Fair Trade Boston

Posted by Alia on Sunday, June 14, 2009

Yesterday, I spent the day selling Emerge jewelry at the first annual Fair Trade Boston event, hosted at the Artists For Humanity epicenter near Boston's waterfront. The event was packed with live music, tasty eats, and beautiful handmade crafts from around the world. It was great to meet like-minded individuals and organizations, and to draw inspiration from their stories and ideas.


I found myself most excited about the fair trade fashion show in the middle of the day, primarily because one of the models wore Emerge jewelry with her outfit and I knew how excited our girls would be to see their jewelry being modeled for an audience! I did my best to capture it with the video function on my less-than-optimal digital camera.

Yeah, I know, it's hard to see the jewelry. But, trust me, she's wearing it!

A big thank you to all the folks who helped out, including Danielle Holly, for making it possible for us to have a booth at Fair Trade Boston, and our wonderful Emerginistas-for-the-day who helped run our sales, including: Sally Susnowitz (Director of MIT's Public Service Center), Angelica Weiner, and April Wachtel.

Read more »

Emerge Global at "Fair Trade Boston" this Saturday (June 13th)

Posted by Alia on Thursday, June 11, 2009

Come out and support Emerge Global and the girls we work with this Saturday!

Emerge Global is one of Fair Trade Boston's featured vendors. Fair Trade Boston is a FREE event featuring a variety of music, art, food, socially conscious gifts, and more. We will be selling jewelry from 12-6pm at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter. We'd love to see you there!

Learn more at: http://www.autonomieproject.com/fairtradeboston/index.html

Read more »

Welcome to our new Sri Lanka Emerginistas!

Posted by Alia on Wednesday, June 10, 2009

We are excited to welcome two new fabulous Emerginistas to our team in Sri Lanka!

Rachael Pool (Country Director)- Rachael Pool grew up in Mountain View, Arkansas. In 2007 she received a BA in Philosophy from Bates College. While at Bates, Rachael competed internationally with the Brooks Quimby Debate Council, served as a peer health educator, and worked as a Campus Campaign Manager for Teach for America. She spent her junior semester abroad in Madurai, India, where she conducted ethnographic research on women’s health issues in the community. Rachael’s senior thesis was on the capabilities approach to women’s reproductive justice in Tamil Nadu, India.

Most recently, Rachael has worked for Comprehensive Prospect Research, a firm specializing in research support to non-governmental and private-sector corporations. She currently resides in Washington, DC and will be heading to Sri Lanka as our new Country Director in early July.

Jennifer VanWinkle (Programs Director)- Jennifer, who grew up in the Midwest, loves to travel and live abroad. She received a BA in Anthropology and a certificate in Islamic Studies from Arizona State University. She got her first taste of life abroad as an undergraduate when she studied at Thammasat University in Bangkok as an exchange student. While in Thailand, she developed an interest in Southeast Asia and some of the social issues that she encountered. Upon returning to the States she dove into non-profit work, volunteering for ALERT (the Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking) and then working with FAIR Fund, Inc., a non-profit that works in the fields of anti-human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault prevention. As the International Programs Officer for FAIR Fund she managed two programs in Bosnia and Serbia targeted toward at-risk youth and trafficking survivors. The time spent in Serbia gave her a passion for at-risk youth and a desire to help them achieve secure livelihoods. She has studied multiple languages and is most fluent in Serbian (or BCS) and Spanish.

Rachael and Jennifer, we are so excited to have you on the team!

Read more »

Emerge Global on TV in the Greater Lafayette Region!

Posted by Alia on Monday, June 01, 2009

Check out our incredible Sri Lanka Country Director, Ellen Sojka, as she talks about Emerge Global in Lafayette, Indiana!

Read more »

Emerge Featured in Edwards Angell Palmer and Dodge's Spring Soiree

Posted by Alia on Thursday, May 28, 2009

Emerge Global with part of our dedicated legal team

From right to left: Alia Whitney-Johnson, Katie Galbraith, Akiyo Fujii, Betsy Munnell, and April Wachtel

It's not every day that a non-profit of our size secures a dedicated team of probono lawyers to help navigate the legal landscape surrounding international non-profits. And, it's certainly not every day that a group of powerhouse attorneys organizes a women's networking event! A little over a year ago, Emerge Global was extremely fortunate to develop a relationship with Edwards Angell Palmer and Dodge. This May, the Women's Initiative of EAPD hosted a Spring Soiree for a dynamic group of women in the Boston area. We were lucky to be one of their featured 5 probono clients. Other featured probono clients included: Raising the Blues, Ltd., Adopt-A-Pig, America SCORES New England, and Transcultural Exchange.

