Idealist’s New Network Will Help Do-Gooders around the World Connect through Bottom-Up Leadership

Have you ever wanted to change something in the world but weren’t sure where to start? Perhaps you’d like to arrange a cleanup day in your neighborhood, but you don’t know anyone else who’d like to join in. Or maybe you’re looking for ways to encourage your peers to get involved with local nonprofits, but you’ve never heard of hosting a volunteer fair. Chances are, someone around you wants to accomplish the same thing, but you two have no way of getting in touch.

That is, until Idealist’s new social network launches. On March 11 Idealist founder Ami Dar will present to a potentially game-changing new tool for people who want to make things better in the world. By connecting users with others who might have similar concerns and interests, such as people who live in the same apartment complex or people who work in the same office building, the network will enable people around the world to drive change through bottom-up leadership. The network will also help connect people in knowledge-sharing relationships; someone interested in hosting a volunteer fair, for example, will be able to seek advice from those who’ve hosted similar fairs in the past.

At a presentation rehearsal in New York last Thursday Dar explained that it’s always been his dream to launch such a social network through idealist. “When we set up Idealist, this is what I wanted to do,” he said. Somehow the jobs database portion of the site took off, and Idealist came to be known as sort of the Monster for nonprofits. Dar hopes the new network will bring more attention to the jobs database portion of Idealist.org, and that the jobs database will in turn bring more attention to the new social network. “Change the way you see us,” Dar said at the end of Thursday’s presentation.

Idealist is hosting two live online presentations on March 11: one at noon EST and on at 11 p.m. EST. So far 18,849 people in 145 countries have RSVP’d. If you’re interested in learning more or signing up, check out the preview video below or visit idealist.org/March11.