our global garden of joy Hi 👋 I’m Jasmine, founder of The Bloom. We have a phenomenal selection of social impact resources this week for you to bloom & forward to your friends!
"supported with love by Algbra" "supported with love by Algbra" supported with love by Algbra
Welcome bloomers, Here is your summary of the newsletter this week: 🌱In person events in Sweden, USA, Brazil 🌱Smithsonian environmental justice fellowship 🌱6 systems change NGOs in Latin America with love & light, Jasmine, Letícia, Aneesa 💌 Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up to get your own copy of The Bloom to your inbox with top social impact jobs, uplifting stories, and global resources. 💚 Partner with us! We're looking forimpactful organizations to partner with The Bloom to bring connections, resources, and opportunities to our global community.
☀️Community for social impact leaders: Joinour fast-growing membership community to learn from extraordinary social impact professionals in networking, career fairs, and mentorship events.
fresh soil
Meet the diverse social impact leaders of The Bloom. Every week brings "fresh soil" – inspiration for your career and beyond by learning about our network of leaders across the globe.
You’re currently a data engineer at Trase – did you always know you wanted to go into data engineering? How did this career path emerge for you?
Not at all! My professional career has been a progression backwards in a funny way, and though at times it has felt terrifying, I feel lucky and grateful for it. Since I was in university in Colombia, around 1999, I knew I wanted to take a social entrepreneurship path. I joined forces with like-minded friends and started Somos Más, a non-profit working on collective intelligence and open government which evolved to the point of having several projects and offices in Colombia and Europe, and for which I was director or co-director most of the time. Fast forward 20 years, and you’d find me studying data science in Uppsala University in Sweden, spending most of my waking time dedicated to computational statistics. I think that if I mentioned this latest period of my life to my younger self, he might have a hard time making sense of it. Well, several years ago I did wanted to make a career change, hopefully around environmental issues. Maybe it was a midlife crisis kind of thing and wanted a fresh restart in my career. Adding to that, we decided with my wife and kids to move to Stockholm to be close to her family, which we did during 2020. But after that, almost a year passed and I couldn’t find a path forward. My wife, my closest friend, and even Toby - Trase’s director, whom I got to know during one of several failed job application processes - , suggested going back to school. I found it ridiculous: at this age, me being a person of action.. it doesn’t make sense! But it did. Both during a consultancy I was doing at a time, and even in my free time, I found myself geeking around data systems technologies. It had, and still does, a playful feel to it, and of craftmanship, even if data can seem intangible. But of course, it doesn’t. Data tells all kinds of stories, points to things that otherwise would be hard to see or understand, and is susceptible to certain rigor.
If all the social impact leaders reading your interview could witness firsthand one of the projects you’re currently working on at Trase, what would that be and why?
Among others initiatives, it has been a privilege to contribute to the work on Do pasto ao Prato (loosely meaning from farm to fork in Portuguese), which brings more transparency to the beef sector in Brazil. Brazilian cattle is the single most important driver of deforestation in tropical rainforests. Take the Amazon rainforest, during 2022: around 11,600 square kilometers where deforested then, most of them related to cattle ranching. This is an area roughly 15 times the size of New York! The neighbouring Cerrado biome had almost the same numbers.
Surprisingly, some basic questions have remained mostly unanswered: how did the cattle from deforested areas move around between farms before going to a slaughterhouse? In which slaughterhouses did they end in? Where does the meat from these slaughterhouses ends up being sold? How can a consumer in Brazil find out, before buying a meat package in a supermarket, if that particular package has a high or low risk of being related to deforestation or human rights violations?
In Do Pasto ao Prato, you’ll find the currently most accurate response to those questions. When users use the app to find the information about a specific meat package they find at the supermarket, they can also send us that information, so we can create a better overall picture of how cattle and meat production moves around the country, up to supermarkets.
In his mentorship session, your colleague André mentioned that transitions in career journeys are like a bringing a full bag of skills with you from each work experience. What are some of the career transitions you’ve been through, and what were the skills you’ve brought with you across your career, and why are they important to you?
