the Causemopolitan http://www.thecausemopolitan.com Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:10:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 My Donations 2012 http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/my-donations-2012/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/my-donations-2012/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:30:44 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=4035 This is something new for me to share more of my personal tracking. I decided to be a better self-tracker in 2012. I tracked places I went in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 but only last year did I start to track in a real way a number of other personal items. That list includes [...]

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This is something new for me to share more of my personal tracking. I decided to be a better self-tracker in 2012. I tracked places I went in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 but only last year did I start to track in a real way a number of other personal items. That list includes books I read (that post is coming soon) and 100% of donations versus just my larger donations. I decided to include a second column for crowdfunding. It’s all split up below but I wanted to be able to really dig in and share where I’m giving to.

My goal was 1% of my salary. I have been exceeding that for most of my career (before the One Percent Foundation was created, though I do love that there is a larger movement towards something I believe in.

In giving there were a few areas that I really focus on. I first go local, so I give to places that were meaningful to me growing up like my alma maters and then I give locally to where I live. I also give to organizations that focus on my core areas: women & girls, financial literacy & microfinance and education. I also give when friends ask. So quite a few donations below are to birthday or other various fundraisers. I believe many of us are giving to organizations because friends ask and I know I greatly appreciate it when I ask and friends give so this is also really important to me. I give to people who I believe in. I give to more startup nonprofits than established ones. I give to socially relevant topics like Planned Parenhood’s battle last year. I give to places where I also dedicate my time volunteering and playing a bigger role (Kiva, She’s The First, Resolve, Step Up Women’s Network). Last, I included crowdfunding in my tracking just to see how much I gave over last year to Kickstarter and IndieGoGo. These aren’t part of my total donations but I did track them.

I’m not releasing the actual amounts instead I bucketed below. I’m excited to track again this year and really look at where I’m giving and how it supports my overall giving philosophy. I am going to be writing more about my own giving philosophy and am excited to put some of those thoughts to paper and share them here.

If you have a giving philosophy and want to share that with me, I’d love to hear from you.

Without further ado, giving in 2012.

$0-$100
Care For The Homeless
charity:water
Hole In The Wall Gang
Kiva
Plant A Fish
Red Cross

$100-$250
BPeace
Glory Reborn
Resolve Network**
Shady Side Academy
St. Edmund’s Academy
Step Up Women’s Network
University of Vermont

$500+
She’s The First*

Additional fundraising platforms used:
Crowdrise
Razoo
Kickstarter
IndieGoGo

* – Board of Directors
** Advisory Board

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/my-donations-2012/feed/ 0 My Cities 2012 http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/my-cities-2012/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/my-cities-2012/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:00:17 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=4010 I loosely started tracking travel and writing it up in a blog post in 2009, then more formally in 2010 via a Google Doc I kept throughout the year. 2011 was a big year in that Taylor and I settled into a real home together and the nomadic road I had been on came to [...]

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I loosely started tracking travel and writing it up in a blog post in 2009, then more formally in 2010 via a Google Doc I kept throughout the year. 2011 was a big year in that Taylor and I settled into a real home together and the nomadic road I had been on came to close. In 2011 I started a new job in New York City and the travel decreased from pretty much all the time, to a more modest vacation and weekend travel mixed along with business travel.

2012 was the most magical year of my life. Of course the #1 reason is that Taylor and I got married! A lot of travel in the earlier parts of last year was focused around other friends getting married and lots of trips to Pittsburgh before the wedding. After the wedding, Taylor and I started our list of “moons”! That is the many moons we’re taking in our first year of marriage together. Some of these are in this post, some will be in My Cities 2013.

I tracked more closely in 2012. I kept track of the purpose of the trip, how many nights I was gone and where we stayed. In 2011, I was away 74 nights of the year (20%) and in 2012 I traveled 94 nights, which is 25.75%.

I love travel and it’s such an important part of my life and of my life with Taylor. Looking at the list below it looks like a lot! But I also know that this is one are of our lives that we make time for. It’s where we allocate our disposable income, it’s where we recalibrate our souls, it’s where we connect with ourselves, each other and friends. It’s critical to how I define happiness in my life.

I’m looking forward to so many more adventures in 2013! Any trips or recommendations of musts, please leave them in the comments!

January (2)
Luso, Portugal – Palace Hotel do Bussaco
Lisbon, Portugal – Hotel York House

Highlights: Holiday trip to Portugal

February (3)
New Orleans, LA – Katie & Semmes’ House

Highlights: Mardi Gras

March (10)
Austin, TX – Driskill Hotel
Savannah, GA – Avia Hotel
Taos, New Mexico – VBRO House

Highlights: SXSW (year 5!), St. Patrick’s Day with my Mom and sisters in Savannah and Joey’s bachelorette in Taos

April (7)
New Orleans, LA – McKenzie’s House
Pittsburgh, PA – Mom’s House

Highlights: French Quarter Fest, Bridal Shower

May (4)
Santa Barbara, CA – AirBNB
Airplane – Red-eye

Highlights: Joey & Jeff’s Wedding

June (15)
San Francisco, CA – Anne’s House
Santa Clara, CA – Santa Clara Marriott
Los Angeles, CA – Mr. C’s Hotel
Venice, CA – Hotel Erwin
Montauk, NY- VBRO House
Roxbury, NY – Roxbury B&B

Highlights: Nicky & Paul’s Wedding, Ruthie & Erik’s Wedding, my bachelorette, LA work trip and showing Taylor around my old stomping grounds, speaking at WITI

July (10)
Burlington, VT – B&B
Shelton, CT – Marriott Courtyard
Carlsbad, CA – Grand Pacific Palisades
Miami, FL – The Perry
Pittsburgh, PA – Mom’s House

Highlights: Idyllic 4th of July trip to Burlington with Taylor plus showing him my college town, work trips to CA, CT & FL and a dress fitting in Pittsburgh

August (13)
Pittsburgh, PA – Mom’s House
Pittsburgh, PA – Hilton Garden Inn
Pittsburgh, PA – Mom’s House
McCoy, CO – Black Mountain Ranch
Pittsburgh, PA – Mom’s House

Highlights: Our wedding! Our MiniMoon to Colorado!

