TED Talks: Dave Eggers

This is part of an ongoing series in which we highlight particularly fascinating talks from some of the world’s most innovative thinkers. These videos are featured courtesy of a Creative Commons license; for more on the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), click here.

I’m a huge fan of Dave Eggers’ books.  While some folks thought A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was a bit indulgent, I loved (nearly) every word.  I enjoyed You Shall Know Our Velocity! even more, and found What Is the What to be heartbreaking and sincere.

What I find most  interesting about Eggers is how his commitment to the written word extends beyond his own works, or the magazine he publishes, to include a heartfelt and effective social enterprise geared toward helping young people find their voices and receive one-on-one tutelage in writing.  His nonprofits (the first of which was 826 Valencia in San Francisco) serve as a fun and unintimidating setting for after school tutoring and creative inspiration.  His deceptiely simple idea–that a network of writers and freelancers with flexible schedules could engage young students in an authentic and helpful way after school hours–is making a huge difference in the lives of kids in cities across the country.  I encourage you to watch the inspiring video below in which Eggers describes his philosophy and the quirky model of 826 Valencia.  It involves pirates and superheroes, but I won’t give any more away:

You can also download this video to iTunes (MP4 file) by clicking here (”Save Link As” on Windows).