04-03-12

Invisible Children co-founder will speak at Iowa State April 9

AMES, Iowa -- Bobby Bailey, co-founder of Invisible Children -- the organization responsible for the recent viral online video about Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony -- will speak at Iowa State University. His talk, "A Decade in Pursuit of Kony: The Unorthodox Ways of Building a Movement," will be at 8 p.m. Monday, April 9, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. He is hosted by the ISUganda group and is part of the university's World Affairs series. His talk is free and open to the public.

During a life-changing trip to Africa, Bailey and two friends learned about Northern Ugandan children who were abducted from their homes and forced to fight as child soldiers by the rebel group, the Lords Resistance Army. Following the trip, they made the documentary, "Invisible Children: Rough Cut," which they screened in high schools, colleges and churches. They also established the nonprofit organization, Invisible Children.

Invisible Children now engages youth around the world, using the power of film, social media and storytelling to connect them in a personal way to sustainable development programs in Uganda. Since 2004, Invisible Children has reached more than 3 million people and raised more than $25 millon for awareness, advocacy and development programs.

Largely in response to Invisible Children's work, President Barack Obama signed a bill into law in 2010 to remove Joseph Kony from power and save the lives of millions of Ugandan citizens. In March, the African Union announced it plans to deploy 5,000 troops to hunt down Kony, the notorious leader of the Lord's Resistance Army who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Bailey left Invisible Children in 2009. He is a co-founder of the Global Poverty Project.

Bailey's lecture is cosponsored by the ISUganda, World Affairs and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body. More information on ISU lectures is available at http://www.lectures.iastate.edu, or by calling 515-294-9935.

-30-