Drew McManus, co-founder of Bring Light, an innovative site where donors and charities build communities to fund specific charitable projects, told me that when they were designing their site, they looked at lots of others, trying to get a bead on the new generation of donors. "One day, I...

How was your week?

Mine started off with a client meeting, talking with a CEO about what he wanted to see in a speech I'm writing for him. We had a long and thoughtful conversation about what it means to be a leader in these uncertain - and often cynical...

"Money makes the world go 'round..." The song from Cabaret drifted through my mind several times this week as I followed the distressing stories about the world's financial markets. It would be an understatement to say that we live in unsettling times. Yet, just under the radar, there are signs...

With all the turmoil in the markets, it seems time to write again about people who are doing good works in the financial sector. I've scheduled an interview with the host of a conference for compassionate venture capitalists and their potential clients, which takes place in October. Next Saturday, a...

Yesterday, at the end of a long day, I popped back into my office to check messages and email. Just as I was sitting down to do so, my accountant came to mind. In the next instant, someone knocked on my door. Yes, you guessed it, there he stood.

Hands up if you've ever bought a handicraft while traveling, only to have it end up collecting dust in some closet at home.

Thought so.

We've all been there. Our hearts are in the right place: crafts are an important source of income for...

Paul Gillespie is my hero.

When he worked for the Toronto Police Sex Crimes Unit, as head of the Child Exploitation section, he made an impassioned plea to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. He wrote that law enforcement was facing huge challenges in investigating online child exploitation and child porn.

Microsoft's...

Remember Apple's "Think Different" advertising campaign?

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with...

"I used to be the next President of the United States."

Chances are you know whose line that is. It's one that goes down well with Al Gore's adoring audiences. And it speaks volumes about this New Radical pioneer. In a single phrase he's saying that, like us, he had...

In the immortal title of his bestseller, Steal This Book, Abbie Hoffman summed up the radicals of the 1960s. That era was about challenging the established way of doing things. And not always in the most, shall we say, peaceful ways (either on the part of the protestors or the...

Can you do well by doing good? A growing number of New Radical Entrepreneurs think so, and are starting ventures whose core mission is to make a difference. Often called "social entrepreneurs", some are offering world-changing goods and services, others are incorporating social responsibility into their operations, and a number...

Doing good has never been hotter. Everybody's talking about their desire to make a difference, and volunteerism and civic participation are suddenly as high as they were in the 1960s. This fact is not lost on the two U.S. presidential candidates, who have made public service a centerpiece of their...

I love Ken Caldeira. A climate scientist at the Carnegie Institute, Ken has a way of summing things up in a single phrase. When we were talking about what people need to do to transition to a new role, I ran through a long list of what I'd been...

Do you think that being a New Radical is only for the wealthy? Or that helping others ensures a lifetime of penury?

Each time I give a speech or am interviewed, these assumptions come up. And I totally understand why. The media is full of reports of the rich and...

"The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday - but never jam to-day."

"It MUST come sometimes to 'jam to-day,'" Alice objected.

"No, it can't," said the Queen. "It's jam every OTHER day: to-day isn't any OTHER day, you know."

If the wonderfully wacky world of Lewis Carroll's White Queen...

The happy dance. That's what people in a high-spirited and infectious TV ad campaign do when they win the lottery. It's a powerful message, and each time I see the ad, I feel the urge to get up and move. And, yes, while I'm dancing, to carry on out the...

"Is love, sweet love..." is how the 1965 Hal David/Burt Bacharach song put it. It's an idea that is coming around again.

As a quick glance at today's headlines shows, we are a people and planet in distress. In fact, the problem that served as our collective wake-up call --...

Laura Howard thinks so. She's created the world's first premium goat's milk ice cream, Laloo's. It's delicious, of course, and much better for us -- lower in fat and lactose, and loaded with Vitamins A and D. (Health-conscious celebrities like Kate Hudson and Jim Carrey are big fans.) Plus, the...

Ronnie Abrams appointment as special counsel for pro bono to one of New York's most prestigious law firms (Davis Polk & Wardwell) is big enough news that it earned coverage in the New York Times. Why? Reporter Karen Donovan knows that it's more than a strategic move for a smart,...

Ronnie Abrams appointment as special counsel for pro bono to one of New York's prestigious law firms (Davis Polk & Wardwell) is big enough news that it earned coverage in last Friday's New York Times. Why? Reporter Karen Donovan knows that it's more than a strategic move for a smart,...