What We Do | ServiceSpace

Press and Media

It has been heart-warming to see the response from the media, although we've never pitched a story or even have a PR team. Since our inception in 1999, journalists and reporters have been very generous in spreading our message. This only confirms our belief that people are naturally inclined to serve and organically drawn to others interested in creative positive change.

Below are some of the things that have been said about ServiceSpace and all of its projects. The list includes newspaper articles, radio and tv interviews, and talks given by various ServiceSpace volunteers.

*ServiceSpace was formerly known as CharityFocus

Most Popular

Recent News
Designing For Generosity A talk at TEDx Berkeley!		Many prestigious invites every month; most viral speech of 2012 was the UPenn commencement: Paths Are Made by Walking, and in 2013, it was Magical and Miserable. And the most popular TedX talk: Designing For Generosity. Yes Magazine's BreakThrough People of the 2011, and a talk at United Nations: Would Gandhi Use Social Media? Do Nothing Generosity speaks about our latest design thinking (Generosity 2.0 has earlier version). Katie's video on How Gift-Economy Works at Karma Kitchen and Richard's interview with Vlad.
Tipping Points
Karma Kitchen has Selflessness on the Menu		A Restaurant With No Checks: CS Monitor story on the opening of Karma Kitchen! One Million Smile Cards: What started as an experiment with 100 cards now explodes across the world. Seven Questions on Giving Time: the start of providing thought leadership from our experiences. (Also audio interviews with EnlightenNext and CommonWeal).
Pilgrimage Days
Dollar A Day Pilgrimage		Walking Pilgrimage Journals "Use our hands to do acts of service, heads to profile stories of everyday heroes, and hearts to cultivate stillness." ABC TV: On Foot Across India Times of India: A Selfless Journey
Dot-Com Days
dot-com becomes dot-org As the dot-coms started failing, SS discovered capacity to take 'em on!		Sony TV Owner Joins CharityFocus With a hand-shake deal, SS took on portal in South Asia that connected more than 13,000 NGOs! Unleashing the Dot-Orgers We actually wrote a press release announcing our adoption of PledgePage. North-South Foundation Role Model Award: Living in Impossible Times acceptance speech.
The Early Days
charity begins @ home First big cover story.		SF Chronicle: Volunteers in a Virtual World CNN International: Live on Q/A (1/2 hour) (First time SS was invited to be on TV!) Sony Style: silicon samaritan (First time for a photo shoot) First Public Talk: Spirit of Service

