Dinner's opening question and a short video to watch before Friday night.

Hello!
For those of you who can't make the dinner Friday night, but want to be part of the conversation and the solution to ending the cycle of poverty for girls, I'm posting the opening question and a short 3:04 video to watch.

"Has one person made a difference in your education?  If so, who was that person and what did they do for you?"

One person can make a difference.
x,
A

Updates on the first Jeffersonian Dinner

“Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action 

will delineate and define you.” 

― Thomas Jefferson

Hello!
As the first Wickersham Roundtable approaches, I thought I would send an update about the event location and talk a little more about the non-traditional development approach the Jeffersonian Dinner employs.

Location:  Due to unforeseen delays in the kitchen remodel downtown, the first dinner discussing ending the cycle of poverty for girls will be held in my Lake Oswego home.  The address is provided on the invitation.  Same stimulating conversation, excellent food and company, but in a different zip code!

Two questions have come up a few times in conversation about the dinner series:  Why a Jeffersonian Dinner and not a pay per plate dinner?  How to you connect development with a hosted dinner?

The dinner's purpose is to engage a diverse group of thinkers in a lively discussion about a topic over delicious food.  The purpose is not to actively fundraise.  To help cover dinner costs and generate support for the first dinner's partnered non-profit (Kenya Keys) I've approached local businesses and individuals for tax-deductible sponsorship.  Through sponsorship, dinner costs are covered and the non-profit organization gets some funding for the invaluable work they do furthering social justice.  It's a win-win think outside the box approach to generating support for a solvable issue we face in our world.

Thank you, Linnea Osterberg for generously sponsoring a portion of the dinner!   Also, thank you to the anonymous donor!

We are still looking for sponsors for the series.  If you or someone you know is passionate about social justice and would like to be a part of this innovative approach to discussing solutions please let me know!

I saw this yesterday and thought it was worthwhile to pass on.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/girls-education/

Warmest regards,

A

It's a dinner party with a twist!

Wickersham Roundtable Dinner series 2014-2015.

Over the next 9 months I will be hosting 3 separate Jeffersonian Dinners (see side bar pages to get a detailed explanation of the dinner) in my historic NW Portland home. The dinners are intended to encourage stimulating, thought provoking conversations about issues women and girls face today.  Each dinner will highlight a different non-profit organization and touch upon different, yet inextricably intertwined topics.  There is no cost to come to the dinners.  Nor are there any formal presentations or obligations or requests for donations.  The only prerequisites are that you are interested in discussing the topic and enjoy eating delicious food prepared by a professional chef!

Dinner #1:  September 26, 2014 to highlight Kenya Keys.

Discussion: Ending the cycle of poverty for girls.

A portion of this dinner is generously sponsored by Linnea Osterberg, Photographer.

Dinner #2:  mid-Jan to mid-Feb (date and non-profit partner TBD).

Discussion:  The issue of rape culture in our society.

Dinner #3:  mid-May to mid-June 2015 (date and non-profit partner TBD).

Discussion:  How we interface with the homeless in our community and what we are teaching our children about this issue.

I invite you to join the google group at the sidebar, subscribe via email, or send me an email at eleven2thirteen@gmail.com to keep informed of dinner dates, discussions, and non-profit partners.  I promise you won't get a ton of email or notifications in your inbox.   I'd just like to keep track of who is interested in invitations to which dinner, and the subjects we are discussing so I don't miss sending out a formal invitation to an interested guest!

Feel free to forward this to your friends or family who may be interested!
Thanks for reading.
x,
A

The fine print:  Because The Wickersham Roundtable Dinner series is not a traditional fundraising event (no tickets are sold, no items are auctioned off), we are always looking for corporate sponsors or personal donations to help offset the costs.  Donations made to the series will be tax deductible to the extent of the law.  Please note:  currently, we have partnered with Kenya Keys for Dinner #1, so any donations for that dinner should me made directly to them.  If you are passionate about another dinner topic and want to contribute, I will be updating this site with non profit partners as they are confirmed.

Feel free to contact me with any questions about sponsorship!

  

Transparency.

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

It's a little like exercise....

Happy Holidays!!

Hello,
I'm rushing around as the ambassador of all things festive and good for family, friends and businesses, but wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to click through the Amazon widget at the side bar of this blog site when ordering through Amazon.com.
A percentage of every purchase made goes towards funding education for girls aged 11-13.
So far, we have been able to support a young woman's secondary education in Africa.
We have mighty goals, and a long way to go to reach 11 girls in 11 countries,  but I like to think of it as exercise.....every bit helps, and the more you do, the more it helps.
Fa la la la la.
xo,
A

Let's drink tea and talk about happy things...

Drizzle.  The dreary, bone cold rain coupled with the tough gut topics I write about just makes me want to snuggle up with comfort.  Hot tea and cookies, talking with my besties or reading a great book is one of the best ways to spend an afternoon.

Just in time for cold weather and holiday gifting, teapot cozies (see etsy at side bar).  Thank you talented Mom and Aunt for creating these lovely tea pot warmers.

Here's a great idea!  Why don't you pair your cozy with a box of Smith Tea, made right here in the Pac NW.  If you can't decide which one to try, I suggest no. 67 Meadow.  I call it the haute couture of chamomile blends.  It's extremely delicious, fragrant and pretty.  Please tell them I sent you if you visit their shop or purchase on line.

Proceeds from cozy sales go to raising awareness of domestic human trafficking and promoting girls education worldwide.

Thanks for looking.
Drop me a note if you have questions or want to have tea,
A

Photo credit:  www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JenRoffePrint?ref=si_shop.  Thank you Jen!

Read every day.

"It is a moral failure that 200 million girls woke up today and didn't go to school."*

I've thought a lot about this since I scribbled it in my notebook as I watched Half the Sky last year.

Like many who live in a western culture, we are inclined to build wealth.  Whether it be spiritual, personal or material (more! Now! MORE!) we are inundated with opportunities to become richer.  If you are lucky enough to read, you are wealthier than most of the world.  Wealth lies in literacy.  If you can read, you can learn.  If every girl had the opportunity to achieve literacy,  we would see a drastic reduction in poverty, violence, forced prostitution, crime, and overpopulation.   I see it as a snowball effect..... soft, delicate little snowflakes growing stronger into a fierce white out blizzard.

On my side bar you will find a link to Amazon.  If you read every day, infrequently, or like to give books as gifts, please consider ordering through this link.  Amazon will reward me with a small percentage of the sale and I will forward proceeds to programs that advance human rights for girls worldwide.   Currently, we are focusing on the Kenya Keys scholarship program and Mei-Mei Ellerman's personal campaign to raise money for the Polaris project, a non-profit dedicated to eradicate modern day human slavery.

*Quote from John Reed, the director and founder of Room to Read.
Excerpt from Half the Sky PBS documentary.