Career-wise, its been a messy and fun ride. Maybe my main skill has been to enjoy all the sides of it. I’ve gone from being a computer geek, to a full-time social entrepreneur, and currently a computer geek again. At the start of my career, I worked part time as a software developer, and sometimes as a development leader, which allowed me to spend most of the time doing things with Somos Más, even if we didn’t had an income from our work then, until a couple of years later we could dedicate full time to it. I initially took the role of project director, eventually executive director, and many years later also co-founder and co-director of Somos Más in Europe, with offices in Madrid and Brussels. Then back to being director in Colombia, and then a student for a couple of years in Sweden, until now a data engineer. There were times where we had a big team and big projects, and others where I was sleeping in friends couches for months at a time because I needed to keep costs down.
And finally, if someone reading this would dream of building a career like yours, what are some of the resources you recommend they check out?
These short poems can knock you out your feet. If you are feeling out of balance, they help finishing the job
Wild Geese (Mary Oliver)
Lost (David Wagoner, read by Pádraig Ó Tuama)
The Empty Boat (Chuang Tzu, translated by Thomas Merton)
And a book for those feeling a juicy mid-life crisis, where success, failure, growth and meaning tend to come into question:
Falling Upward: A Spirituality For The Two Halves Of Life (Richard Rohr, OFM) 👀 BONUS: peek in the stories of social impact leaders who joined The Bloom's community this week:
Anu Priya I Manager of Capital Mobilization at AVPN I Impact Investing, Ex-Co-Founder at CysterCare and Stanford Seed
Guadalupe Albuquerque I Community Lead at Sidebar, Climatebase Fellow, Ask a Chief of Staff Member and Chief of Staff Fellow I Organizational Culture, Operations, and Strategy
Iona Lup | Artist and Creative Writer, Organiser and Workshop Facilitator and Seasonal Neighbours Collective at A Topical Affair | Co-Lead, Strategy, Research and Organising (workshops, stories, playgrounds)
Melody Waterworth | Founder at Coin For Change and Waterworth Consulting I Social Entrepreneur, Systems Thinking and Holistic Programming for the Public Sector
Ratidzo Mazangwa | Applied Biosciences and Biotechnology | Climate Change, One Health and Social Impact
Curated collection of Global South/Global North resources, programs, events – because there are many opportunities to branch out, beyond a traditional 9 – 5 jobs.
📚 Fellowships
Smithsonian Environmental Justice Fellowship: Fellows will be able to leverage the Institution's vast resources to study environmental injustice and inform potential solutions. Recipients will receive a stipend of USD 62,000 x year and a research allowance up to USD 10,000. Wilson Center Fellowship: 9-month program for scholars, practitioners, journalists and public intellectuals to conduct research and write in their areas of interest, while interacting with policymakers in Washington and Wilson Center staff and other scholars in residence. The Center accepts policy-relevant, non-advocacy fellowship proposals that address key challenges confronting the United States and the world. Harvard Kennedy School's Joan Shorenstein Fellowship: To examine the intersection of media, politics and public policy. Fellows are expected to contribute to the center by publishing original content that aligns with and further’s the center’s core mission of examining how essential information is created, conveyed and consumed.
Global Gender Equity Youth Fellows: Aims to strengthen our global community of youth advocates for gender equality while celebrating 15 young activists’ work and stories. Winners' organizations will receive USD 1,000 in award money in support of their ongoing work on gender equality, in addition to multiple other benefits.
🌐E-Learning Resources
Clever Carbon
♻️Clever Carbon, for carbon footprint literacy: Raising carbon footprint literacy and creating a carbon literate society in order to accelerate reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and create scalable technologies and solutions.
🏳️⚧️Global learning hub by transgender community: Provides open-access courses designed to provide capacity-building training for trans, gender diverse and intersex organizations across the globe.
🌍In-Person Bloom Gatherings
🇧🇷 Brazilian bloomers: Our wonderful teammate Letícia is organizing an in-person Bloom Gathering in São Paulo!! She will be in town from September 15th until the end of the month and would love to meet you all. Connect with Leticia to find out more.
🇺🇸United States bloomers: Our founder Jasmine will be hosting an in person social impact gathering in mid-September during Climate Week and UNGA. Reach out to Jasmine to find out more!
