My Nonprofit Reviews
Amaury
Review for WiserEarth, San Francisco, CA, USA
I joined WiserEarth early 2009, after reading Paul Hawken's "The Ecology of Commerce". As a frenchman, I worked on the French translation of the website, which was released in May 2010. Volunteering to make WiserEarth accessible to a broader range of people, I got to see the organization from the inside, and I met incredible people -- either in person or through Skype and other electronic ways -- 200% dedicated to their work, with an amazing energy. Wibowo, the online community manager, is the kindest person I've ever met, and he's always around to help you in whatever you do, either if you're new to the interface, if you want to setup groups, or to animate debates and throw great ideas in discussions threads. The Editors are also really active people, feeding conversations, creating interest groups to make things move, it's a really great community.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I got a chance to use some of the features of the website, to coordinate a translators group. The tools are really usefull, it is for example easy to send emails to a whole group of people, change layouts, publish articles or pictures etc. It really gives you an efficient way to either promote ideas, or reach out to people with the same interests in sustainable developement issues. I also had a chance to participate to the first Social Innovation Barcamp in Paris, and to a few WiserTuesdays as well.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
The interface is not the simplest one, but it is also the price to pay for it to have so many features. I know that the IT team is working on making things easier, more straightforward when navigating on the website. To bring together more people, I think it can still be ameliorated, but it is already on its way.
Would you volunteer for this group again?
Definitely
For the time you spent, how much of an impact did you feel your work or activity had?
Life-changing
Did the organization use your time wisely?
Quite well
Would you recommend this group to a friend?
Definitely
Did your volunteer experience have an effect on you? (teaching you a new skill, or introducing new friends, etc.)
It litterally changed me. I met incredible people, and discovered that there was a lot of energy devoted to sustainable development. It is like Paul Hawken says in "Blessed Unrest": there are millions of people around the world, and you have no idea, until you jump in and realize that you're not alone. It really made me think about what I wanted to do in my life, and with whom I wanted to work and collaborate. I pretty much got my idea of working on MBA applications from my experience with WiserEarth...
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
