Two Berkeley MBA students, inspired by the rich sounds of Afghanistan and the tragic plight of its people, embarked on a digital recording mission to the country last summer, which has now resulted in the release of their 11-song album of traditional Afghan music, called Afghan Music Project.

The team, Adam Gouttierre and Chris Becherer, both Berkeley MBA 06, traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, to record folk musicians in a time rife with civil unrest, which included riots and frequent kidnappings of Westerners. The students chronicled the trip through their blog.

The Afghan Music Project, now available for download through 40 online music stores, including Apple’s iTunes and Real’s Rhapsody, was made possible with the help of a fellowship from the Haas School's Clausen Center for International Business and Policy.

The initial idea for the project came to Gouttierre and Becherer on their first-year MBA tech treks to technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, when the two fledgling musicians realized just how easy it is to make digital recordings and to distribute them over the Internet.

All proceeds from the project will fund Afghani music teachers in Kabul, who will teach music education to youth, particularly young women. According to the team, just 600 song downloads (or 60 album sales) will fund one teacher's salary for an entire year.

Learn more about the project and how to buy the album

The Innovation Funders Network, a network of funders who seek to strengthen nonprofits and improve the lives of people worldwide through the innovative use of information and communication technology, will hold its 2006 summit January 30–31, 2006, in San Francisco.

The theme is Networks, Innovation and Social Change.

Attendees will learn from funders and nonprofits who have innovative ways of carrying out their social missions and explore emerging ideas and opportunities that should be on every funder’s radar, such as social entrepreneurship, collaboration, network-based grantmaking and online organizing.

Keynote speakers will be Lawrence Lessig, author, legal scholar and founder of Creative Commons; and Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs. Victor d'Allant, executive director of Social Edge, will also be a speaker

If you are a funder or social investor, click here to register.

Civic Ventures, an organization working to help the U.S. achieve the greatest return on experience, announces the Purpose Prize: five $100,000 investments in Americans over 60 whose creativity, talent and experience are transforming the way the U.S. addresses critical social problems. To nominate someone you know or to apply yourself, click here.

Advertising agency Leo Burnett USA, whose clients include Walt Disney, McDonald’s and Kellogg’s, is seeking a nonprofit organization to grow into a powerful and recognized brand. Read the announcement.