Not For Sale supporter Claire Dickison proves that you can get involved and #InnovateForGood at any age! We’re honored to share Claire’s advocacy and fundraising efforts for Not For Sale as part of our #InnovateForGood Campaign, as we continue to share stories of how the innovators we admire show their creativity in fighting injustice.

As free beings with agency, I firmly believe that it is the public’s responsibility to refuse to turn a blind eye to the struggles of those trapped by the bonds of modern day slavery. I believe that God placed all of us on this Earth with a purpose, and calls us to “proclaim freedom to the captives and set the oppressed free.”

Ever since I first learned about human trafficking, I’ve made an effort to fight against this injustice by doing small things like throw out Halloween candy from brands known to use exploitative labor. However, I’ve always wanted to find a way to make a bigger, impactful contribution to the anti-human trafficking movement.

When a school project led me to research the work of Not For Sale, I recognized the value of the organization’s holistic and integrated impact model, made possible through its own initiatives as well as partnerships with businesses that practice ethical sourcing. NFS gives consumers like me the opportunity to support rehabilitation programs that give at-risk individuals and survivors a safer, brighter future.

Now, my friend and I are organizing an awareness night featuring a speaker and the documentary Red Light Green Light. We’ll be selling baked goods to raise money for a local safehouse for survivors. Our goal is to bring about sustainable change in our community by letting people know of the reality of horrors that our brothers and sisters around the world face every single day, and showing them how we can help by supporting incredible organizations like Not For Sale.

Often the opportunity to #InnovateForGood stems from a small idea that grows to have a huge global impact. We love this story of how guest contributor Adellene Tanuri’s childhood school project has grown to impact thousands of lives through microfinance! 

Inspiration is Everywhere, Just Listen.

II grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia – a beautiful yet deeply conflicted city where two seemingly incompatible worlds of wealth and poverty coexist. I would look out my car window and would see lavish skyscrapers standing in the midst of slums. You can try but can’t possibly turn a blind eye to the street children knocking on your car window begging for some change. Change. That’s all they ever seek for – to be given the opportunity to change their life circumstances, change the futures of their families, and ultimately achieving a change that would grant them freedom from impoverishment. It is with this constant confrontation with that brutal reality of my home city that my ambitions began. The seed of my desire for change was planted in my heart when I was only 12 years old.

It all started in my last year of primary school when my teacher, Ms. Johanna, instructed us to choose a social issue to focus on for a community and service project. Naively, I came back to her with one word: poverty. Ms. Johanna wisely advised me to dig deeper so that I could create a more tangible action plan that would enable me to make a difference. Little did I know, that one piece of constructive criticism would improve the lives of 344,016 Indonesians through my mother’s organization YCAB Foundation.

No one would have expected that a 6th grader’s community project would become the first step in the evolution of YCAB as a nonprofit to the social enterprise it is today. This year, YCAB’s premise of change was awarded by United Nations as one of nine innovative global solutions. YCAB’s approach is unique as it is a hybrid form of microfinance that ties access to loans with the condition of the attainment of education. In 2020, YCAB aims to touch the lives of five million youth in ten different countries.

This isn’t just a story about me nor is it about my mother’s commendable accomplishments. It is a testament to the great things that can happen when we approach social issues in a human and relational way – to always keep our hearts and minds open to learning from each other, even from those who are younger, vulnerable, and often marginalized. Eight years later, here I am, a third-year student in UC Berkeley, reminded once again by my 12-year-old self to be unafraid to take risks, show love and compassion, and to continue to be optimistic for the possibility of empowerment and change.

During our #InnovateForGoodCampaign, we’re featuring stories of innovators who inspire us. Today, we’re sharing the excellent work of high school students at Bishop O’Dowd High School to raise awareness around the issue of human trafficking and generate funds for Not For Sale’s programs around the world. 

