Our Day to End Poverty

Tuesday, December 4 at 7 pm

Joy Anderson, and Shannon Daley-Harris discuss their book:

Interview with Joy Anderson, one of the writers of Our Day to End Poverty

What is your book about?
Our Day to End Poverty invites us to look at the twenty-four hours in our very ordinary days and to start thinking about poverty in new and creative ways. Inspired by the landmark bestseller 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth, this book offers scores of practical actions anyone can take to fight poverty. Our Day to End Poverty is a straightforward guidebook written in an uplifting style, designed to show readers connections between their daily activities and the lives of people in poverty around the globe, and meant to convert concern into action.The chapters are short and pithy, full of specific facts, resources for learning more, and menus of simple, often fun, and always practical action steps. Our Day to End Poverty is a great gift for graduates, the perfect accompaniment for company volunteer days and an inspiring holiday gift for anyone on your list.

When did you first decide to write it?
Our Day to End Poverty is the result of a uniquely collaborative process that started almost 3 years ago. The "book team" comprised five of us, each with a particular but dynamic role. Jeff Keenan, after witnessing the juxtaposition of prosperity and poverty while working in Asia, sought to discern the contribution he could make to help end poverty. He engaged in conversation with Joy Anderson, president and founder of Criterion Ventures, about the roles individuals play in social change. They realized that there was a need for the global poverty equivalent of the environmental book 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth by the EarthWorks Group. Joy set about assembling a team. Shannon Daley-Harris came on board to write the book, drawing on her decades of U.S. and international work with and on behalf of children. Karen Speerstra, a longtime publisher, joined the team to edit the book. Jackie VanderBrug, Criterion Ventures' managing director, brought insight and ideas to the process and the book's form and content. Operating within this book team was like learning a new dance. Although it wasn't always graceful, we were always surrounded by grace. Before Shannon even wrote the first word, we spent many hours on the phone, discussing the unique contribution our book could make, planning its organization, and sharing research information on a secured website. Throughout the months that she wrote and revised the chapters, team members provided suggestions and edits. We invited others - more than a hundred experts in different fields - to help us refine the chapters and give us new ideas for practical actions.

How is the book doing?
The book is doing well, picking up in some very interesting places. For example, this September a large poverty fighting nonprofit, Dallas Central Ministries, gave the book away as a gift to the sponsors of their largest annual fundraiser. The book was well received, and the fundraiser was a phenomenal success. I've started hearing in many accounts of local groups in various places finding the book and running with it, whether congregations focused on social action, local book groups, or professors who have worked Our Day into their lesson plans at colleges. One of the most exciting places I've seen this happen is with groups already focused on the work of eradicating poverty, who find the book often see it as a great aid to their cause, with its variety of resources and focus on creative thinking, even people who are entrenched in the struggle to make change can find something new in Our Day.

What's a benchmark going to be that will tell you the book has been a success?
We benchmark the book against the book 50things you can do to save the earth. A long lasting practical book that helps to support a movement. In the short term, we have a variety of strategies currently in motion, so there are a variety of benchmarks. One, for example is a simple goal of moving 5,000 copies in this calendar year. We are beyond the halfway point to achieving that goal. Another aspect of our marketing has been working to connect the book with corporate audiences, with the thought that many companies are very focused on their social responsibility right now. Often groups have created volunteer days to give back to their community, and we have started connecting with people in HR at various companies to discuss how well the book can align with events like that. We'll certainly see it as a nice success when we can document a company using the book in connection to their volunteer events, and then turn that story around and use it to bolster other efforts to spread usage and knowledge of Our Day.