Newspaper

Mar 2013 Financial Times	Service In The Age of YouTube A great story on the many faces of KarmaTube. "I do it because I decided about ten years back, to devote my life to service," says Yoo-mi Lee.
Jan 2013 Forbes	Seva Cafe Serves Generosity on a Platter Profile of one of the Seva Cafe coordinators, who left his role of giving stock trips on CNBC to serving up generosity at a gift economy restaurant.
3 Dec 2007 Times of India	Logging Into Be-The-Change "The idea was that if you make the change in one heart, the ripple effect of that change will continue in this world forever. We picked our instrument: worldwide web. CharityFocus soon became a bridge between the Internet and the inner-net. More than an organization, it was a mindset that stood for service."
Dec 2007 Healing Life Styles and Spa	Seven Questions on Giving Time An interview with CharityFocus Founder, about the power of spending time vs. spending money.
Oct 25 2007 CS Monitor	Restaurant With No Checks A full back-page story on our gift-economy restaurant -- Karma Kitchen. (The author subsequently signed up to volunteer!)
Sep 2007 World Ways	Interview With World Ways Questions to the CharityFocus founder about positive social change.
Nov 26 2007 HumanKind Media	Hooray, I Got My Smile Cards! A spontaneous coffee conversation leads to this story in a blog focused on bringing more "noble speech" into the world.
Sep 2007 EastBay Express	Instant Karma At a restaurant in Berkeley, an 'experiment in generosity' means the price of your meal is upto you.
28 July 2006 ABC TV	Travelling India on Dollar-a-Day Imagine travelling to India and going on a walking journey and surviving on just one dollar a day and the kindness of strangers? That's exactly what one Berkeley couple did.
29 Jun 2006 SF Chronicle	Dollar-A-Day Pilgrimage "I don't feel like the pilgrimage has ended. A pilgrimage is a kind of conscious intention to go from self-centeredness to selflessness, to move from fear to love, from arrogance to humility. I think that process had started for us before the walk in India, although the walk helped us to deepen that practice. And I think the practice continues."
24 April 2005 Times of India	A selfless journey "Today this Ahmedabad-born, California-based techie (Nipun Mehta) is on an even bigger mission. Along with his wife Guri and a few friends, he is on a padyatra -- a journey in 'search of the realities of life.' But why would two high-flyers want to forgo everything to give something back to the society?"
Nov 2004 India Currents	Solutions for Nonprofits "What makes CharityFocus so special is the mindset that anything is possible. If you are passionate about something, someone at CharityFocus will believe in you and help you develop your idea." (Cover Feature)
August 2004 India Abroad	Role Model Award Arizona governor gives Nipun Mehta the 2004 "Viswa Jyoti" Role Model Award of the North South Foundation.
13 Jun 2003 India West	Sony TV Owner Joins CharityFocus "There were no lawyers, no piece of paper. We just shook hands," Parekh said of CharityFocus and ProPoor merger. (Front Page, Business Section)
5 Dec 2002 Times of India	Mountains Have Begun To Move Refusing to adopt the cynical perspective of mankind having lost everything that was humanitarian, Mehta believes that "compassion is contagious." (Pune Edition)
29 Apr 2002 Philanthropy News	CharityFocus.org acquires dot-com "PledgePage highlights the work of everyday heroes and CharityFocus is about everyday heroes. Sounds like a perfect fit." (Front Page, PNN)
20 Apr 2002 San Jose Mercury News	SF dot-com becomes dot-org ``The dot-coms came and went. Here is a dot-org that stayed. The glue that binds people together is inspiration, not stock options.'' (Front Page, Business Section)
April 2002 Press Release	Unleashing the dot-orgers ``PledgePage highlights the work of everyday heroes and CharityFocus is about everyday heroes. Sounds like a perfect fit!''
Dec 2001 Indian Express	Charity Begins At Home You do not need to be a technical wizard to volunteer. Given the nature of our services, our volunteers are not limited to any geographical boundaries.
Jun 2001 India Abroad	Modern Day Guru, who lives charity "If a candle burns in you, you have to light the path for others around you."
Mar 2001 SF Chronicle	Volunteers in a Virtual World "inspiring a spirit of service in ourselves, working on the fundamental principle of compassion."
Mar 2001 Stanford Daily	Affluent Silicon Valley engineers give back to community Mehta may well be the first Sun Microsystems employee to be compared to Gandhi.
Feb 2001 SF Examiner	Dot-orgs surviving dot-com failures "Nonprofits are in a better position because they've learned how to use the medium without relying on venture capital funding."
Jan 2001 Mission Quarterly	Outstanding Alumnus "CharityFocus is not backed by money-it's backed by inspiration and that's powerful!"
11 Jul 2000 CS Monitor	Bay Area Samaritan "CharityFocus itself doesn't matter. It's about the giving." (National Edition)
20 Jun 2000 San Jose Mercury News	Charity Continues To Hit Home Are you going to a dot-com? Well, no. He's going to help people. How? Any way he can ... the power of it is the change in people's hearts. (SV Life, Frontpage)
10 Dec 1999 Philanthropy News Network	Volunteer Group Builds Free Websites (National Edition)
12 Jul 1999 San Mateo County Times	Web of Giving Helps Charities It's hard to imagine that someone would give away what they could make globs of money doing. (Frontpage)
13 Jun 1999 San Jose Mercury News	Free launch into cyberspace "Every time they were here, I said, `This costs nothing, right?`" (Inside Cover, Sunday Life)
12 May 1999 CS Monitor	Getting Radical -- 1990s style (National Edition, Inside Cover)

Magazine

Apr 2008 Chicken Soup	Chicken Soup For the Indian Soul More than a dozen stories of our contributors made it to 101 featured stories in South Asia.
Aug 2007 Desi Connect	Serial Generosity Entrepreneur Interview, with a complete overview of the various activities of CharityFocus.
May 2007 Goi Peace Foundation	Tao of CharityFocus Our chapter of collaborative book by 20 visionary organizations -- an anecdotal story of CharityFocus and lessons learned along the way.
26 July 2006 MetroActive	Open Minds: Silicon Valley Meditation Guide An unexpected write-up about the grassroot Wednesday meditation night in the Bayarea. :)
Feb 2005 ChangeMakers	Long Road To Another Life: Yoo-mi Lee "I tell the CharityFocus people that they've ruined my life," Yoo-mi Lee laughs, "because I can no longer go back to a 'real' paying job."
Dec 2004 Sun Magazine	My Mantra in life: "I don't know" "That success isn't about CharityFocus or me; rather it's a testimony to the nature of things -- selflessness sustains life. It may take a while, but love will always triumph over greed."
April 2004 Link Club, Japan	Journey People Not outcome but journey people. The most important thing is that we try to have an opportunity for doing volunteer work. If somebody has a good experience, somebody else joins as a result. (Center Fold feature)
Dec 2003 Money Magazine	Virtual Charity Essentially, we've created a "napster of compassion." (Holiday 'Giving Back' feature)
Oct 2001 Tricycle	Unsung Heroes Story will be put up soon.
Aug 2001 Mantram	Zen and The Art of Giving "There is no end. You have to enjoy the means and let go of the end. Let each moment be a manifestation of your real nature -- and that is compassion."
Feb 2001 Sony Style	silicon samaritan "It's really more about self understanding. You have a choice. You can either serve yourself or serve others."

