GOOD Ideas: Ways to Get Kids Interested in Change-Making

[youtube]http://youtu.be/OlnWOdWguEc

We're trying something new, and we want you to be a part of it. This Friday, May 10 at 11:30 a.m. PDT, marks the first episode of GOOD Ideas, a Google Hangout series featuring people who are doing cool things to make the world a better place. We'll be updating this post with a live stream of the interview, so remember to bookmark this link. We hope you'll tune in, ask questions in the comment field below, and help us push the conversation forward.

In this episode, Casey Caplowe, Co-Founder and Creative Director of GOOD, will talk with special guests Miles Jackson, Claire Laver, Joel Arquillos, and Kristina von Hoffman about unconventional ways to positively engage youth.

Miles Jackson and partner Laura Bradley started Cuba Skate after a remarkable study abroad trip to Havana in 2010. They have traveled back and forth in recent years to support Cuba's skate culture, and while in the U.S. they've hosted fundraisers and other events, like a Cuban-inspired skateboard gallery exhibition at a local DC skate shop.

They will be finishing a documentary profiling a group of three Cuban skaters, in particular their struggles, triumphs, and happiness with skateboarding, after their next trip this summer. Check out their Kickstarter campaign, and more info is available on their website, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.

Claire Laver is Executive Director of Franklin’s Paine Skatepark, which works to strengthen communities and empower youth by advocating for skaters and skateboarding culture, educating youth and adults about the art of skateboarding and its benefits to neighborhoods and people. This summer, the organization will introduce Paine's Park, a mixed-use park that will incorporate a skatepark.

Laver has worked and volunteered for more than a decade in youth educational programming initiatives and community building projects, most recently by serving as a Nutrition Educator for The Food Trust in Philadelphia. She is a founding member of and active participant in the Interfaith Community Building Group of Philadelphia, a local group that works to build community through construction projects, both nationally and internationally.

Joel Arquillos is the Executive Director at 826LA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages six to eighteen with their creative and expository writing skills, and helping teachers inspire students to write. Prior to relocating to Los Angeles, Arquillos worked alongside Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari as Director of National Programs for 826 National (the umbrella organization for 826LA and its sister chapters). In that role, he oversaw the opening of 826 Boston and developed the evaluative tools being used at all 826 chapters; he also helped Dave Eggers with his 2008 Ted Prize wish to create OnceUponaSchool.org, a website that documents and pays tribute to collaborations between individuals and public schools.

Kristina von Hoffmann is the Southern California Regional Manager for the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), the nation's nonprofit leader in climate science education and student-led solutions. In under four years, ACE has educated nearly 1.6M students with their award-winning multimedia assembly about the science and consequences of climate change, while simultaneously empowering a generation of young people to step up and take action in the face of humanity's greatest threat. Kristina is a science and policy geek, with a degree that took her to Madagascar to study the social and environmental effects of biofuel production on a national scale. A former competitive slam poet born, raised, and rooted in Venice, CA, she spends her free time practicing and teaching yoga and taking leisurely bike rides to the beach.

Mark your calendars and join us here this Friday for a Google Hangout discussion with these inspiring changemakers.