ONE Campus Challenge

Megan Pederson, a 2007 Roosevelt High School graduate and a junior at Iowa State University, recently attended the ONE Campus Challenge Power 100 which we hosted here in Washington, DC. The Des Moines Register has a nice write-up today about the event.

Excerpt below:

The students went to Washington to hear speakers and to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress. They got to talk to Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and his staff, among others, Pederson said.

Pederson talked to Grassley’s staff about extending the official development assistance category within the federal budget, specifically increasing HIV-AIDS vaccinations and helping additional children in developing nations to attend school.

“After lobby day, I felt so empowered,” she said. “I felt I could come out to Washington and lobby all the time. Some people came up to us and congratulated us. It felt like we were actually being heard.”

The group was in Washington from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, when President Barack Obama revealed his $3.8 trillion budget for 2011.

Every year, the ONE Campaign hosts the ONE Campus Challenge, a friendly competition among universities across the U.S. to determine which school’s student body has the most effective global poverty-fighting campaign. Students earn points by participating in activities and events, some serious, others lighthearted. Schools earning the most points are eligible for the lobbying trip to Washington.

We invited more than 2,000 schools in the ONE Campus Challenge to make 90-second video messages asking their senators for support on three critical development priorities: the Global Fund, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI), and agricultural development.

We had some great submissions, but three really stood out — and now we need your vote to help determine the winner.

Find out which schools made the finals and vote for your favorite video here.

These videos, and the others we received, all represent the next generation of global poverty-fighters. They show that students care…and students vote. We’re super-impressed with how well these students understand the tough issues we asked them to tackle, and how hard they are working to get through to their senators.

Cast your vote right away and your favorite college or university (even if they don’t have a video in the finals) will get 50 points in the ONE Campus Challenge. The finalist school that gets the most votes wins 25,000 points — enough to secure a spot in the top 20 and be eligible for a trip to Africa next summer, as well as other exciting prizes to help further our movement.

The winning school will also get a visit from ONE staff and have their video featured on the ONE website and social networks.

So help encourage the college-level fight against global poverty. Cast your vote today.

Yesterday I joined Power 100 students from the University of Florida, Hillsborough Community College, Georgia Tech and Kenessaw State University for a lobby day on Capitol Hill. We spent the day meeting with staff from Senator Nelson, LeMieux, Chambliss and Isakson’s offices. In each meeting we talked about how we are working with ONE and specifically the ONE Campus Challenge to increase awareness about global poverty in our hometowns.

We also talked about the importance of the International Foreign Affairs budget. We requested that each senator support robust increases for the 150 account and especially for proven lifesaving programs like GAVI and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and TB. On the whole, it was a very busy day but I think each of us left Washington D.C. confident that our Senators not only know about our presence in the states, but are willing to work with us as we advocate for a greater focus on development assistance for the world’s poorest countries.

Georgia:

Florida:

This past weekend’s Power 100 concluded today with Campus Leaders from across the country meeting with their respective Members of Congress and their Staffs.

I had the opportunity to join students from Pennsylvania and meet with some of the Staff from Senator Robert Casey and Arlen Specter. We made sure both Staffs understood our appreciation for the Senators’ continued support of life-saving programs like the Global Fund and PEPFAR. We also thanked them for being Co-sponsors of S. 624 the Paul Simon Water for the World Act.

The highlight of the day without a doubt, however, was when the students passionately requested both Staff Members to urge their Senators to support the President’s request for the International Affairs Budget! I was thoroughly impressed and inspired to see these motivated ONE Members emphasize the importance of development and poverty reduction as vital components to our national security.

Today’s meetings went extremely well and I was very proud to have such well informed advocates for the world’s most vulnerable sitting next to me!

As you might’ve picked up here on the ONE Blog, the ONE Campus Challenge Power 100 Summit was this weekend. It was an excellent opportunity for ONE Campus Leaders to convene, meet with ONE staff, and other distinguished speakers and guests. From everything I’ve heard, it was an extremely positive experience.

But don’t just take my word for it! Various Campus Outreach Ambassadors blogged the entire experience (and did a fantastic job of it, in my opinion). You can read their coverage of the weekend on the OCC Blog here.

