In April 2014, I was invited to perform at the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom where nearly 1,000 distinguished delegates from the social, finance, private and public sectors met in Oxford for three days to discuss and evaluate solutions for social challenges, connect and celebrate social entrepreneurs and their stories.
After my performance at the opening of the Plenary and Award show for social entrepreneurship, I sat down in the audience next to Jeff Skoll and Virgin founder, Sir Richard Branson to watch the rest of the program that featured a short promo film about Jeff Skoll's Participant Media.
I've always been touched by socially relevant films and documentaries, realizing the importance of social issues and current events which is the goal and essence of Skoll's production company. However, on that very rainy day in Oxford, seated at the New Theatre, I realized that just like the film and its soundtrack, live music could turn into a very powerful tool to deliver a message about social and environmental issues.
My experience at the Skoll's forum was very inspiring indeed and when settled back in the US, I emailed Jeff Skoll and shared with him that I was searching to find a way of mixing live music and social entrepreneurship. Talking about global challenges was no longer enough.
A year and a half later I came up with Project b; "b" for B-corporations and balance.
Project b is the first live performance completely dedicated to environmental and social issues; a production of music and multimedia with a message: we need to realize that environmental and social issues are part of our lives and are common interests, and utilize our combined power to address them.
Project b was not an easy task in a commercial world that wants to book artists with popular messages about relationships, money and sex, but I was determined to talk about global challenges and since music is one of the best vehicles to connect, touch and inspire, I switched the format of my live performance production to create a live music-multimedia experience, synchronized to deliver a message.
In today's rapidly changing world there is a "going green" growing trend to express our global need for social and environmental changes for a better life. Nevertheless, despite the increase of global efforts to address social and environmental challenges, one of the biggest challenges is to connect and inspire the young generations of leaders and entrepreneurs to transform the current system from within and create sustainable change.
Why do I want to talk about it?
Because I know that although it sounds overwhelming, it's pretty simple: we are here to share this planet and Project b can take YOU on a journey to realize how you would like to be in order to share this world with others. When you are inspired you can create changes that are special to who you are and that inspires me!
For more information on Project b, click here.