September (2)
Cape Cod, MA – Sea Crest Beach Resort

Highlights: Kate & Greg’s Wedding

October (3)
Luray, VA – Hemrock

Highlights: Weekend getaway to the Shenandoahs

November (14)
Chambersburg, PA – Mom’s House
Pittsburgh, PA – Mom’s House
Boston, MA – Sea Port Hotel
Antigua, Guatemala – Casa Santo Domingo
Panajachel, Guatemala – Villas B’alam Ya
Panajachel, Guatemala – Hotel Regis
Santiago, Guatemala – Posado Santiago
Washington, DC – Beacon Hotel

Highlights: Hurrican Sandy Evacuation, work trip to Boston, our VolunteerMoon to Guatemala through She’s The First and Starfish One By One and TEDxWomen and the World Economic Forum Young GLobal Leaders retreat in DC

December (15)
Las Vegas, NV -The Ogden
Paris, France -Air BNB

Highlights: Downtown Project Las Vegas & speaking at TechWeek and our holiday trip (aka ParisMoon) to Paris

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/my-cities-2012/feed/ 1 Introducing Catapult. Crowdfunding and Microfinance Combined http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/what-is-catapult-crowdfunding-microfinance/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/what-is-catapult-crowdfunding-microfinance/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:00:48 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3935 What if you took the best of the web, combined it, and put the focus on helping women and girls? That is the challenge taken by Catapult, a new website that brings together crowdfunding and microfinance to help women and girls around the world. Launched (with exciting buzz) at the Clinton Global Initiative, Catapult is [...]

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What if you took the best of the web, combined it, and put the focus on helping women and girls? That is the challenge taken by Catapult, a new website that brings together crowdfunding and microfinance to help women and girls around the world. Launched (with exciting buzz) at the Clinton Global Initiative, Catapult is gaining momentum with both its early partners, supporters, press and new members.

Catapult was born from Women Deliver, a global advocacy organization that brings together voices from around the world to call for action to improve the health and well-being of girls and women. Women Deliver focuses on solutions by nonprofits, NGOs and voices from around the world. Catapult can do this through each and every one of us taking an action.

There are other platforms out there that speak just to microfinance or to crowdfunding. I know for me, when I am making a loan on Kiva, I specify that I want a project that supports women. However there wasn’t one place that only supported women and that went beyond microfinance for traditional businesses, home loans and educational loans but that also supported all of the ways women and girls in the developing world need our help. Also I would be willing to make my loan a donation, if only I was given the opportunity to do so.

Catapult also speaks to the growing need in nonprofits to showcase where our donation is going. Instead of making an unrestricted donation to an organization, donors want to know where their money is going and be able to track the progress of that initiative/campaign. Through Catapult they can.

Like Kiva and many other platforms, Catapult does not take a percentage of the donation. You can support them through an additional donation in check-out but 100% of your donation goes to the project you’re funding.

Here is their missions statement:

We all believe in a gender equal world.

Obviously.

But more than 500 million girls and women will be denied the opportunity to take part in the next generation’s development.

This doesn’t have to be the reality. Organizations working for girls and women currently raise less than half the average amount raised by other nonprofits and charities.

Catapult can change that.

We’re combining the financial power and actions of people like you to help tackle gender inequality around the world.

Join me, create an account, find a project you believe in, and help fund it. Spread the word. Help get these projects out into the world.

**Disclosure: Engender Health is a client and is one of the first organizations to launch projects on Catapult’s platform. But in all fairness, I knew about Catapult way before Engender Health was a client and that is just a happy by-product of being so involved and passionate in the women & girls network.

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/what-is-catapult-crowdfunding-microfinance/feed/ 2 Our Honeymoon at a Dude Ranch in Colorado http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/honeymoon-at-a-dude-ranch-colorado/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/honeymoon-at-a-dude-ranch-colorado/#comments Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:00:19 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3953 What a hard decision! Taylor and I looked at a map of the whole world…THE WHOLE WORLD…and were faced with making a huge decision. Where to go on our honeymoon. Now of course, as two very experienced travelers, we had a few prerequisites that surfaced as we talked through every nook, cranny and crevice, or [...]

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What a hard decision! Taylor and I looked at a map of the whole world…THE WHOLE WORLD…and were faced with making a huge decision.

Where to go on our honeymoon.

Now of course, as two very experienced travelers, we had a few prerequisites that surfaced as we talked through every nook, cranny and crevice, or in this case every city, state and country. Our final decision? Black Mountain Ranch, a working dude and cattle ranch in the heart of Colorado. How in the world did we narrow down the whole world to one of most amazing places in the world? Keep reading!

1) We wanted a location in the United States. There are so many amazing things to see in the US and we both felt like while we had been all of the globe, there was more to see within our own country. We had just under a week after our wedding and we wanted to plan a bigger honeymoon for around the holidays so from a geographic perspective is also made sense not to go too far. Some might argue Pittsburgh to Colorado is far, but play along with me here. For us, it was just a quick plane ride away…plus a four hour drive from the Denver airport.

2) We wanted minimal decisions. Sometimes you go somewhere, like Paris, and you want to do a lot of research in advance, make reservations, wander around and get lost and have a map handy in case you need it. Those trip are great! I love to travel like that. But I also like to go someplace and have a “Club Med” version of a vacation, except for the Club Med part, I don’t like anything that feels “canned” or “stripped of cultural relevance.” If we’re in Colorado, we want to feel like we’re in Colorado! Back to minimal decisions. This is bliss to me: wake up, meals are pretty much pre-determined and the main thing you have to decide is which activity you are going to do that day. Given that we were planning a wedding, plus working, plus just having so much on our plates, we knew we wouldn’t have time to properly research anywhere and wanted to be able to pack, go somewhere, unpack and figure out the rest when we got there.

3) We wanted lot of outdoor activities. Yes, often vacations are about laying in the sun, doing a whole lot of nothing and eating lots of good food. I love doing that! For about 2 days. After that, I get a little restless. So does Taylor. Also I knew after the wedding weekend we would be mentally pretty tired and physically worn out, but we are really active people. If we were going somewhere for 6 days, we wanted it to be somewhere with lots of outdoor activities. Let the record show, the good part is non-negotiable.

