We are excited to announce a unique fundraising event and opportunity which does not your fit into your traditional non-profit fundraising experience. On the evening of Saturday, March 3, we will host 22 dinners across Seattle. This is a really good chance for the GV Youth Board to be in a leadership role with adults and to reach out to expand the GV community. We Youth Board are excited to share our experiences with a new community of supporters what we have been able to accomplish in GV in Seattle and Guatemala.

We will raise money for scholarships for lo w-income students both in Guatemala and in the U.S. who would not otherwise have an opportunity to participate in GV. This is a much more personal event because we are inviting people into our homes, cooking them a nice meal, and sharing our personal experiences. We will be the head chefs and the adults—employees of 110 Consulting with whom we are partnering–will be the sous chefs. We youth are in charge of the entire evening.  During the meal we will facilitate a conversation about the mission and work of GV and specifically about hope. There will be 22 parties going on simultaneously all over Seattle so we hope to raise $22,000. If you would like more information about the Come to the Table  campaign, contact GV’s Executive Director Chris Fontana, chrisfontana@global-visionaries.org .

 This year we are piloting the Come to the Table  campaign and plan on scaling it way up next year. We will open up the opportunity for other supporters—alumni, parents and donors–to host their own Come to the Table  dinners in their homes.

Lorenzo Pisoni in Humor Abuse

Tickets for the Seattle Rep 2011-2012 season are just $10 for adults and $5 for students under 25 – a great deal sweetened by the fact that 100% of your ticket price goes to GV scholarship funds!

Tickets for the following shows are available through GV:

How to Write a New Book for the Bible  January 14, 15, 17
Red February 25, 26, 28
Clybourne Park  April 21, 22, 24

All shows are at Seattle Repertory Theatre’s Bagley Wright Theater at 7:30pm.

 How to Write a New Book for the Bible
by Bill Cain
directed by Kent Nicholson

Writers are told to write what they know. But as Bill Cain discovers in writing about his own family, sometimes those we are closest to are the biggest mysteries of all. From the writer of Equivocation comes a beautiful new play taken from Cain’s own experiences caring for his dying mother. He asks the questions that speak to the heart of every family: What will never change…and what has to? A Jesuit priest as well as a playwright, Cain brings a fascinating view to this simple, powerful illustration of why the details of our lives and loves matter. (This show contains mild profanity)

View show reviews and descriptions online at http://www.seattlerep.org/Plays/1112/HW/

Tickets are limited. To purchase, email officemanager@global-visionaries.org Include your name, the date of the show you would like to attend and the number tickets you’d like to buy.  A GV Team Member will follow up to confirm your order and complete payment information.

Ecological footprint is the measurement of human demand on the Earth’s resources. According to the Sustainable Scale Project, the Ecological Footprint “is rooted in the fact that all renewable resources come from the earth”.

This last week, participants in Global Visionaries’ leadership program learned about the ecological footprint at their third culture night this year.

After the students participated in an activity which sparked conversation about ecological footprint, the Leaders in Training directed a discussion.

“Everything we choose to do affects somebody else whether you know it or not.”

Students pointed out that we are all giving and taking—yet some countries take more than others.

Youth Board leaders demonstrated the difference between the ecological footprint of the United States and third world countries by pouring popcorn kernels into a bowl. The sound of the popcorn kernels hitting the bowl represented the impact those countries are making on the environment. The sound of popcorn representing third world countries was very short, but the sound representing the U.S. lasted a full minute.

The students noticed a big difference between the way the U.S. uses resources and the way third world countries use resources. The economic disparity is also great. One half of the world is living on $2 a day. Most of us make more in one hour than they make in a day, as one student pointed out. The difference in priorities between the U.S. and third world countries is displayed in this comparison—one group only uses what they need.

At the end of the night, students made a commitment to reducing their ecological footprint by being conscious of their water usage. The leaders acknowledged that this one step might not seem like it will make a big difference but pointed out that lasting change begins with habits.

GV participants were encouraged to compare their personal needs with their personal wants. For example, if a student wants to purchase drive-thru coffee each morning they can save money and lower impact on the environment by drinking GV coffee instead. That decision would save a person $56 each month.

Several ideas on saving resources were given by the students such as turning off lights, carpooling, buying used instead of new and walking instead of driving.

Using water is just one of the ways we leave a permanent ecological footprint on Earth. We can all make little changes in our water usage habits that will lead to a lasting impact on the earth.

