There is no stronger force than when an entire community rallies around the most important causes of the day - and it’s one of the reasons why we love WORLDZ so much. Every year, it brings together the best and brightest media, advertising, and nonprofit organizations by creating an environment for each of them to work together to solve the most pressing issues.
At this year’s WORLDZ, there were certain organizations that stood head and shoulders above the rest as go-to organizations leading change and impact.
Here were a few organizations that stood out the most to us:
Axios: The organization redefining news led a session at WORLDZ that definitely got attendees talking. Led by Sara Fischer (Media Reporter) and Roy Schwartz (Co-Founder & President), the duo explained how Axios is hard at work to rebuild trust between consumers and the general news populous. They’re doing it through their work on short, easily consumable content that they’ve labelled ‘smart brevity’ - that is, designed for people who want to get the news fast. Doing this has empowered Axios to focus more on the facts in order to surface ‘why’ a news story matters to its readers.
Mission Blue: Dr. Sylvia Earle’s keynote on the effects of climate change on our oceans was a show stopper. During her five-minute presentation, which also gave a quick nod to her Netflix documentary, Dr. Earle introduced her oceanography efforts through Mission Blue to the WORLDZ community. Under her leadership, the Mission Blue team has implemented communications campaigns that elevate Hope Spots (special places that are critical to the health of the ocean) to the world stage through documentaries, social media, traditional media and innovative tools like Google Earth. They’re leading the world on ocean exploration and challenging us to ask questions like - why is it that the vast majority of the world’s oceans are still left unexplored?
Rise Justice Labs: Activist Amanda Nguyen spoke about the founding of Rise, the organization that has spurred a movement for social assault survivors. She’s most famous for having been the voice behind the unanimously passed Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, after having to navigate the broken criminal justice system following her own rape. Rise is grounded in the belief that the voices of ordinary citizens matter, regardless of their background or age. Rise has led the most successful legislative reform movement in US history (27 bills passed and over 200 organizers trained in the community).
The 2019 Goodfronts Presenting Organizations (a.k.a Seize the Awkward, Life is Good Kids, International Rescue Foundation, and Comic Relief): As the brainchild of Ross Martin, the Goodfronts is WORLDZ’s annual take on the upfronts, where selected nonprofits organizations vie for the media industry’s time, access, and platforms. We were proud to introduce our teen mental health campaign Seize the Awkward to the WORLDZ community, and even prouder to do so alongside such amazing and important organizations. This year, the Goodfronts proudly brought in over two dozen media commitments.
Learn more about WORLDZ and Goodfronts here.
To read what had us most excited for WORLDZ 2019, read: Why We're Excited to Make an Impact at WORLDZ 2019