More than 100 women gathered to mingle, indulge in wonderful appetizers, and learn about the work of the five featured non-profits. I'm proud to say that the girl's jewelry was definitely a huge hit. We sold more than $1000 in just over two hours. And, these women proved that Emerge jewelry can look great dressed up or down. They found pieces for their suits, dresses, and casuals. It was great to have April back from Sri Lanka to tell our story, share her experiences, and help with the non-stop buzz around our booth.


So, what could a huge law firm like Edwards Angell Palmer and Dodge do for a small organization like Emerge Global, you might ask. Well, they have helped us with everything from filing our 1023 so that we could become our own non-profit (woohoo! Thank you EAPD!), to helping us set up a sister entity in Sri Lanka, to trademarking our logo, to developing volunteer waivers and non-disclosure agreements. (And yes, that's just part of all they have done). It's been a long year of paperwork but, thanks to EAPD, we are building the infrastructure to have long-term global impact. A huge thank you to all the members on our legal team- David Mason, Akiyo Fujii, Katie Galbraith, Patrick Concannon, Mary De la Rosa, Betsy Munnell, and the rest of the EAPD crew- for helping us to get to where we are today!

Read more »

US Emerge Volunteer Positions

Posted by Alia on Monday, May 25, 2009

What if a necklace could mean a lifetime of freedom and hope for a girl in Sri Lanka?
With your help, it can...

Emerge Global is currently recruiting highly motivated, creative, and passionate individuals to fill positions on our team in the US! As a young organization, this is a great opportunity to shape our evolving work.

Emerge Global is currently recruiting highly motivated, creative, and passionate individuals to fill positions on our team in the US and in Sri Lanka! As a young organization, this is a great opportunity to shape our evolving work.

If interested, please send a cover letter, resume and letter of recommendation to Alia Whitney-Johnson (alia@emergeglobal.org)

Current open positions include:

Development Officer
Sales and Marketing Officer
Outreach Officer
Design Officer
Public Relations Officer
Web and Information Technology Officer
Financial Officer Read more »

Emerge Presentations at Harrison High School

Posted by Ellen on Monday, May 18, 2009

I don't know how teachers do it. Last week I spoke in six different classes at my alma mater Harrison High School about Emerge Global and my time in Sri Lanka. And it was exhausting. The kids were great, don't get me wrong, but it was a physically draining process and by the end of the day I had déjà vu every time I began my talk.

One of the highlights was reconnecting with old teachers, coaches, mentors, and in the case of Coach Janssen (pictured below) all of the above.


The first class I spoke in was Mrs. Nimmer's Creative Writing class (which I also spoke in last December when I was back in the USA and wrote about here). As they did last time, the students were encouraged to pick a piece of jewelry and write a poem about it. I've reproduced a couple of them at the bottom of this blog post.

The best part about speaking at Harrison was the enthusiasm that it generated. I had students coming up to me afterward asking how they could help and where they could purchase the jewelry. The student President of the Sunshine Society emailed me about a possible joint Emerge Global-Sunshine activity or event, and one of the classes that I spoke in (Fashion Design) wants to donate 20 of the bags they've sewn to the girls, filling them with toiletries, stickers, hair accessories, and other things that young girls like. In general being able to share Emerge's story is one of my favorite parts of the job, both for the excitement it generates in me, and the outpouring of support that it produces.

-----

Make Me

And with all she's been through, now I know
The demons, darkness, and evil to show
She wraps me around, to numb her pain
hands so tight, I feel her strain
The ribbons pink, a color so weak,
from when she lost her voice, forgot to speak
So she spins me tighter, squeezes to fit
breaking, crying, rising from hit
She's so friendly, such a simple girl
The browns and silvers all mix with a whirl
And with her story, it makes her strong
But in the place, that's where she belongs
I've made a necklace, such a simple toy
I've set her free, from that forceful boy
Remember her story, it's what you should do
Because right now here I am, wrapped around you

By: Kristen White

-----

Beads

the blue shows my tears,
the sadness brought on by
by what you did to me.
I've been sent away like
I was in the wrong but
no, it was you.

the green shows my jealousy,
because I want to go home.
I'm jealous of all the girls
who are at home because
you didn't ruin their lives,
so they still have family.

the gold shows my distrust,
I used to be so trusting but
you took that away as you
took a piece of my life,
you took some of my soul
and a piece of my heart.

the black shows my rebellious side
because you can't keep me down.
I refuse to let you ruin me
and I will rise from the ashes
of my life and make
something of myself.

the brown shows my stability,
you left me wobbly and unsure
but now I know how to stand
and I'll stand tall and live
live my life so I can
be free from you.

By: Becca Miller

Read more »