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Connecting the Dots
Posted by on December 19, 2011 at 4:45 PM EDT
This week I am being recognized as a Champion of Change for my work empowering Arab and Muslim Americans nationally through civic engagement, direct service and advocacy campaigns. Born in Brooklyn, New York to parents who emigrated here from Palestine and attending NYC public schools my whole life, I would say I was an ordinary kid with an ordinary life.
September 11th, 2001 was the most tragic day our country has ever faced and a day that has changed and reshaped who I am and determined the work I choose to do. In a matter of one day, I went from being an ordinary Brooklynite, New Yorker to one who shares a religion and ethnicity with terrorists. Growing up, my dream was to be a high school English teacher and to work in inner city schools to teach young people how to express their lives, their challenges and aspirations through writing. I hope that I will still venture on this endeavor in the future.
Two months after 9/11, I began volunteering in the Arab American community in Brooklyn which began my career as a local and national organizer. As the Advocacy and Civic Engagement Coordinator for the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), I am able to connect communities to resources and to each other. The National Network for Arab American Communities is a network of 22 Arab American organizations in 10 states, including the District of Columbia. We work to build the capacity of local community based, grassroots organizations so that they can better serve, empower, represent and engage their constituencies in addressing challenges and issues they are facing in their local communities.
Learn more about ServiceContributing Even the Slightest Bit Can Positively Impact Hundreds of Lives
Posted by on December 19, 2011 at 2:30 PM EDT
The year was 2006 and I found myself absorbed by the same busy, near-manic hysteria that most of the country faces during the holiday season. Along with our normal responsibilities surrounding career and family, each year we’re suddenly faced with tasks such as decorating, arranging family get-togethers, gift-buying (not to mention wrapping), all while facing the throngs of shoppers determined to find the perfect gift for each person on their list. In 2006, however, there was one difference that I can recall quite vividly; I was asking God for a calling. Without children of my own I felt something missing from my life. Even the holidays were not distraction enough to keep me from praying for an answer.
Days prior to Christmas, I received a phone call from a United Way representative. There was a list of more than 160 children whose families were incapable of providing their children gifts for Christmas. In September and October when community organizations and ministries accept applications for holiday assistance, things hadn’t appeared quite so bleak for most of these families. Unfortunately, a sudden surge of layoffs and reduced hours had changed their positions and these families were in desperate need of help. The situation was described as hopeless. I knew then that my prayers had been answered.
Learn more about ServiceSusan Rice at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Posted by on December 19, 2011 at 2:27 PM EDT
Ambassador Susan Rice receives the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations' Fund National Service Award, presented by Conference Chairman Harold Tanner (Photo Courtesy of the Conference of Presidents). December 14, 2011. (by Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations)
On December 14th, Ambassador Susan Rice addressed the Annual Leaders Recognition Reception for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Fund. The Conference Fund presented its annual National Service Award to Ambassador Rice at the dinner.
Ambassador Rice began her speech with a focus on the United States' partnership with Israel:
“Let me say a few words about our extraordinary partnership with Israel, starting by affirming an essential truth that will never change: the United States remains fully and firmly committed to the peace and security of the Jewish state of Israel. From the moment he took office, President Obama’s guidance has been unambiguous: to strengthen and deepen that commitment. He has been clear all along that our special relationship with Israel is deeply rooted in our common interests and our common values.”
Click here to read the full speech.
Jarrod Bernstein is the Director of Jewish Outreach in the Office of Public Engagement.
President Obama Speaks to the Union for Reform Judaism
Posted by on December 19, 2011 at 12:43 PM EDTOn Friday, President Obama delivered a speech at the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism. Watch the video below, or click here to read the transcript of the speech.
Jarrod Bernstein is an Associate Director in the Office of Public Engagement.
Addressing the Cultural Context of STEM Pursuits
Posted by on December 19, 2011 at 12:32 PM EDT
On December 9th, the White House honored twelve individuals as Champions of Change in America. They were recognized for their efforts to recruit and retain women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. I am humbled to be selected as one of those twelve individuals and share this honor with numerous mentors and colleagues with whom I have had the tremendous opportunity to collaborate on research.
