Ebola Crisis: UNICEF in Action
Posted on September 29, 2014.
September 2014
Humanitarian Crisis: In March 2014, the Government of Guinea formally recognized an Ebola outbreak. Before long, the outbreak spread to other countries in the region including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. As of September 20, 2014, over 5,335 confirmed or probable cases have been reported in the region, of which 2,622 resulted in death. These numbers are predicted to rise dramatically, with the situation worsening before it gets better. With 22 million people in need and 2.5 million children under the age of five living in Ebola-affected areas in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and many more living in neighboring countries at-risk, UNICEF is partnering with governments, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations to respond to this unprecedented crisis. U.S. Fund for UNICEF is a Global Washington member.
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Empowering Women & Girls in Developing Countries: A Conversation With Sarah Degnan Kambou
Posted on September 22, 2014.
By Nicole Neroulias Gupte
More than 600 million adolescent girls around the world are struggling to survive child marriage, pregnancy, poverty and disease. We can help them by using research to find the right tipping points and partnerships, according to Sarah Degnan Kambou, president of the International Center of Research on Women.
Kambou discussed the ICRW’s work at a Sept. 16 lunch meeting at Seattle’s World Trade Center, including representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH and Landesa.
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September 2014 Newsletter
Posted on September 16, 2014.
Welcome to the September 2014 issue of the Global Washington newsletter.
IN THIS ISSUE
Letter from our Executive Director
Washington state’s longstanding connections to the Pacific Rim are well known and important to our trade and government relations. However, did you know that Africa also has unique connections to our state?
(L-R) Bill Clapp, Founder and Board Chair, Global Washington; Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA); Kristen Dailey, Executive Director, Global Washington; Tim Hanstad, President & CEO, Landesa and Global Washington board member
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) recently traveled to Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal to explore programs that are effective at advancing women’s empowerment and food security. The senator’s office reached out to Global Washington prior to her trip and asked us to pull together a group of for-profit and non-profit organizations for a briefing with her. We hosted representatives from Microsoft, Costco, PATH, World Vision, Landesa, Splash, the Gates Foundation, Rwanda Girl’s Initiative, Rotary International, International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
We had a fascinating conversation that underscored the multitude of connections between our state and Africa. There are over 63 Global Washington members working in Africa that address challenges in global health, economic empowerment, land rights, government transparency, food security and more.
In addition to Africa, there are 52 Global Washington members working in Asia and 45 in Latin America. Washington state is increasingly known as a hub for international non-profits and philanthropists, all of which are working to improve the lives of people in developing countries. These organizations have made tremendous impacts and are moving the needle to make the world a better and safer place. For example, programs by PATH and World Vision alone impact an estimated 339 million people in a single year.
NGOs and philanthropists, alongside for-profit companies and academic institutions in our state, are developing innovative solutions to tackle many of the world’s most complex challenges. I believe that Washington should be known as the premier state for international development in addition to our reputation for being the home of many forward-thinking companies. I truly believe the work of Global Washington members is one of our state’s most valuable exports.
Kristen Dailey
Executive Director
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GlobalWA will ask you a question every month and synthesize the responses and make available to our member organizations. Please take a moment to respond to the question for this month:
Are you going to the Independent Sector National Conference taking place in Seattle this November 16-18?
Please click here to respond.
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Have you registered for the GlobalWA 6th Annual Conference? New sessions and speakers announced. Early bird rates end soon!
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Featured Organization
Snow Leopard Trust
By Gailyn Portelance
For years, Brad Rutherford only heard stories of conflict regarding the relationship between wolves and ranchers in the U.S., elephants and farmers in Africa and snow leopards and herders in Asia. When members of Snow Leopard Trust first spent time with herder communities in snow leopard habitats, snow leopards were considered the enemy of these communities because the big cats preyed on valuable livestock.
Today, things are different. Herder communities in the five most important snow leopard regions (China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Pakistan) have learned to live peacefully with these animals through the development of a positive coexistence.
Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), a new Global Washington member, is the largest and oldest non-profit organization that works to increase the endangered snow leopard population worldwide by addressing threats such as persecution from herders, habitat degradation and poaching. They do so by championing community-based conservation practices.
“We believe that the only way to achieve this goal is through a balanced approach that considers the needs of local people and the environment,” said Rutherford, Executive Director of SLT. “Without cooperation from people who share a common habitat with the snow leopard, this iconic big cat can’t be saved.”
Founded in 1981 by Helen Freeman, Snow Leopard Trust began developing community-based conservation programs in Mongolia in the late 1990s around informal talks to solve herder‑snow leopard conflict. Conversations with Mongolian women revealed that they wanted to find a way to gain more income from their livestock. Of these discussions, Rutherford says, “It made sense to leverage these skills and the abundance of livestock wool.”
A handicraft program called Snow Leopard Enterprises was born, which provides equipment and training so herders can create handmade items from livestock wool. SLT then purchases these items to be sold online. Community members also sign a snow leopard conservation agreement and, if the community follows the agreement, it receives an additional cash bonus at the end of the year. In 2013, herders earned more than $50,000 in handicraft sales.[1]
SLT didn’t stop there.
