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"Last weekend we attended the Millennium Campus Conference at Harvard University, where celebrities, political figures, humanitarians and volunteers came together for three days to help student leaders learn the skills they need to promote the United Nations&amp;amp;#8217; Millennium Development Goals: ending global poverty, bolstering education equality and creating environmental sustainability, among others. And sure, we all may know why we need to end global poverty, but how we go about doing it is another story. So here are five methods some of the MCC attendees suggested to get started on the &amp;amp;#8220;how&amp;amp;#8221; and help promote the Millennium Development Goals in easy, everyday kinds of ways. 1. Collaboration Not only did Eliza Dushku walk away with the Global Generation Award Saturday night; she also left us with a sage piece of advice when we chatted with her at the gala: &amp;amp;#8220;The more we collaborate and support each other, the better it will get. No one person can possibly know everything about everything&amp;amp;#8212;that&amp;amp;#8217;s why we have each other. Share what inspires you. Volunteer. And understand the importance of working together.&amp;amp;#8221; What you can do now: Invite 10 friends over for a low-cost dinner (think pasta). Have everyone bring $10. While you&amp;amp;#8217;re eating, talk about the MDGs (instead of the latest celebrity gossip). Share opinions. Inspire each other. By the end of the night, agree on one cause and one organization that you&amp;amp;#8217;d like to pool your money to donate to. 2. Leadership Robert Kaplan, professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, says becoming a strong leader stems from adhering to your ideals: &amp;amp;#8220;Being a leader is about figuring out what you believe in&amp;amp;#8212;and having the courage to act on it.&amp;amp;#8221; What you can do now: Take on an initiative and simply follow through, whether it&amp;amp;#8217;s hosting a yard sale and donating the money to a charitable cause, or gathering your old books and clothes and donating them to a homeless shelter or hospital. Once you put a good deed into action, others will take note (and hopefully follow suit). 3. Social media Believe it or not, our generation has one of the most powerful platforms for change right at our fingertips (literally): social media. Former High School Musical star Monique Coleman believes that &amp;amp;#8220;change starts with you. You don&amp;amp;#8217;t have to give up your career path or have money to make a difference.&amp;amp;#8221; After all, it was through social media that Dushku was able to make her 30/30/30 goal, raising over $30,000 for her nonprofit organization THARCE-Gulu before her thirtieth birthday on December 30 last year. What you can do now: Look online for nonprofit organizations you&amp;amp;#8217;d like to help out. No money? No problem. Simply find the organization on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or YouTube, and share its content with your friends and network. Creating awareness is half the battle. 4. Overcoming fear and peer pressure &amp;amp;#8220;I think that in order to make progress, we have to change the stereotypes,&amp;amp;#8221; says Sabastian, a Harvard University graduate. &amp;amp;#8220;You need to keep sharing your dream and your vision&amp;amp;#8212;even if it means going outside your comfort zone,&amp;amp;#8221; adds Jovana, another Harvard grad. What you can do now: If the idea of volunteering pushes you over the edge or requires you to break through stereotypes, try it anyway. You&amp;amp;#8217;d be surprised how much that newfound courage can positively affect other areas of your life. 5. Find your passion &amp;amp;#8220;Some women may feel like they can only make a difference if they are doctors or capable of giving major donations,&amp;amp;#8221; says FACE AIDS executive director Julie Veroff. &amp;amp;#8220;This is simply not true. We need architects, engineers, writers, political scientists, designers and anthropologists. Whatever it is that you are passionate about, pursue that passion, because there is always an application to social justice work, and you will be more effective and more personally fulfilled if you&amp;amp;#8217;re doing what you love most.&amp;amp;#8221; We&amp;amp;#8217;ll take that as good closing advice. What you can do now: True change starts with passion, so go find yours! Look up nonprofits until you find one you love, and see what you can accomplish when you combine your interests and social good. Learn more about the Millennium Campus Network and the Millennium Development Goals."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2011/09/5-ways-to-save-the-world-today>