February 2011 Newsletter

Posted on February 17, 2011

Welcome to the February 2011 issue of the Global Washington newsletter. If you would like to contact us directly, please email us.

IN THIS ISSUE

Note from our Executive Director
Featured Story: International Education: More Critical Now Than Ever
Featured Organization: China Tomorrow Education Foundation: A Better Future for Rural China
Changemaker: Interview with Allan Paulson
Announcements
Global Washington Events
Other Events

Note from our Executive Director

Greetings,

As we look ahead to the coming year I’m excited to give you an indication of what you can expect from Global Washington in 2011, as we seek more ways to support you on the Issues that define and drive your organization.

We continue to define our core purpose as serving as a catalyst for greater partnership and innovation for the Washington State international development community.

For the past two years, Global Washington has been working to highlight your efforts by hosting exchanges between you and other groups. We have seen increasing interest in our growing development community from Washington D.C., public and private sectors, and academia.

Global Washington has more than 130 members, most of whom are associated with one or more of these categories of development: Education, Environment/Sustainability, Health, and Poverty Alleviation/Economic Development.

In 2011, we’re expanding our approach to provide you with more support around the issues that interest you most. To stimulate more meaningful exchanges and encourage greater collaboration between members, we will identify where your specific sector interests align with other development organizations academic institutions and corporations. We will be providing opportunities for you to exchange information, identify partnerships, and source support from organizations with similar strategic interest in your sector. The survey we sent you recently is an initial effort to assess your interests and priorities.

We have heard from many of you that you are interested in coming together and working in small groups. As a next step, we will create working groups for each sector and host events where you have the opportunity to share greater details of your work. Please feel free to contact me with your interest in contributing to this effort and helping us plan opportunities for this year that will provide you with the greatest benefit.

We will begin this sector work by greater focus on the education sector. As an organization active in the sector we look forward to engaging you to contribute to a more specific agenda on education for Global Washington to pursue . In the coming weeks I will be contacting you directly about opportunities to contribute to our working group and preparations for a summit on international education later this year.

In unity,

Bookda Gheisar, Executive Director

Featured Story: International Education: More Critical Now Than Ever

This year is bringing new and exciting opportunities for Global Washington members to shape a cohesive international education system in Washington State that will serve as a model for our nation.

Our nation’s investment in international education will profoundly affect our ability to address critical issues of global development, environmental sustainability and national security. We must better prepare students to enter the professional world as knowledgeable and competent global citizens. To accomplish this, our state needs a unified strategy and integrated international education system.

Washington’s current international education system is disorganized and segregated: K-12 and higher education institutions are disconnected from one another, without common curricula, benchmarks, requirements and priorities to prepare students to enter a globalized workforce and to become effective global citizens and leaders.

As participants in a broad-based, statewide coalition of academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and leading businesses—and with the support of state policymakers—Global Washington members are uniquely positioned to coordinate and build a shared strategy for international education.

Creating a roadmap for the future

Since 2008, Global Washington has convened education experts from across the state to identify avenues for collaboration to transform Washington State students into global citizens. Already, this group has compiled two invaluable resources (available at globalwa.org/resources/issue-areas/education):

An inventory of global learning at the collegiate level, highlighting the tremendous diversity of global learning opportunities already available at Washington colleges and universities.
A set of “Global Learning Goals for Higher Education” that have been endorsed by the presidents of 39 Washington State higher education institutions.

Building on this effort, Global Washington’s International Education Working Group has identified three topic areas critical to developing a cohesive, statewide international education system:

World Languages – There is a vital need in Washington to develop communication capabilities in world languages that are most important for the state. This includes identifying language priorities, teaching and learning pedagogies, and curriculum and program design.
Building a Global Classroom in the U.S. and Abroad – Washington State students must link with students in other parts of the world. To do so effectively requires:
- pedagogy and desired learning outcomes for students’ interactions with one another;
- technology and infrastructure for supporting these interactions;
- best practices and lessons learned by independent schools in Washington State and transferring those to public school systems;
- building schools abroad and exchanging educational best practices and lessons learned between Washington State and the developing world;
- program design to facilitate global student interactions.
Pedagogy and Competence Building – As a state we must identify best practices for teaching intercultural skills to students and ensure that teachers are well prepared to provide effective global learning experiences for their students. This includes promoting specific goals, evaluation metrics and a vision for international education in Washington schools.

