Global Relief
Resources (GRR) respectfully requests $4,000 per month for 12 months, $48,000
over the course of a year, to initiate a crucial strategic planning and
development phase within the organization.
The objective is
to innovate and implement the infrastructure necessary for the organization to
fully realize its mission and respond to the grassroots need arising from women
on the frontlines of the movement to end female genital mutilation in Africa through GRR’s existing programs and initiatives.
A key goal is to
establish a core team of staff responsible for putting the systems in place to
meet the many extraordinary opportunities, including an increasing number of
volunteer offerings, as well as financial resources available for this
work. That emergent team has a diversity
of skills and capacities and deep experience in nonprofit leadership,
fundraising, administration, program innovation and visioning. It includes:
• Director of Communications:
Christian Leahy served for eight years
at Bioneers in a variety of roles and capacities, including development,
communications and program innovation and direction of the Moving Image
Festival. Most recently, Christian was the Executive Director of the New Mexico
Women’s Foundation, which supported the development of women’s cooperatives and
cottage industries throughout New
Mexico.
• Program Manager:
Sage Magdalene, former inner-city
school principal, recently served as Development Manager for The Academy for
the Love of Learning and was responsible for the creation of their fundraising
and community outreach operations. Before that, she oversaw all of the admin
systems for Leslie Temple-Thurston and CoreLight. (www.corelight.org)
• Executive Director:
Azlan White has been holding a vision
for (GRR) and its Women Water Stewards Network since January 2007. White has
also maintained the administrative workings of GRR since August, 2007. The full
scope of GRR’s activities and accomplishments will be published in an upcoming
annual report.
$4,000 per month
for a year will enable GRR to hire each of the prospective core team members to
work collaboratively toward the realization of the organization’s vision
including some basic administrative costs.
During
the twelve-month period, this team will accomplish the following:
v
Write a brief one
year plan, refining the mission and vision
v
Publish a three-year
report detailing the 2007-2009 activities of GRR, making this report available
digitally as well as mailed to supporters.
v
Revise and publish
the Global Relief Resources website
v
Manage a “Bring
Water, End Violence” campaign with support from the international nonprofit
V-Day and a collective of volunteers.
v
Build and streamline
all administrative and fundraising systems
v
Collaborate with
allies to produce fundraisers: in San Francisco,
Kansas City, St. Louis,
Los Angeles, Atlanta,
Miami, and Copenhagen.
v
Provide continuing
support to Mary Walker (Fund Manager) in growing the Tasaru Scholarship Fund,
for girls leaving the Tasaru Girls’ Rescue
Center in Narok, Kenya.
v
Follow-up with
personal connections to grant-makers like Rockefeller Foundation, Nike
Foundation, A Swiss ally, Jane Fonda, and a few others.
Partners: Dr. Bronners Soap
Company, V-Day, Bee Cave Drilling (deep water wells in Austin,
TX and Nairobi,
Kenya), 13
Indigenous Grandmothers
Conclusion
We know that
educating one girl at a time is an effective way to create lasting change. We also know that water is a key to
life. Global Relief Resources has a
history of “providing water and power source technology to disaster areas, and
people in need.” Robert Kline, the
founder, remains an avid international business advisor for the
organization. With his support, Azlan
White has revised the mission of Global Relief Resources “to provide clean
water access and educational support in a way that empowers women.” With your
support and this grant, we can build an infrastructure of nourishment and
empowerment for women, laying the groundwork for future sustainable food
systems in Africa, beginning with Kenya
and Gambia.