For more information on saving water go to:  http://www.uri.edu/smile/documents/EveryDropCounts_Grades5-12WaterLesson.pdf

Youth Board is the second year program at Global Visionaries. These students facilitate the first year program.

Pro-justice is an opportunity for GV participants to take a deeper look into the social justice issues that were discussed in the first year leadership program.

Pro-Justice Youth Board members educate and train the first year participants. They do this by facilitating the anti-oppression workshop which takes place at the pre-trip retreat and the Pro-Justice culture night which takes place in January.

The topics that are focused on are racism, sexism, classism, ageism, able-bodyism, imperialism and environmental justice. Each topic is focused on for two weeks. Those isms are broken down to understand the large scale problems. For example, sexism is not just inequality at work but unequal opportunities.

 According to Josef Turecek, Pro-Justice coordinator, teaching youth about oppression is important because these isms affect every aspect of a person’s life.

“Pro-Justice is about navigating the world,” Josef said.

We can’t separate ourselves from systematic oppression, Josef said. Looking at these injustices is the core of GV.

The curriculum that Pro-Justice uses was written by Josef Turecek and has evolved in the past 3 years that Josef has been working with Youth Board.

On November 19 through November 27, 2011, 17 people travelled to Guatemala guided by Jennifer Gouge from Rick Steves tours. Experience Guatemala is an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about the work of Global Visionaries in the communities of Guatemala as well as contribute to GV’s mission of empowering young people to become global leaders in creating a just and sustainable future.

This year all of the families that participated in Experience Guatemala were families that have adopted a kid from Guatemala.

Upon arriving in Guatemala City, the group went directly to Antigua.

While in Guatemala, the participants had the opportunity to learn about other organizations like GV that are partnering with local communities.

The group later returned to Guatemala City to visit the dump which like many developing countries is a place where hundreds of people live. According to Gouge, scavenging and living at the dump is dangerous and affects the lives of thousands of people. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, this dump is one of the largest in Central America.

Safe Passage is an organization that GV partners with whose mission is to solve the problem of the dump through educating the children who live there.

According to Gouge, guiding is more than just directing. The philosophy of Rick Steves tours is to help the participants engage with the culture and prepare them to interact with the local people.  During free time, Gouge would help the families by giving them ideas of activities they could do as well as giving them background information.

Experience Guatemala participants had several opportunities to interact with villagers. The group visited several of the GV work sites.

Picking coffee beans gave the Experience Guatemala participants the opportunity to interact with villagers while learning about the importance of coffee. Growing coffee is hard, physical work and is not like going to an office, Gouge said. Even when the price of coffee rises, the coffee growers do not make very much money. The coffee industry has a large impact on Guatemalan’s economy.

Before visiting the coffee farm, the participants discussed the purpose of the visit. According to Gouge, these discussions show a greater dimension of Guatemala. Jennifer said that she always explained why they were doing what they were doing and why they were going to the various places that they went. The goal of the trip was to educate the participants about the culture of Guatemala.

Planting trees gave the Experience Guatemala participants the opportunity to learn about how deforestation affects farms and the local people. A large percentage of the land mass is being deforested, Gouge said. Planting trees prevents mudslides and protects the land.

The Experience Guatemala group spent Thanksgiving at Lake Atitlán which is a lake surrounded by volcanoes. Thanksgiving dinner was spent at a restaurant with another organization. That day the group visited a women’s weaving cooperative.

Before returning to Guatemala City, the group visited Tikal, the center of the Mayan people. While it was still dark, the group walked to the edge of the jungle to watch the sunrise and listen to the jungle wakeup. The first animal in the jungle to wake up is the howler monkey. Gouge said that she could hear clans of howler monkeys screeching back and forth.

Participants told Gouge that Experience Guatemala was a “unique experience they will treasure forever.”

Before these families took part in Experience Guatemala, they already knew that they liked Guatemala but now they know that they love Guatemala, Gouge said.

View Pictures here.

Opportunities include:

- Creating and sending out donation procurement requests to local businesses

- Sorting our incoming donations

- Organizing and cleaning around our office

- Support our program staff with tasks as needed

 To sign go to http://www.uwkc.org/ways-to-volunteer/mlkday/ or e-mail OfficeManager@global-visionaries.org.

View the event on Facebook.

I spent the majority of my career in the restaurant/hospitality industry finishing my career at Starbucks Coffee Company.  I spent 14 years at Starbucks– seven of those years being a part of the retail leadership team.  I moved to Seattle in 2002 to work on the Corporate Social Responsibility Team.  I was honored to work on many amazing projects but perhaps the most exciting was helping Starbucks shape their employee and customer volunteer engagement strategy.  Most of those projects involved connecting employees and customers with coffee farmers in coffee growing regions.   Working on that team I became more immersed in my already growing desire to help a large corporation to be a better social and environmental steward of the planet. 

