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Protecting the ‘Wild West’ Ocean 🌊 🐳

Austin Tang — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 17:29:12 +0000

July/August 2025

Newsletter

Half a Million Dollars for 10 Planet-Saving Ideas

Our planet urgently needs to mitigate climate change by 2030 to avoid irreversible negative impacts. Global native forest restoration could deliver up to one-third of the natural carbon capture we need. And Terraformation is a Hawaii-based organization that is building a pipeline of future reforestation projects across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia to help answer this clarion call.

https://tinyurl.com/Keeling-Curve-Prize

Terraformation is just one of 10 organizations recognized by the Global Warming Mitigation Project (GWMP) as winners of the 2025 Keeling Curve Prize (KCP). The Keeling Curve Prize — overseen by GWMP, a Brooklyn Story Lab partner — supports organizations developing practical, scalable answers to the climate crisis.

This year, the 10 winning organizations were announced by Jacquelyn Francis, Founder and Executive Director of GWMP, at the TED Countdown Summit main stage in Nairobi, Kenya, awarding $50,000 to each project to help expand their impact in the fight against climate change.

Learn more about the 10 winning organizations — and GWMP — here.

How IS GWMP Decarbonizing the Planet?

Bringing Order to the ‘Wild West’ Ocean

Travel 200 miles from any country’s shoreline and you enter the “High Seas,” the UN’s designation for international waters. The High Seas might as well be the Wild West, as there are few laws that govern this territory, which covers 43% of Earth’s surface (the ocean itself covers 71%).

That chaotic lack of law jeopardizes the future health of the ocean, including the Blue Economy: the food that 3 billion people globally count on, and the economic opportunities on which 11% of the planet depends.

The third UN Ocean Conference — which convened last month in Nice, France — addressed the issues top of mind related to governing and protecting the ocean. And Brooklyn Story Lab was there, with its partner Blue Planet Alliance.

Among other events, we helped produce “Together, We Rise,” with UN DESA (the Department of Economic and Social Affairs), an evening recognizing the leadership of two ocean champions: Surangel Whipps, Jr., the President of the Republic of Palau, and Peter Thomson, the UN S-G’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.

Read more here about our experience in Nice, and how Blue Planet Alliance was a ubiquitous presence in France.

Learn More About the UN High Seas Treaty and UNOC

Elephant Mothers

Elephants are a matriarchal species.

This year, World Elephant Day (August 12) is honoring both the matriarch elephants AND the women conservation leaders and rangers in communities in Africa and Asia who are working to protect them.

Check out this video with more info about #WorldElephantDay — narrated by Daryl Hannah and with music courtesy of Peter Gabriel.

The mission of World Elephant Day (BSL founder Lance Gould is on the Board of this nonprofit) is to bring awareness to the continuing plight of endangered African and Asian elephants. Elephants are climate change mitigators, and a keystone species that help ecosystems thrive. Protecting them is protecting the planet.

Donate to World Elephant Day

EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR BROOKLYN STORY LAB READERS

Expert Fundraising Offer for BSL Readers

Fundraising is expensive. Yes, it takes money to make money, and hiring a consultant can be hugely impactful, but doing so can also be costly.

For startups or small nonprofits already reeling from the shock and awe of recent political events, that can create a barrier to entry that has existential implications.

Our strategic partners at boutique fundraising firm Hudson Ferris have come up with a dynamic solution: a new platform called Margaret, which democratizes the fundraising experience at an affordable price point (hundreds a month as opposed to thousands). Membership offers unlimited fundraising questions from experts in the field via the platform.

Margaret already includes partners such as Civic Hall (which has 62,000 members), fundraising CMS platform Arreva, and donor-research tool DonorAtlas, the latter two of which have integrated Margaret into their platforms.

To learn more about Margaret — and a special introductory package for the Brooklyn Story Lab community — visit here.

Take a Video Tour of Margaret

July/August Calendar

Though the new Administration has banned references to many, there are social-awareness days or tentpole events every month that can help organizations like yours connect to a larger, purpose-driven audience. By creating content connected to these key dates, you have the potential to create viral experiences. Here are the global dates that stand out to us in July and August.

6/30-7/3: Green Climate Fund Board Meeting (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea)

6/30-7/3: International Business Forum (Seville, Spain)

6/30-7/4: SDG Investment Fair (Seville, Spain)

7/6-7/7: BRICS Summit (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

7/7-7/11: Montreal Protocol, 47th Meeting (Bangkok, Thailand)

7/7-7/25: International Seabed Authority Assembly (Kingston, Jamaica)

7/8-7/11: AI for Good Global Summit (Geneva, Switzerland)

7/11: World Population Day

7/12: International Day of South-South Cooperation 2024

7/12: International Malala Day

7/14-7/23: UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (New York, U.S.)

7/17: Day of International Criminal Justice

7/18: Nelson Mandela International Day

7/27-7/29: UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

7/29: International Tiger Day

7/31: World Ranger Day

8/5-8/8: UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (Awaza, Turkmenistan)

8/9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

8/10: World Lion Day

8/12: International Youth Day

8/12: World Elephant Day

8/19: World Humanitarian Day

8/20: World World Mosquito Day Day

8/23: International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition

8/24-8/28: World Water Week (Stockholm, Sweden)

8/26: Women’s Equality Day

8/27: World Lake Day

8/29: International Day Against Nuclear Tests

Ask us how to create noteworthy content that connects with these dates for your purpose-driven organization or brand — or how to get more attention for your social media, digital media, or feature stories.

