Iman Altaani cracks fresh pepper into a pot of sizzling ground beef and onions, surrounded by a group of students. Most have never tasted Syrian food, let alone cooked it. Helping people find commonality is, in large part, why Amanda Warner co-founded the non-profit organization Better Plate. For $30, students get a crash course in another country’s cuisine and a home-cooked meal – not from a trained chef, but from refugees recently resettled in Columbus and adjusting to life in America.

Natalia Vodianova has been the face of Calvin Klein campaigns and she’s graced the cover of Vogue. She’s also the founder of the Naked Heart Foundation whose mission is to support people with disabilities. Staff and faculty from the University of New Mexico’s departments of neurology, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, and from Carrie Tingley Hospital are participating in a Naked Heart Foundation program aimed at bringing new ideas about working with children with special needs and their families to facilities in Russia through international exchange experiences.

"I think it is a problem for the issue of comfort women to be perceived only as a political, diplomatic issue between Korea and Japan," Yoon told The Korea Times in an interview last week. "The victims must be respected and they must regain their dignity." Marymond not only makes patterns symbolizing the comfort women, it is also involved in projects to highlight the issue.

Twenty young female American and Jordanian entrepreneurs have been selected to participate in a week-long cultural exchange and fellowship in Amman, Jordan through a not-for-profit partnership between Open Hands Initiative and the Women First Enterprise (WFE), a branch of the Angel Resource Institute (ARI). 

As China becomes closer to reaching its dream of becoming one of the most influential countries in the world, Chinese officials announced at a two-day conference of the International Exchange of Professionals in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, that the country is advocating a platform for its local and overseas talents.

Non-government organisations and community groups fear their voices won't be heard during next month's G20 leaders summit in Brisbane because their access to the event will be much more restricted than previous meetings held in Russia and Mexico.

Public-private partnerships have become all the rage. Over the last decade, many government and donor agencies have looked for more efficient ways to leverage their declining resources, and for many, these partnerships have seemed like a effective solution. The phrase “public-private partnership,” however, is widely misused. It is often used to describe a variety of relationships that are, in fact, much more complex than the term implies. Perhaps most importantly, the term doesn’t reflect the involvement key stakeholders, particularly nonprofits.