Mobilizing statewide action

Based on our successful experience to date, Global Washington sees a unique opportunity to emphasize K-12 and higher education as a strategy for fostering global engagement. Our priorities are driven by the statewide sense of urgency for programs that anticipate the future and equip our citizens to thrive and to lead in the coming decades.

But to move forward, we need your participation. There are three ways that you can get involved in this important work:

International Education Task Forces: We are currently convening three task forces focused on each of the critical topic areas described above. These task forces will bring together key stakeholders in the international education sector, who will identify the most important priorities in each area and translate those to specific policy recommendations.
Global Washington 2011 International Education Conference:Building Global Citizens and a Global Workforce through Education in September 2011. This conference will bring together more than 120 representatives from Washington government, business, non-profits, higher education and K-12 institutions with policymakers and thought leaders who contribute to the international education community. Together we will harness our united efforts, explore the most pressing international educational issues, and create a shared vision for a cohesive international education system in Washington State.
Advocacy: We will leave the September conference with an advocacy plan to ensure that the development of a cohesive international education system is a critical policy issue for the state of Washington.

Together we can build a statewide movement to support international education and ensure that our students are prepared to be future global citizens and enhance our collective impact on global development.

To learn more, contact Bookda Gheisar.

Featured Organization: China Tomorrow Education Foundation: A Better Future for Rural China

“As the smile of a poor little girl living in remote village in China with her cancer afflicted mom and the happiness of the children left behind in the countryside by their migrant parents flash into my mind, I realize how important the gift of education is in bringing about substantive change in people’s lives,” says Dennis Su, the President of China Tomorrow Education Foundation (CTEF).

CTEF believes in giving this gift of education and changing lives; so far the organization has impacted the lives of more than 51,000 children. They fulfill this exemplary mission with the support of their dedicated volunteers and donors. “Donate your time and energy and help kids in rural China” is the underlying theme of all their projects.

There is a wide education gap between the impoverished countryside and the booming cities of China. In rural China, many people with their meager incomes can’t afford to send their children to school. The prospect of earning money forces parents to migrate to cities and leave their children in the home village or towns. Usually these “left-behind children” end up living with their grandparents, who take care of the children’s personal safety and daily living but are unable to address their educational needs. There are inadequate educational amenities in the rural areas and children typically study in stone or brick houses, which have been converted into schools. The schoolteachers in the countryside tend to seek better-paying jobs in cities, which often takes the better teachers away from rural students.

CTEF was founded by a group of American Chinese to address this problem of inequality and unreasonable distribution of resources. Their resolve to help the children in rural China was also in sync with the acclaimed 1999 Chinese movie “Not One Less.” Beautifully filmed in a neorealist/documentary style, the movie showcased the difficulties in providing rural education in China. The movie was shown internationally and according to Dennis Su, served as an important tool for attracting the attention of the people towards the issue and fundraising in the initial days.

Since 1999, the China Tomorrow Education Foundation is on a mission to improve education in rural China and prepare the children to become responsible global citizens by renovating schools, establishing libraries, providing teaching equipment, training teachers, funding scholarships, and promoting public awareness of the education conditions in rural China. They work towards this mission through their 100% volunteer and donor-based programs.

CTEF provides financial assistance and moral support to poor students. Their 1+1 student sponsorship program, focusing on high school and college students, provides micro grants to deserving students for up to 50% of their subsistence and school admission costs. To sponsor a student, you only need to donate $150 per student per year for high/middle school students and around $400 per student per year for college students.

CTEF aims to give a more personal touch to its volunteer and donor programs. All volunteers are committed to donating their time and resources and covering their own administrative cost. This ensures that 100% of your donation will reach the students.

The 1+1 sponsorship program allows donors to select a student a list on the 1+1 sponsorship discussion board. The sponsorship discussion board includes information about the students, which enables the donor to make a judicious selection of the student to be sponsored. Once the student is selected from the list, CTEF sends the money to the student and facilitates direct communication with the student sponsored. Donors can personally talk to the student and keep track of his or her progress in school and life. Thus, CTEF helps donors establish personal relationships with the recipients of their donations and directs the money and care towards helping poor children improve their lives.

