Announcing MovingWorlds Beta - Limited Release
Three years ago, nearly to the day, I set out on an adventure that would change the course of my life forever. My adventure was initiated after reading a World Economic Forum report that stated that the "lack of access to talent was the 2nd leading barrier to progress... and would soon become the leading barrier." And by progress, it meant
Enabling communities to lift themselves out of poverty, empowering people to access the health care that they needed, and sustaining and growing a movement to fix the environmental challenges facing our civilization.
At the time, as a mid-20-something with a Master's degree and some professional experience, I decided that I could do more for the world by donating my expertise for a year than by sticking to my current career path on a race to attain a 6-figure salary. So I quit everything I knew and set out, hoping that I'd gain the insight I needed to change the way I would contribute my time, energy, and brainpower in this world.
That insight came to me on the last week of my year-long, around-the-world, volunteering adventure. While donating my professional skills in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I crossed paths with Derk Norde. Together, we came up with an idea of inspiring and empowering an "Experteering Movement" - a global initiative that would show people the value of taking time off to donate their professional and/or technical skills to accelerate impact...
After nearly two years of planning, partnership building, resource gathering, and lean-startup-inspired learning, we are ready to share MovingWorlds Beta with the world. This beta-launch formalizes our mission of:
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Accelerating global progress by addressing the afore mentioned "talent gap"
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Connecting people to life-enriching experiences around the world
So What is MovingWorlds?
Short answer:
Our beta platform, which is something like a short-term Peace Corps crossed with match.com, connects people that want to change the world with organizations changing it.
Longer answer:
MovingWorlds is a social impact organization addressing the global talent gap. Our online platform and community connects people who want to travel and volunteer their expertise directly with nonprofits, schools, and/or social enterprises around the world. We maintain quality by selectively sourcing professionals and organizations who then interact through our website to find each other and plan high-impact “Experteering” engagements. In addition, innovative corporations can leverage the same platform to create and manage worldwide skills-based volunteering programs for employees. Join the Experteering movement at www.MovingWorlds.org.
What Does Beta Mean?
It means that our matching service is now available to organizations and professionals around the world. It is still limited and invites are closely monitored to ensure community quality.
In addition to our beta website, we are committed to continue the following:
1. Supporting organizations that are building a better planet
If you represent an organization that is working to make the world a better place, we want to help you find expertise for any business challenge. Whether you are an educational institution, research facility, nonprofit, foundation, social enterprise, startup, small and growing business, or uncategorized social impact organization, we do not discriminate. If you are a legal entity AND you have a social mission (helping people and/or the planet), we want to help you.
For more information how, check out www.MovingWorlds.org/org, and also register for our next webinar ''How Experteering Can Support Your Organization".
2. Connecting people to the best place around the world to donate their expertise
If you want to use your skills to help build a better world, we want to connect you to an Experteering opportunity anywhere you want to travel. With MovingWorlds, you can find the best place to donate your expertise, typically in exchange for free accommodations and certainly in exchange for a life-enriching experience. Beyond matching, we have tips, resources, and discounts to help you on your way. Learn more on our Experteering information page.
3. Improving our website and processes quickly
We firmly believe in failing forward. Even after weeks of testing, it is likely that parts of our website are not yet operating optimally. We invite you - our trusted members - to provide feedback, try new features, and tell us ways that we can be better. We promise to learn fast, improve faster, and keep pushing this movement forward.
As a heads up... Only a few organizations and people will be admitted onto the platform each week in order to maintain quality in the community as we scale. This will, of course, grow week-by-week. If you are a professional that wants to volunteer, you can request an invite here. If you want to host volunteering professionals, request an invite here.
What's Next?
Lots. We have big plans for MovingWorlds and we encourage you to follow along.
More than anything, we hope that in learning more about MovingWorlds, you start your own personal adventure. To help you on your way, I'd like to share a video that set me on my path 3 years ago, titled "Inspiring a Life of Immersion".
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