Back in March, I wrote about Seeds for Success, a Yahoo! grant program for women entrepreneurs. Today, I’ve got three finalists for you.

But first, let me explain why this program is so near and dear to me. One word: Mentoring. My own career, including the opportunity to judge on The Apprentice and the upcoming launch of FindingWhatMatters.com (what should be the single largest network of career/life experts and resources anywhere), was built on the advice of wise mentors. They helped steer and cheer me. And now it’s my turn to pay it forward.

The three winners will have access to a host of business experts, including myself; Bobbi Brown, founder and CEO of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics; Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines and author of the bestselling book “Basic Black: The Essential Guide to Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life);” and a dozen others who have walked the entrepreneur’s road. We’ll take them under our wings and show them the proverbial ropes.

Each finalist will also receive a grant package that includes $20,000 in cash, $5,000 in website consulting from three Yahoo! Small Business partners, and website hosting from Yahoo!.

Without further ado, I present the three finalists:

Dana Rubinstein (New York, NY): Dana is co-founder of Dapple, a company which produces baby-safe and earth-friendly detergents, cleaners and sanitizers. She and her business partner created these products based on their own experiences of wanting safer, eco-friendly choices for their children. Dapple is ready to launch its first product in NYC test markets this spring.

Abby Port (Woodstock, GA): Abby is founder and CEO of Red Koala, an online purveyor of customizable canvas-based art for everything from home décor to other canvas products, such as shoes, totes and luggage. A veteran of the corporate world, Abby decided to start her own business after the birth of her third child. Work on Red Koala’s website has already begun and the site should be ready to launch in a couple of months.

Karla Duncan (Birmingham, AL): A pediatric speech pathologist, Karla is founder and president of Head2Toe Publications, a company that designs and develops toys and educational materials specifically for special needs children. Karla founded Head2Toe out of a desire to have the products she truly needs in order to care for the children with whom she works. Head2Toe products currently are in development.

These women, painstakingly (truly the roughest part of this assignment!) selected from among 5,500 entrants with compelling ideas, will spend the next six months using the mentoring, hosting and financial resources they’ve won to grow their businesses. The one who achieves the most growth in that time will win a $10,000 bonus grant.

Want to keep up with their progress? Check in regularly to track the finalists and their businesses, and tap into blog entries from them, as well as from Bobbi, Cathie, and me.

Success. It’s all in knowing where to go with what you’ve got. And finding the right someone to point you there.

Carolyn Kepcher
CEO and Co-Founder
Carolyn & Co. Media
fwm:Finding What Matters

Today kicks off one of my favorite times of year: March Madness. When sports fans across the country become completely preoccupied with college basketball.

Which brings me to this point — fans today have it really good.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I played in the NCAA tournament for North Carolina. That was back in the 80s, when life for a sports fan was nothing like it is today. A bit like walking to school uphill, in the snow, both ways.

Our fans would camp out in long lines to get tickets. If they missed the game, they would have to wait for the morning paper to get stats from the sports page (you know, the stats that some college freshman had to call in to the editor after the game). And they waited for the 11 pm news to catch the highlights. Those were some dedicated Tar Heels fans. But, man, it was hard.

Now don’t get me wrong. As I watch college hoops, I’m still in awe of the fans. Today’s college hoops fans continue to be passionate, but man, technology has made it a whole lot easier for them. They can buy tickets online, set their DVRs to catch the games they miss, sneak video highlights from their desks whenever they want, check stats and get alerts from their mobile phones, read reams of analysis from experts like, ahem, me. And they can use all that addiction to information to prove their mettle in fantasy sports leagues.

It’s a whole new world for fans. They are better informed, more involved and everybody’s an expert. By the way, for all those experts that aren’t as smart as they thought, Yahoo! Sports Tourney Pick’em is offering a Second Chance bracket worth $1 million. Busted bracket? Try it again before next week.

Man, today’s sports fans have it all.

Kenny Smith
Yahoo! Sports Analyst

Hi, my name is Carol and I’m a Flickr addict.

I’ve been hooked on Flickr since 2005, so you can imagine how excited I was when I heard I might be able to share my Flickr fever as part of my job! I work for TechSoup, a nonprofit that other nonprofits go to for technology help and resources. Typical nonprofits we work with are very small organizations working with the poor or youth activities.

