Rossana Bee, the star of the EH BEE FAMILY, “Mamma Bee”, kicked things off on the Summit’s main stage. Rossana and her family have amassed a following of over 18 million followers, and their unbeatable creativity and hilarity have helped them expand from Vine to YouTube and beyond. They are now using their social media influence to promote positive change.
The packed auditorium was moved by her harrowing story of struggle and her courage to empower others to pursue their own life missions. Today marked the first time she shared this story to the public.
Rossana asked the delegation, "What is your purpose? what is your definition of a meaningful life?"
Drawing on her experiences of launching her Foundation, Bee The Change, she explained how her family is working with charities they are most passionate about, to leave a lasting legacy.
Her mission of love has initiated a Foundation, Bee The Change, that funds organisations around the world promoting the well being and social justice for all people, animals and the environment.
Rossana said, “No one can stop my determination, and my fire to change the world, and if I can do it, you can do it."
Doutzen Kroes, supermodel and leading Ambassador for #KnotMyPlanet, followed next on to the stage.
She shared the success story of her social media campaign, #KnotMyPlanet, that aims to put the end to the ivory crisis and elephant extinction and fight for the cause of the Elephant Crisis Fund, a revolutionary new conservation tool that uses 100% of all donations to fund over 120 programs in 26 African countries to fight poaching, ivory trafficking and raise awareness on the African elephant slaughter.
Gathering support from her fashion industry friends, as well as her 6 million Instagram and Twitter followers, the campaign has raised $3 million USD to support ECF.
She said, "Everyone was born with a special talent and sometimes it takes time to develop that talent - saving elephants was a way to meet myself.”
Through the success of her campaign, #KnotMyPlanet, they have partnered with brands such as Porter magazine and Tiffany’s, who have launched a whole line of elephant bracelets.
Carolyn Everson, Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions discussed the power of social media platforms in delivering social impact, and officially launched Facebook’s social entrepreneurship competition, exclusive to One Young World Bogotá 2017.
Working with One Young World, the aim of the competition is to empower social entrepreneurs and increase their reach and audience through effective use of social networks.
At 13 years old, Facebook has brought more than a billion people together and connected around 25 million people in 65 countries through efforts to bring internet connectivity to every single person in the world.
“We believe that this is a fundamental human right - just like access to food, water, and shelter," she said.
Following the natural disaster in Japan, people were desperate to find out news about their loved ones, and as a result Facebook groups opened to facilitate this, and after the Paris attacks, they enabled the check-in feature.
She said, “Citizens globally need to have access to 'safety check' when there is a natural disaster or a terrorist attack.”
She finished with a powerful message, “Everyone should be able to have these tools at their fingertips.”
This article was written by Elinor Jane Stephens. She is a Magazine Journalist, trained at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies (JOMEC).