Brad Rutherford, Executive Director of Snow Leopard Trust
“In Pakistan, herders told us that the greatest threat to their food security was loss of livestock to common diseases,” said Rutherford. SLT decided to help herders vaccinate their livestock, so herds could become healthier and excess livestock could be sold in the market. This allowed herders to gain revenue that far exceeds the value of livestock occasionally killed by snow leopards.
SLT also developed programs in India, where herders expressed interest in support of a program that would give them direct monetary compensation for any livestock losses. “Now, they run multiple and very successful livestock insurance programs,” said Rutherford.
These three programs show the diversity of ways SLT engages with communities to protect snow leopards. Each program varies significantly by country depending on the local contexts and resources available.
“We don’t go into a snow leopard range country thinking we know all the answers,” Rutherford said. “We find that by listening to local people, asking questions and sharing our goals, we can often work together to come up with constructive ways to solve human-wildlife problems.”
In addition to working at the local level to protect snow leopard habitats, national-level partnerships are an integral piece to the puzzle. SLT works with all 12 snow leopard range countries, and with the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Plan, and it hopes to help countries create at least 20 landscapes large enough to support 100 snow leopards by 2020. SLT supports this plan in partnership with the President of Kyrgyzstan, the World Bank and other NGOs, which speaks to the international attention and support of SLT’s initiatives.
SLT also works with children to help secure a safe future for snow leopard populations. It has educational outreach programs through in-school nature clubs and summer eco-camps for youth, involving over 1,300 children in 2013.[2]
“We find that by connecting with local children, we help secure a safer future for the snow leopard. These camps connect children on a deep level with the very special habitat that they share with unique animals and plants, and they instill a sense of pride and ownership in these children,” said Rutherford.
SLT also has herder education programs to help communities understand the leopard, and they are tailored to meet the needs of each community.
Through these partnerships and programs, SLT does an incredible job of dispelling the myth that humans and wildlife cannot coexist positively. “All these programs bring benefits to the people while bringing protection to snow leopards and the entire ecosystem,” said Rutherford.
These efforts have a wide variety of positive effects. With the help of SLT, herder communities in northern India created two predator-proof corrals for cashmere-yielding goats. They only lost two goats, compared with 20 the year before. In Mongolia, a young herder lost livestock to snow leopards, but a neighbor was able to tell him about the handicraft program. He is now a Snow Leopard Enterprise participant, with regular income from the program helping him to compensate for livestock losses.[3] In Kyrgyzstan, Snow Leopard Enterprise communities are now helping to protect the snow leopard by denying aid, accommodation and guiding assistance to outside hunters in the region.
It’s safe to say that the positive benefits of these programs on both sides are causing an explosion in popularity, and the future of the snow leopard can only get brighter due to increased community participation. Look at SLT’s success on social media – the Facebook page alone has over 300,000 followers.
“The beauty of these programs is that they break the false choice of either helping wildlife or helping people,” said Rutherford.
1 http://www.snowleopard.org/downloads/2013_slt_annual_report.pdf
2 http://www.snowleopard.org/downloads/2013_slt_annual_report.pdf
3 http://www.snowleopard.org/downloads/2013_spring_slt_newsletter.pdf
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Changemaker
Steven Atamian, Co-Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer, Global Brigades
By Michelle McMillan
When Steven Atamian travelled to Honduras in 2003 to do medical relief work with a group from Marquette University, he “fell in love with the Honduran culture and people, and wanted to empower others to have the opportunity to work alongside these inspiring communities.”
The need for medical clinics in Honduran communities was clear to Atamian, watching hundreds walk for miles for basic health services on a daily basis, and he was encouraged by their desire for support and also the passion of Marquette volunteers to contribute. The Marquette group, made up of students and medical professional volunteers, was working with one Honduran organization, Sociedad Amigos de los Niños. Students raised funds to participate in the program and make the trip, but little was retained for ongoing operations.
Atamian, then working in the for-profit world for Deloitte & Touche, not only had an itch to continue his volunteer work in Central America, he wanted to expand on the idea of universities partnering with local communities to provide regular access to mobile medicine. The idea was to mobilize “brigades” of volunteers to work on projects where previous groups left off and have them raise additional funds to hire full-time local staff to do follow up when they weren’t there.
In 2004, along with three partners, Atamian founded Global Medical Brigades. The organization empowered students from U.S. colleges to set up their own chapters and more students got involved. Global Medical Brigades eventually had the resources to hire more local people and create a more sustainable health system.
“On my first visit, I saw how much desire and motivation locals had to improve their communities, but they lacked capacity. From then on, I knew it was about creating an organization whose main goal was empowering local workers,” said Atamian. “I saw them working with their counterparts effectively, I saw them doing it better than we can as North Americans, and I wanted to set up the structure to give them as many resources as possible to do better work.”
In 2008, Global Brigades’ focus shifted from medical relief to a more holistic model of sustainable health and development work. In addition to working in Honduras, the group expanded to Ghana, Nicaragua and Panama. Programs offered grew in number and focus, encompassing public health, human rights, environment and business.
“We were just responding to community needs,” explained Atamian. “If they said they needed a water system, we would bring in engineers and workers to build up the water system.”
