The message to forget about guarding oneself and masking who you are, rather, to be honest and dismiss the pretense that everyone wil like you or agree with you is essential to furthering cause of sustainability.  The Reverend Renee Ward courageously champions causes close to her heart without worrying about what people think or whether they agree with her.  Her speech was sponsored by TEDxConcordiaUPortland. Their 2012 schedule of speeches is here.

Van Jones is the founder and president Green For All, based in Oakland, California.  He is committed to creating "green pathways out of poverty," while greatly expanding the coalition fighting global warming.  His newest book, Rebuild the Dream, may be ordered by clicking on the image.

Why is it so hard to give it back? Citizen dividends in oil rich countries. Johnny West is a social entrepreneur and writer with 20 years professional experience in and around the oil industry. He began covering energy markets as a Reuters correspondent in the Middle East in the early 1990s.  He is founder of OpenOil and a transparency activist.

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. It is the most successful viral video to date on YouTube with over 72M views as of February 11th. More information on Invisible Children site.

Did you know that conflict minerals from Congo are in all cell phones, smart phones, and other electronics? Join Jewish World Watch in taking action to demand that electronics companies produce conflict-free products.

Eastern Congo is the most dangerous place in the world and this is an introduction of the minerals from this region and how it is part of the electronics we use everyday from phones to laptops.

Visit www.raisehopeforcongo.org to find out how you can help end the world's deadliest war in the Congo.

Video directed and produced by Robert Padavick. Editing and animation by Jeff Trussell.

The world's worst human rights abuses require permanent solutions. The Enough Project uses cutting-edge research, advocacy and campaigning to work toward ending genocide and crimes against humanity.

Joseph Stiglitz talks about Occupy Wall Street. Joseph E. Stiglitz is a graduate of Amherst College, he received his PHD from MIT and became a full professor at Yale in 1970.  He has taught at Princeton, Stanford, MIT and was the Drummond Professor and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He is now University Professor at Columbia University in New York and Co-Chair of Columbia University's Committee on Global Thought. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information.