Newsletter - May 2012

NEWSLETTER May 15, 2012

Inside this Issue

Facilitator Corner 2

Our Projects 3

Conferences 4

Regional Updates:

Africa

5

Asia 6

Australia & Oceana 6

Europe 7

North America 7

South America 9

Executive Team 9

Advisory Board 10

Member

Organizations

11

Collaborating

Knowledge Partners

13

Directory 15

Get Involved 16

Our Sponsors

UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

FOR SOCIAL ACTION RESEARCH

UCP-SARnet is a growing global social network

that was created at Arizona State University in 2008.

It is governed by students and young community activists.

Its mission is to empower new generations of community leaders to become

actively involved in the realization of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Utilizing the recent advances of Information and Communication Technologies,

UCP-SARnet offers a platform for the multicultural exchange of visions, ideas and

best practices aimed at achieving MDGs.

We engage university faculty and students in partnerships with community

organizations, local governments and socially responsible corporations.

Creating a powerful educational environment for students preparing themselves to

become leaders, we also bring about a sustainable social change

in their communities.

Newsletter Team:

Mohamed Camara

Abidah Khalife

Dorav Kumar

Osee Romeo

Dr. Marek Wosinski

Page 2

Our Sponsors Creating a better future for communities through research Founded in 1982, CCBR believes in the power of knowledge to impact positive social change. They are passionate about bringing people together to use knowledge

to provide real and innovative solutions to community needs. Their approach to

research is participatory and action-oriented in a way that mobilizes people to par-ticipate as full and equal members of society.

www.communitybasedresearch.ca

IGLOO's social software solutions help organizations create vital connections

between people, processes and information through the creation of online business

communities. Companies use online communities to improve collaboration, knowledge sharing and drive employee engagement across geographically dispersed

project teams, departments and business units inside and out.

http://www.igloosoftware.com/

Turning theory into practice Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities/SWPS was founded in 1996 by former professors of the Institute of Psychology and the Polish Academy of Scienc-

es. Ever since its foundation, the University has been continually growing and de-

veloping and now consists of 8 faculties located in five academic centers in Poland (Warsaw, Wrocław, Sopot, Poznań and Katowice). SWPS is committed to the

highest academic standards as well as to the transfer of practical knowledge and

skills. http://www.swps.pl/english/index.php

Dear UCP-SARnet Partners, Members

and Friends,

About 2 weeks ago we officially had the last

executive team meeting of the semester. As always we have implemented new strategies

but also faced new difficulties. Our plans for the summer are going to have to incorporate

redesigning our executive team strategies before beginning the new semester in August.

Some ideas for this have already come up during the semester and were reiterated in our

final meeting. One setback this semester was having fewer members than usual but more

project ideas, resulting in our members not being able to focus on accomplishing one

project at a time but rather having to split up

their time between various different tasks. We would really like for the network to be

reorganized so that each team member has a specific role and descriptive “job” title.

Having things changed to specific roles would ensure that administrative tasks of the

network are covered in addition to people

being focused specifically on running projects.

We would also like to incorporate more involvement with our organizational

members and knowledge partners into our structure. One of the things that the team

agreed on was that one of the most enjoyable

things during the semester was having the

Facilitator

Corner

meetings with organizational members

visiting or where we learned about other organizations such as when “Care for Life”

presented their Family Prevention Program, when Chris Wells presented his experience

with Peace Corps, and when I returned from my trip to India earlier on in the semester and

shared the Jain Corporation Sustainable

Business Model with the team. These are the kinds of things that really motivate our team;

projects that are amazing and that work and that have potential to spread and affect more

places. It gives our work more purpose since we know that on the small scale there are

groups accomplishing the Millennium

Development Goals and that this success can be expanded to other places through the

advocacy work we do.

Usually the end of the semester is solely a time for reflections on accomplishments and

for making future plans. This year this routine

task has been accompanied by an explosion of work related to the perspective on a

partnership with Gandhi Research Foundation (GRF) and Jain Irrigation

Systems Ltd in India (please see article in this issue about our first partnership meeting).

Here’s to hoping for positive changes this summer,

M.W.

