Taking the fight for women’s issues to the frontlines of Facebook

>>> next week the fight for women's issues will charge through a new front line, video games . half the sky movement and based on the book and highlights the many issues around the world. it launches on facebook and combines social gaming with real life giving. matching donations from sponsors transforming you from a player to activist. half the sky is with the social impact games to raise awareness and money for issues from hiv to sex trafficking and disaster relief. the gaming community is a good to tap. the most popular video game did a billion dollars in sales and 15 days, no biggie. joining us now is the copresident of games for change , a nonprofit for promoting the games and one of the brilliant people behind half the sky movement and the game. michelle, thank you for being with us. how does the game work? what are players doing and how are they affecting change in the world?

>> thanks for having me on. appreciate it. we begin our junior i and the game starts in india. it is basically going through simple quests. she is working with her family and trying to improve the fight for the children and taking her sick daughter to the doctor and what you are learning through playing the game is essentially she is making a difference in her life with her family, but also in her community. outside of her community going on to other countries, ultimately winding up in the u.s. because the game does in fact take you not just to over there, but also into the u.s. she is taking you on this journey and solving problems and taking women from a crush to opportunity.

>> who are is the project aimed at. is it for teenage gamer or trying to get affluent social activists to increase awareness

>> sure. so our organization games for change , our mission is improving social impact through the use of digital games . this game, half the sky movement the game, is really at its core about taking this message of how do you use a platform such as facebook to drive social action and positive change? how do you feel good playing a game? these are really games for goods. you want people to share their progress of what they're doing in the game. nick kristoff and cheryl, the authors of the book " half the sky " this is the newest installment of their movement.

>> michelle, quickly, inside the game you can make donations, real world donations. so it's not just a game but you can actually make social change through playing this.

>> exactly. so the whole point of the game is, you know, if you think about the stats. 300 million people play games on social platforms over the course of a month. if we take just a tiny fraction of that number and think about how can we get those people who are already online playing games and a lot of those people who are playing games , it's not, you know, a boy in the basement of his parents' home. many of the people playing games on facebook are women. 35-year-old women. so the person who's playing a game on facebook is also the person probably in their family who might be making decisions about donations, causes that they care about making charitable donations. as you're playing the game unlocking donations whether it's books that are being donated by the piercing foundation through room to read programs on the ground or it's life-saving surgeries that the foundation is doing. literally just by showing up, you are unlocking different kinds of donations. and you should feel good about this by sharing it with your friends. inviting your friends. it's something to feel good about.

>> absolutely. it's really exciting direction. thank you so much.

>> thank you so much. and it's half the sky movement.org.

>> perfect.

>>> still ahead, steve kornacki on the inkocharacter who shocked america into change.

>> this contains a drug called nicotine which is addictive. if i had my way i would say it is just as addictive as heroin or