Nominate Tara L. Conley for 2012 Media Ideation Fellowship
Dear family and friends,
I’m writing to you directly for your support in nominating me for the 2012 Media Ideation Fellow (Graduate Level).
The Media Ideation FellowshipSM is an investment in a new generation of social entrepreneurs. Fellows will receive financial resources and mentoring to help bring an early stage idea to life. The Media Ideation FellowshipSM is an opportunity for young innovators to test assumptions, research target audiences, and build strong business plans.
The Media Ideation FellowshipSM is designed to further progressive, social justice-oriented causes. Ideal applicants will have a specific issue or challenge they are looking to address over the course of their fellowship. Projects can be broad in scope, or a simple tool that will help resolve a social inequity or lead to progressive social change.
Why Media Ideation Fellow?
As a Media Ideation Fellow, I will receive a three-month fellowship with a $12,000 stipend and support from mentors in the fields of media and technology.
As some of you may know, since 2010, I’ve dedicated my time and energy to build MEDIA MAKE CHANGE’s brand as best as only one woman could while living in a shoebox apartment located in Harlem, New York. I'm happy to report that as of this summer, MEDIA MAKE CHANGE is officially an LLC in the State of New York. I now seek additional mentorship and financial support to expand MEDIA MAKE CHANGE into the world’s leading incubator for media and technology innovation, ideas, and perspectives for social good.
Specifically, I want to extend MMC's online and mobile platform by building an interactive Call-to-Action Challenge portal (CTAC) that will enable mediamakers, programmers, and designers to submit original ideas and projects that can transform communities and civic engagement practices.
Think: Tech Challenge meets Media That Matters meets Kickstarter.
MEDIA MAKE CHANGE will issue various challenges and calls to action throughout the year so that innovators will have the opportunity to submit their ideas and projects via the CTAC portal, where the public can also make monetary donations.
Challenge prompts might look like the following:
- Submit an idea to create a web or mobile platform that will help voters in your neighborhood locate voting polls on election night.
- Submit an idea to create a web or mobile platform that can help organize constituants to support or protest against a policy-based issue.
- Submit an idea to create an animated short that will inform people about proper recycling practices in your community.
- Submit an idea to create a web series that will explore the lives of women and girl gamers.
- Submit an idea to create a web or mobile platform that will monitor street harassment and bullying in your neighborhood.
- Submit an idea for a digital documentary that explores an issue or perspecitve in the LGBTIQ community.
- Submit an idea for a robot that can assist elderly individuals with daily tasks.
- Submit an idea for a mobile or web platform that can help victims and survivors of environmental catastrophes locate family members, pets, and/or food supplies.
- Submit an idea to create a web or mobile platform that can aid victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
- Submit an idea to create a digital documentary that explores colorism across various racial and ethnic communities.
The list goes on.
Innovators can set their own funding goals, and successfully funded projects will receive all donations (minus fees).
Unlike established crowdfunding platforms on the web, MEDIA MAKE CHANGE will create specific challenges for media and tech innovators to explore and submit their ideas to. Don't expect to see projects that will fund tech start-ups or music albums. Instead, MMC's CTAC portal is specific in its challenge prompts, content, and design. Only media platforms, projects, and tech gadgets/apps will apply.
My Herstory
I've spent the last 10 years of my life working and playing as a writer, educator, and mediamaker. Over the past decade, I've had the opportunity to work with well established progressive organizations, and learned a great deal about the power of digital media (in all forms) and technology to support causes and promote democracy.
Currently, as a doctoral student studying technology in education, I'm now learning about the importance of computer programming technologies in shaping an entire generation of girls, youth of color, and immigrant learners.
I'm proud to have founded a company that highlights issues relating to media education and technology innovation in efforts to help support communities, confront social injustices, and impact technology policy.
Over the past two years, MEDIA MAKE CHANGE has already established a proven track record in multimedia development by helping to produce the Beyond the Bricks media literacy curriculum and create new media and digital video campaigns for the Schott Foundation for Public Education.
MMC’s blog Media Speaks! has featured original, insightful, and critical content in the area of media literacy, advocacy, and technology innovation.
In the summer of 2012, MEDIA MAKE CHANGE facilitated an online cross-cultural dialogue with In Conversation, a monthly feature that highlighted women of color programmers and mediamakers. Additionally, MMC led a nationwide social media and digital storytelling campaign with #RememberKatrina to bring awareness to environmental and social issues facing citizens living in Louisiana and surrounding states. MMC is also currently working with social entrepreneurs to produce successful crowdfunding campaigns.
Looking ahead, I want to solidify MEDIA MAKE CHANGE’s place in digita media and social justice history by incorporating a dynamic interactive platform that will inspire people to use media and technology to change their communities for the better.
As a Media Ideation Fellow, I will be able to take change agency to the masses with the help of mentorship and financial assistance.
With the support of the Media Ideation Fellowship, I will be able to:
- research established crowdfuding, educational technology, media education, and progressive online platforms
- develop proposals and business plans for potential investors
- gather a team of official MEDIA MAKE CHANGE mediamakers and content producers
- design and develop MMC’s interactive Call-to-Action Challenge (CTAC) portal
The fellowship will afford me the time to conduct research and produce work that will reflect an expansion of MEDIA MAKE CHANGE's brand and mission towards interactivity and civic/community engagement.
In order to accomplish this and more, I’m asking for your nomination for the 2012 inaugural Media Ideation Fellowship.
How to nominate me
You can support by simply going to http://mediaideation.org/nominate/ and filling out the information provided below:
- My name: Tara Conley
- My email: tara@mediamakechange.org
- Check the box for “Graduate Level” fellowship.
I sincerely appreciate your love and support.
Tara