There’s another secret that isn’t so secret: Millennials are bearing the brunt of this lack of employment. Right now, nearly 10 percent of Millennials across the nation aren’t working. The driven, innovative spirit of our generation is going unharnessed. There is a misconception among others that our generation will be the first to be worse off than our parents.

Just last week Young Invincibles, a partner of Mobilize.org, launched the Campaign for Young America which works to help Millennials see the virtue in college and other higher education resources. Their site provides detailed information on Millennial employment (or lack thereof) in every state in the union. The outlook isn’t good.

What we’re finding is that fewer and fewer Millennials are going to school, and that fewer and fewer jobs exist for Millennials with a lack of skilled education. So, Young Invincibles put together a toolkit that is designed to provide skills and opportunities for unemployed Millennials. The toolkit highlights opportunities to become a part of the solution. It guides Millennials to the way of success. Mobilize.org puts this work into action by holding their signature Target 2020 conferences at which, students work together to identify barriers they face in achieving their educational goals and develop Millennial-led solutions to address them.

These times are hard. They don’t look to be getting any better. In spite of the cliché, these times require determination, innovation, and panache. It takes new ideas. It takes new skills. This coming week, when Mobilize.org hosts their Meetup for Young Leaders at Sacramento City College, they’ll be talking about ways to push this generation forward. They’ll be bringing the great Millennial minds together to discuss the solutions that we need.

This generation is young. This generation is pragmatic. Mobilize.org is blazing a trail to bring the best and the brightest Millennials together to come up with solutions. There is still benefit in gambling on yourself. Young Invincibles and Mobilize.org; they’re gambling on Millennials. While the rest of America says that we’ll be worse off than our parents, we’ll soon be showing that we will be anything but. We’re down for the count. But we’re not out.

Kevin Beerman is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. Beerman is a senior at Francis Howell North High School in St. Louis. He has worked with several organizations in the past, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, The Mission Continues and other local organizations. In college, he plans on studying law and political science, and wants to pursue a career in politics when he is older.

With that being said, we should be still attentive to our presence and portrayal in the mainstream media. I’m simply saying we should not be taking a holistic approach in interpreting it. From a glance at fragments of culture, whether present or past, we can observe some of the more prominent values of that day.

For instance, classic rap music  was undoubtedly an outlet for artists to speak their mind. The foundation of hip-hop (which forefathers such as Boogie Down Productions, Slick Rick, and more recently, Tupac, utilized) was built upon a platform of social uprising, of people sick and tired of seeing poverty and abuse. This message resonated with the culture back then, bringing awareness to issues such as police brutality, unfair treatment and gang warfare.

This same type of connection can be found today. For instance, Lady Gaga. Her message is akin to individualism, donning eccentric and ridiculous outfits at venues and creating music that knows no limitation in terms of sound or type. She refuses to fit in a box, which is what many Millennials do today in a society that confines us. She also consciously promotes a LGBT agenda, going so far as to name her latest album and first single “Born This Way”. Does her popularity reflect an appreciation for her musicality, or perhaps a more modern view on acceptable sexuality today?

Cultural relevancy isn’t just limited to music. When the SOPA act was introduced, users from all over the Internet convened in online forums, plotting and executing mass boycotts, #trending topics and protest demonstrations (whether virtually or physically). Soon after, big name companies such as Sony, Nintendo and GoDaddy changed and publicized their stances on the SOPA bill, and as of today, the SOPA bill is effectively on hold. In order to save sites such as Youtube and Reddit, in order to preserve our rights and culture, we utilized the Internet to our advantage. Parallels such as these are found all over when examining popular culture and social activism.

I believe it is the responsibility of every Millennial to be conscious of what they observe and support. Eloquence means nothing if consists of empty words. In the same way, the most lifelike images or soothing voices may seem beautiful, but if we are unable to identify what the artist is attempting to communicate, we are ignoring the very essence of art.

Nathan Chen is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. He lives in Seattle, Washington and thoroughly enjoys the activism-infused setting he lives in. His personal goal is to, in any way possible, gain recognition for The Millennial Generation while also helping it realize its full potential. In the future he wishes to pursue a career in law or journalism, with an intent to serve others.

Greetings Fellow Millenial Mobilizers!!!

My name is Alicia Yvette Holmes and I am an awardee of the 2010 Millennial ROI Summit in Chicago! I would like to share, for the record that, I have been hammering away at writing this blog since 2010. Every time I would sit down to write, my mind would scramble in all the ways Mobilize has affected my life’s journey, and has assisted me with the process of taking my passion and making it a viable, sustainable vehicle for communities. So I have decided that what I will share with you is just that, how has the “Mobilize experience” mobilized little ol’ me.

