities to provide a rich learning environment. Fellows will look back and celebrate their achievements of the past year, and plan the next steps for themselves and the Melton Foundation (MF).

Melton Fellow and artist May Garces, and photo journalist Brittany Peterson and team engaged with Mapuche communities near Temuco to explore, capture and share a different reality of the Mapuche people

Seven Melton Fellows from Chile, China, Germany and India went on a journey through Italy, where they asked people question: “What do you think about Global Citizenship” and invited them to share their ideas, hopes, aspirations, and doubts.

The Melton Foundation is currently working towards a potential partnership with Global Voices, a community of bloggers and translators around the world who work together to bring reports from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media.

The MF is pleased to announce a new position opening in the MF Executive Office for Communications Specialist. This call is for both SFs and external candidates. Please find below the job description and the candidate requirements.