Interesting NY Times/Kristof piece - re: social entrepeneurs, 'The Age of Ambition'

[pinto]

Op-Ed Columnist
The Age of Ambition

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: January 27, 2008

DAVOS, Switzerland

With the American presidential campaign in full swing, the obvious way to change the world might seem to be through politics.

But growing numbers of young people are leaping into the fray and doing the job themselves. These are the social entrepreneurs, the 21st-century answer to the student protesters of the 1960s, and they are some of the most interesting people here at the World Economic Forum (not only because they’re half the age of everyone else).

Andrew Klaber, a 26-year-old playing hooky from Harvard Business School to come here (don’t tell his professors!), is an example of the social entrepreneur. He spent the summer after his sophomore year in college in Thailand and was aghast to see teenage girls being forced into prostitution after their parents had died of AIDS.

So he started Orphans Against AIDS (www.orphansagainstaids.org), which pays school-related expenses for hundreds of children who have been orphaned or otherwise affected by AIDS in poor countries. He and his friends volunteer their time and pay administrative costs out of their own pockets so that every penny goes to the children.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kristof.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=The+Age+of+Ambition&st=nyt&oref=slogin

[otohara]

1. I See My Kid

doing something like this. Thanks for posting, I just sent it to him at college.

[applegrove]

2. It is a pleasure to be around people who walk such a walk through life.

I know a few people who do their part. Nothing as international as this. But they live every day trying to make the world a better place and they are great friends to have.