Dr. Marek Wosinski

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We encourage your collaboration on these projects!

Please contact us if you would like to get involved! Our Projects

The main projects that UCP-SARnet has been coordinating over the years as well as a few newly started ventures include the

following: “Bridging the World” virtual conferences, Stand Up Against Poverty events, Development of the Gandhi College of

Social Work in India, Collaboration with the World Academy for the Future of Women in China, Leadership Summits in Asia

and Africa, Collaboration on the ASU Interfaith Campus Challenge Project, the “Forks For Change” Club Chapter at ASU

which promotes our mission through events on campus, and finally the various courses and opportunities that are available at

ASU to get involved with UCP-SARnet. Visit the UCP-SARnet website to find out more about our projects and how to get

involved.

Gandhi College of Social Work—Book Drive!

Ever imagined your unused text books could directly impact social change in a developing country?

The Gandhi College of Social Work, located at the heart of impoverished villages, was recently inaugurated in Bhitiarwa

Ashram, West Champaran, Bihar, India. The Bhitiarwa Ashram complex houses the Gandhi Memorial Museum and the

Gandhi Research Institute and is a tribute to the life and works of Mahatma Gandhi who till this day is a respected figure for social change in India. As the name suggests, this college aims to intertwine the example of the esteemed Gandhi into a regular

college curriculum.

The college research center has already been offering classes to teach women and children skills to advance their education.

When the actual undergraduate programs begin in 2013, this center will continue to offer skill-building classes for the community.

With the generosity of the family who owns the Bhitwara Ashram Complex, coordinated by AASRA for Community

Transformation in India, and with the support of the local community, local government, Indira Gandhi National Open University, and UCP-SARnet, the College of Social Work depends mainly on volunteers and donations to operate and would

deeply appreciate any donated text books they can amass for their meager library.

Our executive team will be collecting textbooks now and through the summer to send to the Gandhi College of Social Work.

We are based at Arizona State University—Tempe Campus. Please contact us if you would like to contribute to a positive change in a part of India with much potential to grow and develop with the help of skilled leaders and social workers. We thank

you in advance for your generosity.

Dr. Marek Wosinski

Facilitator

UCP-SARnet

“You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.” - Mahatma Gandhi

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CONFERENCES

Annual International Leadership Summit for 2012—Cancelled.

On behalf of Global Interactions Inc. and organizing partners Thunderbird School of Global Management, UCP-SARnet, and

the World Academy for the Future of Women, I regretfully inform you that the International Leadership Summit planned for July 2012 is being cancelled this year as we have not attracted a sufficient amount of participants to cover the costs for this

initiative.

There are several factors that have caught our attention during preparations for this event namely the cost of the event being

too high for potential participants from developing countries who would be most attracted to the workshop, the three week duration of the summit being too long for people to accommodate into their summer plans, and despite there being an urgency

for this type of training, we have overestimated the global awareness of such a need.

The University-Community Partnership for Social Action Research (UCP-SARnet) is planning another international

leadership training this year in Jalgaon, India. It will be for only one week and fully sponsored by the Gandhi Research Foundation. Participants will be responsible only for the travel cost. More details will be available via UCP-SARnet as the

details further materialize.

We commend those who registered for this opportunity and hope that this experience will not discourage them from participation in our future initiatives. We personally are undaunted in our resolve to continue in our mission for social change

and world development. We urge you all to continue to support projects that aim to reshape the world through leadership,

entrepreneurship, and social change especially in relation to accomplishment of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals.

Jerrie Ueberle President

Global Interactions, Inc

The 9th International Solidarity Forum (ISF) 2012

THEME “Sustainable Development: The Priority of Persons”

Dr. Wosinski (Facilitator of UCP-SARnet) and myself (Associate Facilitator of UCP-SARnet) had meetings with the UN

Peace Building Office, UN Foundation, World Youth Alliance, GAID, and "Funding for NGOs.org" this month. During our time in New York I also had the opportunity to complete the World Youth Alliance's Track A training program, and I am now

certified by the WYA regional director.

From April 16-19, I participated in the 9th International Solidarity Forum organized by the World Youth Alliance (WYA).

