Social Engineering Soap Opera Style

Population Communications International (PCI) has a very intriguing tagline: "Telling Stories, Saving Lives."

PCI, an American non-profit based in New York City, takes on the biggest, hairiest, most intractable problems. These are the issues that are so huge that should really be added to the original Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: HIV/AIDS, women's rights, population control, environmental degradation and global sustainability.

The main weapon in their arsenal is perhaps the most powerful social force in the world today, second only to religion and Hip Hop... the soap opera.

PCI has worked in over twenty-five countries worldwide since 1985, and together with local partners has produced eighteen soap operas in fourteen countries. PCI consultants work directly with writers and social workers in local markets such as the Andean highlands, Kenya, Central America, and China. According to PCI's website, their programs "address the societal factors that limit people's ability to make choices that will improve their health and educational prospects."

These serial dramas motivate individuals to adopt new attitudes and behavior by modeling behaviors that promote family health, stable communities, and a sustainable environment. Each series is written, performed and produced by the creative talent in that country. The media stretches across tv, radio and print.

Mónica en busca de amor
(Monica in Search of Love)

This Spanish-language comic book, by Population Control International, provides Latino teens in the Los Angeles area with information about some common risks that adolescents face, including dating violence, early pregnancy, and STDs. Published in collaboration with a group of Latino teenagers and Gregory Molina, an educator in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the comic reflects life for Spanish-speaking youth in some of the city's most difficult neighborhoods. It has been distributed extensively in Southern California by health and social agencies. more>

For more, check out the On the Media story, "The Soapbox":

In the late 1970s, Mexican telenovela writer Miguel Sabido invented the “soap opera for social change.” Since then, awareness organizations around the world have used Sabido-style soap operas to broadcast their message to millions of viewers. Brooke speaks with New Yorker contributor Hanna Rosin, who recently wrote about consciousness-raising through TV-storytelling.

> Listen to podcast or read transcript

Launch of Social Innovation Conversations

As series producer for Globeshakers, with host Tim Zak, I am excited to introduce you to the Conversations Network's new podcast channel: Social Innovation Conversations.
Our goal is to create a popular channel on the Web, a place that provides an engaging and provocative dialogue about the most effective ways we can improve society and the environment. We'll do this by recording conferences, speeches, and interviews from around the world, to bring you the voices of those at the forefront of creating social change.

The Conversations Network has grown out of the explosive response to Doug Kaye's IT Conversations, which now continues as a channel on the Network.

Social Innovation Conversations is made possible by the concerted efforts of the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School of Business, and the Pittsburgh Social Innovation Accelerator... three organizations dedicated to improving society and the environment. To become a member is free and it's easy to register.

As part of the launch, we've chosen to re-broadcast two conversations with Tim Zak host of Globeshakers...

Ethan Zuckerman, Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Ethan Zuckerman addresses the direct question: "Why should we care about Africa?" As a technologist, Ethan has spent much time on the ground working with the new generation of African entrepreneurs, programmers, organizers, and young people who are hooking up the continent to the web. These new netizens are changing the way that villagers and urban dwellers learn, organize, network, and face the challenges of poverty, AIDS, political strife and making a living.

David Bornstein - How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.
An accomplished journalists, David is a leading expert in the global rise of "social entrepreneurism." In this program, host Tim Zak asks how we would even know a social entrepreneur if we saw one on the street. More important, why should we even care? Who invests in social enterprise and what is at stake for our world if we don't?

Alex Lindsay - The Next Generation of Digital Craftsman
As "Chief Architect" of PixelCorps, Alex Lindsay merges the very old idea of a guild system made up of independent craftsman with the demands of mastering new and emerging media. PixelCorps serves as "a guild for the next generation of craftsmen--digital craftsmen." They are currently transfering skills in digital imaging and animation to regions in the developing world, so that those citizens can capitalize on the coming media revolution.

Zach Warren - Laughter in a Time of War
In the Fall of 2005, Zach set the World's Record for running the Philadelphia marathon--while juggling! In 2006, he is gunning to set another world's record for the fastest100miles on a unicycle--a record that has stood for almost 20 years. In the summer of 2005, Zack Warren, a native of West Virginia, traveled to Afghanistan to work with children as part of the Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children. All this while a student at Harvard Divinity School.


Bill Strickland - Manchester Craftsmans Guild
As one of the world's great social innovators, Bill Strickland is head of both the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and the Bidwell Training Center, located on Pittsburgh's gritty north side just down the street from where he grew up. Strickland has created a youth development and adult training center like no other, in approach and results. Over nearly 40 years, he has melded an environment surrounded by stunning art, the sounds of jazz, beautiful orchids, and brilliant architecture with programs that get kids into college and adults a job with a future.