Here at TechSoup we’ve been using Flickr’s photo service for years in a variety of ways. NetSquared, a TechSoup program, set up the “I Want Change!” and “NetSquared” Flickr Groups to help people share ideas about how nonprofits use Web 2.0 and social networking tools like Flickr to tell their stories and spark change. We encouraged NetSquared participants from all over the world to use event-specific tags to make it easy to share their pictures of group meetings and events on Flickr. So it seemed a perfect pairing when Flickr started talking with us about offering nonprofits a donation program of free Flickr Pro accounts.

When nonprofits turn to TechSoup for technology help and resources, they’re often looking for donations of software and hardware. Their technology is sometimes so out of date that they can hardly imagine something beyond the basics of word processing, fundraising, and virus protection. Donating Flickr Pro accounts will let nonprofits effortlessly use social networking both for fun and to help better fulfill their mission for social benefit.

I am a firm believer that photos have the power to amplify storytelling and provide a glimpse into the reality of a situation to move people to take action around causes. Such a believer that we think it’s important to reach out to the 90,000 nonprofits that are registered with TechSoup to help them find like-minded people by introducing them to the world that is available to them through Flickr and cool tools like tagging and creating groups. For example, Interplast has used Flickr to demonstrate the results of free reconstructive surgery for poor children in developing countries.

I have met so many amazing people through Flickr. I have chatted with people from countries I will never visit — people in war-torn areas who amaze me in their openness, people with shared interests and visions that can mobilize quickly to effect change. And I’ve even met some Flickr people face-to-face who have become good friends. I can’t imagine a world without Flickr. I am so glad to have a professional mission that now allows me to show nonprofits how Flickr can open so many possibilities for them, their staff, their volunteers, their clients, customers, and friends.

If you work as nonprofit volunteer or staff member, please check out the Flickr donation program on TechSoup. So, get on with it, go forth and load up your photos!

Carol Rudisill
Director, TechSoup Stock
TechSoup

Ask just about anybody that’s used the Internet and they’ll most likely agree; I have too many accounts to keep track of. Not only do I have to keep track of my username and password for every site, I usually have to go through the same find-my-friends dance for the places I go as well. There’s got to be a better way to define who I am on the web.

When I first started searching for a solution to this problem I looked long and hard at what was out there already. That’s when I found OpenID. Over the past 5 years I’ve been active in the world of open source and identity and as the current Chairman of the Board of Directors for the OpenID Foundation, we’ve been working hard to make the web a more “open” place. OpenID is an open technology (developed much in the same way that Mozilla’s Firefox or the Linux kernel is) that has been built by an amazing group of individuals. The goal was simple; create something that allows users to quickly and easily login to any site with just one username and password.

Today’s announcement by Yahoo! supporting OpenID is the realization of three years of hard work from this extremely passionate community of developers. I have never met a more committed set of people focused on doing “the right thing” all the time. In the coming months, the community will continue to formalize around the OpenID Foundation. It’s the home of OpenID and a place for this community to thrive.

Yahoo! has really made a big leap with the support of OpenID. More than just supporting another open protocol, they are embracing the concepts around the open web; the idea that users not only own their data but that they should be in complete control of their digital identities. Traditionally this has been a difficult concept for companies, sites and users to grasp. The ever-changing reality is that not only is this good for users, its just plain good for business.

I couldn’t be more excited to see this happen and it’s going to open a door of opportunity for users and developers alike. We’re already seeing innovative ways to secure your identity, communicate and even engage in the political discourse. We’re only scratching the surface on what OpenID is going to enable as a key component of the open web.

I know we don’t have all of the answers to how this will all play out. Today is another step forward in the long walk to a better experience for the user. One thing is for sure; the best is yet to come.

Scott Kveton
Chairman of the Board of Directors
OpenID Foundation

Because hope is a treasure, countless people felt robbed by the recent surprising announcement that an experimental AIDS vaccine had failed. Many had hoped it would be the first to prove at least partly effective. That it didn’t was disappointing. What would be worse is if we allow this news to slow progress toward developing a vaccine, which remains our best hope of reversing the epidemic. Now is precisely the time to do more.

