Being an activist does not always mean being political. Recently, I served as the moderator for a panel of media innovators who discussed how wireless technology is bringing about social change.

It was exciting to explore the tools currently being used, invented and dreamed of to create a better world at CTIA Wireless 2012, the international  wireless association conference in New Orleans. CTIA hosts this premiere industry conference for wireless, telecom and broadband as well as the key vertical markets that have entered into wireless.  Forty thousand service providers, manufacturers, developers, retailers, enterprise end-users and media attend the conference.

The all-woman panel on “Wireless Activism”, presented by the Women’s Media Center,  focused on how wireless tools are used by activists to create local and global transformation.

“The Women’s Media Center exists to change the status of women in the media – including new media,” said Julie Burton, President of the Women’s Media Center. “Because 51 per cent of our population is women and only 3% of all clout positions in the media are held by women, we are working to advance opportunities for women and girls in the media through our monitoring, training, original content and activism.”

The panel I moderated featured Nancy Schwartzman, filmmaker and anti-violence activist who created the iPhone app Circle of 6, which helps prevent sexual violence. Schwartzman recently won the White Houses Apps Against Abuse technology challenge. “Technology can improve lives,” she said. “I am really motivated by creating communities where violence isn’t tolerated and people are making healthy, consensual decisions.” She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Line Campaign, a non-profit using media and action to end sexual violence.