CTEF has laid down certain criteria for the students listed for sponsorship, which ensures that your time, energy, and money go to those who are bereft of all essential educational aids and resources and are truly deserving. The candidates are mainly selected by CTEF local volunteers, for example, teachers from rural schools. The students then fill out the 1+1 program application form. The information is validated by CTEF volunteers and finally posted on the 1+1 forum.

CTEF also recognizes the fact that access to education includes making significant changes in physical infrastructure and ensuring an adequate supply of needed materials to the children. With the help of a network of trustworthy volunteers, CTEF runs a school renovation program in rural China. The volunteers send first-hand school information and a building proposal. The proposal is evaluated by CTEF and if it’s well-planned for a limited budget and meets the criteria, CTEF goes ahead with the renovation. CTEF has funded 152 of school projects in 13 provinces, worth over $1.4 million (USD).

One of CTEF’s ongoing projects is ShangGang elementary school in GuangXi Province in China. The existing lecture building of this school is not safe for the students in the event of a natural disaster. Due to insufficient funding to construct new building, the children have no other choice but to study inside the old building. Any amount you donate to CTEF goes towards the construction of a safer school building.

CTEF has done commendable work when it comes to areas affected by earthquakes. A few of its earthquakes projects were in Sichuan and Gangsu, the most recent being the Yushu Earthquake Relief Fund. Any amount you donate to this project is used to rebuild schools, school libraries, and student scholarships and contribute towards educational advancement of the school children in earthquake-ravaged areas.

CTEF also gives donors the option to support the sponsorship program in general, simply by donating via the CTEF donor tool. The amount donated is pooled in with other donors to help the students in the program. Thus, you can contribute $1 to a fund for books in the school library, $15 to $20 to supply desks and chairs, $2,500 to $ 3000 for a standard classroom, and $6000-$10,000 to build a single-room rural school. If the donation is $6000 or more, the school is named after a group or individual donors.

CTEF’s success in carrying out volunteer and donor-based projects in rural China can be largely attributed to the support it gets from local communities and corporations in Seattle. Microsoft is one of its biggest corporate allies. Through donations of cash, software and volunteer work, Microsoft helps CTEF achieve its mission. It provides software that improves service delivery and reach, websites and databases to personalize interaction, and communication and collaboration tools to improve coordination and delivery. Receiving software from Microsoft allows CTEF to work more efficiently and keep their operations running smoothly and securely.

In addition to Microsoft, CTEF receives help from employees at Amazon, ARM, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Google, Honeywell, Merrill Lynch and other companies.

CTEF also works in alignment with sister organizations like OCEF (Overseas China Education Foundation), Sowers Action, Interglow and The Zigen Fund.

As one of the member organizations of Global Washington, CTEF looks for new opportunities for growth and collaboration with diverse groups and people working in global development. Through Global Washington, CTEF gets a platform to connect, share, and strategize with diverse entities and direct their energy and resources towards promoting child education. We encourage you to contribute your time and energy and help CTEF in this noble cause. Donations to CTEF help bring about meaningful change in innocent children’s lives and leave a row of smiling faces.

To know more about how you can make a difference, please visit http://www.ctef.org/Involve/donate.aspx

Changemaker: Interview with Allan Paulson, President of Pangea

Impassioned by social justice and equity, Allan Paulson, a former consultant in leadership and development, decided to retire from his consulting career to engage on a path of global development work. In 2003, Allan became President and founder of Pangea, a “hands-on” organization that raises money for grass roots organizations located in Asia, Central America and Africa. Pangea brings donors together, provides educational trainings and on-site visits to funded projects, and makes small grants to support the goals of small communities. Allan’s decision to participate in global development was crystallized after September 11th, when he and others imagined a better way to do philanthropy to create greater change in undeveloped communities all over the world. “Communities lack financial and knowledge resources. We want to encourage people, to give them a boost and to help them accomplish their own goals,” said Allan. “This is not about us, donors, feeling good; this is about people improving their lives…Relationship with grantees and trust are in the earth of the grant process. We are a learning community. We want to be helpful in the ways they need us to be helpful.”

