by Jennifer Prestholdt (USA) | Jul 24, 2012 | Human Rights, Norway, World Motherhood, World Voice

- My daughter in Norway in August 2010.
For many in Norway, the terrorist attacks on July 22, 2011 represent the loss of innocence.
On the morning of July 22 last year, I read the breaking news of a car bomb attack in Oslo, Norway. I clicked on the link to the NRK live coverage, forgetting that my three children rise and swarm, like mosquitoes from tall grass at dusk, at the slightest potentiality of a video.
“WHAT IS HAPPENING?” yelled my then-9-year-old son.
“It looks like a car bomb exploded in downtown Oslo.” (more…)

Jennifer Prestholdt is a lawyer and the Deputy Director of The Advocates for Human Rights, a volunteer-based human rights organization that works locally, nationally and internationally. Her work in human rights takes her around the world, but she spends most of her time in Minneapolis, MN, where she lives with her children (two sons and one daughter), her husband, an elderly cat and a dwarf hamster.
As Jennifer’s kids are now all in school (1st, 4th and 6th grades), she is finally finding more time to do the things that she used to love to do, especially running, writing and knitting. Jennifer loves to travel and has had the dubious distinction of having been accidentally locked in a bathroom on five continents so far. Australia and Antarctica await!
In January 2011, Jennifer made a New Year’s Resolution to start writing about her experiences in order to share with her children the lessons learned from 15 years of work in human rights. The result is her personal blog, The Human Rights Warrior. The name comes from her son Simon, who was extremely disappointed to learn that his mother is a lawyer, not a warrior.
You can find her on her blog The Human Rights Warrior or on Twitter @Jprestholdt.
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by Jennifer Burden | Jun 21, 2012 | World Moms Blog
From New York to Kuala Lumpur to Tel Aviv to Chennai to Toronto and around the globe our contributors were thrilled to hear the news that Forbes Woman has named World Moms Blog on their list of “Top 100 Websites for Women 2012!” Wow!
Forbes chose their list based on, “Informative and compelling content, smart navigable design, engaged communities and, of course, a voice that speaks to and for the female reader that’s kept fresh, timely and in-the-know by savvy staffers and impassioned writers.”
Also Forbes considers, “Does it [the website] have that amorphous and often indefinable quality that inspires us to share–with our social networks and in e-mails and conversations with our moms, sisters, friends and colleagues.”
To receive such an accolade in our first year and a half is such inspiration. Here are some of our accomplishments so far this year and our dreams for the future:
- Expanded our contributor reach to over 20 countries
- Pitched and started work on a documentary with the GAVI Alliance in Switzerland for global health
- Raised over $4000 and held offline advocacy events for life-saving vaccines for children in the developing world through the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign
- Quoted in American Scientific
- Invited to speak by the UN Foundation in Times Square in NYC alongside actress Amanda Peet, the executive director of the World Health Organization and the managing editor of Living Simple magazine to launch the PSA for the Shot@Life campaign.
- Increased our international editing and social media team with Martine from the Dainty Mom, Diana Stone from Hormonal Imbalances, Ruth Wong from The Mommy Cafe and Jennifer Johns, a fan of the blog! Kyla P’an, one of WMB’s longtime editors, has taken on a managing role of weekly editors, too!
And, we’re just getting started! Here’s what we have planned for the future:
- Our mothers around the world have been leading the discussions on our new web design — we can’t wait for it to come out!
- We are talking about planning future conferences, developing multicultural lessons and assemblies for schools, camps for children with a global emphasis of understanding.
- We are continuing our exciting work this summer on our international documentary with the GAVI Alliance. Grass-roots parties have and are being filmed in India, South Africa, Kenya and various places in the USA to start!
The possibilities are endless.
We are truly honored and this new accolade boosts our inspiration to keep up our work in telling the stories of mothers around the world and coming up with new ways to inspire and make the lives better for mothers and children around the world. And thank you Forbes Woman. You have no idea how much this recognition means to us.
— Jennifer Burden, Founder of World Moms Blog

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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by Jennifer Burden | May 15, 2012 | Motherhood, Shot@Life, Social Good, World Motherhood, World Voice

Actress, Amanda Peet, with World Moms Blog Founder, Jennifer Burden, in Times Square in NYC advocating for Shot@Life, life-saving vaccines for children in developing countries.
In January, World Mom’s Blog’s advocacy for global health and children began offline at the pilot grass-roots party thrown at my house for the UN Foundation’s new Shot@Life campaign.
For the first time, at that party, I talked candidly in front of my friends and my mom about why the movement for life-saving vaccines for children in the developing world resonated with me.
It was a difficult, personal story for me about my many pregnancy losses, how desperate I felt and how I want to prevent mothers around the globe from ever having to feel that desperate, tragic feeling. There are mothers in the world losing their children to diseases that we have the know-how to prevent. And I want to help.
I have since shared my story at a UN Foundation Volunteer Summit in Washington, D.C. and at my friend Jodi’s grass-roots Shot@Life Party in New Jersey. But, this past Friday was, well, a little different…
I accepted an invitation from the UN Foundation to open my heart and speak for a larger audience in NYC at the launch of the Shot@Life Public Service Announcement (PSA) on the big Toshiba Screen in Times Square. (more…)

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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by Jennifer Burden | Dec 30, 2011 | International, Motherhood, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood

Happy New Year from World Moms Blog!
Another year, and even more exciting things to look forward to in 2012…
We’ve added our 18th country this week, China! More to come from our new writer in Beijing!
We are now 50+ writers strong!
The United Nations Foundation has involved me in a pilot project to help raise awareness of their Shot@Life campaign (life-saving vaccination programs for children in developing nations), which will take me to Washington, DC at the end of January. I am excited that the World Moms Blog writers’ goal to spread social good for women and children is going offline now, too!
We have also had the opportunity to (more…)

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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by World Moms Blog | Oct 30, 2011 | Blogiversary, World Moms Blog Itinerary, World Voice
We are in for a phenomenal week at World Moms Blog! Where we go will be up to all of you, and we cannot wait to see where you will take us!
On Monday, we will be in Minnesota with Nicole at Third Eye Mom. She talks about one of the most difficult parts of being a mom: when we need to travel, how do we wrench ourselves away from our babies?
On Tuesday, we will be in New Jersey, where World Moms Blog founder Jennifer Burden has a few things to tell us. Later on that day, we will head off to Geneva, where our Minnesotan mom, Jennifer Prestholdt the Human Rights Warrior, is visiting on business, as an international human rights lawyer. Jennifer Prestholdt kicks off the first post of our new “Human Rights Column” and tells us what roles we as mothers can play in making the world a better place!
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we want to hear from you! Our Blogiversary link-up will be open, and we want your stories about your culture and motherhood. For more details, click here.
On Saturday, check out the Saturday Sidebar with Eva Fannon, where the World Moms give their thoughts on an important topic, and chime in with your answers to the week’s question!
— World Moms Blog
Our World Moms Blog logo was designed by the creative Erica Joyner Designs in Virginia, USA.
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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