4) We wanted to do something we’d never done before. We could have gone someplace tropical and gone snorkeling. Sure. That would have been really sweet. But we wanted an adventure! Something out of the box that would be way different. A dude ranch fits that criterion to a T. Horses, fishing, rafting, canoeing, shooting guns, playing pool, horseshoes, sleeping out under the stars, line dancing, learning to rope cattle, drinking beer from the bottle at 3pm…I mean if that all doesn’t sound like heaven, I don’t know what does. Best of all, I’d only done about 4 of those things ever before and of those 4, one of them I hadn’t tried in 10+ years. I mean it’s not every day you can have your OWN HORSE for a week and do pretty much whatever you want that includes cowboy boots. There isn’t one “coolest part” but if I had to pick, I would definitely say living as a cowgirl (outfit and all) for the week is up there.

Bonus Points: Referral from a friend. Let’s face it. A good friend telling you someplace or something or somewhere is amazing carries much more weight than not having any social context at all. That is why we all read reviews but it’s also why so much happens via word of mouth marketing. Our good friend Andrew Hyde had lived at Black Mountain Ranch last summer. He blogged about it and he included it in a chapter in his book, This Book Is About Travel.

With all of these things in mind, where in the world would you go?

I’m re-posting my review on Trip Advisor and Yelp below. If you’re interested in going to Black Mountain Ranch next summer, just let them know (honeymoon or otherwise). I’m happy to make an intro too and/or give you more information, hit me up! You can also email the Ranch directly at howdy@blackmtnranch.com.

What an amazing vacation! My (new) husband and I chose Black Mountain Ranch for our honeymoon. It might seem a bit crazy to spend your honeymoon on a Dude Ranch but it was exactly what we were looking for and I can’t recommend it enough!

During our week on the Ranch we met families and independent travelers – the Ranch can handle any group of travelers, all you have to do is bring your adventurous spirit.

The staff are so warm and truly lovely. They are great with kids, great with adults who are kids at heart and great with adjusting city folks to life on a working cattle ranch.

The setting could not be more stunning. Every day you’re surrounded by horses and landscapes as far as the eye can see. Your daily schedule is really up to you! Trail riding, arena riding, a trip to the shooting range, learning to rope, playing horseshoes, shooting pool, take a swim in the pool, go rafting, fishing, canoeing…see what I mean!

One night dinner is served at the lake, you ride there and back. One night everyone sleeps out at Pack Camp, and you ride back the next day. You pick the difficulty of your ride (easy, medium, hard) and once you arrive at Pack Camp your tent is set up and hot food is waiting for you. Plus campfire songs and the most beautiful night sky and stars you could ever imagine.

The food is so delicious with lots of options for your whole family. Breakfast and lunch are buffet-style and most days you order breakfast at dinner from a few options. Plus endless cookies on hand fresh-baked daily.

I love vacations like this – limited decisions! All you have to do is pick a few things every day and the rest is taken care of.

Your wrangler is your guide for the week but anyone on the property will help you with questions and everyone has skills they’re really great at and willing to share their tips and tricks from practicing roping to learning to Texas 2-step in the saloon in the evenings. Kids included!

Your horse is your best friend for the week. You’ll be shocked at how much more comfortable you feel on a hose by the end of the week. This goes for both experienced and non-experienced riders.

Not having a cell phone was a blessing and we didn’t miss it one bit. What a treat to really be on vacation and not be attached to your phone. There is limited wifi, but we didn’t use it and didn’t miss that either. There are of course phones on the property and ways to check back in with work/family if you have to.

Towards the end of the week, I mentioned to some of the families that I was surprised not to see one single kid meltdown or anyone not smiling all the time – the parents all agreed that since there were endless options and activities the kids were always occupied and that left everyone happy and tired at the end of the day. Same goes for adults!

As for us, it was a really romantic trip. We had tons of time to spend alone in the wilderness but also time to get to know some really cool families and some amazing staff, cowboys, cowgirls and wranglers.

Thank you to the May Family at Black Mountain Ranch for over 20 years of service. It was absolutely a vacation we’ll never forget and will be telling friends about for years and years to come.

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/honeymoon-at-a-dude-ranch-colorado/feed/ 1 Our Destination Wedding In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/how-to-plan-a-destination-wedding-pittsburgh-pennsylvani/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/how-to-plan-a-destination-wedding-pittsburgh-pennsylvani/#comments Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:00:30 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3931 Recently, as many of you know, Taylor and I got married. We chose to get married in Pittsburgh, where my family is from and where most of them still live. Taylor also went to business school there so he spent a good two years in Pittsburgh and has many good memories there. So we picked [...]

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Recently, as many of you know, Taylor and I got married. We chose to get married in Pittsburgh, where my family is from and where most of them still live. Taylor also went to business school there so he spent a good two years in Pittsburgh and has many good memories there. So we picked Pittsburgh. A lot of people stop there when they think about the city they are getting married in. And then they turn their focus on the wedding itself and any other events around their wedding.

That’s totally ok! There are a lot of moving pieces around a wedding. I get it. But for Taylor and I, we really wanted to treat Pittsburgh as a destination. As a destination wedding.

Partially this was a nod to my upbringing but it was more than that. I have talked my whole life about how great Pittsburgh is but many of my friends had never been. Or, they had a misconception about Pittsburgh. We wanted to show them how diverse Pittsburgh is and how much it has to offer. We wanted to show the cultural history, the green spaces, the food. We wanted to use this as an opportunity to do our part to infuse money into the economy. We wanted to be good cultural ambassadors. So you might ask…

Pittsburgh as a destination? What? How?

You heard me! And let me fast forward to the end of this story.  It worked. We pulled it off. How? Let me tell you.

First, we wanted to focus on the part of Pittsburgh where my family is from, the East End. So we chose a hotel near that area and most of the weekend activities were centered around that. We had a “welcome reception” Friday night and invited all guests to attend. That way people could meet up and find buddies to do things with on Saturday before the wedding.

