Invisible Children and Digitaria Unveil First Online Community for Youth Inspired to 'Be A Hero'

San Diego, CA (PRWeb) February 13, 2007 -- Invisible Children, a media-based non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and educating youth around the world, and Digitaria, a full-service digital marketing and technology firm, today announced a new, interactive Web community called "Schools for Schools." Schools for Schools is a program that inspires high schools from around the world to raise money to help bring war-affected schools in Northern Uganda to a nationally competitive standard. With a healthy mix of collaboration and competition, Schools for Schools exemplifies the future of online communities by taking a proven online social networking model and using it to combine small, independent efforts to make a huge difference.

Invisible Children, Inc.'s goal is to holistically provide quality education and opportunities to the people of Northern Uganda, while empowering youth in America to use their voice for action. After three young filmmakers discovered the brutal effects of the 20-year-long war in Northern Uganda, a documentary film was created to educate and inspire people to get involved. Since then, Invisible Children has developed into a grassroots phenomenon and non-profit organization with innovative programs on the ground in Uganda and here in the States. By inspiring the youth in America to use their creativity for change and become personally involved, Invisible Children is creating lifelong activists. Through the efforts of high school and college students across the US, there are currently more than 450 students in the Education Program in Uganda with full-time mentors guiding them to excel.

"As we continued to send more students to school in Uganda, we realized that the schools had appalling conditions, lacking the necessary resources to help the students become future leaders of Uganda," states Laren Poole, filmmaker and co-founder of Invisible Children, Inc. "Schools for Schools is our way of uniting the programs and people in both Uganda and America on a personal level."

Schools for Schools is a safe and secure, invitation-only online community, designed for the high school demographic - Invisible Children's strongest supporters. Students are inspired to use creativity to raise money for the organization, and then to showcase ideas and communicate with other young activists. Schools for Schools is the first program to provide immediate data on where the money goes by providing participants with a visually interactive network. The "Real-Time Results" section of the Web site allows students to see the dynamic atmosphere of students across the world signing up, raising money and making a difference. Visual benchmarks on school profiles allow students to instantly understand the impact of their donation on five major categories: water, teachers, books, buildings and technology.

"A majority of high schools students currently participate in some type of online social community. These online networks are becoming a way of life for today's youth," said Digitaria CEO, Daniel Khabie. "We have worked with Invisible Children to provide a safe, positive online community that inspires students across the world to connect on a common social issue and to collaborate to take action. After one week, more than 1,250 high school students and 110 schools have already enrolled in Schools for Schools, to help raise money and awareness for Invisible Children."

As the first online community that empowers students to use their voice to change lives, Schools for Schools honors the everyday heroes across America. In addition to raising money, participating students have the opportunity to nominate "Heroes". Invisible Children will award select "Heroes" with bonus opportunities of monetary grants toward the school's fundraising total, a trip to Washington, D.C. to lobby alongside Invisible Children, or a chance to win the first-place prize: an all-expenses-paid trip to Northern Uganda.

Invisible Children is continuing their use of grassroots marketing by sending 50 volunteer "roadies" out across the United States to raise awareness and get students involved on the second National Tour. Schools have been holding fundraisers long before the visiting "roadies" officially introduced the new program, compelled by the competition to win the first-place prize. All donations made through Schools for Schools go exclusively into the campaign. With a mandate to put as much of this money tangibly and effectively on the ground in Uganda, Invisible Children has committed to using at least 90 percent of the donation to fund direct implementation of the partner school's improvements.

Please visit the Schools for Schools Website at http://s4s.invisiblechildren.com.

About Invisible Children, Inc.
Invisible Children, Inc. changes culture, policy, and lives through collision of power and poverty. Established in 2005, Invisible Children is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial resources to invisible children by documenting their true, untold stories in a creative and relevant way, resulting in positive change. Invisible Children, Inc. was formed after the release of the film "Invisible Children: Rough Cut", which documents a war in Northern Uganda in which children are abducted by a rebel army and forced to fight as child soldiers. The filmmakers for "Invisible Children: Rough Cut", Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole, are also the founders of Invisible Children, Inc. Currently, Invisible Children employs 175 people in war-torn areas of Northern Uganda and is putting 462 kids through school, with plans to see the number grow. The organization is based in San Diego, Calif. For more information, please visit http://www.invisiblechildren.com.

About Digitaria
Digitaria is a full-service digital marketing and technology firm based in San Diego. Since 1997, Digitaria has consistently lead the field in creating digital experiences online through Web sites, intranets, extranets, digital asset management, interactive marketing campaigns and business solutions that are both measurable and memorable. Digitaria represents many of the largest brands in the world. Active clients include ASICS Shoes, Best Western International, CBS Corporation, FOX, Gateway Corp., Invitrogen, KCET Hollywood, KPBS, QUALCOMM, Ryland Homes, TaylorMade-adidas Golf, and many others.

Digitaria believes strongly in the power of collaboration and strategic thinking and often integrates internal teams with the talented staff of its clients to ensure all stakeholders contribute to the success of the engagement. For additional information, please visit http://www.digitaria.com.

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