AP Photo/Stephen Chernin
READ MORE ABOUT:
Yesterday at the Clinton Global Initiative, Usher and Phillipe Cousteau announced that they were forming a partnership to help educate youth about water issues--specifically, the aim is to empower students to help restore and protect the world's water. I attended the press conference where the new partners discussed their aims.
Which again, leaves the question: why is Usher teaming up with Phillipe Cousteau? Despite any preconceived notions you may have, Usher does not in fact spend all of his time in clubs with Lil' John and Ludacris having affirmative, single word conversations while house beats thump. No, he's actually an accomplished philanthropist, donating and working in New Orleans to help the recovery effort there.
This time, he's donated $1 million dollars to help launch a group called Powered by Service, an international nonprofit designed to get youth to participate in service projects around the world. One such service project? The Water Planet Challenge, a program designed by EarthEcho International and its founder Phillipe Cousteau to revolutionize environmental youth service.
And that's where the partnership comes in: Cousteau's group will bring environmental service to Powered by Service, and Usher's other group, New Look, is a partner of EarthEcho. Got that? (Told you the man was quite the philanthropist).
The Water Planet Challenge is designed to connect top tier educators and learning materials with youth in an innovative way; inspiring kids to take action into their own hands to solve real world problems. And it the program couldn't come at a better time--as the world is edging closer to a genuine water crisis, we're going to need all the action-ready, educated youth we can get.
At the conference, Usher was beaming, and spoke eloquently about his mission to help get youth involved in service: "What we're gonna do--it's gonna be a shock," he said. Cousteau was in high spirits as well, and took time to map out the details of his program (which you can find more info about here) to the many intrigued reporters. To find out what you can do to get involved, check out EarthEcho International online.
For more on water issues, don't miss our Blue August feature.
More on Green Charities
How to Choose a Green Charity
Tripadvisor's Democratic Charity Drive Donates 1 Million to 5 Good Green Causes
What are the Top-Rated Charities?
