The IOU Project

The IOU Project produces unique, handmade apparel based on fabrics handwoven in India. Because each textile is unique, we provide end buyers with the ability to trace the production process from finished goods right back to the weaver that hand-wove the fabric. The stories of how that item was created, of the people involved, of the customers who purchased them, are the essence of the the e-commerce social network which The IOU Project has built as a meeting place for a community that shares our brand values of authenticity, transparency, uniqueness and both social and environmental responsibility. Visit us at www.theiouproject.com or follow us on twitter at @theiouproject. Video created by Jossie Malis- Zunmakamera

• Join SFFAMA, Follow SFFAMA, Like SFFAMA.
• For media relations & PR/Publicity Contact Owen Geronimo

Creative Currency: New Tools for a New Economy

Creative Currency is an initiative bringing together leading developers and designers with national experts in social finance, local currencies, crowdfunding, sharing platforms, and other leaders of the new economy to envision, prototype, and deploy innovative solutions that reimagine our systems of exchange from the ground up.

• Focusing on San Francisco’s Mid-Market District, the initiative will answer pressing questions, such as:
• How can financial data empower low-income residents?
• How can local currencies support local businesses and community organizations?
• How can sharing platforms be tailored to fit the needs of under-served communities?
• How can tools like crowdfunding and microcredit be put to work for social service organizations and individuals alike?

Creative Currency is an initiative of Gray Area Foundation for the Arts, Hub Bay Area, The San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation, and American Express. Attend The Collaboration Weekend.

Global Green Citizen Entrepreneur Contest

Who is YOUR local green hero? Who do you admire for creating a healthier environment and protecting the planet? Who is working to fight climate change at the local level in your neighborhood? Who is making a difference by taking action to protect our environment in your community? Who is helping improve lives of low-income families or empowering women and girls? Nominate someone who is greening your corner of the world – it could be a neighbor, classmate, co-worker, friend, or family member who is taking initiative and greening the community – by taking on the role of citizen entrepreneur. Maybe YOU are a local green hero. 

Friends of Global Green are helping to spread the word about the call for local green heroes to enter Global Green’s Citizen Entrepreneur Contest: http://globalgreen.org/citizenentrepreneur

Heartfelt thanks go out to the Global Green supporters who participated: Emmy Rossum, Dylan McDermott, Michelle Branch, Sophia Bush, Walton Goggins, Peter Mensah, and Maggie Grace, as well as Paul Emami at Storytellerz for directing the video (and his team for their work behind the scenes).

• Join SFFAMA, Follow SFFAMA, Like SFFAMA.
• For media relations & PR/Publicity Contact Owen Geronimo

Levi's® and Water.org have partnered to help over 1 billion people in the world who lack access to clean water

A billion people currently lack access to clean drinking water. Levi Strauss & Co. and Water.org are committed to changing this. Starting March 22nd, Levi’s and Water.org will Go WaterLess. You too can join the partnership by visiting http://www.levi.com/waterless and taking the Go WaterLess challenge or learning more at http://www.water.org.


Levi Strauss & Co. believes that water is a precious resource and everyone should do their part to lead a more WaterLess lifestyle. Find out more about our waterless jeans and Go WaterLess at www.levi.com/waterless

• Join SFFAMA, Follow SFFAMA, Like SFFAMA.
• For media relations & PR/Publicity Contact Owen Geronimo

World AIDS Day 2011

• A heartrending video by award winning young photographer Maisie Crow has spent ten days in Mozambique with Lucia, a young girl who cared for her mother who was suffering from HIV/AIDS. *All images copyright Maisie Crow or the publication for which they were shot. The theme for this year’s World AIDS Day is “Getting to Zero - Zero New HIV Infections. Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS Related Deaths”.

• Watch international AIDS experts discuss the challenges of creating an AIDS-free generation, despite the global economic downturn.

• World AIDS Day 2011 marks 30 years of AIDS. This student slideshow highlights the most recent statistics, challenges and goals in the continuing fight against HIV and AIDS.

Fashion for a cause... Define: Beauty presented by Groundwork Opportunities

[ Image Source: GoWorks ]

Event Details: Groundwork Opportunities (GO) invites you to join us the inaugural fashion show on Thursday, September 29th where they will Define: Beauty by expressing it through the art of fashion, communal harmony, and compassionate giving. Featured Collections by: Ken Chen SF, Daniel Sudar, Sarah Liller, Retrofit Republic, Kajan Padraig, Menk, Cari Borja, Menk and Dallas Coulter.

The event will begin with a cocktail hour at 6:30pm and the show will begin promptly at 7:30pm.

[ Image Source: GoWorks ]

• 100% of proceeds will directly support the building of a clean water well for 4,000 people in Moshi, Tanzania.
  

• Define: Beauty is produced by Groundwork Opportunities.
• Thursday, September 29th at Madrone Studios
• 6:30pm Reception | 7:30pm Fashion Show
• Tickets: $45 Advance General | $75 Advance VIP | $55 At the Door General | $90 At the Door VIP
• PURCHASE TICKETS @ www.goworks.org/events
• For more information, call 415.298.2970 or 415.370.8103

Define: Beauty will leverage fashion to show the intrinsic beauty found within all human beings who live together in harmony. In South Africa, a word to express this feeling of community is known as “Ubuntu”. Ubuntu conveys that no human can exist in isolation and GO believes that our ability to provide compassion and love in this world is what makes humans unique. We all have the inner strength to not only care for ourselves, but also to help others less fortunate than us. In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”

About Groundwork Opportunities - San Francisco. Groundwork Opportunities (GO) (www.goworks.org) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create a world beyond poverty by investing in groundbreaking ideas, empowering local leaders, and engaging communities. We operate off a simple maxim: The Power of Their Ideas and Our Support.  GO identifies and partners with developing world communities that envision and manage self sustaining programs aimed at addressing fundamental communal issues such as education, health care, and sustainable agriculture. In just three years, GO now impacts over 1,000 people/day in Africa, Asia, and Central America.

Move Any Mountain

VIA: FASHION4GOOD

World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 2010

WORLD AIDS DAY 2010

SFFAMA To Produce Fashion Show @ The17th Annual Art Inspiring Hope Gala

SAVE THE DATE!
SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2011
San Francisco Design Center Concourse – East Hall

EN VOGUE
Cameras will flash and fashionistas will be transfixed, as you glide across the red carpet and down the runway. It’s a night for glamour with your own personal flair, and everyone with any style will be there.

Click here to view the Save the Date card.