As the group’s focus broadened, it dropped “medical” and changed the organization’s name to Global Brigades.
Something else changed. “From 2004 to 2008, I was just a volunteer, working for Deloitte full-time during the day and doing Global Brigades work on nights and weekends,” said Atamian, a University of Southern California graduate with a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in International Relations. With the organization gaining momentum, the board asked a few of the founders to take on work at Global Brigades full-time.
“Frankly, we never really had that intention. It was always our passion project and we all had other full-time jobs,” said Atamian. However, he quickly took on the role of Chief Empowerment Officer for Global Brigades. “My role as a leader within the organization is to empower the team around me, to attract talented people and then not micromanage them,” he said.
Atamian always wants to give his team ownership of programs, and greatly emphasizes the theme of empowerment throughout the organization. Students are encouraged to set up and lead their own chapters, and in-country teams are given the resources to develop programs based on student and community feedback.
“Really, the job of our international organization is to stay out of the way. It’s just to create an infrastructure where exchanges between students and communities happen,” said Atamian. “To me, that’s not the job of a top-down executive, but an empowering leadership team, and that’s what we try to model. So really, I am only speaking on behalf of the students and the in-country team members. I would like to stay as invisible as possible, but if I have an opportunity to talk about the good work that they’re doing, then I’m very excited to do that. It wouldn’t be empowering otherwise.”
Global Brigades stands apart from other volunteer groups in that it focuses on building in-country capacity to carry out development projects. “We want to stay as small as we can in North America and Europe, and make sure that there are really effective on-the-ground teams that are doing work year-round within the communities,” said Atamian. With the vision of creating a more equal world, the organization ultimately aims to transition their brigades out of communities once projects are completed.
“In 2013, we transitioned out of our first community in Zurzular, Honduras, and what that means is that we no longer need our development program volunteers to go to that community,” said Atamian. The community now has its own bank run by locals, its own water system monitored by a local committee and its own public health committee. There is also enough money in the community’s reserves to keep things running without volunteers. Just last month, Global Brigades celebrated their second sustainable transition in El Ojochal, Honduras.
“The fact that communities can take ownership of these projects, that’s our biggest achievement. And the fact that short-term volunteers, who a lot of people are so critical of, drive this organization, is very inspiring to me,” said Atamian. “Short-term volunteers are just one piece of a larger system. Development work, if done with the right local infrastructure, can be done very effectively with just the very basic ideas of empowerment and getting students involved.”
To learn more about the work of Global Brigades and how to get involved, visit its website.
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Member Recognition
2014 International Day of Peace: How the World Justice Project is Advancing the Rule of Law for a More Peaceful World
By Hannah Atlas
Credit: WJP/Deborah Espinosa
In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly declared Sept. 21 the “International Day of Peace” dedicated to promoting the ideals of peace among all nations and peoples. This year’s Day of Peace honors the 30th anniversary of the General Assembly Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace and reminds us of the very principles and purposes upon which the UN was founded. The declaration proclaims that “the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to peace” and it is the “fundamental obligation of each State” to protect that right. It is the UN’s hope that this day will highlight the importance of accountability and transparency and reaffirm the possibility of peace.
Woven into this year’s theme is the UN’s 2013 “Rights Up Front” initiative that calls on international actors to take early and concerted action when responding to and prosecuting human rights violations. For its part, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is working to strengthen the UN’s internal preparedness system in terms of the available funds, resources and an effective protocol to deal with evolving crisis.
But other members of the global development community are also working towards peace and security. Global Washington member World Justice Project (WJP) believes that the rule of law is the cornerstone of peace, security, sustainable development and equality. According to the WJP, establishing the rule of law – the system of rules and rights that enables fair and functioning societies – is fundamental for countries to achieve economic development, accountable government and respect for human rights.
Founded in 2006, with offices in Seattle and Washington, D.C., the WJP is building a diverse, cross-sector network to strengthen the rule of law around the world. The WJP believes that the most effective way to advance the rule of law is through collaboration among a broad range of stakeholders. WJP does this through multiple programs, beginning with research and measurement, and moving towards action.
To measure how well countries actually adhere to the rule of law in practice, the WJP created a Rule of Law Index, which measures how the rule of law is experienced by ordinary people around the globe. To date, over 100,000 citizens and experts have been interviewed in 99 countries. The data is visually displayed online in an interactive map that scores and ranks countries across eight different rule of law factors. Their findings have been reported on in more than 500 media outlets in over 80 countries around the world.
To encourage countries to take action where the rule of law is weak, the WJP convenes a variety of conferences, workshops and regional meetings. At these events, participants are encouraged to incubate local solutions to issues such as corruption, human trafficking and vigilante justice, among others. The top solutions incubated at WJP events become pilot programs funded by seed grants through its World Justice Challenge, an online seed grant competition.
What makes these pilot programs unusual is that the ideas are born from unlikely sources and collaborators. The WJP catalyzes new ideas from individuals and organizations who do not traditionally consider themselves as part of the rule of law sector – such as artists, athletes and engineers. As a result, the WJP has supported a variety of pilot programs such as a program for musicians, work with lawyers to ensure their intellectual property rights, a program for health workers in Cameroon to tackle corruption around HIV/AIDS medicines in free clinics, a program in Kuwait helping to protect domestic workers, and helping environmentalists in China working with victims of pollution to hold dirty industries accountable.