The arithmetic hasn’t changed. Despite the good news released by UNAIDS earlier this month that there are fewer people living with AIDS and fewer infections than previously estimated, there are still 33 million HIV-infected people on the planet and 7,000 new infections daily. AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death globally. Life-prolonging treatments for AIDS have improved and have become more available and affordable even in poorer countries. These drugs are not cures, nor are they, because of resistance and toxicity problems, a long-term solution for sufferers. The best hope for ending the epidemic is a preventive vaccine.

Securing funding for this vital but long-term work is a challenge, and Yahoo! is once again bringing its resources to bear. In 2001, Yahoo! became International AIDS Vaccine Initiative’s (IAVI) first major corporate supporter, providing free advertising to raise awareness around AIDS vaccines. On the occasion of World AIDS Day 2007, Yahoo! will bring hope to the field by featuring IAVI’s “Make AIDS History – $100K Campaign” on its World AIDS Day microsite. The money raised will support IAVI’s Innovation Fund , our newest scientific initiative designed to bring fresh, bold approaches to AIDS vaccine research.

We hope that you will visit the IAVI-Yahoo! microsite and consider making a donation. Securing financial support is key to our mission, as is spreading the word about the need for an AIDS vaccine. Vaccines for other diseases have altered the course of human history. They have eradicated smallpox from the world and polio from most western countries. More than two dozen fatal diseases can now be prevented by vaccines. We must add AIDS to this list. We hope you can do your part today.

Seth Berkley
President & CEO
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

Something incredible is happening in Israel and Palestine. Israelis and Palestinians are unified in demanding decisive action toward peace. As the founder of the OneVoice Movement, a grassroots effort to amplify the voices of moderates on both sides who wish for an end to the Middle East conflict, I can attest this journey hasn’t been an easy one. But we are making progress.

The need to mobilize a global community of voices was becoming ever apparent and timely. Today, we were set to host unprecedented simultaneous ”Peoples’ Summits” in both Tel Aviv and Jericho. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians had planned to gather to hear from dignitaries, religious leaders, and performers and to deliver messages to their leaders that the time has come to sit down and work toward a two-state solution. Musician Bryan Adams was to headline both concerts, which would be linked via satellite. We’d teamed with Yahoo! to webcast both events, setting the stage for individuals around the world to take part and make an impact.

Unfortunately, absolutism and violence prevailed yet again.

After a series of violent threats against OneVoice staff and supporters, we made the difficult decision to cancel the two events. All of us were devastated, feeling as though we were giving in to tyranny and letting our members and supporters down. But I realize it isn’t us, but those who have silenced this groundswell of support on the streets who have let their own people down.

I’m happy to report that OneVoice has not been silenced, but rather strengthened, by these events. We will proceed in launching our One Million Voices campaign today despite the obstacles. We have already collected hundreds of thousands of Israeli, Palestinian and international signatures of support, with the ultimate goal of reaching one million. These will help push the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to initiate immediate, uninterrupted negotiations towards reaching a two-state agreement. And, with the U.S.-led meetings scheduled for November, the need for this campaign couldn’t be more critical.

We hope you will join the nearly 600,000 Palestinians and Israelis who stand together in mutual support. Go to video.yahoo.com/onevoice, sign the OneVoice mandate, then encourage friends and family to do the same. Watch Jason Alexander, Elliot Gould, Danny DeVito and Ann Cusack express their support; take a position on Yahoo! Answers questions; and see Flickr images from our activities on the ground. Join us in calling on the leaders of Israel and Palestine to deliver an end to this conflict.

Daniel Lubetzky
Founder of OneVoice

We have less than 24 hours before the curtains go up on Pop!Tech, the annual ideas summit that brings together 500 big thinkers from around the world in Camden, Maine to discuss innovative ideas and projects that are changing the world. Just as important, the virtual curtain also lifts online to bring this extraordinary conversation to the world, and we’ve partnered with a fellow big thinker to make that possible.

