New York and Goa, India, Sept 13, 2010: Jessica Mayberry, head of Video Volunteers, the international media organization empowering the voices of the world’s unheard communities, will speak at the Junior Chamber International Osaka’s Peace Conference of Youth on Wednesday, Sept 15th. She is one of six NGO leaders from around the world being honored as “Outstanding Young People.” The Junior Chamber (JC() is an international federation of young leaders and entrepreneurs, with 200,000 members in over 100 countries, aged 18-40. It is closely associated with the International Chamber of Commerce, UN Millennium Campaign, UN Foundation, and UNESCO among others.

Jessica will speak on the power of media to enable the world’s poor to defend human rights and also to engage young people to work for social change.

Says Jessica Mayberry, “This is a tremendous honor for Video Volunteers and I am thrilled to be able to engage with young people in Japan. Japanese technology – particularly cameras -- has been a huge part of the story of Video Volunteers. The Junior Chamber has changed the lives of many young people around the world. Young people have shaped Video Volunteers too, as volunteers, promoters of the cause and I hope to engage more young people to be involved in Video Volunteers while I’m in Oksaka.”

The Peace Conference of Youth is a part of JCI’s Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) Program that recognizes and honors young leaders who excel in their chosen fields and exemplify the best attributes of the world's youth.

States Shigenari Yamamoto, Chairman of “Reason of Humanity” Fostering Committee, JCI Osaka, “The program aims to realize a secure society where the human rights of each and every person are respected. We hope to have a lively exchange of views about these key points but also enjoy the cut and thrust of each debate during the program. We believe that we will see the active exchange of views among all participants. Our goal is to contribute to local communities and global society by providing young people with opportunities to develop their leadership skills, sense of social responsibilities, entrepreneurship and fellowship.”

This year, the focus of the TOYP program is around human rights and peace. The theme reflects the program’s core mission: to create conditions for a sustainable and peaceful world and realize a secure society.

The conference will be held on Wednesday, Sep 15 in Osaka, Japan. It will combine presentations by each speaker with substantive, live-audience discussions. Leaders from the international human rights organizations, prominent environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and health experts will participate. The six “Outstanding Young People” will present to the JCI members about their work and then facilitate workshops with the youth.

Jessica Mayberry will be joined by representatives of International Bridges to Justice, Niger Poverty, AMURT International and Global Green and Angkor Hospital for Children. Later, Mayberry will also have an audience with Crown Prince of Japan, Prince Naruhito, in Tokyo and will be meeting with key leaders like the mayor of Osaka and other.

About Video Volunteers

Video Volunteers' mission is to empower the world's poorest citizens to right the wrongs they witness by becoming players in the global media revolution. Video Volunteers provides disadvantaged communities with journalistic, critical thinking and creative skills, and creates locally owned and managed "community media units" that teach people to articulate and share their perspectives on the issues that matter to them “on a local and global scale”.

Since 2003, Video Volunteers has trained more than 300 people including former diamond polishers, rickshaw drivers and day laborers as Community Producers and Correspondents. Most are working full-time in slums and villages; their media has been seen by more than 250,000 people in thousands of widescreen village screenings. Video Volunteers has also launched IndiaUnheard - the first ever Community News Service.

Based in Goa, India, Video Volunteers is active in India and Brazil and has partnered with several leading organizations, including Witness, the Global Fund for Children, Pangea Day, and MTV.

Video Volunteers has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Knight News Challenge, a prestigious journalism award; an Echoing Green Fellowship, the premier recognition for young social entrepreneurs; a Tech Award; and the Manthan Award, as well as winning the NYU Stern Business Plan Competition. Jessica Mayberry has been recognized as an "Architect of the Future" by the Waldzell Institute of Austria and was named a TED Fellow. In 2008, Video Volunteers was shortlisted for the International Development Prize of the King Baudouin Foundation of Belgium.

For further information, please visit www.videovolunteers.org, follow us @twitter/videovolunteers, fan us on facebook. To speak with Ms. Mayberry, PLEASE CONTACT Trang Mar at 212-588-8788 or email tmar@teminandco.com. In Asia, please contact Stella Paul at stella@videovolunteers.org or +91-89755 04120