Second, we leveraged technology. Not everyone has to do it to the extent we did, scale it to what works for you. For us we built a list on foursquare of our favorite places and told our guests to follow it. We built Pittsburgh into all of our pre-wedding communication (weekly MailChimp enewsletters for us but you could use anything). We customized our wedding website. We created a hashtag for our wedding that guests could follow on Twitter and that way they could also meet up with each other and find out what each other was up to. (Our was #STWedding).

Note: We changed the website after the wedding to show photos and took out event information so if you click through, it’s different than it was but the Pittsburgh parts are the same.

Third, we built a Pittsburgh page on our wedding website. It reads like a NYTimes “36 Hours In Pittsburgh” but has our voice, our favorites and is written for different audiences (athletic, culture, foodies, etc). We also talked about transportation and provided information on public transportation and taxi numbers so guests could figure out how to get from point A to point B and didn’t feel like they had to rent a car (even though a few did and that worked out great too)!

Note: This was also a nod to our NOLAlicious roots, so the format is one that matches our New Orleans newsletter of 2010 and is a big part of how we first became friends.

Fourth, and maybe the most important, we encouraged our guests (many of whom didn’t know each other and were in Pittsburgh for the first time) to meet up and do things together. So the wedding became a chance to explore a city we love and a place we really wanted everyone to see. The wedding was the culmination of the weekend and the lynchpin, but Pittsburgh was the backdrop and we wanted everyone to be able to experience it and love it as we do.

Fifth, we got out of the way! I knew once the weekend kicked into gear that we would be out of pocket. All of this information was communicated well in advance. I actually was jealous when I heard about how all of our friends did just about EVERYTHING Pittsburgh had to offer and I didn’t get to do it with them. But I knew I couldn’t play along, I had to get ready for the big day! So I let everyone else go and do their thing.

If you’re planning a wedding, in Pittsburgh or anywhere else, I encourage you to think about ways to build the backdrop into your wedding. Create the space for your guests to really enjoy the location. Many of them have traveled a good distance for you and your significant other, so let them enjoy the place you choose and enjoy getting to know each other. It makes the wedding all the more special when people leave at the end of the weekend with new friends, strengthened connections and good memories of where they’ve been.

For Pittsburgh, here are our recommendations…go out and explore! Let me know how it goes!

Go

Expand your mind… at the Andy Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory. The Andy Warhol Museum is a great place to explore Warhol’s work in the town of his birth, and the Mattress Factory currently has a Yayoi Kusama exhibit, a can’t miss.

Get educated… by walking around the University of Pittsburgh (you’ll see the Cathedral of Learning, the second tallest university building in the world, from various spots around town) and Carnegie Mellon University. Taylor went to school at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, if you’re interested in seeing where Taylor spent 2 years!

Wander… The Strip District, the original economic center of Pittsburgh, now a historic market district that is especially alive on weekend days.

Explore… the Southside Slopes, home to over 700 sets of staircases, more than San Francisco.

Do

Shop… on Walnut Street in Shadyside, home to boutiques, bars, and a mix of long-time Pittsburgh shops and new chains, all tucked into one of Pittsburgh’s best neighborhoods.

Shop, eat and drink at The Waterfront and Southside Works, former homes of the steel mills that gave Pittsburgh it’s name, heritage, and soul. Go for a drink, a movie, dinner, or shopping.

Yoga… at Amazing Yoga in Shadyside.

Run… in Schenley Park or Frick Park. Frick Park has a couple great playground for kids and plenty of green space and woods for playing, walking, and running.

Eat

Breakfast… at Pamela’s Diner in Shadyside. Known for their chocolate chip and banana pancakes, but everything is good.

Indulge… at Primanti Brothers, a Pittsburgh institution, known for hearty sandwiches with fries and coleslaw on the sandwich. Bring your appetite, and prepare to walk off the impending food coma.

Return to your university days… at The “O” near University of Pittsburgh (properly known at Essie’s Original Hot Dog Shop) for a hot dog and fries.

A slice of pizza… from Aiello’s Pizza in Squirrel Hill. Best pizza in Pittsburgh, according to Sloane.

Get a drink… at William Penn Tavern in the heart of Shadyside.

See

The view and the sunset… from Mount Washington. The view from Grandview Promenade and Mount Washington Lookoutis one of the best of the city. Take a ride up the Duquesne Incline ($4.50 round-trip, exact change) and enjoy the views from one of the most scenic commutes you’ll ever see.

A football game… at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pittsburgh Panthers (college football). The Steelers are playing an exhibition game on Sunday, Aug 19th (click here for tickets), stay for a game!

Lagniappe

A day trip outside Pittsburgh… to Fallingwater. 50 miles outside Pittsburgh, Fallingwater was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and is a national architectual landmark for its style, design, and construction.

Note: Tickets for Fallingwater must be bought in advance for a specific day and time. Time fill up, so definitely plan in advance. Check for tickets here, and all details are at Fallingwater.org. If you’re thinking of going on Saturday, make sure to plan for the 1.5 hours drive each way.

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/how-to-plan-a-destination-wedding-pittsburgh-pennsylvani/feed/ 5 Introducing Resolve Network http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/introducing-resolve-network/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/introducing-resolve-network/#comments Mon, 05 Nov 2012 15:00:39 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3960 “There is a saying, ‘together people are strong.’ We could not have achieved this success alone, because working in isolation, it weakens you. What one woman alone could not do, we can achieve together”   – Mapendo I first met the Founder of the Resolve Network, Vijaya Thakur, at a Kiva event two years ago. It [...]

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“There is a saying, ‘together people are strong.’ We could not have achieved this success alone, because working in isolation, it weakens you. What one woman alone could not do, we can achieve together”   – Mapendo

I first met the Founder of the Resolve Network, Vijaya Thakur, at a Kiva event two years ago. It was just one of those things. We clicked instantly. I was so inspired by her story, her energy, frankly her resolve. We talked about microfinance and women’s issues and how those issues changed in different parts of the world.

We stayed in touch and our relationship took a turn towards true friendship when we took a 8-week OpEd Project workshop together in 2011. I continued to look at the work Vijaya was doing at Resolve and looked to get more involved in her growing organization by offering tips, advice and counsel.