A little history of my story would include the fact that since age 21 I have been a full time performance artist. After two terms as an Americorps member I combined my love for arts and community sustainment into writing arts-in-education programs which I facilitate to community centers, housing developments, schools, and summer programs. For 11 years I had created an awesome network of community partners who would allow me, the artist to share her vision. In 2010 when I randomly answered an email from Mobilize.org via Youth Service America.

I never thought that one email would lead me to Chicago, to walk away with a grant for my latest project, The You Are Your Business Financial Literacy Program. I was completely stoked about educating high school students on financial literacy using social media. I felt this would be groundbreaking and one of the more easily digestible and usable programs I had created. And I was right, the program premiered at South Oak Cliff High School. We had 25 students who delved into their financial futures with games, on-line tools, guest speakers, and their own personal blogging through their school’s website. We even had a You Are Your Business contest urging the students to create their own business plan, a panel of business owners came into to be sold on the investment, and the 1st and 2nd place winners one $100.00! Quite an exciting way to learn to take care of your pocketbooks don’tcha think!

The program was awesome, however as all of this was taking shape I was experiencing a huge set back. As I stated before I had been an independent artist for 11 years, and Mobilize.org required that we have an established 501(c)3 in order to receive the entire grant. Oddly enough I had been avoiding going through the non-profit process simply because… I’m an artist… I’d rather be somewhere dancing, rather than filling out paperwork for the daggone IRS! But my friends, purpose called and I answered.  I knew this would be one of my greater challenges but I had to tackle it, and I did.  On April 19, 2011 I received an official letter from the IRS stating that my newly formed  business,  C.O.R.E. Elements Inc. was recognized as an official tax-exempt entity!

Through that process I had to come up with a board of directors (who are quite awesome by the way), create a website (quite awesome too), create a mission, a vision, and prepare my self to see it through. I am proud to say that I have stood in this mission and I am certainly seeing it through. I am proud to say that in November of 2011 I was able to return to the Mobilize.org Leadership Summit and share my newly found “expertise” on starting your own non-profit with new up and coming Mobilizers. Pay it forward right???

I am also proud to say that C.O.R.E Elements Inc. received its first grant from the House of Blues to assist a local African dance company with the  purchase of 12 drums and instruments from Ghana, so that children here in the city of Dallas can participate in the cultural arts! I am proud to say that I answered that random email, that I came up with a program called the You Are Your Business Financial Literacy Program which led me to the realization that, yes, I really am a business. And in all, I am proud of my relationship with Mobilize.org. Since 2010 I have watched growth with them, and am continually inspired. And really, isn’t inspiration the spark to mobilizing anything or anyone? I think yes, inspiration is the key! Soooo…. do mo’ mobilizin’ mobilzers, change the world with your passions and inspirations, I am right along side you.

Alicia Y. Holmes
Executive Director
C.O.R.E. Elements Inc.

They are still confident. They aren’t in school. They have no degree.

This seems to break every rule that the Millennial generation has had shoved categorically down its throat: no college, no success. And in past generations, this ultimatum rang true and strong. It seeped down to core levels. Our parents will tell us that they went to college and that’s why there is a roof over our head. That’s why we have computers to read these blogs on. The mantra of the leaders in the past has been strict adherence to that unwritten civic code, “College or bust.”

This report tells us something different. The conditions are still the same. These young people still have aspirations. Eighty-five percent of them believe in the necessity of a good job. They all see the virtue of graduating from high school. They even acknowledge the benefit of college.

Yet, those who aren’t enrolled in school don’t feel lost.

It’s a strange thing, this report. It tells us that these people (referred to as “opportunity youth”) are going to cost the American tax payers $4 trillion through our lives. It tells us that these youth will pose a burden. But they don’t feel hopeless. And honestly, I don’t either.

This generation has proven the veracity of believing in innovation over degrees. This generation has given birth to Facebook and Google. It has freed Arab choke-hold “democracies.” It will probably find the cure for cancer. Regardless of the pessimistic view that the report paints of our generation, I can’t help but say, “Zuckerberg.” And while the many “opportunity youth” that it references will not become billionaires in their lives, I have hope that they will still find ways to manage their situations. Resourcefulness is the virtue that nearly every Millennial seems to possess. We may not have the most traditional view of the world, but that’s because we have the least traditional ethic about what our place in society is.

