NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This fall, Global Kids and Ashoka's Youth Venture are excited to announce opportunities for teens and young adults to receive $1,000 in seed funding and social entrepreneurial training through the Dream It Do It Initiative in Second Life. D.I.D.I. seeks to utilize the connecting forces of these virtual worlds to empower young people to implement sustainable projects that will bring positive change to their communities' health.
Through January of 2009, the D.I.D.I. Initiative is supporting teams of young people to launch their own ventures that benefit their communities, either within or outside of Teen Second Life. A venture can be a club, organization, business, or program that is ongoing and benefits the community. With the D.I.D.I. Initiative's support, each team of youth develops an action plan to design and launch their own social entrepreneurial projects.
When the teams are ready to launch, the Initiative offers:
* Seed funding (up to $1,000 per team) * Technical allies to provide additional advice and expertise * Ongoing tools and support * A supportive network of fellow D.I.D.I. Venture Teams * Identity as part of a global movement of young changemakers
To get started, email Meghan@globalkids.org or contact Coreina Grace in Second Life to receive your D.I.D.I. Action Plan Toolkit!
The D.I.D.I. Initiative is made possible with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
About Global Kids, Inc. (www.globalkids.org)
Launched in 1989 and independent since 1993, Global Kids' mission is to educate and inspire urban youth to become successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Global Kids, Inc. is a nationally recognized leader in using digital media to promote global awareness and youth civic engagement. Global Kids' Online Leadership Program (OLP) integrates a youth development approach and international and public policy issues into youth media programs that build digital literacy, foster substantive online dialogues, develop resources for educators, and promote civic participation. Currently, the OLP is accomplishing its goals through initiatives within four broader areas: the development of socially -conscious online games; youth-led online dialogues; Virtual Worlds; and the Digital Media Initiative.
The Global Kids, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4850
About Youth Venture (www.genv.net)
Ashoka's Youth Venture leads an international community of young people who are powerful now, changemakers now. Youth Venture inspires and invests in teams of young people to create and launch their own sustainable, community-benefiting Ventures and then connects them into a global movement of young changemakers who are together redefining the youth years as a time of leadership and positive social change. This is the foundation of an Everyone a Changemaker(tm) world -- the key factor for success in every part of society.