ONE Story Begins

By Rana DiOrio, Founder & CEO of Little Pickle Press

On March 8, 2012, I received a phone call from Jeannine Harvey, Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships at ONE. She said that she had heard about me from three different people, so she was really looking forward to our discussion. She told me that U.S. foreign aid has dropped to less than 1% of the federal budget. ONE was assembling a group of moms to travel to Ethiopia this fall to witness the vital benefits of foreign aid and to tell the stories of the Ethiopian mothers and children.

ONE is a grassroots campaign of more than three million people committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school, and improving futures. Co-founded by Bono and other campaigners, ONE is non-partisan and works closely with African activists and policy makers.

My first reaction was to think—what a progressive organization! My second reaction was to know that I had to go. So, without discovering very much more than that, I committed to making the trip. Why, you may ask? Here’s why:

·        I feel as though my entire life experience has led me to this place at the helm of Little Pickle Press, a company dedicated to developing the highest quality content for children and to catalyzing meaningful conversations to shape them into conscious, responsible people. What better way to discover what’s most important than immersing myself in a community of mothers and children half way around the world? Not only will this trip enrich my global perspective, but also it will open my mind and heart to new possibilities.

·        I am an award-winning author of non-fiction children’s picture books. I know how to make difficult concepts accessible and understandable to children and adults. My skill was requested for a worthy cause, and I am grateful to be in a position to contribute it to serve a high purpose.

·        I believe that moms who are also professional face extraordinary challenges, yet accomplish amazing things. I was honored to be included in this high-impact group of women, and I wanted to share this life-changing experience with them.

·        Over the years I have learned to listen to my inner voice. I used to lead with my head, now I lead with my instincts. My instincts told me that this was a journey I needed to experience, and I listened.

Two months later, I received an email from Jeannine requesting my presence at an organizational meeting for the trip in Washington, DC the first weekend in June. I was not able to attend as I had committed to spending the weekend with my Dad, who was at a rehabilitation hospital in Cambridge. At that time the Editorial staff at Little Pickle Press had decided to earmark August as The Power of One month, and we invited Jeannine Harvey to guest post on our blog. She accepted, and her post will serve as the central article for our August eNewsletter and will go live on our blog tomorrow.

Two weeks ago, Jeannine relayed to me the debrief from the organizational meeting I had missed and what had germinated in the interim. I learned that ONE had already attracted 35 community partners to support the trip to Ethiopia, including Apple and BlogHer. The trip coincides with the International Day of the Girl, so the Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect wants to leverage that.

Last week, Jeannine electronically introduced the ONE Moms who will be travelling to Ethiopia. We are as follows:

Name	Location	Site	Twitter
Asha Dornfest	Portland, OR	http://Parenthacks.com  @parenthacks
Cathleen Falsani	Laguna Beach, CA	http://Sojourners.com  @godgrrl
Rana DiOrio	San Francisco, CA	http://LittlePicklePress.com @LPP_Media @RanaDiOrio
Christine Koh	Boston, MA	http://BostonMamas.com @bostonmamas
Gabrielle Blair	Normandy, France	http://DesignMom.com @designmom
Liz Gumbinner	NY, NY	http://coolmompicks.com http://mom101.com http://coolmomtech.com  @coolmompicks @mom101
Jennifer Howze	London, England	www.jenography.net www.britmums.com @jhowze
Michelle Pannell	London, England	http://mdplife.blogspot.co.uk/ @michelletwinmum
Alice Currah	Seattle, WA	http://Savorysweeklife.com @SavorySweetLife
Kelly Wickham	Chicago, IL	http://mochamomma.com @mochamomma
Karen Walrond, photographer	Houston, TX	http://Chookookoonks.com @chookooloonks

Together we will be telling the stories of the mothers and children in Ethiopia. We will be raising awareness about the lives of these people and forging connections to them. We will also be listening, and we welcome your suggestions and feedback. Please follow us on Twitter and on our respective blogs. The power of ONE story begins …