Seattle nonprofits launch i4JAPAN to support young Japanese social leaders & post-tsunami recovery

Sept. 12, 2011 - PRLog -- Seattle, WA – In partnership with Jolkona, a leader in direct online giving, iLEAP: The Center for Critical Service (iLEAP) is launching an international campaign to promote and support innovation in the Japanese nonprofit sector. These organizations demonstrate an innovative, from-the-ground-up approach to the continued rebuilding and recovery of Japan. The campaign launches on September 5, 2011 and features four direct-donation projects from top leaders in Japan’s growing social innovation field, and one project supporting leadership and global partnership development for Japanese social leaders through the Social Innovation Forum: JAPAN. The campaign will run from September 5 through December 31, 2011.

Starting September 5, Jolkona and iLEAP will allow individuals to make an investment in Japan’s leadership by pledging donations of $50-$100, every penny of which will go to fund the donor’s chosen project. The featured projects are initiatives from organizations led by the delegates of the Social Innovation Forum: JAPAN and include work around the opportunity to empower the Japanese nonprofit sector, prevent postpartum depression in new mothers affected by the earthquake and tsunami, help tsunami affected children return to school, and sponsor young Disaster Relief Leadership Program Fellows to help earthquake victims. To learn more or make a contribution, visit http://www.i4JAPAN.org.

“The Social Innovation Forum Delegates were doing this work before March 11th, and what is needed no is for their work to be more visible on a global stage. Our program is really focused on doing just that,” said Dr. Britt Yamamoto, Executive Director of iLEAP. “What we do in this program (The Social Innovation Forum:JAPAN) is empower, energize, and support their work.” Read more about the Social Innovation Forum:JAPAN on Harvard’s Social Innovation Blog (http://socialinnovation.ash.harvard.edu/rebuilding-and-re...).

The Social Innovation Forum: JAPAN is an investment in rebuilding Japan through energizing civil society, empowering emerging leaders, and forging global partnerships of mutual support between American and Japanese civil society.

The Social Innovation Forum:JAPAN is supported by the US Japan Council and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnerships and implemented by iLEAP, an international nonprofit organization that builds capacity in the new generation of grassroots leaders from around the world creating positive change in their institutions and communities. iLEAP envisions a worldwide community of interlinked global citizens and innovative organizations from which will emerge creative partnerships that will fundamentally shift the practice and purpose around international volunteerism, business, and development. For more information, visit http://www.iLEAP.org.

Contact: Molly Hogan, iLEAP: The Center for Critical Service, molly@iLEAP.org

Jolkona is a 501c3 organization providing effective ways to channel small-scale gifts to high-impact projects around the world and to see tangible outcomes. Through their micro-giving web platform, Jolkona.org, individuals can find low cost, high impact projects that they’re passionate about, and receive tangible proofs of impact for every donation. For more information visit http://www.jolkona.org/.

Contact: Laura Kimball, Jolkona, (206) 467-4460, laura@jolkona.org

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Jolkona is a start-up tech non-profit that is enabling people to use their small change to create big change. Through their web platform, Jolkona.org, individuals can find low cost, high impact projects that they’re passionate about and receive tangible proofs of impact for every donation. They work with partner organizations to create affordable donation options with a measurable impact, from planting trees in Honduras to providing food and housing for an HIV-positive child in Cambodia, with 100% of donations going to the project.

Jolkona’s mission is to connect people with global philanthropic opportunities and show the impact of one’s donations. They launched the website in June 2009 with a goal of making giving more fun, transparent and engaging, regardless of age or income. Today they have over 100 projects in more than 40 countries around the world doing grassroots work in the areas of education, public health, empowerment, environment, and cultural preservation.