I love the idea of harvesting the energy, knowledge, and creativity of the people affected by the economic crisis. I know that we've seen volunteering increase all over the country as people seek to use their time in a positive way. I wonder, though, if creating a new organization is the most effective way of improving the lives of women throughout the world.
Starting a new enterprise is time-consuming and faces a steep learning curve as the new effort gets going. In addition, I suspect that it would be hard to find countries to host social change volunteers. Governments are made up of people who benefit from the status quo; how would we convince them to accept an influx of Americans determined to be change agents? In addition, identifying people with the skills and background to effectively improve women’s health and support social change will be very difficult. That’s not a skill set that is easy to acquire.
Maybe we could build on existing structures, and channel additional human energy through them; they are already set up to select skilled people and match them to need. We could expand Peace Corps, for example, and gear it more toward woman. Peace Corps volunteers already tend to be women; maybe a woman-to-woman program could be designed? PCVs could run community women’s groups, and provide education on relevant topics. We could also encourage Americans (or subsidize) to become United Nations volunteers, which would also show a new American commitment to multilateralism. Lastly, I think the new Global Health Corps is an exciting experiment in connecting young people to global health leadership opportunities.