It is with great joy and truly an honor that I can share with everyone that I have officially joined Resolve Network’s Board of Advisors. I will act as an advisor on a range of topics but will focus my attention on social media, online fundraising, increasing donor engagement and expanding Resolve’s digital toolbox. It’s now my turn to reach out to some friends for advice and counsel as I join the amazing team, Board of Directors and other Advisors to help grow and scale Resolve’s work in the Congo and soon in other countries as well.

If you’d like to learn more, read below! You can also make a donation HERE.

More about Resolve:

Resolve Network builds peace from the ground up, empowering those most affected by chronic and systematic conflict: women. Through our work with women in Eastern Congo, Resolve reconstructs how peace is achieved and fosters creative and self-sustaining solutions. Our programs focus on developing comprehensive and dynamic networks of support for women peace makers, affirming their agency to enact their own visions of peace.

In the last year, we: 

› Launched 10 village microfinance cooperatives.

› Empowered 500 people to rise out of extreme global poverty.

We multiply our impact when we unite. The women of our program matched you step-by-step. As their businesses became profitable, they joined together to organize community building projects so: 

› 1,500 farmers grew more food and better fed 15,000 people thanks to a sustainable irrigation program.

› 20,000 people gained safe access to clean drinking water

› 30,000 at-risk people gained access to safe latrines, cutting their risk for cholera by 80%.

I personally believe it’s so important to support these small organizations that are nimble, cost-conscious and dedicated to helping people directly on the ground – minus the red tape. I am really looking forward to being part of this movement in a more dedicated way moving into 2013.

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/introducing-resolve-network/feed/ 0 Hurricane Sandy Volunteer Opportunities http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/hurricane-sandy-volunteer-opportunities/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/hurricane-sandy-volunteer-opportunities/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:01:58 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3984 It’s Friday which means it’s been over four days since lower Manhattan had power. At last count 730,000 New Yorkers were without power and that’s just around New York but doesn’t include New Jersey, Rhode Island or the other states that were affected by Hurricane Sandy. I have been looking for volunteer opportunities and found [...]

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It’s Friday which means it’s been over four days since lower Manhattan had power. At last count 730,000 New Yorkers were without power and that’s just around New York but doesn’t include New Jersey, Rhode Island or the other states that were affected by Hurricane Sandy.

I have been looking for volunteer opportunities and found quite a few across the web but not everything one place. So I have pulled below lots of different ways to help. If you know of more leave them in the comments or I’ll keep adding to this as recovery goes on.

From the office of the Public Advocate. Sign up for updates HERE.

Brooklyn

  • Friday, November 2, 12pm-4pm: Help us go door to door and distribute information to small business owners about filing for federal disaster aid in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Space is limited, please RSVP to esharp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov
  • Friday, November 2, 12 pm-4 pm: Help us go door to door to distribute information to homeowners about filing for federal disaster aid in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. Space is limited, please RSVP to esharp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov

Queens

  • Friday, November 2 through Sunday, November 4, 10am-8pm: Drop off canned foods, clothes, and cleanup supplies at 8000 Cooper Avenue (the former Borders Bookstore site). For questions about the donation drive, please call Council Member Elizabeth Crowley’s office at 718-366-3900.
  • Friday, November 2 through Sunday, November 4, 10am-8pm: Drop off canned foods, and men’s, women’s and children’s coats, and blankets at 83-91 Woodhaven Boulevard, Woodhaven, NY 11421. For questions about the donation drive, please call Assemblyman Mike Miller’s office at 718-805-0950.
  • Friday, November 2 through Saturday, November 3, 10am-1pm: Click here to volunteer in Brookville Park or Baisley Pond Park with clean-up efforts.
  • Friday, November 2, 12pm-4pm: Help us go door to door and distribute information to small business owners about filing for federal disaster aid in Jamaica, Queens. Meet at the office of Councilman Ruben Wills, 95-26 Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica. Space is limited, please RSVP towgardiner@pubadvocate.nyc.gov

Manhattan

  • Friday, November 2 through Sunday, November 4, 10am-1pm: Click here to sign up to volunteer with clean-up efforts in Happy Warrior Playground, Annunciation Park, Carl Schurz Park, Anne Loftus Playground (at Fort Tryon Park), Randall’s Island (Friday and Saturday only) or Hudson River Park (Friday only).
  • Friday, November 2, shifts starting at 10am, 12pm and 2pm: Operation Water Bottle, initiated by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, is helping deliver water to Chinatown using Dance New Amsterdam (280 Broadway, entrance at 53 Chambers Street) as a staging area to fill up empty water bottles. While the Department of Environmental Protection has opened the fire hydrants for water use there are many who don’t have access to refillable bottles or don’t have easy access to the hydrants. De Blasio’s team has thousands of empty water bottles they are filling up at DNA and delivering to residents. Space is limited, please RSVP to jmerritt@pubadvocate.nyc.gov

Bronx

  • Friday, November 2, 9 am-3 pm: New York Blood Center Emergency Blood Drive at the Bronx County Building, 851 Grand Concourse-Veterans Memorial Hall, 1st Floor Rotunda
  • Friday, November 2 – Sunday, November 4, 10 am-1 pm: Click here to volunteer with clean-up efforts in Van Cortlandt Park or Orchard Beach.

Here is a summary of where you are needed on the Lower East Side today:

  • GOLES, 171 Ave B between 10th & 11th St Friday & Saturday between 12-6 pm Knocking on doors to distribute supplies, calling members to make sure they’re ok, posting information, coordinating, etc.
  • CAAAV, 46 Hester St Friday 10 am-5 pm Knocking on doors to distribute supplies and information.
  • Help the Smith Apartments, 46 Madison St Friday 10 am- 5 pm Bringing water, food and information to elderly residents stuck in their apartments.
  • Henry Street Settlement, 265 Henry St Friday, 10:45 Distributing food to the elderly population
These are all drop-off centers if you have food, water, generators, etc.

