I’ve been accused of having a green heart. That’s why I’m so pleasantly surprised by what seems to be a major shift in public opinion on climate change. And we can definitely thank Al Gore for that.

My team, Yahoo! for Good, had the privilege of previewing An Inconvenient Truth as a result of our Earth Day efforts in April. We even got to hear from Al himself — he was a surprise guest at a theater filled with only 50 people. He was so passionate and, get this, witty. Where was that in 2000?

Our team left the theater truly transformed. We wanted to ensure that the most people possible saw this film. We even arranged for hundreds of low-income high-school students in Los Angeles and New York City to see it opening week.

Fast-forward to the DVD release. What a no-brainer to make the film available to the youngest (and sometimes most powerful) influencers. So we donated more than 220 copies of An Inconvenient Truth to high-school science teachers in neighboring communities of Yahoo! offices — from California to Oregon to New York. After all, it’s required viewing for all students in Norway and Sweden.

After hearing that the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) rejected a donation of 50,000 DVDs from the movie’s producers allegedly for fear of losing corporate funding, we knew this Purple Act of Kindness was more important than ever. It seems tragic that education is such a low public funding priority in the U.S. that the NSTA has to worry about risking capital campaign contributions from the likes of Exxon Mobile for simply educating kids about global warming. But alas, that’s another story…

In the meantime, Yahoo! will continue to put the environment front and center and educate people on how they can protect it. It’ll do my heart good.

Erin Carlson
Senior Manager, Yahoo! for Good

I love my job, I really do. But sometimes we get so wrapped up in the cerebral that we forget why we do what we do. Events like our recent Purple Act of Kindness remind me why I work in Yahoo! for Good.

My department started Purple Acts of Kindness this spring so we could reach Yahoo!’s local communities with unexpected, generous acts to surprise, delight and, in small ways, make the impossible possible. We’ve committed seven Purple Acts so far, including going on personalized shopping sprees for underprivileged schools in California and India, taking New York City and Los Angeles high-school students to screenings of “An Inconvenient Truth,” hosting hundreds of YMCA kids at a San Francisco Giants game, and flying a severely injured veteran to participate in his battalion’s homecoming from Iraq. When I told my mom we do these every month, she said they reaffirmed her belief in corporations… I think it’s because this is the only part of my job she actually understands.

Our latest Purple Act was for the Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology (BAYCAT), a nonprofit that teaches art and technology to underserved youth and adults (ages 13 to 24) in one of San Francisco’s toughest neighborhoods. BAYCAT’s goal is to educate, empower, and employ its students. This summer, 50 of them got free training in video production, animation, and graphic design, resulting in creative productions that examined everything from social justice to images in the media.

After learning BAYCAT was staging a graduation ceremony, our Purple Acts team descended on the center to transform the event into a mini-Oscars. We erected a white-and-purple balloon arch, poured flutes of sparkling cider, and laid out platters of elegant hors d’oeuvres. Students and families expecting a casual affair instead found themselves walking a glamorous red carpet into an evening celebrating their talents. Knowing how kids these days love the bling bling (well… me too), we gave each of them a blinking flower lei and sunglasses to up the cool factor.

And it didn’t end there. As no awards show is complete without a “schwag bag,” we handed out art supplies, cameras, and picture frames to help maintain artistic inspiration. But we saved our biggest surprise for BAYCAT itself: two professional-quality SLR digital cameras and a color photo printer! The program director actually fell to his knees in gratitude.

At show time, you could just feel the pride. I don’t think any of us expected the energy and inspiration of the students’ productions. We all laughed hysterically over “Flip the Script,” a video demonstrating what would happen if gender stereotyping was reversed. Just picture it: young men imitating hoochy mama moves while auditioning for a dance video before leering female music executives. Another personal favorite was a mock news broadcast with headlines like “White kids’ test scores are plummeting” and “Income levels of blacks continue to rise.” It really made you think.

During the presentation, BAYCAT CEO Villy Wang asked the students how the program had influenced their lives. One answer summed it all up: “No matter how small you are, you always have a voice.”

I left with my blinking lei and a reminder that perhaps Yahoo! for Good focuses on helping communities. But that day the community helped me remember why I love my job. I get to interact with real people doing really cool things in amazing organizations. And I can make a big impact. In a way, we all can, right?

Erin Carlson
Senior Manager, Yahoo! For Good