Hosted at the United Nations in New York, the ISF brought together WYA members from around the world, as well as international advisors to the World Youth Alliance, and members of the UN diplomatic community.

This year's annual theme examined the centrality of the human person in achieving human development, particularly in

relation to the idea of sustainable development. Sustainable development is the United Nations' overarching concept for development and human rights; it includes social, economic and environmental areas of focus. In June, 2012, the United

Nations will host an international conference in Rio, in order to revisit commitments made 20 years ago, and to reset the

sustainable development agenda for the future—this ISF has set down a pathway for the Rio Conference.

Osee Romeo Tcheupgoum

Associate Facilitator,

Regional Coordinator for Africa,

UCP-SARnet

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Regional Updates: AFRICA

Knowledge Partner – Leaders De Demain, connecting African Youth to opportunities worldwide

Last November when Dr. Wosinski and I took a trip to Africa to attend the World Youth Alliance conference in Kenya, we also

had an opportunity to visit Cameroon and connect with orphanages there and in that same trip we had the opportunity to connect with an organization called Leaders De Demain (LDD) – Leaders of Tomorrow. Although they signed an MOU as a

knowledge partner to UCP-SARnet at that time, we are still updating their interface page on our website and will hopefully be able to fully utilize their expertise to benefit our members soon.

Leaders De Demain is made up of Educational Consultants based in Cameroon who have been working since 2005 to connect

African youth with work and study opportunities both in Africa and Abroad via their worldwide partners. Their success rate as

of December 2011 was the placement of 200 students to higher level institutions in Europe, North America, and parts of Asia.

Osee Romeo Tcheupgoum

Associate Facilitator,

Regional Coordinator for Africa,

UCP-SARnet

New Member Organization: YERA for Empowerment of Youth and Social Development in Somalia

The Youth Empowerment and Rehabilitation Association (YERA) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2010 in

Somalia when the founding members realized that there was a two-fold problem facing their population – not only are there still militia groups in this war torn country that wreak havoc without cause, but also the unrest and the associated decrease in quality

of life and lack of employment was leading youth to increasingly join these militia – resulting in increasing unrest and less of a viable working population.

Thus, this organization focuses on both empowerment and rehabilitation; they are not only dedicated to the empowerment of

youth in their country, but are also committed to helping members of their population that are vulnerable and in need (i.e.

children, elderly, people with disabilities, orphans). YERA is dedicated to social development in Somalia, to projects promoting agriculture which is a main source of livelihood in the region, to healthcare initiatives, to education, to conservation of the

environment initiatives, and to emergency response procedures amongst other projects dedicated to reversing the damage of war and bringing about a stable society in Somalia. Visit the YERA website to find out more.

Abidah Khalife Assistant Editor

UCP-SARnet

New Member Organization: Welcome Energy To Empower

Energy To Empower (E2E) is a US based non-profit organization that is dedicated to local and global economic development

which is in turn a main element for community growth; they carry out their mission by lending support to non-governmental

organizations in the developing world and educating and empowering these organizations to bring about the change needed. The president of E2E is Dan Nienhauser who has international experience in leadership, management and business

development as well as experience in projects related to the Millennium Development Goals.

On April 4th, Dr. Wosinski and Osee joined in meeting at ASU Skysong facility with members of this organization. Efforts in

Africa were a main subject of the recent meeting and hence the UCP-SARnet plans for Africa were shared with E2E members. David and Florence Wagner talked about their travel and work in Africa as well. That being said, through E2E’s network of

professionals, NGOs are lent support through consulting work (lending their specific areas of expertise to the organization projects) as well as potentially lending financial support to projects. This organization has recently joined as a UCP-SARnet

member and we are excited for potential partnerships with them in our plans for Africa as well as the potential that they present

to other NGO members of UCP-SARnet. Visit the E2E website to learn more.

