On the eve of June 11th, 2017, East of Eli wrapped up its European tour in Berlin, Germany. During this 8 week tour, my job was reconnaissance—converse with EOE fans who also showed up to support our organization formerly named Charity Pulse and find opportunities for improvement. (In case you are not aware, our CEO Nathan West, is also the musician, East of Eli. Our CCO, Chlyer Leigh, was a featured performer on this tour.) In order to fully engage with fans, I tried to be as hands-on with the tour as possible—vending at the merchandise table, and crowd controlling the VIP Meet & Greet. I was moved by the amount of deep-patience and personal care Nathan and Chyler took to deliver a meaningful experience to each fan. I also saw the fans act as a communal support-system taking swift action to make sure other fans could attend the tour: providing rides, places to stay, money for tickets. When they gathered before the doors opened or when VIP lines got long, they entertained each other, shared food, laughed together and told stories. My goal coming back from that tour was to inject that sense of community and camaraderie into our organization.
After a short break, still invigorated from the East of Eli tour, Nathan and I held up in an undisclosed location in Indiana to give Charity Pulse a brand audit. Based on feedback from our supporters and Nathan & Chyler’s desire to expand the organization, we determined that we needed a new name and a refreshed mission. We renamed the organization Create Change. In Chlyer’s article Introducing Create Change she explains, “We as artists all in our own rights, have real creative superpowers meant to eradicate injustice and the prejudices that have shattered the foundations on which we stand upon. Regardless of tool or trade, we are all capable of conveying a message of prosperity and creating a flourishing, lasting change that will echo into the hearts of future generations.” We have always believed that artists have an ability to influence popular culture in a way politicians cannot achieve. Artists know how to imagine better worlds, to see universal truths, and ignite hearts to drive movements of positive social change. Above all, we believe in the protection of human dignity. If we can raise each other up on an individual micro level, then we can lift up humanity on the macro level.
“ABOVE ALL, WE BELIEVE IN THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN DIGNITY.”
Thus, we are putting you in charge of our community-led organization. We have added website tools that provide a safe-space to cross-pollinate your ideas, empower you to lead the conversation and support meaningful causes. We are counting on your participation and contributions so that we can aspire to be a better version of ourselves and seek pathways to heal our fractured world.
How Does Create Change Intend To Create Change?
1.) As a community-led organization we will let you guide the discussion topics and social issues you want us to highlight. We want to hear your unique voice—through your art and your stories—provoke and challenge us on ways we can improve society. Through these forms of narratives, we hope to capture the heart of humanity; inspire ourselves and each other to take our social causes to the street level and beyond.
2.) Through our non-profit, business and celebrity partnerships we will be able to amplify our positive message and turn it into action. As we partner with fund-raising events and musical performances, Create Change will be there with messaging and logistical support. Our street team will have a pivotal role getting tickets and merchandise sold, thus increasing proceeds to our involved causes.
Begin by Registering
To build our culture of community we have built a membership registration system into the Create Change website. Go to https://createchange.me/register and Register a New Account. Your username will be your identification on our website. Your avatar will be the avatar you use on Gravatar. You can always update your profile information under Edit My Profile. At this time, we only offer Basic Membership which is free. Members of Create Change are granted special first-access to select Create Change articles as well as website features like the submission form, contributor application, and contact form. We will continue to add special website features as our website memberships grow.
Submit Your Work
Let’s keep the conversation going and let’s keep on making great art. You can do this by submitting your work at https://createchange.me/submission. We accept four specific submission types—writing, illustration, video and photography. Your submission subject can be a response to a specific Create Change article, or a call-for-entries (we love to announce these through our official Twitter account). All submissions must use a URL link via your own website or a third party file storage service such as Dropbox or Google Drive. Note: When using Google Drive please make sure your link is publicly shareable (Instructions: On your computer, go to drive.google.com. Click the folder you want to share. Click Share Add people. At the top right, click Get shareable link. Next to “Anyone with the link,” click the Down Arrow. Choose whether people can edit or view. Copy and paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it.)
What Are We Looking For In Submissions?
We have no specific criteria when reviewing submissions for publication, but before you send us a submission we recommend you go down the following checklist:
- Have I proofed my writing? Did I run spell check? Did I credit all my sources appropriately? Make sure you’ve read over your work before sending, or even better, have someone proof it. Plagiarizing is unacceptable, so credit all your source material, even if it’s just a quote. List and link your sources whenever possible.
- We don’t have a minimum or maximum word count, but 250–1000 words per writing submission is an ideal range for us.
- Your writing submissions should be in your tone-of-voice. We love to hear about your personal experiences and game-changing life stories. However, rants are not appropriate. DO NOT submit anything you do not feel comfortable sharing with the public.
- Is your artwork submission hi-res enough? 2 megs is a good standard for images. Feel free to submit your videos in a preview format, but have a HD version ready to send if your video submission is selected for publishing.
Apply To Be A Contributor
We are stoked to team up with volunteer contributors to grow our Create Change community together. We are seeking experienced editors, writers, illustrators, videographers, photographers, and street team promoters to collaborate with on a regular basis. As a verified Create Change contributor, you would be directly working with Create Change leadership and steering our brand into the future. Go to https://createchange.me/contribute to apply. Please include a cover letter describing in detail your work skills, and how you intend use your talent and discipline to help Create Change. Your resume should outline your abilities, qualities and experience that are applicable to the work you want to produce for Create Change. While we appreciate your passion, we are looking for expertise, originality, and professionalism. So make sure your samples reflect your best signature work.
As your Chief Brand Officer, I’m here to listen to your concerns and address your questions. Feel free to send me a message at https://createchange.me/contact. I may even publicly post the answer. With a new year comes a new day; now go forth create change.
—A.L.
Follow Angelo Lagdameo on Instagram and Twitter.