TV/Radio

Apr 2011 Conversations	Conversation with Michael Stone Nipun Mehta in conversation about CF, DailyGood, Karma Kitchen, Smile Cards and his walking pilgrimage.
Mar 2011 FFC Free Radio	Whole Body Talk Clown-healer, Polina Smith, asks some questions around fears associated with the embracing gift-economy.
Feb 2011 KWMR AM	Point Reyes Dialogues Reknowned author, Jacob Needleman, interviews Nipun Mehta and goes into the subtler aspects of giving and receiving.
Aug 2008 NaanSense	Spirit of CharityFocus A radio interview with a small, student run radio station in Washington DC. Interview time was 6:30AM-6:45AM. :)
17 Apr 2007 CommonWeal	An Invisible Revolution An in-depth interview with Nipun Mehta, about the spirit of CharityFocus.
June 23 2007 Fun Asia	Interview with CharityFocus Founder An hour-long radio interview, broadcast to Dallas locals.
10 Mar 2007 WIE Magazine	'Being the Change' A first-ever audio interview with Nipun Mehta.
28 July 2006 ABC TV	Travelling India on Dollar-a-Day Imagine travelling to India and going on a walking journey and surviving on just one dollar a day and the kindness of strangers? That's exactly what one Berkeley couple did.
6 July 2006 BBC	PledgePage.org: Easy, Fun and Meaningful! "Run by a bunch of enthusiasts, PledgePage.org makes it really fun and easy to put your fundraising causes online."
Oct 2002 KPFA	Activist of Love An Interview with Nipun Mehta about why and how we should we serve ... (APEX Express, 7:30PM, 15 minute radio interview)
Apr 2001 KRON TV	Better To Give Than To Receive? We all know the old axiom that it's better to give than to receive, but one Silicon Valley man has taken that philosophy to heart.
4 Sep 2000	Live on Q/A (1/2 hour) "What is the one key to your success?" Nipun Mehta: "The change within. Without that, every change on the outside is superficial." (International TV)

Public Talks

	We give dozens of talks every year; below are the ones that were caught on tape. :)
Jun 2011 TedX	Give, Receive, Dance Video of a 9-minute talk at TedX Compassion, with 700 educators.
Nov 2009 Bioneers	Be Selfish Be Generous A keynote to 1500 Bioneers by the Bay attendees, engaged in the work of sustainability.
Jan 2008 Stanford	Dynamic Spirit of Service Video of a talk by Nipun Mehta, on the 50th death anniversary of Gandhi.
15 Dec 2007 Presentation	Silent Revolution of the Inner-net Presentation in Puerto Rico, at the Alliance For New Humanity. By popular demand, another session was held during the break times.
July 2005 Jaina Convention	State of the Heart Technology A talk by Viral Mehta, to a 5000 person audience, with presidential candidates and more in attendance.
Nov 2004 UC Berkeley	Service From An Entrepreneur's Perspective A talk given by Mark Jacobs at Tie-YE forum for young entreprenuers at Hass School of Business, Berkeley.
Sep 2004 Gummage Auditorium	Living in Impossible Times An acceptance speech for North South Foundation Role Model award, that inspired comments from everyone including the Arizona governor.
May 2002 Santa Fe Institute	Ancient Wisdom, Modern Application A presentation at a think-tank, with Nobel Laureate Murray Gell-Mann, about the principles that rest underneath the success of CharityFocus.
June 2001 Washington DC	Acceptance Speech For Jefferson Award A short speech, after receiving an honorable award with the political big whigs in Washingtong D.C.
Feb 2000 Berkeley Monastery	Spirit of Service The first talk about CharityFocus, coupled with the personal journey of Nipun Mehta.