This report tells us that we are off base, that we have every reason to worry. I might be the bumbling idiot who is choosing to over-look the stern message here, but it’s hard to focus on what makes us weak as a generation when the things that make us strong outweigh anything that has preceded us. So, the report predicts one thing. Our generation defies reports. Give it fifty years, we’ll see who’s right.

Kevin Beerman is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. Beerman is a senior at Francis Howell North High School in St. Louis. He has worked with several organizations in the past, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, The Mission Continues and other local organizations. In college, he plans on studying law and political science, and wants to pursue a career in politics when he is older.

Most of the Europeans polled have changed their mind since that fateful day in 1991. Polls from all three nations reflect citizens disenchanted with free market economies and multiparty systems. Compared to a 72 percent approval of a political system switch ’91, Lithuanians have lost faith in democracy as only 35 percent of those polled approved of such a switch. As the Pew survey states, there “is a widespread perception that political and business elites have enjoyed the spoils of the last two decades, while average citizens have been left behind.”

Due to the decline in living conditions and evident corruption within many European governments, many so-called “survivors” of the Soviet era have begun to take on a more negative view as their imaginations of the past become a not so polished reality. Young people, along with urban dwellers and the well-educated, are far more supportive than the common man as they are in a better position to take advantage of a society that supports free speech, honest elections and fair judiciary.

As the Pew survey also demonstrates, the “belief that ability and ambition determine success in life is consistently more common among young people in these three former Soviet republics.” Millennials appear to cross borders with their more progressive ideas as this belief is prevalent across the globe, especially in the United States.

So what do we do with this information? Perhaps the people on the other side of the world see democracy and capitalism through a jaded point of view. But as the majority of all three ex-Soviet countries maintain a positive opinion of the United States, it seems that the upcoming generation has an opportunity to eliminate the previous misconceptions about multiparty systems and their effects on the people. The Pew poll also mentioned that Ukraine, Lithuania, and Russia agreed that a flourishing economy means much more than political stability. On the road to a strong economic system must come a group of dedicated, well-educated citizens prepared to make tough decisions about both the political and economic course of the country.

Millennials across the globe must recognize that the time is now for this generation to begin making cohesive, positive change. We’re all human. We’re all capable of changing our ways due to circumstance. The former USSR is now in a unique position of have the capability of improving the circumstances for themselves and for years to come. The children of the USSR and the children of Russia, Lithuania, and Ukraine can either take advantage of the opportunity or ignore their last chance. It’s now left to the citizens what path their respective countries shall choose.

Haley Samsel is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. She is a high school freshman in Plano, Texas where she is involved with Partner’s PE, a program that allows students to help special needs kids to earn their PE credit while making friends and gaining confidence in themselves.

I first joined Taproot Foundation in 2008 as an AmeriCorps VISTA.  If you’re not familiar with the program, you essentially pledge to serve for 1 year, helping to build the capacity of a nonprofit organization while earning a modest stipend.  Many thought I was crazy for signing up, but what made me want to take such a plunge was my fascination with Taproot’s network of volunteers (or “pro bono consultants” as we call them).

Let me break it down: Taproot Foundation doesn’t award monetary grants; we award Service Grants.  Say you work at an organization that needs a new website.  You could either apply to a regular foundation for money to hire consultants to then build the site or you could apply to Taproot for a Service Grant.  Instead of giving you a check, we would give you a team of professionals that would each donate 100 hours of service to your organization and build your website for free!  We also offer services in marketing, print, HR and strategy management– all services delivered pro bono by a team of professionals.)

If you are like me, some initial questions arise immediately:  Say what? How does that work?  Who are these people – these pro bono consultants?  And what the heck is “pro bono” anyway?

Let’s start with that – “what the heck is pro bono anyway?”
Are you picturing a lawyer right now?  Or maybe this guy?

Well, allow me to just polish my smarty pants glasses and dust off my handy dandy Latin dictionary to explain.  You see, “pro bono” or pro bono publico means “for the public good” and it’s kind of a big deal.  It’s actually what my whole organization is about.

If you have a job or internship, think about the skills you use every day in your role.  Maybe you are in charge of writing communications, planning events, recruiting volunteers, or managing a team, etc.  Now imagine you use those same skills you use in your career to build another organization’s capacity.  Maybe you volunteer to plan a fundraising event or maybe you use your writing skills to edit their communications.  Pro bono is more than just skills-based volunteering; it’s donating what you do professionally for an organization in need of that support.

