Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with the Sharing Foundation's founder, Dr. Nancy Hendrie, a retired pediatrician in her seventies to work on a couple of projects and get ready for the final phase of the our America's Giving Challenge campaign.  Dr. Hendrie has been working tirelessly on this campaign using her social networks. (mostly offline and email)   Yesterday, I had to chance to show her some online social networks like Twitter and Facebook as well as some tools like video blogging.  We even made a YouTube video with my son, Harry.

Ten years ago, she didn’t want to spend her retirement years on the golf course.  Instead, she started The Sharing Foundation.   Yesterday, she showed me this article by writer Elizabeth Eiditz published in the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly about the Foundation's ten years of successful programs. 

I've been a volunteer or board member for the Sharing Foundation, working with Dr. Hendrie for more than 7 years now and she never ceases to inspire me.    But, there are many women - old and young - out there on the social web helping to make the world a better place. 

Cambodia has many huge challenges and social issues a single NGO can't solve them all.  A big issue in that part of the world is Human Trafficking.  Christina Arnold, who is the founder of Prevent Human Trafficking,
was recently interviewed by Britt Bravo. The interview is riveting.   This summer, video bloggers Ryanne Hodson and Jay Dedman spent three weeks documenting Christina's work and helping them establish a video blog.  In you want to be inspired by women working all over the world,my colleague, Britt Bravo's personal blog, Have Fun Do Good, shares many stories about women who are doing good on the social web.

My thoughts are with BoMama and Shannon who are visiting Uganda with the NGO Compassion to observe first hand the work that is being done there to support children.  I can't wait to interview them upon their return to see what they learned from their experience.

If you're wondering how to put together compassion and caring for children with social media, look no further than Dr. Mani, a heart surgeon who lives in India, and treats little children born with congenital heart defects.  Many of his patients come from poor families.  He is an energetic and creative social media fundraiser.  I'm in just in awe.  Dr.Mani does an annual blogging marathon called the 'Heart Kids Blogathon'. During the event which is scheduled in August-September every year, Dr.Mani updates his blog every 30 minutes with a new post - taking no breaks, day and night, for 24 hours!  He also does an "Tag-A-Thon" which is a meme spreader for a cause.  His "How to Help Dr. Mani" is an excellent guide to leveraging a social network for good.

Today, I discovered a blog called the "Twenty Five Days to Make A Difference" written by a girl named Laura.  Her blog got started because:

In 2005, my grandpa got very sick. He was only in his sixties, and he was very happy and healthy before then. I was sad and scared when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died only five months later. I was very, very sad when he died, and I felt lonely. My grandpa would not have wanted this though.

In December of 2007, I decided that the best way to remember my grandpa during the holiday season would be by living my life like he did, by making a difference and being a leader. I decided to honor my grandfather’s memory by trying to make a difference every day for twenty five days. I wanted to be able to do little things, like kids my age typically do, instead of HUGE things that are sometimes hard for kids like me. I decided to write about my adventures here, and I also created a challenge.

For 2008, she has extended this challenge to support smaller causes in her area that don't get as much attention as larger ones do.  She does a monthly challenge that ends of the 25th of each month.  She awards the individual who has made the most different a $20 donation to their charity.

There are women bloggers (and men too) all over the world who are using social media to do amazing work. 
Beth Kanter, BlogHer CE for NGOS and Social Change, writes Beth's Blog.