By Date

July 2011 Times of India	Karma Connections Connecting back to the roots of service in India.
June 2011 Vlad's Blog	You Can't Dance Unless You Let Go A deeper conversation about the practice of generosity.
May 2011 the Alternative	Don't Show Me The Money What would you pay for something if you didn't have to? Would you pay it forward? Example of gift-economy in India.
Apr 2011 Conversations	Conversation with Michael Stone Nipun Mehta in conversation about CF, DailyGood, Karma Kitchen, Smile Cards and his walking pilgrimage.
Mar 2011 FFC Free Radio	Whole Body Talk Clown-healer, Polina Smith, asks some questions around fears associated with the embracing gift-economy.
Feb 2011 KWMR AM	Point Reyes Dialogues Reknowned author, Jacob Needleman, interviews Nipun Mehta and goes into the subtler aspects of giving and receiving.
Jan 2011 Healthy Money	Money and Happiness Birju Pandya, along with Dr. Ariyaratne, share a panel of a star-studded tele-event around the value of generosity. (Audio Clip).
Jan 2011 Unity FM	Living Service: Yoga in the World CF's Dr. Sri Shamasunder and Nipun Mehta share a radio interview with Rev. Ellen Grace O'Brian on Yoga Hour around the timeless principles of selfless service.
Dec 2010 1170 AM	Lunch With Rikhi Neil Patel and Nipun Mehta share a radio interview on generosity and social change. (Neil's Clip, Closing Clip).
Oct 2010 Wallet Pop, Chicago	Eat Free, Pay With Your Conscience Gaurav speaks about building a Karma Kitchen movement in Chicago.
Jun 2010 Singapore Radio	Silicon Valley Story of Addressing Poverty of Spirit Nipun shares his story and lessons from the CF journey, on Singapore's only radio station.
Apr 2010 Axiom News	CharityFocus Using Storytelling to Inspire Action Trishna speaks about how narrative are a critical component to the CharityFocus growth.
Apr 2010 Network of Light	Model for a Meditation Evening An unexpected write-up shared via Padma Foye: "Mehtas have hosted an evening meditation in their home for the past 12 years."
Mar 2010 Axiom News	Growing KarmaTube Audience Demonstrating Good Stories Matter Jenny Douglas: "Getting our information in the form of stories that make sense and can linger in the heart is going to be more important than ever."
Feb 2010 Huffington Post	Gift Economy From a Hollywood Director (and writer of the ThunderCats cartoons) comes an explanation of CF in 500 words.
Dec 2009 SF Chronicle	Karma Kitchen Has Selflessness on the Menu After she volunteered, Caille wrote this beautiful piece -- with an opening plug by Deepak Chopra!
Nov 2009 Parabola	Meditation and Service A natural conversation with Nipun Mehta on meditation and the subtleties of service.
Sep 2009 Oakland Tribune	Seeing the Blue In his editorial, Jaime Richards presents us as "nominees that will make almost anyone smarter, better and happier."
Sep 2009 SF Chronicle	Joy of Giving Deepak Chopra quoting the CharityFocus, after an interview on his radio show. Also cross posted in Times of India and Huffington Post.
Jul 2009 Science of Mind	Raising the Kindness Karma A profile that featured KarmaTube, Smile Cards and even Nipun and Guri's pilgrimage! :)
Jul 2009 Washingtonian	Leave What You Will For This Meal An informational piece about Karma Kitchen in DC!
May 2009 CNN	50 Most Inwardly Beautiful People Yup, Smile Cards hit CNN as we got to be #29 on the list of 50. Subsequently, Tonic also featured cookies-in-NYC.
Feb 2009 Life Positive	Joy of Giving Cover story, which was preceeded by multiple headline stories across Indian media.
Nov 2008 Daily Californian	Local Kitchen Dishes Out Generosity An 18-year-old visits Karma Kitchen for 4 hours, and out come to this story (with a video!) in the UC Berkeley newspaper.
Nov 2008 Times of India	Strangers Spread Smiles in India A story in most popular Indian newspaper, about a trend of anonymous they are seeing in the city of Ahmedabad.
Oct 2008 Kosmos Journal	One Night Over Pizza Our own Mark Jacobs writes a short story on CharityFocus.
Oct 2008 Billings Gazette	Third-Graders Project Spreads Smiles Smile Cards spreading in Montana!A report, following an award reception in the bay-area.
Sep 2008 India West	Award By ICA A report, following an award reception in the bay-area.
Jul 2008 Wall Street Journal	How I Got Here Wall Streeters trying to understanding gift-economy. Yes, it's true. :)
Jun 2008 Readers' Digest, etc.	Anonymous Interviews We gave three anonymous interviews to Reader's Digest, Better Home and Gardens, and beyond. No mention of us, but definite spread of kindness!