Taproot gives professionals in marketing, technology, HR and strategy management the opportunity to do pro bono and donate their time and talent to nonprofits in San Francisco, LA, Chicago, New York City and Washington DC.

So, “who are these pro bono consultants anyway?”

Some quick highlights:

• 4000+ business professionals in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Washington DC
• backgrounds in marketing, technology, HR and strategy management
• in the midst of successful careers with at least 3 years of experience in their role
• most working full time, some independent consultants, some in transition
• all choosing to give back to their local communities by donating their time and talent
• intelligent, savvy, accomplished, dedicated and all around IMPRESSIVE group of folks
• since 2001, they have completed over 1800 Taproot projects and collectively delivered over 90 million dollars in pro bono services to the nonprofit sector

As a VISTA, I was totally blown away by the impact this group of talented professionals was having – giving nonprofits access to resources that most businesses take for granted.

So what motivates people to join Taproot?

• To make an impact on their local community
• To network with like minded, talented professionals
• To keep their skills fresh while in transition or to use their skills in a new context

As a pro bono graphic designer once told us, at his job he only gets to design in blue and white; at Taproot, he gets to use the whole rainbow of colors.  Pro bono projects can be a fun and creative outlet – a breath of fresh air from the day to day.  This is how we hope all our consultants feel about their Taproot engagements.  In fact, it’s our vision that by 2020, all business professionals view pro bono work as an inherent part of any successful career.

They are the value that Taproot Foundation awards to nonprofits – they are Taproot.  We wouldn’t be here without them.

In the spirit of recognizing service and in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day this month, let me say THANK YOU to the thousands of business professionals nationwide that serve as Taproot pro bono consultants and share their gifts with the nonprofit sector.

As for you – take this week to think about what talents you need to share with the world!  And don’t forget to say thank you to all the volunteers that helped make you great.

Burning question #2: How do you say thank you to your organization’s volunteers?  What is the most thoughtful thank you you’ve received as a volunteer yourself?

For the sake of the future e-anthropologist, FREE stuff that I, Miriam the Millennial, am into now: 1 free chocolate a month (Godiva Rewards Card), free and fabulous haircuts, 1 free ice cream a year, free books (ya libraries), free TV shows, free music listening.

Share YOUR free stuff resources with your fellow Millenials!

Miriam Young is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. and a Program Manager at the Taproot Foundation in Chicago and will be writing monthly blog posts on the pro bono movement and more! Miriam initially joined Taproot as an AmeriCorps volunteer and then went on to work as a Humanitarian Grant Coordinator for Francophone Africa at The Rotary Foundation. She returned back to Taproot in Dec 2010 and has been immersed in the pro bono movement since! She welcomes all electronic snail mail at Miriam@taprootfoundation.org

Health is expendable in the world that I personally find myself trapped in. Eight hours of sleep? Yeah, right. Many of my peers consider themselves lucky to sleep at twelve and squeeze in six.

This is training, I realize, for our futures as adults in the working world. We must learn now how to prioritize our time. We are conditioned to be this way beginning as students, so that we can become productive adults in the workplace. The only way to feel accomplished, it seems, is to do many different things. If not all at once, then back-to-back. It seems that the working world, where everybody is always on the move, has translated itself into the bubble that is high school and college life. Because our nation’s adults assume the attitude of always being in a rush, children are taught very young that it’s more impressive to do many different things quickly then to slowly and carefully do one.

I agree that time management is important, if not essential to both life and work. However, how much is enough? Are we teaching the next generation of workers to manage their time or are we teaching them that the end result is the only thing that matters?

You see, when we have kids speeding through the day with a filled schedule, we are discarding quality for quantity. Those that have lots to do are always looking to the end, not to the actual activity itself. As long as we are doing something all the time, we must be going somewhere. Again, it’s quantity not quality that is valued, and enjoyment of whatever we may be doing is not significant as long as we get our work done. Instead of putting our hearts into our work, I find many students just wanting to “get things over with.”

High school should be a time of dabbling in different subjects to find a fit and possibly a future career path. It should not be a mess of hurrying, red eyes and a monotonous packed schedule.

So next time, when you are packed for the day and are sick of having a million things to do, slow it down and take a deep breath. Do things for the sake of doing them, not for the sake of getting them over with. If there is one thing that is for sure, it is that time will pass, even without your rushing about. Take time to enjoy what you want to do, and know that it’s okay to take a breather if you need it.

Of course, if you can’t take my advice right away because you’ve grown accustomed to doing a million things a day, it’s all right to take it in small doses.

