With UK-based youth radio consultant Sarah McNeill, I helped found the World Radio Forum (WRF) an international network of national, local, community, and Internet radio broadcasters who produce radio for and with children and youth. WRF members work in broadcasting, education, entertainment, development, and social change. I also produced and administrated the organization’s web site, www.worldradioforum.org.

The WRF was instrumental in coordinating discussions and workshops by children and youth in many countries to contribute to a new international document – The Radio Manifesto.  Their Manifesto proclaims strongly to radio authorities the rights, needs, and hopes of young people everywhere.

The WRF began with a dedicated group of producers participating in the 3rd World Summit on Media for Children in Thessalonika, Greece, March 2001.  At a panel on radio and children, I spoke about issues in creating radio programs for children, the differences between broadcasting and cybercasting, and future integration of old and new technologies.

In 2003, I and WRF members Sarah McNeill and Mimi Brazeau (PLAN Africa) presented a panel on Interactive Radio for kids and teens at the AGORA Mediterranean Summit on Media and Children in Bologna, Italy.  I examined the meaning of “interaction” and demonstrated ways that live radio and Internet radio can deliver interactivity that’s attractive and rewarding for both children and parents.

In 2004, WRF participated in the 4th World Summit on Media for Children in Brazil, and its work was again featured at the 5th World Summit on Media for Children, held in South Africa in 2006.