Cynthia witnessed the transformative impact that Kisaruni is having on the surrounding areas where families are living in what the UN refers to as “absolute poverty,” meaning that people live on less than 1 dollar a day. She also saw firsthand the palpable hope that emanates so strongly from each and every girl, knowing that this advanced education will provide a real future for them and sustainable change in their communities.

Inspired by the impact that primary education is creating for a generation of young women in Kenya and the success of Kisaruni All Girls Secondary School, Cynthia is committing to an even bigger challenge this year. She is responding to a call to action issued in the fall of 2011 by Nelly Furtado, who has pledged her support for a second all girls boarding secondary school in the Maasai Mara region to enable more girls to become empowered and uplifted.

Nelly’s challenge: In order to build another secondary school for girls, Nelly Furtado will match every dollar donated, up to $500,000, to help fund a new all-girls boarding secondary school in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya in partnership with Free the Children, the in-country NGO.

Recognizing this as an amazing opportunity to double their impact and expand upon their already significant investment of over 17 primary school classrooms in this region of Kenya, The Unstoppable Foundation is stepping up to the challenge, and they want (need) your help.

Double Your Impact Starts at their Annual Gala on March 17
Another Secondary School for Girls in this area is desperately needed. With an increasing number of children, especially girls, graduating from primary school, there has been a surge in demand for advanced education opportunities. For many, however, education ends after grade eight. This is especially true for girls in a society that promotes more traditional female roles. Currently, 25% of girls under the age of 15 in Kenya are married and do not continue to pursue a higher education. This reality stems from situations that currently prevent women from becoming powerful and respected leaders in their communities. When girls become empowered though education they are much more likely to become future leaders of their communities.

But Unstoppable Foundation needs your support.
Saturday, March 17, 2012 marks the Unstoppable Foundation’s 3rd Annual Unstoppable Gala, and this year they are on a mission to accomplish something truly remarkable–to raise funds to help build a new all girls secondary school.

In developing communities around the world, girls have unique challenges in accessing education, staying healthy and breaking free of poverty. But they also provide hope for change more than any other group. Cynthia sees the potential of investing in higher education for these young women – because educated girls and women have the power to create positive change; they become Unstoppable.

Please join The Unstoppable Foundation and some of their amazing friends and colleagues — some of today’s preeminent global thought leaders — for a festive night of food, entertainment, celebration and making a difference!

 
Highlights of the new All Girls Secondary School in Kenya

• This ALL NEW boarding secondary school will be modeled after the success of Kisaruni All Girls Secondary School in Kenya
• The school will include classrooms, dormitories, teacher accommodations, a kitchen, dining hall, community gardens, a library, as well as science and computer labs
• The fund will also support the new school’s operations, providing up to 160 girls every year with free room and board and a full secondary education
• In addition to traditional secondary school curriculum, training on topics focused around leadership and sustainable best practices, will also be provided, ensuring these young women are empowered with the knowledge and skills to become leaders and help bring their community out of poverty

This happens in all areas of our lives from relationships to parenting and business.  That’s what is so great about having a colleague, coach, or consultant to give you new ideas and a different perspective.  Now what if their suggestion was for you to give more to others in order to grow (in all manners of speaking)?  If you are skeptical about this concept, just listen to this…

Peggie Pelosi, author of Corporate Karma, was hired as a VP of Sales at Usana (a manufacturer and distributor of nutritional supplements company) to re-energize the company’s sales force.  Company sales were flat during the previous few years despite aggressive international expansion.

It was immediately obvious to her that there was something missing in the company’s culture.  The people in the corporate office seemed more engaged in office politics than in embracing the company’s mission.  Peggie wondered what would happen if every person who worked with USANA was completely re-energized by the founder’s ultimate dream of creating a world free from disease, pain and suffering.  What if people woke up every day to help make that mission a reality?

She came up with an idea that helped change the way that distributors and employees felt about the company they worked for.  She created a partnership with the Children’s Hunger Fund, which is an in-country non-profit organization, and together they devised a plan to distribute Usana’s supplements to children around the world who were sick from disease and hunger.

Usana reached out to all of its distributors, employees, customers, board members and shareholders about this campaign and together they donated the company’s nutritional supplements and resources to children in need through the Children’s Hunger Fund.  As stories came in from the field on how these children’s lives were being transformed as a result of their efforts, that’s when the shift started happening.

Not only was the company energized about its mission, but in less than two years, USANA’s sales more than doubled, and its stock value rose over 3,000%. Nothing else had changed.  The same people were in place, the same products were produced, and the same marketing efforts were made.

The only thing that changed was that the company had found its soul.  Now people were coming to work with a higher purpose that connected them to the company’s values.

What began as a philanthropic program is now a way of life for Usana.  It’s a win-win for everyone; the children receiving the nutritional supplements, the people working with Usana who have the life-changing experience of working with a company that touches their soul, and the shareholders who wanted to contribute to the growth of the company.

Are these results unrealistic?  Not at all.  Consider this:

• In a recent Cone survey, 86% of Americans said that when price and quality were equal, they would reward companies that support a cause.  That’s a 30% increase over the previous decade.

• There were also two meta studies done over a 30 year year period that demonstrates conclusively that corporate social responsibility goes hand in hand with financial out-performance. Giving drives everything the company does.

The triple bottom line is a term used to capture the spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational success — “People, planet, profit.”  What if every business measured their success based on a triple bottom line and not just on profits.

What if every single company, starting with you, used its resources, reach and human capital to heal this world?  We would experience a world of love, of compassion and power that this planet has not yet seen.

