More than 1.6 million Americans have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of August 1, 2007, 67,000 of them had been killed or wounded. In addition, more than 250,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans had been treated at Veterans Administrations hospitals since their return home from combat.

KPFA launched this website in an effort to put a human face on the conflict. Only by truly listening to the stories of soldiers who've come home, can we appreciate the realities of war and what we can do to help.

Palo Alto Partners in Education (PAPIE) is a primarily board-driven organization with only 2 staff and a budget around $2+ million. We raise private funds to supplement public funds for all the public schools in our school district.

Challenge:

We needed a tool to ensure communication and collaboration amongst the board members, staff and volunteers. We also wanted to keep a history of documents, activities, decisions, etc. to ensure continuity due to volunteer turnover year-to-year. The tool had to be easy to use and very accessible. It had to be flexibly private, meaning that it needed to allow proper permissions for each person - ensuring that only the proper person(s) could see or do what was appropriate. It needed to combine a website and email communications to reduce duplication of effort.

Solution:

www.nexo.com

Nexo allows us to create a free group for PAPIE. We have a highly customized, private website that any authorized person can add to, change, or read. We also get an email group integrated with the website so that updates, alerts, news, etc. are easy to distribute (even automatic if desired) to the group. We also can have live chats on the site if desired. We have multiple pages and multiple sub-groups (board, marketing committee, development committee, etc). The site essentially defines our own social network.

The website allows us to share blogs, files, pictures, videos, calendars, events, to do lists, budgets, plans, press releases, contact information, RSS feeds, etc.

Impact:

Not only has nexo improved communication, collaboration and participation, but a by-product is that we have a back-up for our most important files such as board minutes, budgets, etc. These used to just be stored on one computer which is scary for many reasons. The site also makes is much easier to transfer knowledge from year to year since new  leaders/volunteers have the roadmap from the year before.

Lightstalkers is a networking tool designed for mobile journalists, especially photographers. Media professionals constantly on the move, wrestling with gear, visas, and communication, depend on each other for up-to-date intelligence and resources. By connecting them directly with each other, Lightstalkers and November Eleven support independent photography, journalism, and humanitarian awareness.

www.lightstalkers.org

www.novembereleven.org

Never Again, an international youth network, was founded at the Institute for International Mediation and conflict Resolution’s 2001 Symposium at The Hague by a group of students and young graduates from around the world who created a collaborative international partnership. Never Again aims to alert the international community to both the causes and effects of genocide and facilitate the exchange of ideas between young people - those who have lived through genocide and those who wish to learn from them. Never Again aims to provoke ideas and action for the prevention of future conflict by bringing people together to cross borders. For more information, see also our recent Never Again Net2 interview.

Providing Internet access, website hostng, media development and training for partnering organizations and communities effected by the Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

Coming Soon:

New Orleans Voices For Peace Mobile Media Lab

* Our goal is to assemble a Web 2.0 mutual empowerment mobile media labs which will provide technological access in the name of solidarity.

MISSION:
*With an understanding of culture, class and racial divides we strive to engage in mutual empowerment of residents, activists and grassroots organizations in the Gulf Coast region who have been left without a voice in the digital age. In short, to give voice to the voiceless.

*In order to create fusion in ideas and put those ideas to action the Mobile Media Lab will provide a common ground where organizations working from all over the spectrum can unite in order to bridge the disconnect often found between local organizations and our natural allies working on a national level.

*We will do this by providing free internet access and conducting multimedia training(s) in a mobile media lab where Gulf Coast residents and area organizations can create testimony to their continuous struggles and document progress made since the disaster. To properly address the clear connections between the disaster in New Orleans as a microcosm of the injustices created by Western Society, we will provide technological assistance and education to aid in the assembly of folk stories related to the tragedy of New Orleans. This project can be conducted both locally and throughout the diaspora.

PROJECT:
*Create a mobile news team to document events in NOLA, and around the country (demonstrations, disaster relief, educational tours, etc.). In addition, we will promote training with partnering organizations in media production.

*Provide an open source web portal to both socialize and focus the information of all participants. This will be conducted through the following hosts: http://www.neworleansvfp.org, http://neworleansnetwork.org http://www.commongroundrelief.org, http://www.ivawdeployed.org, and others.

*Create a mobile computer literacy lab to remove the technological hurdles to equal media access (including printing, fax, internet skills, social networking, & access/management of information that has been recorded).

POSSIBLE COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS:
*9th ward history project -mapping the history of the residents in the 9th Ward, documenting their survival, rescue, relocation and recovery through collaboration with residents, volunteers, universities, faith-based groups, and grassroots organizations.

PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS:
United Peace Relief (http://www.unitedpeacerelief.org)
Common Ground Relief (http://www.commongroundrelief.org)
New Orleans Voices For Peace (http://www.neworleansvfp.org)

PASSED INTERNET ACCESS AND MOBILE MEDIA LAB PROJECTS:
Veterans For Peace, chapter 116, Internet access, IMPEACHMENT BUS
CAMP CASEY I, Internet access, Crawford, TX
Camp Covington, Internet access, Covington, LA
Common Ground Relief, Internet Access, New Orleans, LA
Emergency Communities, Internet access, Buras, LA
Four Directions Solidarity Network, Internet access, Dulac, LA
Camp Liberty, Internet Access, Slidell, LA

PROGRAM NEEDS:
*media equipment - imacs, audio/video equipment, satellite Internet, digital video and still cameras, digital videon projector, PA system.

TRANSPORTATION NEEDS:
*Bus - Retired school buses or entertainer tour buses.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Mobile Media Lab will generate operating capital and travel budgets through grants, contracting of production services, retail sales of concessions, tickets and soliciting donations.

More information (http://www.neworleansvfp.org/node/2269)

Contact: gordonsoderberg@mac.com
504 613-0174

Using the free online social bookmarking tool, Del.icio.us, any user can mark a web page for the attention of the nonprofit technology community by usingthe tag "nptech."