🇸🇪Swedish Bloomers: Not one but TWO bloomers will be hosting an event in Stockholm!! Their story is incredibly special behind this networking event, so we decided to ask for a "behind the scenes" look at their friendship:
How did you meet?
In April 2023, Gaby registered for the networking events organised by Ely for nonprofit professionals in Stockholm, some of which were sponsored by The Bloom. We connected online a few months later and planned to meet in person, knowing we shared similar values and interests as the only Bloom members in Sweden at the time. As South American women living in Stockholm, we bonded immediately.
What's been the impact of meeting each other? Walk us through the collaborations you have in the works.
Meeting each other has had a significant impact. We have shared lots of career advice and opportunities with each other, attended social impact events together, and sometimes meet to co-work. Gaby became one of the co-organisers of Ely’s networking events this year. We are co-facilitating a networking session for civic actors in Stockholm at the Civic Action Tales (CAT) Fair.
Advice you would give to other bloomers who want to find collaborators through the platform?
The Bloom is an exceptional platform for connecting with social impact leaders from across the globe. While virtual connections are invaluable, there’s a good chance that some of these leaders are right in your city or country.
To discover and connect with like-minded individuals nearby, make the most of tools like the Directory on the platform. You can also share events and opportunities in the lounge area, creating chances to meet in person. As we are a big community, you'll find plenty of opportunities to connect face-to-face. Our shared experiences as women in the impact sector, and as migrants, have brought us together in meaningful ways.
organization partner
The Bloom is more than a newsletter: we're a global movement. We partner with social impact organizations committed to the movement, and mobilizing resources to underserved communities ✨
Discover Latin America's social impact grassroots leadership through the eyes of a pioneering gender justice organization in the continent: Pro Mujer. The team bring to light diverse grassroots organizations across the continent you can support, from reproductive rights to political participation of indigenous women leaders 💚 Mexico 🇲🇽
Fondo Semillas: Feminist fund in Mexico that believes in the transformative power of organized girls, young women, trans, and intersex people. For +33 years, they have mobilized resources to support organizations, networks, and collectives, helping them to build more just, free, and happy realities. Their programs focus on body autonomy, work, land, and identities, striving to foster equality and justice. Fondo Semillas provides grants and accompaniment to strengthen movements and sustain life with dignity. Fondo para la Paz:Dedicated to improve the quality of life in marginalized rural communities across Mexico. Since its founding in 1994, Fondo para la Paz has been committed to fostering social equity and environmental sustainability by implementing programs focused on education, health, economic development, and environmental conservation. The organization works closely with local communities, respecting their cultural heritage and empowering them to drive their own development.
Guatemala 🇬🇹
Wakami: Organization that creates products connecting people with the Earth, working with women from generally vulnerable rural communities in Guatemala, with the goal of creating chains of opportunities that connect communities with prosperity.
Bolivia 🇧🇴
OMAK (no website, reach out for a direct intro 🤎): It strengthens and promotes the active participation of indigenous women leaders, in coordination with Municipal and Original Authorities, motivating and training them to participate in decision-making and influencing public policies in favor of women.
Argentina 🇦🇷
Mujeres de la Matria Latinoamericana (MuMaLá): An organization that works for women's rights and gender equality in Argentina. MuMaLá promotes public policies that protect and empower women and fights against gender-based violence. Movement for LGBTIQ+ rights, fighting against discrimination, for the recognition of diversity, and for a state with inclusive and reparative policies.
Chaka: Connects artisan and entrepreneurial talent with the export market for crafts. The organization dreams that in every corner of Argentina, women will be exporting innovation and culture to the world. They work with two programs: Chaka Tech, which connects female tech talent from Tucumán with technology companies, and Chaka Rural, which mentors entrepreneurs from the Calchaquí Valleys to connect them with export opportunities.
If you'd like to connect with Pro Mujer and their nonprofit netowork, send an email to team@readtobloom.com & we will introduce you✨
grow new roots
Social impact job opportunities we love around the world to grow new roots in your career. Employers: reach out to team@readtobloom.com to amplify your roles 💌
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