Astoria (items dropped in Astoria will be delivered to the Rockaways)

Location 1: 23-74 38th Street (closed for the night, MIGHT reopen tomorrow, please check back here for updates) Contact Leni: (347) 762-1648

Location 2: 33-33 87th St btw Northern Blvd and 34th Ave (closes 9pm) Contact Neha: (917) 392-9708

Chinatown (open Nov 1, 10am-5pm) CAAAV 46 Hester St Frnt A (212) 473-6485 justice@caaav.org - email provided, but best to just show up to help or bring supplies!

Specific Requests in Chinatown: Water bottles C, D, AA, AAA batteries (and one 9 volt battery) Food (hot at lunch, non-perishable/bread/cookies) Some bottles of Ensure (Glucerna shake) for the elderly, vitamins for the elderly Generator (for shelter at 350 Grand St, Seward Park High School)

Rockaway and Far Rockaway Location 1: Firehouse on 59th street across from the train station. contact person: Jean Dupont9179755623

Location 2: Veggie Island 96th Street and Rockaway Beach Blvd.

Location 3: Store Front Community Center B113 and Rockaway Blvd

Specific Requests in Rockaway and Far Rockaway (starred ones are most urgent): * Propane grille or camping style oven * Plates, cups, forks, bowls, spoons, etc * blankets, jackets, gloves, hats, anything to keep folks warm * cleaning supplies – buckets, squeegies, mops, bleach * masks, gloves for cleaning * socks * water * tarps * garbage bags boots electric stove gas stove satellite phones big paper, tape, markers pens, paper, notepads generators pumps camping tables gasoline gasoline containers percolator fire extinguishers walkie talkies i9 tablets projector/illuminator

Fort Green/Clinton Hill 45 Waverly Avenue just off of Park Ave in Fort Green/Clinton Hill (Hours for Nov 1: 10am-6pm)

Park Slope New Hope Church 120/122 16th St btw 4th and 5th ave Contact: Pastor Craig: (718) 768-5275

Red Hook The Red Hook Initiative 767 Hicks Street Contact: Mariya (347) 770-1528 (but please just show up!)

Specific Requests in Redhook: (Will be updated at redhook.recovers.org prepared food (including food for children) batteries flashlights power strips toiletries (including toilet paper and paper towels) utensils such as spoons and bowls jugs of water

Bay Ridge Residence 9108 Colonial Rd. Brooklyn 11209 #E9

Sunset Park St. Jacobi Church 5406 4th Ave Contact: Ronnie 646-353-5194

Specific Requests in Sunset Park: steamtable foil pans full or half size w lids blankets cleaning supplies tin foil saran wrap

Williamsburg (starting Nov 1, 10am) Residence 306 Leonard St, apt J1 (btwn Conselyea and Metropolitan) Contact: Jennifer (917) 586-4153

Bed-stuy Residence 136 Jefferson Ave, apt 2 11216

East Billyburg (Beginning Thursday Nov 1 at 12 noon) House of Yes 342 Maujer st Contact: Kae Burke (525)217-7209

Downtown Brooklyn NYCC 2-4 Nevins Street, 2nd Floor

Harlem Location 1: Residence 47 saint nicholas avenue #4d btw 112 and 113

Location 2: Residence 938 st Nicholas ave # 25 at corner of 157th and st Nicholas ave.

Lower East Side

Location 1 The Bowery Mission 45-51 Ave D 212-777-3424 contact: Claude Nelson or any “operations manager” on duty. they’re open 24/7 and in need of prepared foods, a generator and anything else you can offer.

Location 2 (open 11/1 3pm-6pm and 11/2 12pm-6pm) Goles 169 Ave. B btwn 10th and 11th

Specific Requests at Lower East Side: Generator (Requested at Bowery) Prepared Foods (Requested at Bowery) flashlights (Requested at GOLES) batteries (AA, AAA, D) (Requested at GOLES) non perishable food (Requested at GOLES) candles (Requested at GOLES) first aid kits (Requested at GOLES) vehicles or bikes with trailers (to bring supplies around) (Requested at GOLES)

Upper East Side (drop off center for Rockaway/Breezy Point/Broad Channel donations) Saloon York Ave between 83rd and 84th.

From Stephanie Diamond’s Listing Project:

From New York Tech MeetUp and Gary’s Guide:

Here are a few ways you can get involved in the recovery process …… 

https://lowereastside.recovers.org/

https://redhook.recovers.org/

https://astoria.recovers.org/

Hurrican Hacker is also doing a great job of connecting people online: http://www.hurricanehackers.com/

The Red Cross expects this to be a large and costly relief response across several states, one that continues for several days, and they need your help now as they work on opening up and maintaining many shelters for those who were forced to evacuate their homes. So donate to or volunteer for the Red Cross.

There are a few recovery organizing sites that allow people to offer/request assistance, and are coordinated by the folks at Occupy NYC and community organizations on the ground including Lower East Side Recovers and Astoria Recovers, Red Hook Recovers and Staten Island Recovers.

You can sign up to volunteer at the NYC Public Advocate’s Office.

Craig Newmark of Craigslist and CraigConnects is matching the next $25K in donations to help Hurricane Sandy relief efforts and United Airlines Foundation will contribute upto $50,000 to match donations to the American Red Cross, Feeding America or AmeriCares.

You can also donate blood via the NY Blood Center.

And the NY Tech Meetup and New Work City are organizing volunteers with technology skills to help with relief efforts and help New York-area businesses and organizations get their technology back up and running after Hurricane Sandy. Here is the signup form.

Us New Yorkers are a resilient lot and together we’ll get through this!

Update (1:23pm)

Thanks Jessica Kirkwood for these additions from NYC Serve:

Do you want to Donate?

Those who wish to give cash donations to assist New Yorkers suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy visit the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.

Those who wish to donate goods and services should visit Aidmatrix.

Do you want to Volunteer?

Those who wish to volunteer in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy click here. As opportunities arise we will contact you.

New York needs your BLANK

Many of New York City’s parks and playgrounds were impacted by Hurricane Sandy. If you would like to volunteer with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation to aid in clean up and recovery, please review the list of parks and playgrounds below that are in need of assistance this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Click the links below to sign up in your borough and be sure to check back for updates on other parks in need of volunteers!

