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John Converse Townsend
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John Converse Townsend is an editor, a blogger and a connector of people across the world of social good. John presently works as a content producer and media mobilizer at Ashoka, where his editorial content covers the latest innovations around pressing global issues. He also serves as a consultant to the Population Council, an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to improving the reproductive health and well-being of current and future generations. In addition to his more socially focused work, John is also an NBA writer in the ESPN TrueHoop Network, covering the Washington Wizards for Truth About It.net. He currently lives in Washington, D.C. You can follow him on Twitter @JohnCTownsend.

Blog Entries by John Converse Townsend

The Scent of Sexy

(0) Comments | Posted October 17, 2012 | 9:20 AM

Can you smell that? That irresistible scent wafting through the air? It smells like public service -- and public service is sexy.

How, exactly, is service sexy? A recent video on Funny or Die tries to address this question, while also promoting a new social good competition...

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Deadline Approaching for IGNITEgood, HuffPost Millennial Impact Challenge - Your Shot at $10,000!

(0) Comments | Posted October 10, 2012 | 9:04 AM

The IGNITEgood Millennial Impact Challenge is asking individuals around the country to share their solutions for social change through service. There is $100,000 in funding from the Heartfelt Foundation and The Huffington Post available for 10 winners, who could be anyone from a high schooler with innovative ideas...

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The Blade Runner's Edge: A Human Element

(1) Comments | Posted August 3, 2012 | 4:57 PM

The ambiguities about what makes the world's fastest humans so fast have put Oscar Pistorius at the center of a debate about competitive advantage. Pistorius, of course, is the Olympic sprinter and former Paralympic champion -- born without fibulas due to a congenital disorder, he had his legs amputated below...

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An Army of Giant Rats Unearths Peace in Africa

(4) Comments | Posted December 6, 2011 | 10:50 AM

It takes a true visionary to see a Buddhist monk deploying a pack of giant rats as the solution to the devastating danger posed by landmines.

Every few hours, another person is killed or maimed by a landmine. Even in areas removed from active conflict, landmines are more than just distressing...

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Water Privatization: Villainy or Necessity?

(14) Comments | Posted November 2, 2011 | 9:42 AM

The 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace introduced a different kind of villain to popular audiences: Dominic Greene, the ruthless capitalist with a sinister scheme to take control of Bolivia's water supply and, under private contract, provide that precious resource to the public -- at double the rate.

Greene is...
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The Development Bible: A Newer Testament

(41) Comments | Posted September 21, 2011 | 5:00 PM

If you were to describe the church in the most general sense, you might paint a less than flattering picture (perhaps damning ironic extravagance or classical corruption or sexual misconduct). But one church in East Africa is shifting traditional expectations by addressing pressing public health problems, and in the process...

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