The third day of the Social Good Summit was in no short supply of amazing moments. History was made when Dr. Ida Betty Odinga (pictured: middle), the wife of the prime minister of Kenya, and Thobeka Madiba Zuma (pictured: right), the first lady of South Africa, sent their first ever Tweets from the 92Y stage with South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka. Watch here.
President Kikwete of Tanzania was the first Head of State to appear at the Social Good Summit and was presented with the Social Good Award for his commitment to further technology and new media solutions in Tanzania. Watch here, beginning at the 10 min mark.
Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Matthew Bishop of The Economist discussed How Micro-Financing is Enabling Social Change. Watch here.
Peter Sims, author and speaker, discussed Inventing the Future with Little Bets: New Ways to Solve Social Problems. Watch here.
Tony Bates, CEO of Skype, talked about the Transformational Power of Skype in the Classroom and did a live demonstration with a 6th grade class at The Oliver Street School in Newark, NJ. Watch here.
José Andrés, Chef/Owner of ThinkFoodGroup and Radha Muthiah, Executive Director of Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves discussed How Clean Cooking Technologies can Change the World. Andrés said, “Food is the most important fuel, not gas. Gas moves my car. It moves cars. But food moves all of us. Food needs to be at the heart of these energy talks.” Watch here.
Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News’ Chief Health and Medical Editor and Juju Chang, Correspondent for 20/20 and Nightline talked about the launch of the Million Moms Challenge and announced a Facebook game to educate people about maternal health. Watch here.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland, and Lisa Witter, Chief Strategy Officer of Fenton discussed The Transformative Power of Human Connection. In a widely shared quote, Tutu said, “Once you have women liberated, it’s amazing how many other problems get resolved. Women are the key in any community.” They stressed the importance of ending child marriage and the Girls Not Brides project. Watch here.
Richard Gere made a surprise appearance and spoke with 92Y’s Henry Timms about how social media is having an impact on the way people relate. Watch here.
Liel Leibovitz of Tablet magazine moderated a discussion with Ronit Avni, filmmaker and founder of Just Vision, and Helga Tawil-Souri, Assistant Professor in Media at NYU, about Digital Technology and Peace-building in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Avni said, “The greatest social movements of our time have come from the bottom up...for rational thought rather than superstition.” Watch here.
Kate James of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a talk on Social Media for Global Good: It’s Not Just Who You Know. She spoke about building a global constituency of support to create a conversation and solve problems. She noted how we’ve reached 99% in the eradication of polio in the world and we need to support the global conversation through social media to finish the last 1%. Watch here.
Expanding on the theme of vaccinations, UN Foundation announced the launch of the Shot@Life campaign and David Muir of ABC News sat down with Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chrysula Winegar, mother and entrepreneur, for a powerful talk on Vaccines and a Movement to Save Lives. They noted that we lose a child every 20 seconds who could have been saved by a vaccine. Watch here.
Stay tuned to the Livestream for an exciting last day of the Summit with start-ups and social entrepreneurship on Thursday.
Mozart debuted at age 6 on a tour of Europe. Monet painted until he was 86. Follow your passion at 92nd Street Y School of the Arts.
Related: The Milton J. Weill Art Gallery at 92Y is currently exhibiting 80 original paintings that Andy Warhol created in 1983 especially for children. The exhibit runs until October 4 and is free and open to the public. More information here.
92Y Video: The Jewish Connection: Yom Kippur with Rabbi David Kalb
Rabbi David Kalb is the Director of Jewish Education for the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at 92nd Street Y. In the video above, he offers a brief introduction to Yom Kippur, as part of his goal to bring Judaism into all aspects of life so that it informs and enhances everyday living.
Learn more about the High Holidays class Rabbi Kalb is teaching on September 13.
92Y Video: Joel Meyerowitz: Remembering 9/11 10 Years Later
Creator of the World Trade Center Archive and internationally renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz was the only photographer to gain unlimited access to Ground Zero after 9/11.
Over a span of eight months, he took more than 8,000 photographs of what he called “the forbidden city,” capturing the monumental scale of the ruin as well as the moments of courage, compassion and solidarity during the recovery and clean-up efforts. He was at 92nd Street Y on September 11, 2011 to present some of those photos and participate in a Q&A moderated by Philip Lopate. Watch a clip above.
The event was part of our Commemorating 9/11 series. On October 19, James B. Meigs, editor in chief of Popular Mechanics magazine and contributor to the new book Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can’t Stand Up to the Facts, is here to speak about the most prevalent 9/11 conspiracy theories, and see how they stand up when tested by science, hard evidence and a healthy dose of common sense. More info and tickets, here.
Manhattan’s wildly successful High Line Park — an old elevated rail line that was retrofitted into a stunning park — cost about $153 million. At first glance it might seem like a big investment for a park, but consider the benefits.
Not only does the city take care of a eyesore, but the popularity of High Line has brought in an estimated $2 billion in new developments, the New York Times reports.
On October 28, the two men responsible for this innovative urban reclamation project, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, are coming to 92YTribeca to share their story of reclamation on the High Line. More info and tickets, here.