When I asked Allan about his greatest achievement, he mentioned the name “Raphael Okumu,” one of Pangea’s grantees, and now one of Allan’s good friends. When they met, Raphael was 27, and had received a grant from PATH to learn how to use “social drama” to educate people in the street to prevent HIV/AIDS. Raphael was from Kenya and had a great idea for empowering youth in his country through the arts. Allan has been mentoring him ever since, and Pangea funds a part of his project. Raphael has now created an arts academy. With admiration, Allan describes Raphael’s tremendous vision and “his spiritual commitment to support the development of youth of his country.” Mentoring Raphael taught Allan about the importance of the arts in engaging youth. He has also realized just how critical the issues that youth currently face are (unemployment, unequal access to education). For Allan, the work is much more that being a donor or a coach; it is about building relationships and knowledge. “We want to learn from others; we want to learn how to become better partners.”

Pangea values knowledge as an essential resource for community development. Pangea is unique in the sense that it promotes education for both donors and grantees. Based on its members’ interests, Pangea organizes educational workshops about various global development issues. The goal of these workshops is to increase donors’ awareness on specific topics (e.g. strengthening the role of women as agents of change, evaluation). Similarly, during on-site visits of funded projects, Pangea works collaboratively with grantees to design leadership trainings or other workshops, according to the needs of communities and NGOs’ they partner with.

More than eight years have passed since Allan started to volunteer for Pangea. For him, everything happened “smoothly” and it has been a “wonderful experience” so far. One reason for this success is that despite the diversity of members’ interests, all try to maintain a culture that promotes consensus. Fulfilling Pangea’s mission and maintaining an efficient “process” (promoting education, philanthropy, equity and strong relationship with grantees) is paramount. As the organization is growing, challenges are mounting. Allan mentioned some of them: implementing a realistic evaluation program according to each community’s political, social, environmental context; incorporating new members into the learning process; and building stronger relationship with the grant partners though “liaisons.” Allan mentioned the need for maintaining and increasing each member’s cultural competency: “we want to respect our grantees’ culture; we want to learn how to support them.”

Pangea’s openness attracts an increasing number of members, now counting 45 individuals and couples. Allan found a supportive community in Washington State. Since 2003, members have partnered with 39 grassroots organizations in 9 countries and awarded grants totaling $477,603. Despite this success, it was with a lot of humility that Allan described his work. For Allan, reinforcing relationships between staff and grantees, keeping learning about communities’ needs and improving the grant process is what matters the most.

Announcements

Global Washington Membership Survey

We are working to improve our programs and add more value to your membership. If you work for one of our member organizations, we want to hear from you! You should have received a link to our member survey in your email, and we encourage you to take 5 minutes of your time to complete it. If you didn’t receive the link, email admin@globalwa.org and we will send it to you. Thank you for supporting Global Washington!

Global Washington Directory

We have recently completed a review and restructuring of Global Washington’s online directory database. Following this work we are renewing our invitation to the Global Development community to be listed in our directory. This service is free and is open to anyone with a presence in the state of Washington that is working actively in the global development sector. A big thank you to everyone who has already added or updated their listing! To view our directory please visit: https://globalwa.org/resources/directory/advanced-search/. To add or update your listing, go to https://globalwa.org/resources/directory/add-listing/. For problems or questions, email admin@globalwa.org.

Communications Workshop

Do you ever feel that your organization could be more efficient in communicating to your constituents? Do you ever suspect that not everyone in your organization is clear about marketing objectives and priorities? Do you ever wonder about the long term impact of your organization’s communication efforts and contemplate if there are missed opportunities?

If your answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then your organization might benefit from the development of a strategic and integrated communication plan.

Global Washington is offering a three-hour communications training session with Claudia Ender, who will guide you through the different components of communication planning, and will give you an opportunity to start your own plan with hands-on exercises. At the end of the training, you will have developed a first draft for your organization, and you will be confident about finalizing it with your respective stakeholders. You will learn how to define your audience, set goals, and decide on the most effective marketing mix (PR, advertising, social media, direct marketing, events, etc.) depending on your organization’s business objectives.