To learn more about these pilot programs, see the WJP’s newly launched photo essay series, beginning with highlights of an environmental news platform created in Peru which has raised awareness about extractive industries and helped an indigenous community in the Amazon protect their land rights.
Credit: WJP
The unique work of the World Justice Project honors the “Right of Peoples to Peace” and demonstrates the organization’s commitment to freedom and accountability under law. The conversation the World Justice Project hopes to spark is one that is honest and practical, and that examines what each of us can do to build peace in our own communities.
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Welcome New Members
Please welcome our newest Global Washington members. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with their work and consider opportunities for support and collaboration!
Don Baker Design, LLC: Don Baker is a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, animator and web designer located in Seattle, interested in working with nonprofits in the global development community. www.don-baker.com
PSI: PSI is dedicated to improving the health of people in the developing world by focusing on challenges such as: lack of family planning, HIV and AIDS, barriers to maternal health, and the greatest threats to children under five including malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition. www.psi.org
Member Events
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Career Center
Highlighted Paid Positions
Operations Manager – Splash
Impact Evaluation Officer – Global Partnerships
Highlighted Internship Positions
Undergraduate Intern, Maternal and Child Survival Project -PATH
Database Design Intern – Landesa
Highlighted Volunteer Positions
Volunteer – Global Partnerships
Volunteer/Intern – Days for GirlsInternational
For more jobs and resources, visit https://globalwa.org/strengthen/careers-in-development/
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GlobalWA Events
September 18:
Networking Happy Hour with Friends of GlobalWA, Humanosphere and World Affairs Council
September 22:
Bringing Down the Walls: The Networked Nonprofit with Jane Wei-Skillern
September 25:
NGO Roundtable Meeting with Adam Smith
September 30:
Last day for Early Bird rate – Global Washington 6th Annual Conference
October 9:
Executive Director Roundtable
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September Roundtable Recap: Highlights from the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit
Posted on September 15, 2014.
By Liv Froehlich
The first ever U.S. – Africa Leaders Summit was held in Washington, D.C. August 4-6. Themed “Investing in the Next Generation,” representatives from 49 African countries participated in the event hosted by President Barack Obama. The Summit aimed to strengthen ties between the U.S. and Africa by focusing on trade and investment in the region, as well as highlighting America’s support of Africans and the security and development of the continent.
Aze Malawo, a Seattle-based international development consultant who attended the Summit, led Global Washington’s September Executive Director Roundtable where she recapped the event and spoke about the road ahead.Malawo, originally from Zambia, focuses her work on socio-economic development and provides advisory services to numerous organizations, including the African Union Mission. Malawo was joined at the roundtable by a number of Global Washington members whose work is focused in Africa. Continue Reading
Startling amount of violence faced by children – UNICEF report
Posted on September 15, 2014.
Humanosphere, a Global Washington member, covers global health, poverty and inequity. They are a go-to news source for news, conversation and analysis around global development issues. In this article, they recap a recent UNICEF report on the amount of violence faced by children worldwide. UNICEF USA is also a Global Washington member.
By Tom Murphy
It is one of the shocking facts revealed in a new report on violence children face, by the United Nations’ Children’s rights and emergency relief organization (UNICEF). The report finds that children are exposed to violence both directly and indirectly at a very young age. One out of every three children between 13 and 15 are bullied. Then there is the fact that 80% of children between the ages of 2 and 14 are ‘subjected to some kind of violent discipline in the home.’ Hidden in Plain Sight brings together data on violence from 190 countries to provide a picture of what children face today.
Read more: http://www.humanosphere.org/human-rights/2014/09/startling-amount-violence-faced-children-finds-report/
Associates in Cultural Exchange: Making the World Your Community
Posted on September 8, 2014.
By Sam Wolff
As its name implies, the Associates in Cultural Exchange (ACE) was founded to foster cross-cultural friendships, communication and understanding. Founded in Seattle in 1973, ACE provides language and cultural programs for students of all ages, international study tours and facilitation for other international ventures, all of which fall under this Global Washington member’s mission of “making the world your community.” Continue Reading
Martin Coles – CEO – HaloSource
Posted on September 2, 2014.
Martin Coles is the CEO of HaloSouce, a Global Washington member.
By David Brett
Martin Coles is the CEO of HaloSource, the global water purification technology solutions company and one of eleven founder member companies of the Social Stock Exchange.
Coles is acutely aware of his responsibilities to the company he runs and to the world around him. His company can help prevent disease and premature death by using the innovative and patented technologies the team of HaloSource chemists, biochemists and microbiologists develop to clean the water we drink. In his words, his company is “acting as a steward for earth’s most valuable resource through being a relentless innovator in the chemistry of water purification.” But it is the desire to make a difference to the lives of the people that his company serves that also motivates Coles and helps to define the HaloSource business. He wants to make sure that difference is sustainable so the positive impact can still be felt long into the future through the multinational companies HaloSource partners with around the world.