Abidah Khalife Assistant Editor

UCP-SARnet

Page 6

Regional Updates: ASIA

Regional Updates: AUSTRALIA & OCEANA

Australia invests in neighboring Indonesia for

mutually beneficial growth The Australia Indonesia Institute is a subset of the Australian

Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and

began in 1989 with the purpose of creating mutual understanding between Australian and Indonesian cultures

by partnering in areas of education, youth development, arts and culture, science and technology, women empowerment,

amongst other things. Australia, being a developed nation, also provides aid to this important neighbor of theirs that is

still a developing nation and in need of improvement in key

areas related to the MDGs. This partnership is truly amazing in the sense that it is an enduring relationship of two nations

that differ in culture and that differ in development needs yet they found a way to spark a mutually beneficial relationship.

The Australian Government, through giving aid to Indonesia, is essentially making an investment in the entire

population of a nation that is growing and when this growth

reaches a peak the trade and business partnerships to improve both economies will be endless.

Abidah Khalife Assistant Editor

UCP-SARnet

Gandhi College of Social Work Proudly Sponsored by Gandhi Research Foundation

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. Bhavarlal H. Jain and the Gandhi Research Foundation who have agreed to support the Gandhi College of Social Work that I have been promoting for a few years now. I also have the great honor of

working on the Gandhi Research Foundation staff as well.

Jain Irrigation Systems, Ltd. based in Jalgaon, India and founded by Mr. Bhavarlal H Jain, is a multinational organization with

global presence in 120 countries. The company manufactures and tests a range of agricultural and water-efficiency products. But most importantly, they are a company that follows a socially responsible business philosophy, influenced by Mahatma

Gandhi. Gandhi was a promoter of ethical business practice since unethical practices are detrimental to the balance of society and the environment. The core values Jain Irrigation Systems holds is no doubt a key to their worldwide success.

The company promotes Gandhi and his teaching further through their Gandhi Research Foundation and the recently inaugurated ‘Gandhi Teerth’ museum/center of Gandhian study. We are so pleased to have found such a successful and

knowledgeable sponsor for the Gandhi College of Social Work, and one who practices the message of Gandhi nonetheless.

I would also like to thank at this time everyone who has supported the Dream Rainbow Project, congrats to us all, it is finally coming together. Though this is a really exciting point for the project which we hope will be fully ready to begin in January

2013, there is still work to be done. Namely being the collection of textbooks to begin our own library collection, as well as

faculty search and collaborating with other colleges of social work for student exchange programs. More details on this to come later.

Birendra Kumar

Director, Gandhi Shodh Sansthan

Assistant Facilitator for Asia & the Pacific,

UCP-SARnet

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Regional Updates: NORTH AMERICA

The Global Poverty Project WOWs!

Forks for Change had the honor to welcome the Global Poverty Project to Arizona State University this past April 16th and

17th. The group presented to a PGS 101 class Monday afternoon followed by a meet and greet with Halogen TV

representatives, the Global Poverty Project team, and Forks for Change members at Changemakers’ Central on Monday evening. The presentation open to the entire campus took place on Tuesday evening at Ventana Ballroom in the Memorial

Union. Though the turnout was much less than we hoped for, the presentation was extremely inspiring to those who came.

After helping ourselves to fruit, chips and lemonade, Abed (Forks for Change Treasurer) invited our speakers up. First we had

Diana, a representative from Changemakers’ Central give a talk about the purpose of Changemakers at ASU. This was followed by Shams, a poet, presenting his touching piece “Homegrown Terror”. Meg Watkins with GPP followed up with the

almost 1 hour “1.4 billion reasons” presentation set up as a series of segments and stories covering the following areas:

What is extreme poverty? Can we do anything about it?

What are the barriers to ending extreme poverty? Why should we care?

What can I do?

We encourage you to visit the Global Poverty Project website and invite the organization out to give presentations in your

community. We truly can make a change when we are motivated and know exactly what can be done.

This event closed with a story presented by Mark Goldman “Story from Africa: the Child and the Magician” and ended the segment nicely with the concept of sustainable change and giving people the power, the education, and the resources to change

their own lives rather than a constant dependence on others. An Oxfam representative as well as Meg stayed back for some questions on how to get more involved in helping the almost 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty in today’s world.

This presentation has really gotten us excited about the It Takes One event that we are planning in the Fall. We are more confident than ever that what we are doing, advocating for the Millennium Development Goals and for action to change world

conditions, is necessary, significant, and possible to achieve.

Mohamed Camara

Club President, Forks for Change

Assistant Facilitator, UCP-SARnet

From Greece to London, Olympic Torch paves way for start of 2012

games

Ironically, at a time when Greece is facing troubles with other European nations due to their extreme debts posing a risk to the Euro value, a testament of what this

country and culture has given the world is at the same time being celebrated. A tradition originating from Ancient Greece, the Olympic Games and their celebration

of strength and achievement was revived in the 19th century and nowadays the games

occur every 2 years, alternating between Summer and Winter Games. What is especially uplifting about the Olympics is that it is a time when many nations put

aside their political and cultural differences to come together regardless to compete on equal grounds. The torch for the ceremonies recently began its relay from Greece

to London with the much anticipated games taking place in August.

Abidah Khalife Assistant Editor

UCP-SARnet

Regional Updates: EUROPE

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Regional Updates: NORTH AMERICA (Continued)

Partnership Meeting: ASU Bridge to Global Development

On Monday May 14th, a Partnership Meeting took place at the

ASU University Club with the purpose to create a partnership between the Gandhi Research Foundation, Jain Irrigation

Systems, Ltd. from Jalgaon (India) and Arizona State University. Mr. B. Krishnakumar, Vice President for Human Resources,

represented both Gandhi Research Foundation and Jain Irrigation

Systems.

ASU Administration was represented by Dr. Sethraman Panchnatan, Senior Vice President of ASU, Dr. N. Lester, Associate Vice-

President of ASU Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development, Dr. K. Crnic, Chair of ASU Psychology Department, and Dr. M.

Wosinski, Facilitator of UCP-SARnet. The following colleagues also participated in this meeting: Mr. Patrick Reid, Project

Assistant, Office of SVP Knowledge Enterprise Development, Dr. Rimjhim Aggarwal, ASU School of Sustainability, Dr. Dennis Dalton

(virtual attendance), Professor Emeritus Columbia University, author of "Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action", Dr. Carolyn

Forbes, Assistant Director, ASU Center for the Study of Religion and Conflicts, Dr. Richard Knopf, Director, ASU Partnership for

Community Development, Mr. Dan Niienhauser, President, Energy2Empower, Mr. Osee Romeo Njacheun, Associate Facilitator of

UCP-SARnet, Dr. John Sabo, School of Sustainability, and Dr. Robert Torres, Chair of the Department of Agricultural Education,

University of Arizona (for more information on the meeting and the participants please see the file attached here).

At Monday's meeting, after a brief opening, Mr. Krishnakumar made a very inspiring and convincing presentation of both organizations he represents and his invitation for a partnership with ASU and UCP-SARnet, Dr. Sethraman Panchnatan,

Senior Vice President of ASU extend the greetings from President Crow and assured participants that ASU is very supportive

for projects and partnerships expanding the university's global engagement and social involvement.

Each and every one of 14 participants representing various ASU units, as well as Dr. Torres representing the University of Arizona, confirmed their interest in

developing collaboration with the Gandhi Research Foundation and Jain Irrigation Systems and presented various creative ideas regarding their

involvement in this partnership. The presentation by Mr. Krishnakumar was

very positively received by Dr. Lester, Associate Vice-President of ASU and Dr. Crnic, the immediate supervisor and supporter of UCP-SARnet. As the role

of Dr. Lester's office is to promote and integrate humanities research throughout the university and to seek research funding, support faculty

researchers, nurture partnerships with external partners, and promote innovation and entrepreneurship - his support will have a significant meaning

for further development of this partnership.

Immediately after the meeting we discussed with Mr. Krishankumar and Dr. Aggarwal (who is a

member of UCP-SARnet's Advisory Board assisting in the development of collaboration with India) what should be included in the draft of the partnership agreement. Following the

suggestions given during the meeting we agreed that among other forms of collaboration this partnership will consider exchange of information, student interns and faculty, conducting

research projects, and possibly creating a Gandhi Center at ASU.

One of the first joint projects will be organization of leadership training workshops for

community leaders from developing countries, during which we will promote peace and nonviolence by teaching people how to create sustainable economic development by wisely

utilizing agricultural resources in their regions. The first training workshop for up to 150 people will possibly be organized September or October this year.

The proposal of partnership agreement will be drafted in next few days and will be presented both to the ASU Administration and to the Gandhi Foundation and Jain Irrigation Systems. The meeting will be followed up by a working meeting on June 1st

during which we will discuss a strategy for developing the partnership, proposal for the training workshop as well as fundraising strategy.

Dr. Marek Wosinski Facilitator

UCP-SARnet

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Activities of the Executive Team Learn more about our executive team

members by checking out their profiles.

Our Month in Meetings (see the blogs for more details):

April 20th, 2012

Though this meeting was initially set to be a workshop to learn some media skills to improve on the website function, that could

not be arranged in time and instead we discussed the last steps for projects we have been working on and also took time to discuss what we would like to see run differently next semester.

We discussed some of the things that could be done in this final week apart from finishing up whatever can be done for each of

our tasks. For instance, everyone needs to update their timesheets and make sure that that all information is properly recorded and correct so that it is documented how much time it takes to work on various projects and tasks. Also, we need to come up

with suggestions about how our experience with UCP-SARnet was this Spring and how it can be improved in future semesters;

these suggestions will need to be printed for the next meeting. We will elaborate on our suggestions next week in the final meeting of the executive team.

April 27th, 2012

Final Meeting for Spring 2012

This final meeting for the Spring semester was devoted to us giving our detailed comments and suggestions on how we each felt the

semester went. Dr. Wosinski and Osee also told us about their recent visit to New York and Osee’s participation in the International

Solidarity Forum.

Though this was the final official meeting of the team, we still have some follow up to do on various projects. The Forks for Change

club still has to orchestrate elections for the leadership of the club next semester, and Forks for Change also will get a small team

together to get started early on applying for sponsorships for the It Takes One project that was postponed to Fall 2012. There is still

follow up to do regarding the Leadership Summit in China, the books collected by Alexis for the orphans in Africa need to be sent out,

we will need to collect more text books for the Gandhi College of Social Work in India in these upcoming weeks and send those to

Birendra, and finally details for the Summit in India need to be confirmed.

With all of our comments and suggestions we have realized that there are a lot of changes that need to be made in order for the new

internship to be more effective and more impactful (this was the first semester that UCP-SARnet offered an internship in lieu of the

undergraduate research course) and these changes will have to be decided on over the summer.

Regional Updates: SOUTH AMERICA

Rio+Social: UN International Conference in Rio, June 2012

In June 1992, the first UN International Conference took place in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. This June

2012 the UN International Conference is set in Rio once more as a follow up to the commitments made 20 years ago and there will be new resolutions towards sustainable solutions for our future and the

future of the planet.

Something noteworthy is that during the 1992 Conference in Rio, the words of a 12 year old girl expressed world problems as they are – adults do not have all the answers to world problems and sometimes are responsible for making things worse. This is

something relevant even today and the conference this June will address what has and has not changed between 2 decades ago

and now. What can we do now to ensure that we all have a future to look forward to? Find out more here.

Abidah Khalife Assistant Editor

UCP-SARnet

Page 10

Introducing Members of Our Advisory Board

The following distinguished colleagues have agreed to serve on our Advisory Board:

Robert Cialdini,

Arizona State University (USA),

Liz Cunningham,

University of Brighton (England),

Aecio D’Silva,

University of Arizona (USA),

Kim Eagles,

Grassroots Activist (USA),

William A. Foster,

Foster and Brahm Management Consulting (USA),

Rajesh Jangareddy,

Vitesse Semiconductor (India),

Solomon O. Kanu,

Kanu and Associates (USA),

Grazyna Prawelska-

Skrzypek, Jagiellonian

University (Poland),

Jan Sadlak,

Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities (Poland),

Daniel Schugurensky,

Arizona State University (USA),

Jerrie Ueberle,

Global Interactions Inc. (USA),

Christopher Zambakari,

Student Representative (USA).

Rimjhim Aggarwal,

Arizona State University (USA),

Richard Knopf,

Arizona State University (USA),

Page 11

AASRA for Community Transformation (ACT) is a non-profit advocating for universal human rights and children’s

rights. Website: www.aasraindia.org/

African Woman and Child Features Service (AWC) ensures that the voices of the women and children in

Africa, and the issues they face, are better represented in mainstream media. Website: www.awcfs.org/

Ann Foundation empowers people who live with the daily challenges of vision impairment, hearing loss and other

disabilities in some of the world’s most impoverished places. Website: www.AnnFoundation.org

Anti-Poverty Project (TAPP) assists communities through job training, personal development training and providing technology to non-profit organizations and to the disadvantaged. Website: www.tapp.org.

Asian Pacific Community in Action. Created in 2002, the mission of the Asian Pacific Community in Action

is to improve the health and well-being of the Asian Pacific Islander community in Maricopa County through empowerment, health promotion, and disease prevention. http://apcaaz.org/

Association for Welfare, Social Action, and Research—India (AWSAR) is an organization comprising of a group of

professional social development workers from diverse background. Website: www.awsarindia.org/.

Beam Foundation provides needy children in the developing world with school uniforms and

necessary school supplies. Website: www.beamindia.org/

Cameroon Association for the Protection and Education of the Child (CAPEC) works with children, youth, parents,

and governmental bodies to identify the needs of underprivileged children in Cameroon. Website: www.capecam.org.

The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice works towards a civil justice system that is accessible, effective, fair and

efficient. Website: cfcj-fcjc.org/news/

The Centre for Community Research and Action, Laurier works to advance community knowledge, social

policy, and practice for community wellness and social equity. Website: www.wlu.ca

Changes for New Hope supports the impoverished children from the Peruvian Andes region through educational

programs, personal development, and building of social and emotional wellbeing . Website:

www.changesfornewhope.org

The Community University Research Alliance explores new ways of providing community mental health support. Website: www.communitybasedresearch.ca/takingcultureseriouslyCURA/

Department of Youth Development, Sport & Training (Vanuatu). A government ministry that oversees sports and

recreation along with technical vocational education and training which provides applicable life-skills to Youth and forges national, community and individual development. No Official Website: More Info Here.

Ecuador Volunteer Foundation volunteers for social, community, educational, healthcare, and ecological

projects throughout Ecuador. Website: www.ecuadorvolunteer.org/

Energy To Empower (E2E), a US based NPO, enables personal wealth and job creation by bridging regional and

global economies for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) that serve developing world communities -

empowering change. Website: www.energy2empower.org.

FIRBEJC—Fondation Islamique de Recherches pour le Bien-Etre de La Jeunesse Congolaise—is an NGO

dedicated to helping youth in region fight economic, human, sociocultural, and political poverties. No Official Website. More Info Here.

Global Thinking Women empowers women of all ages throughout the various stages in their lives. Website:

www.odatsglobaltrainingandrecruitmentservice.com/index.html

Member Organizations

Member Organizations

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Greater Boghé Area Association, INC is a US based organization that partners with groups in the Boghé region of

Mauritania to improve health conditions there and underlying factors affecting health. Website: www.boghe.org/

Helping Lives International is a non-profit focusing on eradicating poverty. Help youth gain

employment and to work as Ambassadors and leaders. Website: www.helpinglives.7p.com/

International Youth Peace Tourism & Development Initiative (Nigeria) is an NGO that envisions volunteerism, especially of young tourists, as a key to accomplishing the MDGs and achieving sustainable development

worldwide. Website: iyptding.wordpress.com.

