Every once in awhile, The Upside would like to bring your attention to a cause that we know about, we are working with and that we strongly believe in and stand behind. This week we’re bringing you a school in Decatur, Georgia called The Global Village Project.

The Global Village Project is a nonprofit transitional school for refugee girls displaced by conflict around the world. Their mission is amazing. They take refugee girls who have had interrupted education and take them through a middle school program designed to fundamentally prepare them for American high school.

There’s good news for little girls who want to read awesome magazines about awesome things written just for them. Good News! Now there's Kazoo Magazine! Kazoo is the brainchild of Erin Bried and her five-year-old daughter Ellie. They were looking  for some cool magazines to read together and just couldn’t find one. So, they decided to make their own.

Melanoma is a cause near and dear to our hearts over here at Allegory. Often undetected until it’s too late, the rates of Melanoma are rising quickly. Too quickly.  There are over 232,000 new cases of Melanoma recorded every year and nearly 55,000 reported deaths every year worldwide, making it, undoubtedly, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Enter 2017, the year scientists have begun to crack the melanoma code.

Every time you open your browser or pick up a newspaper these days, anxiety inducing headlines virtually slap you in the face.The world seems to be literally turned upside down. It’s overwhelming and it’s difficult to know what to do or how to help. But for one woman, the answer was simple. Put one foot in front of the other.

We're not sure when Clare Kramer finds time to sleep, but she is clearly making the most of every day. As Founder and CEO of Geek Nation, she has become a strong voice in "geek culture," as a contributing writer, podcast host and sought-after panel moderator at the big conventions. We'd even go so far as to call her a Darling of the Cons.

The MIT Technology Review's annual list of breakthrough technologies includes some major game-changers. By way of explanation of their choices, the Review has this to say:

"These technologies all have staying power. They will affect the economy and our politics, improve medicine, or influence our culture. Some are unfolding now; others will take a decade or more to develop. But you should know about all of them right now."

Minds Matter aims to transform the lives of accomplished high school students from low-income families by preparing them for college. Through a comprehensive 3-year program that includes intensive mentoring and academics, they empower young people from families with very little financial means to achieve college readiness and success.

Theo White is determined to inspire readers with his new zine. He feels that now more than ever is the time to encourage hope and solidarity. “Hope to me is never giving up, never giving in,” says White, aspiring to appeal to the outsiders, regardless of gender or ethnicity.