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Dwankhozi Hope: A Comprehensive Approach to Education
Posted on September 2, 2014.
By Sam Wolff
We know that people need sufficient supplies of food, water and shelter for basic survival. But to increase opportunities and improve overall quality of life, the basics are often not enough. This is the fundamental idea behind Dwankhozi Hope, a Seattle-based organization and Global Washington member that works to help Zambian families better the Dwankhozi community – not only through necessities such a clean water, but through education, power and community development.
As the story goes, Charles Masala, a U.S.-based engineer who grew up in Zambia, heard about a community near his hometown that started its own school. This was 2003 and the school lacked skilled teachers, resources and government support. Masala was inspired by the dedication of the community’s people and their belief that every child has a right to an education. He wanted to do more than just support this school; he wanted to be a true partner in the development of the Dwankhozi community. Continue Reading
Unsustainable Practices: Overfishing
Posted on August 25, 2014.
By Sam Wolff
It’s widely recognized that environmental issues can have detrimental effects on economies. These can, at times, be difficult to observe beyond statistics and researched predictions, but one current issue has already created significant and observable effects. This is the problem of overfishing.
The figures surrounding this issue are somewhat staggering. According to the UN, 17% of fish stocks worldwide are overexploited. 52% are fully exploited, and 7% are depleted. This leaves the world with an estimated 20% of worldwide fish stocks that are not yet at or above harvesting capacity. Furthermore, 90% of large fish stocks have been depleted, due to the targeting of fish at the top of the food chain for their size. The unintended effect of this practice has led to imbalances within marine ecosystems. Because of the disproportional depletion of larger fish, their prey (smaller fish) are becoming more abundant. Ecosystems struggle to adapt to such rapid change, and the ending result can be a cascading effect in which many species, not just those being fished, are harmed1. Continue Reading
August 2014 Newsletter
Posted on August 19, 2014.
Welcome to the August 2014 issue of the Global Washington newsletter. If you would like to contact us directly, please email us.
IN THIS ISSUE
Letter from Our Executive Director
Many know Global Washington because of the successful conference we’ve held each of the past five years. This year, our premier event is on December 3 on the Seattle waterfront, and registration is now open. We’ll bring you the same quality networking and most popular sessions from years past, including the Learning from Failures session, a favorite in 2013. But you’ll also see brand-new content and cutting-edge formats. Session topics include new financial models for international NGOs, CSR and corporate giving, filling the talent gap, charting a clear path through corruption and more. All of our topics will be tailored to international issues and to practitioners who are working on the ground, and we will be updating our conference webpage as speakers are confirmed. In the meantime, save your spot and register!
In other news, we’ve been busy throughout August meeting with our Washington State congressional delegation. Global Washington hosted roundtable discussions with Republican and Democratic elected officials to give our GlobalWA members a chance to promote their work. In addition, we held an advocacy workshop for executive directors to help them frame their work to make it more relevant to Congress. Raising the profile of the global development community in the eyes of our elected officials is important to Global Washington. We also want to thank our elected officials when they are champions on international issues we care about.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer, and I look forward to a productive rainy season this fall!
Sincerely,
Kristen Dailey
Executive Director
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GlobalWA will ask you a question every month and synthesize the responses and make available to our member organizations. Please take a moment to respond to the question for this month:
Do you have staff/volunteers working in South or Southeast Asia?
Please click here to respond.
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Members in the News
Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 program recognizes accomplished local leaders under the age of 40. We are excited to announce that three outstanding individuals from Global Washington member organizations were named to this year’s list.
Please join us in congratulating: Sachi Shenoy, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Upaya Social Ventures; Saara Romu, Senior Program Officer for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Jeremy Wacksman, VP of Marketing & Product for Zillow.
The complete list of honorees can be found here.
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Featured Organization
Committee for Children
By Gailyn Portelance
Walk into Committee for Children’s Seattle headquarters and you will see a dynamic array of puppets, colorful posters, teaching cards, DVDs, lesson notebooks and music CDs lining the walls. Materials from Japan, Chile and Scandinavian countries sit by side the U.S. materials, with nearly identical components, but with distinguishing characteristics of language and design. Culturally adapted and translated teaching materials are currently used in a dozen countries.
Committee for Children (CFC), a Global Washington member, develops and publishes a teaching curriculum called the Second Step program, which aims to help strengthen children’s social and emotional health, a program for students ranging from preschool to middle school. A newer program, the Bullying Prevention Unit, provides schools training and student lessons to prevent and manage bullying.
Currently, schools in over 70 countries use Committee for Children’s programs, impacting over 9 million children worldwide.
CFC’s roots trace back to 1979. Drs. Jennifer James and Debra Boyer, both cultural anthropologists at University of Washington, founded Judicial Advocates for Women to sustain an avenue for research and child sexual abuse prevention. In 1981, the group produced the Talking About Touching program, a personal safety and sexual abuse prevention curriculum, which is still taught today. (This fall, Talking About Touching will be replaced by CFC’s newly minted Child Protection Unit.)
In the mid-1980s, the small leadership team began refocusing its goals towards prevention of violence in schools, and in 1986 adopted the name Committee for Children.
