I would love to speak to someone over at Harvard, perhaps they could help me, too. Feel free to email me, avstempel@gmail.com.

Much interesting work is being done on the way individuals interact with social media at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School — I suspect they would be very interested in your non-profit, Ashley!

I have not seen this article, I appreciate you sharing it with us! (Find the article here: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604,00.html) There is also an interesting article about Twitter and the business world that was posted to an investment site a few weeks ago (Find this article here: http://247wallst.com/2009/05/26/the-ten-ways-twitter-will-permanently-change-american-business/).

Although these articles are interesting, it is not this type of thought process that brought me to the idea to use Twitter as one way to keep conversation in the youth’s lives. Jim and I have talked a lot about how leadership in my own life, including my experiential educational experiences, has affected the way I see myself as a young adult, and my future plans. And even just sitting with Jim once a month for an hour conversation, I saw how I much I developed in my future plans and ideas. And it occurred to me that if you sat down and spoke to any great leader, they would share with you a story about how they once had a great leader who inspired them. The cycle of leadership seems to be driven like an epidemic; leaders are bred through their conversations and interactions with other leaders.

And then, being a student majoring in journalism- social media, the news, and communication is a part of my everyday life so it was only natural for me to turn to social media as a part of my platform to keep a positive conversation flowing with a mentor, leader, or loved one in the lives of the youth within DYS. (This is all a thought, the non-profit is still in development).

It was last week that I witnessed lthe effects of leadership in a natural atmosphere- I attended an Alumni Celebration for youth who had participated in Youth & Police in Partnership, a program affiliated with Children Services of Roxbury. During the ceremony they gave out awards and had the past youth who are all now on their way to college speak to the youth who are currently in the program, and the leaders who once taught them. It was amazing to see the difference leadership can make in a youth’s life, without the youth even realizing it until many years later. (I was in tears) See this program here: http://www.csrox.org/programs/youth-police-partnership.php

Currently the DYS is a program under Massachusetts Public Safety. But when it comes to Public Safety and the treatment of troubled youth, I believe leadership is the tool that will stop the leaky faucet before correctional facilities and the police have to mop up the flooded floor.

Also, it was timely, after reading your blog, to come across the article in last week’s Time (6/15/09) “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live”. Check it out for a complete history of Twitter and how users are steering the evolution of this form of communication.