I mean, what’s the rush?

Susan Lin is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. Although she was born in Brooklyn, New York, she’s an all California girl. Currently on her journey through high school, Susan wants to become more involved with the world and community around her while pursuing her dreams of journalism and design.

Well, it’s 2012. Finally. I have been waiting for this year for 18 agonizing years. This is my year. I graduate this year. I go to college this year. I get to spread my wings this year. This year is going to be such a great year that I had to make a list of great things to do for it.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Work to bring St. Louis Volunteen, the non-profit I work with, to the next level. I want to expand it’s reach. We have been planning for a while, but I want us to bring our great program to a broader level. I want to include some more people into leadership roles.

2.  Do something to help a group of people who have no impact on my life other then the fact that they are humans, and so am I. There are some areas around town that just need some positive influence. I want to devote myself to a cause, get out in the community and start working to enact change.

3. I want to find my place in college. This may seem selfish, but I think it is incredibly important to helping others in the future. I have never been capable of focusing on one, specific thing. I go all over the place. I want to find a few things that I love and commit. As I start to get better at those things, I can use those to enact positive change for those around me. And that’s what my life goal should be anyway.

4. See something I haven’t seen before. This generation is diverse in a way that no other generation is. There is plenty that I have never laid witness to. I want to see something or learn something in the next year that takes me by surprise. Something that incites a fire to explore something I haven’t known before. Life is about breaking the mold and trying something new. It’s about learning from others and transcribing that story in ourselves.

5. Raise awareness of an issue that is receiving poor attention. There are little voices everywhere that are shouting to gain attention for huge epidemics. I want to find a problem that needs to be addressed, and lend it the megaphone I have access to. There are problems that exist in real and dangerous ways, and all they need is someone to scream loud enough about them.

6. Have fun. I know this seems cliche and trite, but much of my life has been spent devoting myself to serious things. Don’t get me wrong; it is fulfilling, and I will never stop being an advocate for social change. I will never falter in being a catalyst for civic change. But, I need to take more time to enjoy the little things in life that I have, until now, deemed too minute for my attention. Life is too short, even for millennials (who will, on average, live longer than every generation before them). The little things garner mass exponentially, and it’s these tiny details that will build our death bed. I want mine to be significant and appreciated.

- I don’t know how much of this I will actually do, but the point is: I wrote it down. I committed myself to it. With each passing year, more and more baby boomers are fading into retirement, and more and more millennials are taking society’s reins. We have to get our goals down. We have to commit to something because, before we know it, 2012 will be over. And when the volcanoes spew molten lava and the mountains crumble and the seas roar, we need to have something accomplished.

Kevin Beerman is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. Beerman is a senior at Francis Howell North High School in St. Louis. He has worked with several organizations in the past, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, The Mission Continues and other local organizations. In college, he plans on studying law and political science, and wants to pursue a career in politics when he is older.

For those Millennial women lucky enough to land a job there is a resource within your workplace that you may be dismissing. Is there someone at work who tries to give you little hints about everything ranging from actual work to the proper attire to wear to Sunday dinner? This person may be (or want to be) your office mentor. An office mentor can be a very useful resource at work.

Research says that having a mentor speeds up career advancement, increases salaries and guards against burnouts. It is pertinent to Millennials to find and link up with a mentor. However, it’s become clear that the women willing to share their expertise are not the ones Millennial women would like to mentor them.

The Center for Work-Life Policy says that sixty percent of women born in the Baby Boom era (1946-1964) say “they enjoy helping younger employees navigate the workplace”. According to Marymount Manhattan College two in three women over age 50 prefer to mentor women in their 20s rather than women in their late 30s or 40s.

The Boomers and the Millennials come from two completely different generations and thus tend to butt heads a lot. The Business and Professional Women’s Foundation says that communication style, technology use, work style and priorities are the four most reported clashes between Millennials and their mentors.

Millennial women find that the Boomers can be hard to relate to, overly judgmental and not understanding of their own morals. Mentors may try to give you innocent tips about more personal things, which upsets some Millennials seeing as most people try to keep their work like separate from their personal life.

If utilized correctly the office mentor can be a very powerful tool. She can virtually be your key to climbing up your corporate ladder. Rather than looking at how different you are, and how she doesn’t understand, why don’t you try and help her understand the Millennial generation a bit more. Show her things you care about and maybe she’ll do the same. We may be very different generations but the feelings and struggles are still essentially the same.

