Transparency is such a hot topic right now in government, business, personal development, non profit organizations, and window sales (ha!). Given the surge in awareness of open and honest business activity, I'm writing this post to enhance the transparency my projects. Most of my supporters tell me, "I know you so I know you will do good with the donation I'm giving." I love that trust and apply it to my daily actions. But in this post, I'm taking that trust a step further to inform supporters who aren't around me all the time, or who may not know what projects I'm working on and where their efforts and financial donations are going. If you're a new reader and want to become involved in any of these projects, send me an email and we'll get started!
A little timeline:
Water project partnership with Kenya Keys.
I started this project in fall 2008 as a chance to bring clean drinking water to a community in Africa. Girls didn't go to school because they spent hours searching for water to drink, cook and bathe in. Once I met the founders of Kenya Keys, we worked together to find the best fit for achieving clean water and helping girls stay in school. With your efforts and donations, in 2011, Kenya Keys was able to build a sanitary water system in a secondary school dormitory which houses up to 80 girls!
Trafficking project.
Co-founded TORO in 2012 with Margot Stewart. Our goal was to bring awareness to the issue of domestic human trafficking and provide people with resources to get more information. 11% of our profits went to the Polaris Project, specifically Mei-Mei Ellerman's personal campaign. We've taken a pause from this project but you can access some of the resources if you visit the site.
I printed up small awareness fliers that I continue to leave in hotel rooms, restaurant bathrooms, and airplane magazines all over the world when I'm traveling. I've also been known to leave them in library books (shhh!). I think it's a great way to inform people about this issue in a loud whisper and provide the resource line if someone needs to use it. Let me know if you'd like to be a part of this project and I'll mail you some fliers.
Social justice/human rights/advocacy work.
I continue to be involved with local agencies in the Portland area addressing women's rights. I work with survivors, write grants for special projects, serve on development committees, and work on creative projects all geared towards advancing women's and girls' socio-economic standing.
Wickersham Roundtables.
I'm hosting a series of Jeffersonian dinner parties (Fall 2014-Spring 2015) in my historic downtown Portland condominium. The first dinner is planned for late September. Dinner guests will engage in a roundtable discussion about working towards ending the cycle of poverty for girls.
More about this project later. This post is getting a little long…..
Happy warm weather everyone.
x,
A