Every year, ONE hosts representatives from the top 100 Campus Challenge schools in Washington, DC for an exciting 3-day student conference known as the Power 100 Summit.

The 2010 Power 100 Summit will be January 29 – February 1. Students will hear from some amazing speakers sharing their expertise on global poverty and advocacy, including Susan Smith Ellis of (RED); Robert Draper of National Geographic; Will Herberich of the Millennium Campus Network; Scott Hahn, co-founder of the clothing brand Edun; author and activist Pam Cope; and David Lane, our CEO here at ONE. Students will also work with ONE staff to become better advocates in the global anti-poverty movement, and will apply what they’ve learned during a day of visits with legislators on Capitol Hill.

This year’s Power 100 schools have really earned their spots. They have taken more than 50,000 education, awareness-raising and advocacy actions, recruited more than 10,000 new members, and collected more than 20,000 used books for the Liberian Literacy Foundation in just 20 days.

Without further ado, the top 100 schools invited to send representatives to the 2010 Power 100 Summit are:

(more…)

Some months ago, a group of five amazing college students went on the first-ever ONE Campus Challenge trip to Africa. We compiled this video about their journey:

Last year, more than 27,000 students representing 2,400 colleges and universities participated in the ONE Campus Challenge. The 2009-10 ONE Campus Challenge is just getting started and all students are welcome to join! Learn more and sign up here.

The leaves are changing. Football rankings are being watched closely. Classes are in session. And you know what that means – the ONE Campus Challenge is back!

The ONE Campus Challenge is a friendly competition between colleges and universities to determine which student body has the most effective poverty fighting campaign in the country. Students can earn points for their campus by taking different actions that contribute to the fight against global poverty.

It’s been a long summer – one that included a trip to Kenya with five of OCC’s most dedicated students, a training session with the regional Campus Outreach Ambassadors, and a whole lot of planning for the 09/10 season. We’ve combined equal parts old and new for this year – we’ll see returning powerhouse campuses, like last year’s winner, Wofford College. And the 3rd annual Power 100 Summit will occur in winter 2010. But new this year, OCC will launch month-long challenges that focus on particular ONE issues, new prizes, and a brand new freshmen class ready to make a difference in the fight against global poverty.

Class of 2013, welcome to the Challenge.

-Maisie Pigeon

The ONE Campus Challenge competition between colleges and universities is officially kicking off next week, but Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri has thrown down the pre-season gauntlet by logging an incredible 70 phone calls in support of ONE’s Upgrade Aid campaign.

Check out this video to see how they did it:

The Upgrade Aid campaign is about better, smarter U.S. foreign assistance — so the precious development dollars we fight so hard for all year go to the best, most efficient programs on the ground. Webster University’s 70+ calls supporting the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act seem to have made an impact with Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who officially signed on as a cosponsor for the bill on Tuesday.

You can still make phone calls on behalf of S. 1524 here. And now we also have an Upgrade Aid petition you can sign, here.

Last year, Webster University’s ONE Campus Challenge participation ranked them in the top 10 global poverty-fighting schools in the nation. This year, they’re already setting the bar high, and we’re excited to see what the new season brings from each of the more than 2,400 Campus Challenge schools.

Visit the ONE Campus Challenge website to learn more about the competition and how you can get involved.

-Emily Stivers

Recently ONE members Andrea Locklear, Kay Furlani, Duke Wooters, Cordelia Smith, Beth Rankin and I (Samantha Butisingh) met with Senator Launtenberg’s staff member Talia Young to discuss the work of ONE to make poverty history. We expressed gratitude and thanks to the Senator for signing a funding letter for the Global Fund and asked for his continued leadership on the Global Fund by getting the highest possible amount for the Fund in the State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Conference.We also thanked Sen. Lautenberg for his support for PEPFAR reauthorization last year and asked for his continued support through appropriations.

We hope to keep this line of communication that was established between ONE members and the Lautenberg staff open. It is from constant support from Senators, like Sen. Lautenberg, that we are able to achieve success in our effort to put an end to poverty, hunger, and global diseases.

We thank Ms. Talia Young for meeting with us and the rest of the Lautenberg staff. We are especially thankful for having Senator Lautenberg as a voice for the world’s poorest in the Senate.

-Samantha Butisingh, ONE Campus Outreach Ambassador for Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania