Posted by lyndzsteeves on Sunday, November 22, 2009
Hi Emerge Community!
My name is Lyndz and I have been working with Emerge this Fall to coordinate Emerge Chapters across the country. We hope that this mechanism of our organization will be more than just a fundraising arm, as we aim to inspire each member to enact change in their communities and beyond.
So far we have 6 College Chapters at MIT, Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of North Carolina, Wellesley, and Oxford!! IU is being spear-headed by Melanie, MSU by Ann, UNC by Lauren, Wellesley by Balim, and Oxford by Alia! These ladies really are troopers, as they were subject to many mis-communications until I learned to start storing EVERYTHING in a Google Doc; so a BIG shout-out to our initial chapter founders :)
Emerge Global has implemented EG Chapters as a vital piece to the nonprofit's fundraising and marketing strategy. Each Chapter will showcase the handmade, uniquely designed jewelry of young girls, who participate in the Emerge Bead Program as survivors of sexual abuse, to a global market which in turn generates the financial means needed to support the healing of more survivors; thereby revealing her beauty, her strength, and her independence. Most importantly this outreach program has been implemented in order to build a community and network of dedicated women and men who, in alignment with Emerge Global's mission, are inspired to affect change in the communities in which they live and those communities across the borders of towns, nations, and continents.
Emerge Global recruits and and develops Emerge Global Chapters of three types: College, High School, and Community. All three are obligated to host at minimum 1 sale per every 6 months/semester, for which advanced notice must be given, and must host at minimum 1 Lotus Table Discussion concerning Women's and International Development Issues per every 6 months/semester. The Lotus Tables are the crucial piece to the EG Chapter's community and network building efforts. Lotus Tables are essentially roundtable discussions concerning Women's or International Development Issues or other topics that the chapter sees fit. We encourage each chapter to collaborate and co-host events.
Remember, an EG Chapter is a part of your community and network, so it can be unique and no member should be afraid to branch off from the simple foundation we lay out for you. Do you want to raise money for EG through a Dance-a-thon, a Fun-Run? Do you want to create a career counseling seminar for the women in a local shelter? Do you want to share the EG story to a Girls Scout Troop and guide them through a sale? Do you want to raise funds for a rape crisis center in Mexico or a Midwife Clinic in Uganda? Do you want to start a domestic violence awareness campaign on campus? Do you want to Co-Sponsor a week-long Women's Symposium??? Go for it!
Lastly, as we are trying to create an outreach program that is mesh between a fundraising arm and a community for action, we will do our best to ensure that you DO get something out of the EG Chapter program.
INTERESTED?? Send me an email at lyndz@emergeglobal.org so that we can get started! (And so I can add you to my Google Doc :)
Best,
Lyndz Steeves
Emerge Global Outreach Director
Labels: chapters, google
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