Let’s Tell Your Story

Brooklyn Story Lab is a globally focused media consultancy that creates content solutions for purpose-driven organizations, with a particular focus on their social good commitments. Our work is aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals — a blueprint for making sure no one on the planet is left behind.

If you would like your purpose-driven project to reach new audiences and deliver more impact, we’d love to help you tell the story through our Content Solutions:

Articles and Impact Stories
Brand Strategy
Campaign Ideation and Execution
Content Strategy and Storytelling
Fundraising Collateral and Strategy
Newsletters
Op-Eds and Thought Leadership
Podcasts: Audio and Video
Seminars, Panels, and Moderated Events
Social Media Campaigns and Events
Storytelling Workshops
Strategic Partnerships
Video: Longform and Short
Web Design and Development

Please send us more information about your project so we can help you get started. Fill out our contact form here, or email info@brooklynstorylab.net.

Get in Touch

The post Protecting the ‘Wild West’ Ocean 🌊 🐳 appeared first on Good News!.

Researchers gave thousands of dollars to homeless people. The results defied stereotypes. – CNN

Austin Tang — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 22:56:34 +0000

A man walking through a Vancouver tent city in March. Researchers in a new study found that homeless people who received direct cash transfers were able to find stable housing faster.

(CNN)You’ve heard this refrain before — giving money to homeless people is not the best way to help them because it might be squandered, or spent on harmful habits. But a new Canadian study makes a powerful case to the contrary.

The study, dubbed “The New Leaf Project,” is an initiative of Foundations for Social Change, a charitable organization based in Vancouver, in partnership with the University of British Columbia.

Researchers gave 50 recently homeless people a lump sum of 7,500 Canadian dollars (nearly $5,700). They followed the cash recipients’ life over 12-18 months and compared their outcomes to that of a control group who didn’t receive the payment.

The preliminary findings, which will be peer-reviewed next year, show that those who received cash were able to find stable housing faster, on average. By comparison, those who didn’t receive cash lagged about 12 months behind in securing more permanent housing.

People who received cash were able to access the food they needed to live faster. Nearly 70% did after one month, and maintained greater food security throughout the year.

The recipients spent more on food, clothing and rent, while there was a 39% decrease in spending on goods like alcohol, cigarettes or drugs.

“The homeless population continues to grow, and we keep applying the same old approaches,” said Claire Williams, the CEO and co-founder of Foundations for Social Change.

“We really think it’s important to start testing meaningful risk-taking in the name of social change,” WIlliams added.

The 115 participants in the randomized controlled trial were between the ages of 19 and 64, and they had been homeless for an average of 6 months. Participants were screened for a low risk of mental health challenges and substance abuse.

Funding for the initiative came from a grant from the Canadian federal government, and from donors and foundations in the country.

“Moving forward on their own terms”

“One of the things that was most striking is that most people who received the cash knew immediately what they wanted to do with that money, and that just flies in the face of stereotypes,” Williams told CNN.

For example, she explained some cash recipients knew they wanted to use the money to move into housing, or invest in transportation — getting a bike, or taking their cars to the repair shop to be able to keep their jobs. Others wanted to purchase computers. A number of them wanted to start their own small businesses.

“People very much know what they need, but we often don’t equip them with the intervention or the services that really empowers them with choice and dignity to move forward on their own terms,” Williams said.

Not a ‘silver bullet,’ but a useful tool for many

Direct cash transfers are not “a silver bullet for homelessness in general,” and the program focused on “a higher functioning subset of the homeless population,” Williams said, but she believes the research shows that providing meaningful support to folks who have recently become homeless decreases the likelihood they will become entrenched in the experience.

People who received the cash infusions were even able to set some money aside — about 1,000 Canadian dollars on average through 12 months.

The money provided by the program also had “trickle down impacts,” according to Williams, with people investing more in their children’s well-being and needs, as well as helping out family members.

“There are these hidden impacts that we just don’t anticipate and aren’t necessarily quantifying, but now we’re seeing that this is having an exponential effect on people’s lives,” Williams explained.

The study shows there are advantages for the taxpayer, too.

According to the research, reducing the number of nights spent in shelters by the 50 study participants who received cash saved approximately 8,100 Canadian dollars per person per year, or about 405,000 Canadian dollars over one year for all 50 participants.

“There’s a common misconception that the cost of doing nothing is free or cheap and it absolutely is not,” Williams said.

Homelessness and the pandemic

The risk of homelessness looms large for many across the United States, as people deal with job losses and economic uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re hearing that from homeless providers in a lot of places, people who have never been homeless before are coming into shelters and have no idea what to do,” Steve Berg, a vice president with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, an American nonprofit organization, told CNN.

“It’s a brand new experience for them, and they never dreamed that when they’d be talking about homeless people they’d be talking about themselves,” said Berg, who was not involved in The New Leaf Project study.

Innovative solutions to the issue are even more pressing right now. Berg thinks the research confirms what is true for many people experiencing homelessness: money can solve it.

“There are certainly people who are homeless who have deeper, more severe problems,” Berg explained, “but for many people, it’s simply a matter of — they ran out of money, lost a job, fell on hard times, became homeless. Once they’re homeless, it’s very difficult to get enough money saved up in order to find a place to live.”

“People can be relied on, if they get the money upfront, to take care of the problem themselves,” Berg added.

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