Bronx
Pelham Bay Nature Center
Van Cortlandt Park
Click here to volunteer in the Bronx

Queens
Brookville Park
Baisley Pond Park
Click here to volunteer in Queens

Manhattan
Annunciation Park
Anne Loftus Playground
Click here to volunteer in Manhattan

From Reena De Asis

@FoodBank4NYC Community Kitchen & Pantry, 252 W. 116th St., open now w/ emergency pantry bags & will serve meals 2-4pm #sandy

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/hurricane-sandy-volunteer-opportunities/feed/ 15 Big Business Commits Aid To Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/hurricane-sandy-aid/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/hurricane-sandy-aid/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:30:55 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3968 As Hurricane Sandy continues to wreak havoc up and down the Eastern seaboard, many big businesses have stepped up and immediately pledged relief efforts. As many of you know, I am a big supporter, believer and proponent of the private sector’s investment to support and help communities. I salute these companies for cutting through the [...]

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As Hurricane Sandy continues to wreak havoc up and down the Eastern seaboard, many big businesses have stepped up and immediately pledged relief efforts.

As many of you know, I am a big supporter, believer and proponent of the private sector’s investment to support and help communities. I salute these companies for cutting through the red tape and jumping to raise their hand to say, “I will help” in the early hours.

It’s an important measure and hopefully just the beginning of what we’ll see in the days, weeks and months to come.

(If you know of any additional ones, please leave them in the comments)

Here is a list of the first commitments to be widely promoted and shared:

Bank of America Provides Relief in Wake of Hurricane Sandy

Pernod Ricard USA Responds to Hurricane Sandy; Provides Monetary and In-Kind Contributions

Walgreens Donates $250,000 to Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts

Capital One Commits $1 Million in Support for Hurricane Sandy Relief and Recovery Efforts

Lowe’s to Donate $1 Million to Help Communities Affected by Hurricane Sandy

Western Union Responds to Hurricane Sandy

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/hurricane-sandy-aid/feed/ 0 10×10 Presents: Girl Rising http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/10x10-presents-girl-rising/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/10x10-presents-girl-rising/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:00:32 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3941 I am so excited to see 10×10 pick up speed, momentum and be a driver in the conversation about girls’ education. I have known about the documentary and campaign for a little over a year now and was honored to attend a special event to showcase the new trailer this month on International Day of [...]

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I am so excited to see 10×10 pick up speed, momentum and be a driver in the conversation about girls’ education. I have known about the documentary and campaign for a little over a year now and was honored to attend a special event to showcase the new trailer this month on International Day of the Girl at the Paley Center here in New York. Pat Mitchell opened the event, the film’s executive director and producer, Holly Gordon, introduced the incredible lineup of speakers and many of my favorite women were in the room including Susan McPherson and Tammy Tibbetts.

Girl Rising is the feature-length film at the center of 10×10′s global action campaign for girls’ education. The film reveals the extraordinary stories of girls from around the globe, fighting to overcome impossible odds on the road to realizing their dreams of education. The documentary will be released in 2013 and you can believe I’ll be sharing more information as it’s released!

Shared below are more ways your can get involved in your community, school, and business and information on their nonprofit partners. Also a big thanks should go out to Intel for being their lead corporate sponsor. I really love when business is smart business. Their tagline is “Sponsoring Tomorrow Starts Today” and they are really putting their money where their mouth is supporting this documentary and highlighting these nonprofit organizations and their work around the world helping to support initiatives focused on women and girls.

SPEAK UP
Tweet, like, and share away. Get the word out that educating girls can make all the difference:

  • Like the 10x10act Page
  • Share a 10×10 video or blog post on your Wall—or some of these facts
  • Follow and retweet @10x10act on Twitter or write your own with the hashtag #girlseducation
  • Blog about girls education on your own blog
  • Write an op-ed piece in your school newspaper (be sure to let us know so we can promote it)
  • Get credit: Write a paper on the societal impact of girls education for one of your classes
  • Tell your community:  Give a presentation on 10×10 in one of your classes or at a community event

GET TOGETHER

  • Host or join a 10×10 Book Club
  • Screen a film related to girls’ education, and show one of our videos at the event
  • Mount a photography exhibition on your campus using our photos

DIVE IN

MORE ABOUT 10×10′s NONPROFIT PARTNERS

10×10 has tapped a coalition of NGOs to create a high-impact network of champions and leaders in girls’ education. These organizations, which provide life-changing services to girls every day, include:

  • Afghan Connection (http://www.afghanconnection.org/) supports schools, teachers, and sports opportunities in rural Afghanistan – and has educated over 40,000 boys and girls.
  • A New Day Cambodia (http://www.anewdaycambodia.org/) provides food, shelter and education to Cambodia’s garbage dump scavenger children.
  • CARE (http://www.care.org/) is a leading global humanitarian organizationthat fights poverty by empowering girls and women.
  • Girl Up (http://www.girlup.org/) educates, motivates, and trains American girls to become global leaders while channeling their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for United Nations programs that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls.
  • Partners in Health (http://www.pih.org/) delivers life-saving care in some of the poorest corners of the globe, ensuring girls have access to health services as part of their mission to break the cycle of poverty and disease.
  • Plan International USA (http://www.planusa.org/) works side by side with communities around the world to end the cycle of poverty for children. Plan’s Because I am a Girl Campaign is a global initiative committed to fighting gender inequality, promoting girls’ rights, and lifting millions of girls out of poverty.
  • Pratham USA (http://www.prathamusa.org/) is the largest educational movement in India and provides Indian youth with the educational environment and tools to learn, grow, and break the poverty cycle.
  • Room to Read (http://www.roomtoread.org/) transforms the lives of millions of children in the developing world by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.
  • World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org/) is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.

I love big juicy campaigns like this that pull together resources and really focus on impact. To use the phrase, “Go big or go home” that is what it is going to take to really get girls education on the map and part of the conversation. It’s really exciting to see a campaign come around like this that has so many great partners and voices behind it.

Get involved, sign up, dive in and check it out.

I know I am.