So how do you do that?  First, strategically identify a cause that is in alignment with your purpose? Ask yourself, what small steps could you begin to take today?  Who could you reach out to and start putting things into motion?  Don’t just assign this “task” to one person, one department or one committee.  Get the entire organization to weigh in.  With involvement comes empowerment.  With empowerment comes ownership – which feeds responsibility and action.

I’d love to hear how giving and implementing a triple bottom line is impacting you and your business. Please share your story with me.

If you would like to learn about The Unstoppable Foundation’s specialized programs for giving around the globe, click here.  http://unstoppablefoundation.org/projects.html

With love and appreciation,

Cynthia Kersey

Bestselling author, “Unstoppable”
www.unstoppable.net
Chief Humanitarian Officer
Unstoppable Foundation
www.UnstoppableFoundation.org

That year, my husband had intended on joining me and my son for the holidays at my parent’s house in Florida and now, we would be going alone. The first few days at my parent’s house were excruciating. I was in great pain and had momentarily lost my hope for a happy future. After a few days of feeling sorry for myself, I realized that I couldn’t control what was happening. The only thing I could control was my response to my circumstances. In that moment, I vowed that next Christmas, I would not be feeling sorry for myself at my parent’s house. I would dedicate myself to doing something for someone else.

When I got home, I called my mentor and friend, Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity International (HFH) who I had met when I interviewed him to be in my book. He told me that when you have a great pain in your life, you need a greater purpose and encouraged me that building a house for a family in need might be a great project. Millard had just returned from a trip to Nepal, one of the poorest nations in the world.

Following Millard’s advice, I asked myself the question, “How many houses would I need to build to offset this pain in my life? When I got to the number of 100 – that felt bigger than my pain. I had never been to Nepal, I’d never raised money for a project such as this before, and I had no idea how I would pull it off, but having that purpose invigorated me and most importantly, it kept my mind off of myself and my “problems.” Even though there were many times when I felt so depressed I didn’t even want to get out of bed, I’d think about these Nepalese families who didn’t have a simple decent place to sleep at night. That put my life back in perspective and I continued to move forward.

By December 2000, I had raised $200,000 and took a team of 20 people to Nepal and we built the first three of the 100 houses in that project. One of the homes was for a single woman named Chandra who was supporting seven other family members including her parents, brothers and sisters. They had all been living in a small one bedroom shack. Even though she consistently saved money every week from her job at a cookie factory, it would never have been enough to build a home without the help of HFH. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, Chandra and I connected.

When it was time for us to leave, she began to cry and said, “please don’t ever forget me.” I thought, “How could I forget you? You were the purpose that kept me going through the most difficult year of my life.”

That experience was truly one of the most transformational experiences in my life and was the first time that I personally experienced the power of giving. What was even more interesting is during that year, I made more money than I ever made in my life even though that was not my primary intention.

I believe this story represents the essence of the law of giving and receiving. You don’t need to be experiencing pain or loss to feel the immense rewards of helping others.

You also don’t need to set out to build 100 homes.

Start small; start with helping to provide clean water for a child or a school lunch for children who are going without.

Click here to see all the different programs you can begin helping today.

The scriptures say, “Give and it shall be given unto you.”

It doesn’t say wait until your life is working and then give or wait until you feel you have something to give before you give. It simply says GIVE. You don’t need to know how it will all work out, you only need to have faith that when you are committed, you will be supported. As you connect with a Divine calling that is bigger than yourself, miracles await you.

Please join me! I would be honored if you would join me for my Birthday Bash, along with Free the Children Founder Craig Kielburger — and several of my amazing friends and colleagues — for a festive night of food, entertainment, celebration and making a difference in the lives of children around the world.

Your presence and support is important to me and to the future of these children and I hope you will join me on March 19, 2011 in Los Angeles.

I promise it will be an evening you will never forget!

Here’s the link for more information and to register.

How did it make you feel when you did them – not only in your mind, but your body? Did you feel lighter? Did your tense shoulders disappear or your tired feeling dissipate? You probably felt a warm and open heart knowing that you helped someone, even when they didn’t even ask. The effect that giving has on the body can be tremendous and even life-saving.

Cami Walker has first-hand experience with how giving changed her life and her body. Shortly after her wedding, Cami was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and her body started to shut down. She sought comfort by reaching out to her spiritual teacher, Mbali Creazzo.Instead of giving her a shoulder to cry on, Mbali gave Cami a prescription to cure  her self-pity and obsession with her disease. She was to give 29 gifts in 29 days. Her experience and her medical results will inspire and amaze you.

Watch this short video interview of Cami on the Today Show.

If simply giving a flower to a stranger or donating clothes to a charity could physically change the effects of MS on Cami’s body, imagine what it could do for you, your relationships, your business and your life.

I challenge you to do one small deed every day for the next week – much like Cami did and watch the miracles unfold.

Please share your intention or your results with us here you might inspire others to participate or give them an idea they hadn’t thought about.

Join me for a Birthday Bash celebration and make a difference in the lives of children around the world. I would be honored if you would join me along with Free the Children Founder Craig Kielburger — and several of my amazing friends and colleagues — for a festive night of food, and entertainment.

Your presence and support is important to me and to the future of these children and I hope you will join me on March 19, 2011 in Los Angeles. I promise it will be an evening you will never forget!

Here’s the link for more information and to register. www.unstoppablefoundation.org/birthdaybash2011

With love and appreciation,

Cynthia Kersey

Bestselling author, “Unstoppable”
www.unstoppable.net
Chief Humanitarian Officer
Unstoppable Foundation
www.UnstoppableFoundation.org