Twitter does have a learning curve for most people, especially figuring out the abbreviations.
Recently, I received a tweet from @jyl_MOMIF inviting me as a guest on their weekly Twitter #GNO pajama party. Since my mom monitors all my tweets, she wondered what GNO stood for. I’m not really sure why I knew that abbreviation but I quickly told her, “girls night out.”
You would think it was just for girls but they often invite men guests. Last week, they had @guykawasaki on talking about entrepreneurship. On Tuesday, April 21, I’ll be one of their guests for the topic, “Charity.” I’m pretty sure I’ll be the youngest Twitter guest/entrepreneur, not mention the youngest boy, they’ve ever had. How cool is that?!
Since I started my own business when I was nine (I’m 13 now), I’ve been donating to help foster kids and also a children’s hospital. I always encourage people to at least give something because even the smallest things can make a difference in someone else’s life. It doesn’t have to be money or gifts either. If you can volunteer your time, that’s good too. Besides helping kids in California, I’ve taken on a much bigger project also.
Last year, an organization called Nurture Smart located in Nairobi, Kenya found me on Internet when they were searching for a young entrepreneur. They have a program to teach kids ages 7-15 the skills to become productive business people so when they grow up, they can continue to help people in their own country. They invited me to Kenya as a peer ambassador, keynote speaker, and judge at their annual Young Entrepreneur Search competition. As details were being worked out for the trip, their funding partner backed out on them leaving their program, and especially the kids, with nothing.
I’ve seen a lot of things on TV about people donating food and clothes to other countries which is really good. But when that stuff is gone, the people are still in the same situation they were before. Nurture Smart’s program is trying to educate the kids to be more self-sufficient when they grow up. I think that’s a lot smarter in the long run. That’s why my family and I are looking for ways to help them raise money to keep their program going for the kids.
Join me at #GNO on Tuesday, April 21 from 6-8 p.m. I’ll be online answering questions and giving some tips that I’ve learned about business and charities. For more details, check out Mom It Forward .