In 2009 a career transition gave me the opportunity to think about what was behind me, what was ahead of me and what was important for me in my next career.  I knew early on in my re-invention plan that I really wanted to take the skills that I learned in the corporate world and apply them in the non-profit world. 

This job search was about finding the RIGHT job not A job.  It was about finding a stable organization and an excellent cause but it was mostly about finding a leader that I could learn from.  I found that in Chris and GV.  GV’s mission of empowering youth is powerful.  It’s the type of a program that I wish more youth had access to.  I am honored to be here moving my career forward in a way that is meaningful to me. 

I am a passionate outdoors woman; I love to hike, camp, backpack and ski. I am incredibly passionate about my yoga practice and find that anytime I step on my mat I am making a powerful connection with myself and the world around me.   I’ve also backpacked in many amazing places. If I had it my way I’d spend more nights in a sleeping bag and less nights in a bed.

Written by Chelsea Ward

I am a northwest native with a global interest.

I was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington and attended Western Washington University for my undergraduate degree in history. It was during this time that I spent summers abroad in Honduras working on community development projects. To finish my bachelor’s, I went to South Africa to study race and ethnicity relations. I returned home invigorated with ideas, passion and a commitment to make a difference in this world.

Currently, I’m pursuing my Master’s in Public Affairs at the University of Washington which is how I first heard about Global Visionaries. At the beginning of this year I was hired as a development intern working on the auction. I really enjoyed my internship and being involved with GV.

GV’s mission resounds with me due to my time spent abroad; I truly believe that service work (both locally and internationally) changes people’s perspectives and opens their eyes to a larger community that we’re all a part of. I am happy to be back at GV as the new Office Manager, continuing to support the empowerment of our youth into global leaders.

Inspired by GV’s mission to incorporate global experiential learning, sound environmental practices and social justice to inspire active leadership in youth, she is excited to be serving as Assistant Program Manager.

Courtney felt an immediate connection to GV because she took part in an immersion trip of her own in Costa Rica at the age of 17. By experiencing a vibrant culture far removed from the cornfields of Iowa, she was able to garner core values such as living simply and sustainably. Since, she has been abroad several times, most recently spending fall of 2010 in Tanzania and Europe.

In her spare time, Courtney enjoys ultimate frisbee, hiking, camping, and hugging trees.

Courtney holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Freshly transplanted to Seattle from Washington, DC, Courtney is thrilled to be joining the GV team.

The culture night was held on November 4 from 7-9pm. Students started out the night all together in the main hall at El Centro de La Raza’s building. During this time the GV staff and leaders were continually encouraging the students to meet new and different people.

“In order to come up against stereotypes, GV intends for students to get out of their comfort zones,” said Chris Fontana, Executive Director of GV.

“I have been privileged to experience first-hand the impact of GV,” said Reagan Jackson, GV program manager.

This past year Reagan Jackson has led three cultural immersion experiences– Spring, Summer, and Intensive. Reagan said that she has seen a shy kid who barely spoke breakdancing in Guatemala. “Kids lose apathy [and] start to feel after the visit to the garbage dump in Guatemala,” Reagan said. “GV is about providing these opportunities.”

“We give you the opportunity but the rest is up to you,” Reagan said. “You’re the ones who make the program what it is.”

A big part of the Leadership Program is the cultural immersion experience to Guatemala but contrary to what many may think the goal is not to help those in Guatemala but to work in solidarity with the Guatemalans.

Chelsea Dole from Nathan Hale High School is in the summer program this year. She said that she is most looking forward to the out of country experience because she has only been to Canada during elementary school. Chelsea is currently taking AP Spanish and is excited to be able to use that knowledge.

There are two groups of students in the Leadership Program—Spring and Summer—both consisting of 42 students from various Seattle high schools. In addition there are 33 students in the Intensive Program.

During culture night each of the groups meets with the seven Youth Board Leaders in Training. Those leaders in training direct the meetings by teaching the new program participants how to do a GV circle; a perfect circle where everybody is able to look each other in the eyes.

In addition to being required to attend all of the culture nights, GV participants are required to spend 30 hours volunteering locally. Three local work teams are available for the students to fulfill that requirement— restoring local habitats with EarthCorps; farming in Carnation, WA with Local Roots or working in the GV office.