We’re discussing “The Human Impact” this year to foster dialogue on the influence human beings have on the world and on each other, and new ways to measure humanity’s global impact. For the first time ever, we’ll be streaming live video of the Pop!Tech conference, courtesy of Yahoo!, so that individuals everywhere can listen in, take part, and join the conversation of such visionaries and experts as cognitive scientist and New York Times-bestselling author Steven Pinker, Grammy-award-winning R&B artist John Legend, healthcare pioneer Dr. Victoria Hale, and leading humanitarian Zainab Salbi, to name a few.

Here’s how you can take part:

• Watch the streaming video starting Thursday through Saturday between 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM EST here. Submit your questions to the presenters and participants in real-time by emailing questions@poptech.org.
• Answer the question: “What is the most powerful but underappreciated way we can shape the future?” on Yahoo! Answers. You’ll not only see your response side by side with PopTech presenters like John Legend, your response could be read on stage.

Making Pop!Tech accessible over the Internet marks a real shift in the nature of thought leadership discussions. So Yodelers, come join us online to take your seat at the table.

Andrew Zolli
Curator for Pop!Tech

Join our first-ever candidate mashup and be part if the online revolution storming the barricades of the 2008 Campaign

Are you ready to take part in a new kind of presidential campaign forum, one that puts you in charge of shaping exactly what kind of viewing experience you want to have — from the questions that are asked to the ability to pick and choose what issues you want to hear about and the candidates you want to hear from?

Then, do we have a mashup for you.

Later this week, Yahoo!, in partnership with the Huffington Post and Slate, will be rolling out our first-ever online-only presidential candidate mashup — moderated by Charlie Rose and featuring all eight Democratic candidates (we have extended invitations to all the Republican candidates, and are looking forward to presenting a GOP presidential mashup later this year).

Here’s how it will work. On September 12, Charlie Rose, armed with user-submitted questions, will have a conversation with each of the candidates. After the candidates have finished talking, the tech geniuses at Yahoo! will work their magic and the next day the video will be put at your disposal — empowering you to create the debate of your choosing.

A few weeks ago, more than 100,000 Yahoo! users took part in a poll to determine the subjects to be covered in the mashup. The winning issues turned out to be the war in Iraq, health care, and education. The candidates will also be asked a wild card question that can be about any topic.

The rest is up to you. Want to see what all the candidates said about Iraq? It’s just a click away. Or maybe you just want to compare the answers of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Or perhaps health care is your primary concern and you want to see how John Edwards’ take on the issue compares to Joe Biden’s or Chris Dodd’s. The point is, you can watch what you want, when you want, and how you want. Focus on one candidate or one issue or mix and match. Then share your takes on what you see with your friends or other mashup users.

The tech advances of the last few years have turned the news and entertainment worlds on their ears, shifting the balance of power away from media pooh-bahs dictating what is important and what is not, and towards consumers — and citizens — being empowered to choose and create. Technology is poised to have the same game-changing effect on the political world.

The 2008 campaign will be the first truly 21st-century presidential race. We have entered the era where candidates routinely announce their candidacy, try out and place campaign ads, and raise tens of millions of dollars online. And they are connecting to voters via increasingly interactive websites.

This bodes well for the democratic process since it will allow campaigns to engage a whole new generation of young voters who spend so much of their time — and get so much of their information — online. It’s where they get their news; it’s where they share their views (and their pictures, videos, favorite songs, diaries, etc). It’s how they stay connected to their friends — and how they can become connected to the candidates.

So, starting on September 13, be sure to check out our candidate mashup — and be part of the online revolution currently storming the barricades of the ‘08 race.

Arianna Huffington
Editor-in-Chief
Huffington Post

EDITOR’S NOTE: In honor of Earth Day and as part of our ongoing Purple Acts of Kindness program, we surprised a green-minded teacher at a Title 1 school near our Hillsboro, Oregon, customer care center by awarding her an eco-tourism trip. She just returned, and here’s her report:

Having been heralded by the daily late afternoon thunder and lightning storm, the clouds rolled in to create a dark and moonless humid night. There were 18 of us on our nightly turtle watch. Without our flashlights — or as our British friends would say, “torches” — it was nearly impossible for me to see more then a few feet away.