Two years ago, President Obama’s Educate to Innovate campaign was launched to improve the nation’s participation in STEM, particularly for youth. Among the three pillars of this campaign is the commitment to “expand STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups, including women and girls.” My scholarship supports this third pillar by contributing research evidence to the STEM discourse on the impact of cultural factors on academic and career outcomes. My goal is to increase the effectiveness of interventions designed to advance gender and racial/ethnic equity in STEM. My work complements the knowledgebase on the “what” of science education with additional understanding of “how” race and gender variables may relate to STEM academic and career development.
Learn more about WomenFour-Leaf Clover, Out of this World
Posted by on December 19, 2011 at 12:27 PM EDT
President Barack Obama greets astronaut Greg Chamitoff and his family in the Oval Office, Dec. 8, 2011. Chamitoff returned a tiny good luck charm he flew into space for the President and presented him with an official NASA space certificate. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) December 8, 2011. (by Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
It’s not every day that an astronaut asks if he can carry an item into space for the President.
Last winter, after attending the 2010 White House Hanukkah celebration, NASA Astronaut Dr. Gregory Chamitoff contacted the White House and offered to fly a personal memento for President Obama on his upcoming mission on board Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-134). Fast forward five months, and a quarter-size good luck charm made a remarkable journey into outer Space!
During the 14-day mission in spring 2011, Dr. Chamitoff, an aeronautical engineer and planetary geologist, performed operations with the Shuttle and Station Robotic Arms. He also performed two spacewalks, the last of which was the final spacewalk of the Space Shuttle Program. Prior to Endeavor, he had made one previous spaceflight, a six-month mission aboard the space station in 2008. To date, Dr. Chamitoff has logged more than 198 days in space.
And just two weeks ago, Dr. Chamitoff, along with his wife Chantal and twins Dimitri and Natasha, came to the White House to return the President’s four leaf clover. For the President, and all of us at the White House, the space program encapsulates what it means push the boundaries not only of where we can go but what we can do.
To learn more about Dr. Chamitoff’s shuttle mission, click here.
Danielle Borrin is the Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs & Public Engagement in the Office of the Vice President.
For the Win: Earth Savers
Posted by on December 16, 2011 at 7:29 PM EDTFor the Win is a guest blog series featuring the remarkable initiatives that young Americans are advancing to win the future for their communities. Each week we highlight a new young person and learn about their inspiring work through their own words. Submit your story to appear in the For the Win guest blog series.
Charles is a sophomore at Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Ga. Charles founded an international movement of Earth Savers Clubs through his nonprofit, Greening Forward. Charles is a member of the 2011 PARADE All-America High School Service Team, an award recognizing outstanding young service leaders in association with Parade Magazine and in partnership with generationOn, the global youth enterprise of Points of Light. Charles invites readers to connect with Greening Forward @COrgbon or via Facebook.
One really wise person once said that when we begin paying closer attention to the world around us, we are destined to find a problem. Two years ago, I began paying closer attention to the world around me, and I certainly found an issue – litter. My school campus was full of improperly discarded plastics, packaging, and cans. No one would ever imagine that this mess would inspire me as much as it did.
I began staying after school to pick up the litter. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was going to need some help. Consequently, the idea of the Earth Savers Club was born. The club was very small at first, but as Margaret Mead says, “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
The Earth Savers Club went on to accomplish many great things. We managed the school’s recycling, planted a nature garden, organized the school’s Earth Day pep-rallies, and promoted environmental education in the classroom.
Within two years, the idea of the Earth Savers Club grew and other schools wanted to begin similar programs. We developed a comprehensive curricula and tools for these Earth Savers Clubs and launched the program nationwide on International Youth Day, August 9, 2010. The following year, our network had expanded to Africa and Asia.
Charles Orgbon. (Photo from Points of Light Institute)
A Conversation with the South Florida Latino Community
Posted by on December 16, 2011 at 5:16 PM EDTEd. Note: Cross-posted from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
On December 2, 2011, I participated in a White House Latino Community Summit in Miami. The community summit connected senior government officials from diverse policy areas with local Hispanic leaders, business owners, and community advocates to discuss issues critical to the South Florida Latino community.
Too many Latino families have experienced the very reasons that we need a consumer agency in the first place. Beginning in 2007, when the U.S. faced the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression, Latinos have been hit hard. Florida has record numbers of foreclosures and mortgage scams that prey on Latinos, older Americans, and too many others. The summit was an opportunity for the CFPB to discuss what our agency is doing and how the CFPB will help make a difference in addressing the wide range of consumer financial issues that face the Hispanic community.
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