The session will be on April 13th and registration will open on the Global Washington website on Tuesday, February 22nd. You’ll be receiving an invitation with more details next week!

News from RESULTS

World TB Day: RESULTS encourages you to plan on outreach event on March 24^th–World TB Day. To help you, there are resources available here. RESULTS has TB experts and patient-advocates available for your local events (community forums, university panels, rallies, TB walks, media events, or congressional meetings). Contact RESULTS Outreach and Advocacy Associate Crickett Nicovich if you have an upcoming event where you can utilize the skills of these experts. There are also mini-grants available: apply for one, or find out more!

Face-to-Face Meetings: RESULTS wants to see 70 face-to-face meetings with legislators by the end of March. Congressional recesses are happening February 21 – 25 and March 21-25. For tips on how to schedule a meeting and build your agenda, see “Meet Face-to-Face with Your Member of Congress” or contact Ken Patterson, Global Grassroots Manager, or Lisa Marchal, Global Grassroots Associate, for extra support.

NGO Roundtable with Congressman Adam Smith

Congressman Adam Smith is hosting an NGO Roundtable on Friday, February 25^th at the Kent Library’s Large meeting room (212 2^nd Ave N, Kent, WA 98032). The invitation from Congressman Smith reads, “As a Member of Congress, I recognize the important role played by NGOs in global development. The Puget Sound region is home to a number of terrific organizations working tirelessly to improve access to health care and education, and improving the infrastructure and opportunities for economic development around the globe. I appreciate the opportunity to meet with these groups and others interested in international affairs for a roundtable discussion to share insights and opinions, and discuss the important issues moving forward.”

RSVP to Matt Perry at (253) 593-6603 or by e-mail at matt.perry@mail.house.gov

InterAction’s 2011 Foreign Assistance Briefing Book is Now Available

InterAction has just announced the release of its second biennial Foreign Assistance Briefing Book (FABB). The book covers 16 critical topics, from climate change to agricultural development and health, as well as countries deemed important to U.S. national interests, including Afghanistan. The 2011 FABB presents the unified voice of the U.S. NGO community on foreign policy issues expected to draw attention in the 112th Congress. Browse the comprehensive FABB online by visiting InterAction’s FABB webpage.

InterAction member organizations worked together to develop succinct yet informative policy papers, compiled by the best thinkers in the community, drawing from expertise and lessons learned from working in the developing world. All of the policy papers include recommendations for U.S. policymakers that we believe will help to shape a more just and stable world while also improving the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance.

Landesa (formerly Rural Development Institute)

Momentum is a word we use frequently at Landesa – our recent growth is a big part of that, but more important is the growing awareness within the international development community about the key importance of land rights for sustained advancements on behalf of the world’s poor. We think there’s never been a more important time to elevate the cause of land and property ownership.

In the midst of this momentum, we have all kinds of changes to celebrate. Our new name links the ideals of “land” and “destiny,” and will serve us better as we use our voice to champion land rights with our development colleagues. We’re also growing in numbers. Our staff has more than doubled in the past year as we scale to accommodate increased capacity.

This growth has led to expanded program impact. Working closely with government partners, Landesa helped extend legal access to land to more than 2.4 million impoverished families in 2010 alone.

By 2014, our goal is to help 20 million rural families – from India, China, and six countries in sub-Saharan Africa – to receive secured rights to plots of land where they can live and work. You can learn more about how millions of families received legal control over their land last year in our 2010 Impact Report.

We’ll celebrate these milestones and call attention to our work aimed at advancing women’s land rights at our 5^th Annual International Women’s Day Luncheon: Seed the Change. We hope to see many Global Washington friends join us on March 15^th.

Landesa (then called Rural Development Institute) was founded in Seattle four decades ago by University of Washington emeritus professor of law, Roy Prosterman. The approach he designed – to partner with governments to facilitate land rights for the poor – remains the cornerstone of our mission, and will continue to guide us in the decades to come.

Visit our new website at Landesa.org to learn more, and we encourage you to join us on Facebook and Twitter for timely and useful resources on land rights and global development in general.

Our headquarters in Seattle also has a new office address:

1424 4th Avenue, Suite 300, Seattle WA 98101