Megan Weintraub oversees Oxfam’s work with social media and online advocacy.

It may seem strange, given the focus of my job, but I arrived late to Facebook. When I first considered joining, it seemed like a grand experiment in narcissism rather than a good use of my energy, and certainly not a tool for social change. Eventually, I caved when my niece was born and the photos went up. All of a sudden, I had a reason to join my friends and their friends in this bizarre space of “likes” and “wall posts.”

As a fellow Facebook skeptic, I understand Malcolm Gladwell’s critique of social media in his recent New Yorker article “Small change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted.” Gladwell challenges the notion that social media tools like Facebook and Twitter can create social change, pointing to several examples of our misguided assessment of their role in major global events like the protests in Moldova and Iran in 2009. His conclusions have sparked a public debate about the ways we use social media to educate and motivate supporters.

While working at Oxfam, I have collaborated with others to take advantage of the speed and scale of social media. We’ve organized events, posted videos highlighting the work of our partners, and updated supporters about Oxfam’s emergency response to the Haiti earthquake. These examples share more than space on the Oxfam America Facebook wall. They also demonstrate how “weak ties,” the connections between people who may never shake hands or share a meal, can bring supporters closer to social change taking place on the ground.

Read the rest of this entry »

Emily Gertz is a freelance journalist, editor, and blogger covering the environment, technology, science, and sustainability. She reported on the Copenhagen climate talks on behalf of Oxfam America.

They say the impacts of climate change are “blind” to class, creed, or gender.

But activists in Copenhagen say, in reality, women in poor countries bear the brunt of global warming’s terrible human cost.

In the province of Balochistan, near the Afghani border, the shifting climate has been disastrous for traditional family structure and stability, according to Rehana Bibi Khilji. “The common woman in our area of rural Pakistan is very impacted,” said Khilji, founder of Balochistan human rights group Hope PK.

L to R: Constance Okollet, Ulamila Kurai Wragg, Rehana bibi Khilji, Lorena Aguilar Revelo, Mary Robinson, and the moderator, Danish journalist Lene Johansen. Photo by Emily Gertz.

She was one of several panelists speaking before an audience of around 200 at today’s “Women’s Leadership on Climate Justice” program in Copenhagen — women who have seen firsthand the damage done by changing environmental conditions, agricultural cycles, and water supplies. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost everyone who works or volunteers at Oxfam has had an “epiphany moment.” Ask us about it, and we’ll tell you what inspired us to change our lives, pick up the baton of volunteerism, or put our talents to work helping Oxfam accomplish great things here and abroad.

My story, though, is a little bit different than most. It involves Joe Strummer, the late leader of the iconic British political rock band The Clash.

Read the rest of this entry »

University of Kansas students Zach Bealer and Christina Henning show off their (temporary!) Oxfam tattoos at a Kansas City climate change event. Photo: Liliana Rodriguez / Oxfam America

I went to college in the late 1990s, at the tail end of the decade of the slacker. Back then, you might have seen a few activists here and there on campus, but mostly we cultivated an aura of general apathy right down to the laces of our Doc Martens. It was okay to care vaguely about stuff like women’s rights or the environment, but it wasn’t necessarily cool to show too much enthusiasm. If you wanted to make a statement, you might scrawl something enigmatic on your t-shirt with magic marker, dye your hair pink, and leave it at that.
At risk of showing my age, I’ll just go ahead and say it: things have changed.

Read the rest of this entry »