“We wanted to take a deeper step into prevention of abuse,” said Joan Cole Duffell, CFC’s Executive Director, who was a member of this early team. “We started looking at the literature on what makes people hurt others, what are the social- emotional skills violent offenders lack. So, from the beginning, our roots were all about teaching kids skills to prevent problem behavior while also teaching adults how to model and reinforce these skills.” A year later, the Second Step violence prevention program was launched.
The evolution of CFC represents the organization’s dedication to developing programs that are in line with the latest research, as well as a growing importance and emphasis on a type of learning called Social-Emotional Learning (SEL).
SEL helps children and adults acquire the ability to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions1. Current research supports the philosophy behind these programs and reveals that, if students can develop prosocial behavior to better their social and emotional health, it will lead to safer school environments and increased academic success.
“The pedagogy of our programs is critically important,” said Duffell. “All of our programs, from the very first days, have been grounded in research that shows the skills that people need to be pro-social contributing members of society, and also formative research around successful teaching and learning strategies.”
Keeping up with current research has great value, because one can adapt programs to fit with what is proven to work. Of this evolution Duffell said, “In the early days, empathy, social problem solving and the ability to construct solutions to problems were the three pillars of SEL. Now, we have gone much deeper into emotional skills and into a new field of self-regulation and executive functioning, and these skills have become a bigger part of our work as the research literature has evolved.”
A randomized control trial of the Second Step middle school program conducted in 36 schools showed that individuals in these programs were 42 percent less likely to report being involved in fights2. More broadly, according to a recent study, SEL programs are effective for students both with and without behavioral and emotional problems, for racially and ethnically diverse students living in all settings through grades K-12, and to improve students’ achievement test scores by 11 percentile points3.
Studies that show the efficacy of its programs are one of the reasons why CFC has become one of the most respected research-based SEL programs in the world. “People come to us,” said Carolyn Hubbard, CFC’s International Business Manager. “Interest in SEL is growing internationally, and we are clearly associated with research-based best practices.”
In many cases, country governments look at SEL programs like Second Step in a different context: workforce readiness.
“Governments ask how they are going to prepare the next generation with skills to compete within the global workforce, and many of the qualities associated with workforce readiness are competencies taught with SEL,” said Hubbard.
Recognizing the complexity of bringing education programs to the developing world, CFC’s interest over the years has mainly been in countries that have the financial abilities to produce and market the programs. But, this doesn’t stop CFC from searching for new ways to disseminate its programs into more challenging markets. “While we continue to expand our reach in the developed world, we are also looking for the best ways to offer our programs in other markets, either through in-country partnerships or in collaboration with broader education initiatives,” explains Hubbard.
Committee for Children currently has agreements with private organizations and publishers in various parts of the world that license rights to translate and publish their versions of the Second Step program. Of these agreements, says Hubbard, “CFC takes great care to emphasize to the international partners the importance of not just translating the materials, but also culturally adapting them to work within cultural as well as institutional contexts.”
CFC at a congressional briefing 3
In addition to the international component of its work, CFC works hard so that these programs can impact the lives of children across the U.S.
“A big focus right now is state and federal-level advocacy to move the needle on education policy in the U.S.,” said Duffell. “We want social-emotional competence to be evaluated in concert with how students perform academically.” Already, three states have adopted SEL standards, putting it on par with traditional core subjects like literacy and math.
Undeniably, CFC has created an incredible resource that fills a gap in classrooms. Duffell, a former kindergarten teacher, said she was struck by how she and other educators who were managing different kinds of children within a classroom had very little resource available to them. “With CFC, I realized that the programs we were creating were exactly the kinds of support I had been seeking to help children who were struggling with social and emotional skills.”
It is evident that these programs are passionately developed and created by educators. Of CFC’s continuing quest to promote visibility of SEL programs nationally and globally, Duffell says it will be a long process. “But to see children thriving academically and emotionally in a safe environment, it’s all worth it.”
More information and a video highlighting CFC’s programs can be found here.
1http://www.casel.org/social-and-emotional-learning
2Report to the Community 2012-2013, Committee for Children
3CFC at a congressional briefing titled “Social and Emotional Learning: Essential Skills for Success in School and Life” From left: Karen Besserman, Advocacy Strategist at Committee for Children; Janice Deguchi, Executive Director of Denise Louie Education Center; R. Keeth Matheny, Teacher at Austin High School; Joan Cole Duffell, Executive Director of Committee for Children; Tim Shriver, Ph.D., Chairman of Special Olympics and Board Chair of CASEL; Maurice Elias, Ph.D., Director of Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab; Roger Weissberg, Ph.D., Chief Knowledge Officer of CASEL, and Karen Niemi, President and CEO of CASEL, August 14, 2013.
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Changemaker
Tazin Shadid, Founder and CEO, Spreeha Foundation
By Sam Wolff
Spreeha, originating from Bengali, means strong desire, motivation and intention.
Talking with Tazin Shadid about his life and founding of the Spreeha Foundation is an encounter with a variety of narratives. These narratives include his own life’s story, the story of Spreeha’s development and the stories of the many people living in Bangladesh’s slums, with whom Shadid and Spreeha work in order to break the cycle of poverty.