Pulga (that’s flea in Spanish), the neighborhood dog, started barking and howling. Despite our leader’s no light rule (“don’t scare the turtles”), the flashlights came on to reveal the oddest creature any of us had ever seen. It was about three feet long, mostly white with a black saddle. But it had no visible face — just a long skinny snout. Startled by Pulga, it stood on its hind legs and began a funny kung-fu-like dance while making a kind of eerie screeching-howling sound. Fortunately for all involved, it quickly decided flight was better than fight and scampered off into the jungle.

We all stood there amazed and then laughing at what we had just seen, not knowing for sure if it was for real or some sort of live Muppet show. We found out later we had just had the rare privilege of seeing a Tamandua (banded or lesser anteater).

Our Tamandua sighting was just one of many different and wonderful experiences we enjoyed during our nearly two-week tour of Costa Rica, thanks to Yahoo!. I’m a second-grade teacher from Butler Creek Elementary school, located in Gresham, Oregon, and I had the privilege of being chosen by Yahoo! to participate in a free eco-trip with G.A.P Adventures. I was nominated by my school because of my work with our environmental club. Choosing a trip from the menu of fantastic adventures G.A.P offers was difficult, but my husband Tom and I decided on Costa Rica because this particular tour included a week of volunteering at a sea turtle protection project. We both prefer experiencing the local culture first-hand rather than spending our time at a resort. This also seemed to fit the eco theme. Did we get it right!

Our group of 17 strangers from England, Canada, and different parts of the U.S. went on an incredible journey that included a sloth rescue, monkey sightings, an up-close-and-personal sea turtle egg-laying experience, horseback riding, volcano viewing, a jungle cruise, white water rafting, zip-lining, and much more.

As I think about how this trip will affect me as a teacher and what I’ll bring back to my students, I remember the day we visited the local elementary school at Playa Matapalo. I was able to sit with a small group of children, about the same age that I teach, and despite the language barrier, it quickly became apparent to me that I was talking to the same kids I see every day. There was the jokester, the shy one, the thoughtful one — the same mix that is in my class. It truly is a small world. A world we all must appreciate more before there is nothing left to appreciate. Whether we are protecting sea turtles or salmon, pine trees or palm trees, we must leave for our children the wonders that we enjoy today.

I am very grateful to Yahoo! for their commitment to our environment and to the next generation. Through campaigns like Be a Better Planet or product efforts like your Autos Green Center, you are helping us all be more aware of alternatives to our more destructive habits. The Internet can be a powerful tool that can help us all appreciate the world we have and environmentally responsible companies like Yahoo! are at the forefront of that effort. I truly appreciate the opportunity that Yahoo! gave me to explore just a tiny but important part of our world.

Mary Nemmert
2nd Grade Teacher
Butler Creek Elementary School
Gresham, Oregon

I’m excited to say that nearly a full year after my team won for best overall hack at Yahoo! Hack Day 2006, our project, the photoblogging purse, is still breathing. And it’ll be mingling with the likes of Anna Sui, Vera Wang, Zac Posen, and Michael Kors near catwalks in Manhattan this week.

Ever since it was named Yahoo!’s winning hack, the purse has been the topic of many conversations in the fashion industry. As Fall Fashion Week kicks off this week here in New York, I’m proud say I’ll be escorting the accessory throughout the festivities, proving that fashion and technology are a keen match.

The hack, Blogging in Motion, was a design that used Flickr and Zonetag APIs to feed images taken from a purse fitted with a Nokia camera phone and Bluetooth GPS to our Flickr photostream in real time. Using a pedometer, the purse can be set to take pictures every 10 steps for a photoblog that doesn’t miss a thing.

I’ll be using the purse to provide an inside look at Fashion Week events from a very unusual perspective. In fact, tonight I’ll be hosting an event for fashion bloggers organized by my friends at Fashion Indie. If you can’t make it to the festivities, check out Fashion Indie’s Flickr photostream for some cool shots.

As for what’s next for me, I am writing a couple of books about fashion and technology that are tentatively scheduled to come out next year. In addition, I’ll be launching a few (more wearable) techie-fashions later this year using some cutting-edge new materials. I’m hoping that they’ll even be machine washable.

Diana Eng
Fashion Nerd
2006 Yahoo! Open Hack Day Winner