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]]> http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/10x10-presents-girl-rising/feed/ 1 We’re Headed To Guatemala! http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/were-headed-to-guatemala/ http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/were-headed-to-guatemala/#comments Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:00:06 +0000 Sloane Davidson http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/?p=3945 Taylor and I have really exciting news to share. We are headed to Guatemala through She’s The First to visit and volunteer at the Starfish One By One School in Solano! We are going over Thanksgiving week, which is a big deal. We always spend Thanksgiving with our family and love spending time with them. [...]

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Taylor and I have really exciting news to share. We are headed to Guatemala through She’s The First to visit and volunteer at the Starfish One By One School in Solano!

We are going over Thanksgiving week, which is a big deal. We always spend Thanksgiving with our family and love spending time with them. So why is this year different?

You have to make time for the things that are important to you. If you try to find the time, it will never come.

Last year, I fundraised at my birthday for this same school. With your help, we raised $5,000 which was enough to support 15 girls in after-school education and mentorship. At the time, Taylor and I talked about going to visit the school and volunteering for a few days there. However, it was a busy year! With work, planning a wedding, going to friends’ wedding and celebrating life, a whole year went by.

We didn’t want this opportunity to slip by. I had talked to Tammy and Christen (She’s The First Founders) about this trip and was trying to find a time when the girls were in school and when it made sense for us. Still, time went by. Finally almost immediately after the wedding, Taylor and I talked about it and decided it was priority to make this happen and that we would make it work to go over Thanksgiving.

A few important things to note about this trip…

1) It’s completely self-funded. We would never take money we raised and put it towards travel. That’s just crazy talk. I found a good deal on flights a few weeks ago, researched reasonably priced places to stay and are doing it because we want to do it.

2) We are building in a few days of sight-seeing and a few days of mentoring the girls. Neither of us have ever been to Guatemala and we want to experience the country and the people and help the girls. It’s just a couple days at the beginning. It’s important for us to feel like we really experience the places we go, so I didn’t want it to come off like we’re flying in to work with girls in a small village and then jetting out. We’re of course better travelers than that and looking forward to a little adventure and exploration.

3) We have decided to teach a photography workshop. We are going to take down a few (inexpensive) cameras, a camera printer and teach a few sessions on photography. It combines Taylor’s and my passions and we’ve been actively talking to people in this space who have done this before for tips, tricks and best practices. More on this to come, we’re very excited about this part (obviously) and very focused on making it valuable for the students and long-lasting for the school and the community.

More to come! The dates are set for November 21-27.  If you have ever been to Guatemala or have any advice for us, please let us know!

More Details On The Starfish Program:

• In Guatemala, age 12 frequently coincides with the start of secondary school and puberty. It also represents a crucial crossroads for a young woman in Guatemala. Without an intervention, the vast majority go down the current path: withdrawal from the social sphere, abandoning studies, and restricted access to any services and opportunities that may otherwise prevent them from breaking out of the intergenerational cycles of poverty. As a socially isolated and uneducated young woman, her probable future entails an arranged marriage at a young age, frequent childbirth and above all, extremely limited decision-making power in her own life and the lives of her children. Only 5% of Mayan girls complete primary school.

• Through extremely personalized support via the comprehensive 6-year program, SF1by1 empowers young women to take a highly empowering path. In 2011, 180 students are in the SF1by1 program. The program consists of a three-fold, integrated focus:

1. Partial Academic Scholarships that cover roughly 75% of school-related costs (fees, transportation, materials). Families cover the remaining 25% of the school costs. This allows and incentivizes the family to stay involved and supportive of the young woman’s efforts.

2. “PODER” (POWER) Program to empower young women and ensure that each has the capacity to overcome the powerful social and familial pressures that constantly push against her schooling. This is accomplished through a unique mentorship/peer support program that equips her with the powerful information she needs to be a leader in her community.

PODER entails weekly sessions with a 15-member peer group of SF1by1 scholarship recipients.

Sessions are facilitated by a mentor who plays a central role. Mentors are university-level role models who are from the same geographic region, language group and socioeconomic circumstances. The mentor’s role is to identify and strengthen the unique talents of each young woman. In addition to providing academic support, Mentors guide their groups through the SF1by1 curriculum that includes the following subject areas:
• Women’s rights
• Proactive communication
• Financial literacy
• Reproductive education and health
• Environmental stewardship
• Social responsibility/volunteerism

Mentors conduct regular monitoring visits to schools to discuss the progress of SF1by1 students. Additionally, Mentors visit the families of each young woman on a continual basis to promote and monitor familial support for her ongoing education.

3. “PUENTE” (BRIDGE) Pilot Program ensures that upon graduation from High School, each young woman is prepared to confront the challenges ahead and continue her personal and professional development.

Sponsorship Breakdown:

Full sponsorship: $1,000
$250 Academic scholarship. This represents roughly 75% of the actual school-related costs, and families contribute the remaining balance.
$300 Empowerment scholarship (see below)
$300 Participation in weekly positive-peer support meetings (transport, snack, rent, materials, internet access)
$150 Methodology Development, Supervision and Monitoring and Evaluation

Empowerment Scholarship: $300
An Empowerment Scholarship provides each young woman in the program with the consistent support of a female, community-based mentor who ensures that the student effectively overcomes familial, social and structural obstacles that would otherwise derail her from her path to education and empowerment. The role of the mentor includes:
· Facilitating the empowerment curriculum during the 3 hour peer-support group. This often entails the Mentor first receiving training from other NGOs in Guatemala on specific topics (such as reproductive health or financial literacy).
· Being available for “drop-in” academic support during the week, acting as a tutor for extra academic support.
· Advocating for the girl in her school, as most girls in Starfish come from families where the parents are illiterate and speak no Spanish.
· Breaking down invisible barriers. Mentors ensure that each girl accesses and utilizes the community resources that will help make her a difference maker in her community.
· Advocating for the girl in her home. By conducting regular visits to each girl’s school and family, mentors are able to intervene on behalf of their students when families lose motivation to continue to allow their daughter to study, or when external factors jeopardize her academic future (natural disasters, family deaths, etc).
· Encouraging sound financial management. Mentors also serve as co-signers on individual bank accounts where each girl administers her scholarship funds. This provides mentors with a tangible training format that ensures that each girl acquires personal finance skills.

If you want to support Starfish One By One and the other programs supported by She’s The First, make a donation today!

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