Students Against Exploitation 

Every year at Bishop O’Dowd High School, the Campus Ministry Team (CMT), a group of fourteen senior leaders selects an international organization to benefit from a weeklong mission drive. This year, after significant research, CMT narrowed its interest to human trafficking, and Not For Sale immediately caught our attention. We decided to choose this particular organization because of its promise that our contributions would truly have a lasting impact instead of a superficial one. We made it our mission to educate the student body at O’Dowd about how Not For Sale works with communities around the world to end exploitation by creating self-sustaining social and economic projects.

To promote Mission Drive Week, CMT distributed posters with information about Not For Sale along with basic statistics about human trafficking. We also hosted daily lunchtime activities to engage students and raise more funds. One of our more popular activities was “Pie in the Face,” which gave students the opportunity to throw a whipped cream pie at a CMT member, friend, or faculty in exchange for a donation. CMT also partnered with the UNICEF club on campus, which led a human trafficking trivia activity that rewarded correct answers with Fair Trade certified treats.

$4,504.00 Raised for Not For Sale! 

On Wednesday, Bishop O’Dowd welcomed Mark Wexler, the Co-Founder of Not For Sale, to present at a school-wide assembly. Mark discussed his motivation for creating impact through NFS, highlighting how relationships with strong women like Kru Nam have shaped his worldview. The presentation ended up generating a total of $580 in donations! Following Mark, CMT recapped details from the presentation through a trivia session and game. Overall, the assembly was a great platform to educate the student body and encourage participation in the anti-human trafficking movement. The whole O’Dowd community would like to thank Mr. Wexler for his inspiring presentation.

After a week of activities, O’Dowd raised a total of $4,504 for Not For Sale. CMT is proud to have succeeded in raising awareness among the O’Dowd community about NFS’s mission to end human trafficking through a sustainable, comprehensive campaign.

Innovate For Good

During our #InnovateForGoodCampaign, we’re featuring stories of innovators who inspire us. James Karnadi, founder of Indonesia Civic Youth, is passionate about engaging youth to promote social justice. In just a short amount of time, James’ organization has had a fantastic impact around the world! 

In 2017, I started Indonesia Civic Youth with a mission to develop the growth of leaders dedicated to driving social change. The main goal of this movement was to inspire innovative solutions from youth that have the potential to make domestic and international impacts. I grew up in a wealthy family in a developing country. In Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, I had access to a luxurious lifestyle that many other Indonesians never have the opportunity to experience. My privileged background has played an enormous role in my understanding of Indonesian structural inequality. Indonesia has rich natural resources that are plentiful yet unevenly distributed– limiting the possibility every citizen has of realizing their full potential. In fact, many wealthy families send their children to boarding schools in foreign countries, believing they are more likely to have access to greater opportunities abroad.

I was unable to ignore this inequality when I interned at a digital company that worked closely with NGOs, the private sector, and governments. I was amazed that my CEO, at the age of only 27 years old, could drive such impactful change just through collaborating and starting dialogue with other young leaders. It really inspired me and thought me a lesson that there is no problem too large to solve, even if the solution starts on a small scale. Now, through my program Indonesia Civic Youth, I work with a team to solve hundreds of issues domestically by concentrating on five topics: agriculture, tourism, health, energy and logistics. We work with the Executive Office of the President as a National Movement to solve domestic problems through the vision of the youth.

Moving forward, we have started a campaign in San Francisco and Los Angeles: #AyoJadiCivic, or in English, “Let’s be Civic.” The two main features of this program are to 1) motivate the young leaders of Indonesia to give back to the country, and 2) create a platform to be a channel for the UN. We also created a blood drive campaign #Darahmahal which means “blood is expensive.” Collaborating with the National Red Cross, we are working to fulfill six months worth of blood supply for the population of Surakarta, Indonesia. I believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way. I have finally come to a point of realization that making a change with the youth is not as simple as finding their “why”. The “why” is just the beginning of the revolution. We must move forward with action for change.

Learn more about Indonesia Civic Youth’s Impact