Shadid’s story begins in his birthplace, Bangladesh. Fast forward several years to his move to the United States after finishing high school. Although his higher education enabled a successful career at Microsoft, his childhood experiences and lifelong passion for service kept the people in the slums of Bangladesh at the forefront of his priorities. With the philanthropic influence of Microsoft, Shadid began a health care program in Bangladesh for people living in slums. Over time, the program grew in size, complexity and breadth in the services it offered. After about five years, Shadid realized that health care alone could not solve the problems of poverty, and thus, Spreeha’s holistic approach was born to include education and skills training.
In many ways, the services offered by Spreeha’s three-pronged strategy follow the growth of each individual it serves. It starts with health care to ensure that pregnancy and birthing are properly tended to. Spreeha’s health care system currently provides for 2,200 families and cares for 800 patients per month via local clinics and door-to-door services, which include vaccinations, maternal health workshops, contraceptives and malnutrition prevention.
Next, Spreeha offers education for children ages 3-5 years which prepares them for the public education system. After age 5, Spreeha offers tutoring support as the children progress through their state-sponsored schooling. With these preparatory and supplementary educations, the goal is to reduce the dropout rate of children, who sometimes cannot keep up or maintain their focus on education.
Finally, Spreeha provides skills training to both older youth and adults. It focuses its efforts on services for women due to the unequal opportunities caused by gender discrimination. With the goal of empowerment, Spreeha offers education about rights and leadership development for girls 8-14 years of age. Spreeha also offers career-focused training for all children, such as computer certification, art, music and photography. For women ages 15-45, vocational training and help with job placement is available.
Spreeha’s approach is one that has evolved with the input of the communities it works in. It’s a philosophy that seems to reflect Shadid’s job at Microsoft, which is in Program Management and User Experience – essentially, to examine the consumers using Microsoft software in order to best determine necessary improvements. Shadid credits his experience with Microsoft as having had a substantial influence on the way Spreeha operates. “We are always learning from them,” said Shadid of the people who live in the slums Spreeha serves.
Through the personal and professional connections formed by spending time in the slums and maintaining contact with the locals when he returns to the U.S., Shadid pursues a strategy that is deliberate and considerate of the needs of those involved, and aligns itself with one of Spreeha’s principle virtues: Empathy.
“We work in such a way that we become a part of the community and family. Anytime they have some family matters that they need help with, they’ll come to us. That’s how integrated we are,” said Shadid. The family matters can be as personal as Spreeha workers helping to name a newborn baby.
Despite its successes, Spreeha Foundation is still a young and growing organization. All of its U.S.-based staff, including Shadid, work separate full-time jobs to support themselves while dedicating their free time to their work with Spreeha. Shadid’s cautionary pitch to potential staff is that, “It’s a full-time job with a salary of zero.”
In the coming years, Shadid hopes to see Spreeha’s growth make it possible to offer compensation so that staff can dedicate more time to the cause and allow Spreeha to improve the availability and depth of its medical services so programs can be implemented on a larger scale. When asked about his own future, Shadid said that he hopes to expand the services of Spreeha and, eventually, dedicate himself full time to the organization.
“We have built a model that we can replicate,” said Shadid, “and we have been replicating it. But in five years, I hope we are at a point where we are strong enough to replicate in multiple locations and different countries.”
When asked about how someone with an inclination for service can begin to fulfill their passions, Shadid gave this advice: “Be open. You’ll see a lot of things that will break your heart and a lot of things that you haven’t seen before. But be optimistic, and come with an open mind. Be ready to change the world. I think the biggest thing you can bring is passion. If you’re passionate about it, work with others and you can solve big problems.”
To get involved with Spreeha, or to learn more about their work, visit the website.
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Member Recognition
Orphans to Ambassadors Answers the Call on International Youth Day
By Michelle McMillan
International Youth Day on Aug. 12 highlights the important role that young people can and do play in their communities and around the world. It also draws attention to the invaluable work of organizations that equip children with the resources they need to realize their full potential.
Orphans to Ambassadors (O2A), a Seattle-based NGO and Global Washington member, is dedicated to improving the lives of underserved youth around the world. Their mission is to bring renewable and sustainable solutions to organizations serving displaced children in developing countries. There are approximately 153 million orphans worldwide, with the majority of them living in facilities without electricity or running water. These children often lack equal access to education, and are more susceptible to exploitation, child labor and abuse1.
“We empower these [partnering] organizations by co-investing with local visionaries in solar energy, rainwater harvesting and income-generating agriculture programs,” said Jesalyn Dvorak, International Projects Coordinator for O2A. “This technology addresses the communities’ needs and greatly reduces operational costs, therefore creating more time and resources to invest in the children.”
Orphans to Ambassadors began with a focus in post-refugee affected areas, where the main challenges that youth face are basic needs such as clean water, nutritional food, health care and education. The majority of relief agencies and NGOs leave when refugee camps close, but access to basic needs remain steady. O2A addresses this problem with projects that promote both self-sufficiency and sustainability.
“When the children aren’t at school, they’re often right alongside our volunteers asking questions,” said Dvorak. “The future belongs to the curious – everything is a lesson – and we feed their desire to learn more by developing a curriculum specific to each project.”