Kirstin Mohammed is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. From a young age, Mohammed has been concerned with poverty and world hunger. She also shows concern for many other issues brewing in the world. She believes in always being happy and flashing a smile.

There’s a new generation of voters now. That’s us – Millennials, born latest in 1993 and the youngest eligible to cast ballots in the upcoming 2012 election. According to the Los Angeles Times, Millennials “now identify as Democrats by a ratio of 2 to 1.”

Republican or Democrat, it’s undeniable that we’re the generation with the most liberals to date.  We’re aware of what’s going on and we’re bound to stand as the rocker of the upcoming election.

According to a survey by Hart Associates, 73 percent of American college students were up-to-date on the unfolding events of the Arab Spring, following the news about “the great mass movement towards democracy since the fall of the Soviet Union” as if they were reading the back of their hands.

Millennials are interested in such issues because for us, they’re the first real movements that we’ve been able to ride into the progressive world.

The same goes for the 2012 election. Surveys show that the majority of Millennials are progressive and conservatism seems to be reaching its limits. The progressive generation has the greatest ideological perspectives on cultural issues such as sustainable living, government efforts to protect the economy and on ways to fight inequality. SOS to the GOP who should watch out for the incoming wave of Millennials.

The Los Angeles Times also identifies us as a “unified, committed” group of movers, and we’ve proved that we are the first group of young voters to make a big impact as exemplified when we made up a grand majority of those who elected Obama to the forefront.

Never before has there been a generation of young people that have made such a vigorous impact in the world of politics. Millennials were there to experience the fall of the twin towers and then the death of the terrorizing framer, the impact of social networking to become more aware of the political sphere, Occupy Wall Street, the election of America’s first black president and more.

Millennials represent progress, so be proud and make even greater marks in the upcoming 2012 election.

Dana Shin is a Featured Blogger for Mobilize.org’s The Millennial Report. Sub-consciously, she has begun to build a strong sense of acceptance and true love of diversity and is most passionate about issues pertaining to immigration, human relations, and education. Shin believes that passion and courage can indeed lead to change.

This challenge is one that Mobilize.org knows well. An organization founded at UC Berkeley as a result of tuition increases prohibitive to lower income students, we have committed ourselves to helping the Millennial Generation find solutions to the inequities they face. Since 2002 Mobilize.org has invested in 49 Millennial-led projects, many of which specifically fight to break down barriers in education.

This Thursday, Mobilize.org CEO Maya Enista Smith will be sharing some of her insight on Millennial-led solutions in education via a live twitter interview with TTG+ Partners. TTG+ Partners is the only communications consultancy dedicated to promoting diversity and equity in higher education.

This will be an incredible opportunity to learn more about successful Millennial initiatives in education from someone with extensive experience and expertise.

For positive change in the education system to occur, Millennials must effectively create and initiate unique solutions.

Learn how Mobilize.org continues to make that possible this Thursday at 1:00 EST. Tune in by searching for the hashtag #ttgpartners on Twitter.

If you have any questions that you’d like Maya to answer, send them to #ttgchat before the twitter interview. We look forward to your participation.

Happy New Year, and I hope everyone’s 2012 is off to a happy and healthy start. I wanted to write a quick note from Mobilize.org HQ and tell you about an exciting campaign that we’ll be launching this winter, and that you may read more about on the GOOD website soon! In 2012, through a partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship and GOOD, Mobilize.org will invest in hyperlocal, Millennial-led projects to increase Millennial civic engagement, community participation, voter awareness and turnout in states where Millennial civic engagement is lowest. We’ll be using GOOD Maker, the online voting platform of GOOD, to crowdsource ideas and invite Millennials to vote for the projects that they believe have the highest likelihood of success, and that will receive micro investments from Mobilize.org and our partners.

We believe, as our friend Scott Heiferman from Meetup does, that online action is most successful when also taken offline. To do that, we’ll be convening all of the award recipients in Charlotte, NC in the fall of 2012 to celebrate their successes, share resources and discuss how to continue the momentum of Millennial engagement in their communities, leading up to and after the 2012 Election. We believe that this programming will increase the number of Millennials that view themselves as able to effect and responsible for, community change and will be a powerful way to capture the stories of how Millennials are engaging their peers in voter engagement, awareness and community service and participation efforts.

To quote every teacher I’ve ever had, put your thinking caps on, Mobilize.org network. We’re looking forward to hearing your ideas, learning more about the work that’s already happening in your community and supporting it, financially and otherwise. To receive an email the moment we open the competitions, please sign up here and as always, keep mobilizin’.