By working with children to inspire them and help them become leaders within their communities, and giving organizations the tools and knowledge for success, Orphans to Ambassadors hopes to foster young generations into ambassadors of sustainability.
About International Youth Day and the World’s Young People
International Youth Day celebrates the potential of young people as partners in society, and the United Nations urges member states to integrate youth into decision-making processes. This year’s theme focuses on mental health, and highlights the damage that stigma can do to those with mental health conditions. Stigma often prevents youth from seeking help, restraining their potential and the contributions they could make to their communities.
The number of youth today has reached an all-time high of 1.8 billion, making up a quarter of the world’s population. Ninety percent of the world’s youth live in developing countries, where they play a critical role in shaping both social and economic development. Today’s youth are the drivers of social progress, with a direct influence on sustainability and resilience in their communities2.
Although there have been improvements in addressing the issues facing young people, many still lack the opportunities they need to realize their full potential. Millions of youth do not have access to education or healthcare. According to the United Nations Population Fund, 215 million underage children work part or full-time while 75 million youth aged 15-24 remain unemployed3.
The United Nations recognizes the importance of young people to their communities and to global development efforts, and encourages member states to follow the guidelines presented by the World Program of Action for Youth. The program outlines fields of action in fifteen priority areas, including education, employment and participation.
1http://www.orphanstoambassadors.org/
2http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/factsheets/One%20pager%20on%20youth%20demographics%20GF.pdf
3http://www.unfpa.org/public/cache/offonce/home/adolescents;jsessionid=FB24D4143FB0EB373502000F1FBA0FC6.jahia02
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Welcome New Members
Please welcome our newest Global Washington members. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with their work and consider opportunities for support and collaboration!
Atlas Members:
Fuse IQ: Motivated by a core belief in social responsibility and a commitment to the community-driven power of open-source technologies, Fuse IQ strategizes, designs and develops comprehensive, enterprise-level Web solutions for organizations committed to creating a better world. http://www.fuseiq.com/
Snow Leopard Trust: The Snow Leopard Trust builds community partnerships by using sound science to determine priorities for protecting the endangered snow leopard. http://www.snowleopard.org/
Cascades Members:
Global Spark: Global Spark is a nonprofit organization that provides technical support and assistance to educational institutions and charitable groups to help achieve positive community outcomes. http://globalspark.org/
Healing Hearts Northwest: Healing Hearts Northwest is a 501(c)3 organization that aims to teach and train Rwandan health professionals and thereby create an independent, sustainable system. http://healingheartsnorthwest.com/
Minerva Strategies: Minerva Strategies advises nonprofits, foundations and corporations on using communication to advance social good. http://minervastrategies.com/
Mobility Builders: Mobility Builders strive to create a process that can be utilized across the globe to build affordable, customized wheelchairs using local resources for the 65 million people in the world who need wheelchairs. www.mobilitybuilders.org
Tandon Institute: The Tandon Institute is a global advisory firm, serving select nonprofit and social sector organizations worldwide to rapidly accelerate their impact, revenues, brand and leadership effectiveness.
Village Health Works (VHW): Envisioning a healthier, more just, peaceful, and prosperous society in Burundi and beyond, VHW provides quality, compassionate health care in a dignified environment while treating the root causes and the social determinants of illness, disease, violence, and neglect in collaboration with those they serve. http://www.villagehealthworks.org/
Member Events
- August 20, 2014: Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce // All YPN 2014 at Seattle Center
- August 21, 2014: Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association // 2014 Silver Summer Social– Celebrating 25 Years of the WBBA
- August 26, 2014: World Affairs Council // Spanish Conversation Group
- August 28, 2014: Water 1st International // Water 1st Beer 2nd
- August 29, 2014: Global Visionaries // 2nd Annual Global Leadership Educator Workshop
- September 10, 2014: Washington Clean Tech Alliance // 2014-2015 WCTA Breakfast Series: China
- September 11, 2014: Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce // Alaska Business Forum: Fisheries, Seafood, and Maritime Development
- September 13, 2014: Bastyr University // Living Naturally: Conversations on Health and Happiness
- September 16, 2014: Dwankhozi Hope // Dwankhozi Hope Golf Tournament
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Career Center
Highlighted Paid Positions
Event Coordinator – GlobalWA
Development Coordinator – iLEAP
Development and Database Officer – Global Partnerships
Highlighted Volunteer Position
Events Chair Volunteer– Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County
Highlighted Internship Positions
GlobalWA Intern Fall 2014 – GlobalWA
U.S. Anti-Poverty Campaigns Internship Fall 2014 – RESULTS
Editor Internship – The Borgen Project
For more jobs and resources, visit https://globalwa.org/strengthen/careers-in-development/
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GlobalWA Events
August 21st:
Networking Happy Hour with Friends of GlobalWA, Humanosphere and World Affairs Council
September 10th:
New Member Orientation
September 11th:
Executive Director Roundtable
September 22nd:
Getting to Scale: How Networked Nonprofits Succeed
REGISTER NOW: December 3, 2014
Global Washington’s 6th Annual Conference at the Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle
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