India Vision Foundation (IVF): founded in 1994 by Dr. Kiran Bedi to expand upon the work of

Navjyoti India Foundation. It strives to improve conditions in prisons, the lives of those incarcerated and

that of their children. Website: www.indiaviosionfoundation.org/

Kalawa Library and School Project is a non-profit organization that endeavors to develop the next generation

by providing basic library resources and teaching materials to several cities in Kenya that are in dire need of

such resources. They are interested in gathering information to develop programs that will facilitate youth leadership and development. Website: kalawalspinc.org/

LUKMEF helps Cameroon to embrace peace, non-violence, social justice, and sustainable development in order

to alleviate poverty. Website: www.lukmefcameroon.org/

Navjyoti India Foundation (NIF) was founded in 1988 by Dr. Kiran Bedi. NIF works in

collaboration with IVF for positive change, beginning with a flagship program for correction, drug-addiction and rehabilitation. Website: www.navjyoti.org.in/

Network of East West Women - Polska (NEWW-Polska) is a Poland-based women’s advocacy network that

provides knowledge and resources to empower and strengthen women while working towards social and economic equity. Website: www.neww.eu/en/about/neww/0.html

“New Choice” Children’s Charity (Mongolia) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization based in

Ulaanbaatar that seeks out volunteers to participate in their many projects based around helping the Mongolian community especially underserved children and orphans. Website: www.volunteer.org.mn/.

Nigerian Youth Climate Coalition (NYCC) is focusing on climate change and collaborates with collaborating

with youth, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Website: nigerianyouthclimatecoalition.blogspot.com/

Pluribus Europe is a consulting organization which coaches and trains their clients, comprised of

international companies, in diversity and inclusion techniques at all levels of corporate management.

Founded in 2006. Website: www.pluribus-europe.com/en/

Social Care Youth Initiative (Rwanda) is a youth-run organization that also incidentally works for the

empowerment of youth in their region. They are devoted to accomplishing the MDGs as well as to addressing

issues of Human Rights and Justice through various programs that they have developed. Website: scyi-rwanda.weebly.com.

Somali Family Services, established in 2003, envisions a peaceful and thriving Somalia. They promote the causes of human rights, social justice, democracy, and sustainable living by empowering the marginalized groups and

communities in the country. Website: ussfs.org.

Students Travel and Exposure South Africa (STAESA) is a non-profit organization promoting and enhancing cultural exchange and development in Africa. Website: www.staesa.org/

TESA is a nonprofit organization aimed at researching, training researchers, outlining an implementing

projects for the promotion of sustainable economy. Website: www.fundaciontesa.org/eng

Member Organizations

Page 13

Unreasonable Institute supports globally-minded social entrepreneurs who are developing

solutions to pressing issues. Website: unreasonableinstitute.org/

UCP-SARnet The Gambia and UCP-SARnet Ghana are two separate officially registered NGOs

that undertake a diverse and creative range of educational, humanitarian, and peace-building

initiatives to help achieve MDGs in their respective countries. Websites: ucpsarnet.iglooprojects.org/gambia and www.ucpsarnetghana.org.

Woman As Hero is an ASU Student Organization driven by the importance of the empowerment of women to

societies. Their main interests are education and entrepreneurship opportunities for women, and they hold awareness campaigns on gender-related issues such as violence against women to spread the message. Website:

womanashero.weebly.com

Youth Alliance for Justice & Peace (Sierra Leone), an NGO dedicated to the youth in the region fights the

evils of poverty by encouraging saying no to narcotics, by creating education and employment opportunities,

and by providing desperately needed housing and medical care. This NGO unites youth, gives stronger self-worth, and allows them to help their own country. No Official Website: More Info Here.

The Youth Empowerment and Rehabilitation Association "YERA" is a non-profit that advocates for empowerment of youth in Somalia and to this end they promote self-reliance in various fields of activities. The

organization is also committed to helping the needy hence their name “rehabilitation association”. Website:

www.yerasom.org.

Collaborating Knowledge Partners

Amity University (India) is one of the best private universities in India with over 50000 students. Website.

Care for Life is a nonprofit organization operating in Mozambique and dedicated to promoting self reliance and instilling hope

in families in poorer regions of this country. Website.

Centre for Community Based Research brings people together to share knowledge in order to impact positive social change.

Website.

Coaching the Global Village works with social changers to use coaching to create innovative solutions to pressing global

challenges. Website.

Comunitaria provides technical support and tools for community and psychosocial intervention programs. Four professional

psychologists run this organization. Website.

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health promotes health through service-learning, community-based participatory

research, broad-based coalitions, and other partnership strategies. Website.

Community Toolbox provides resources for community leaders. Website.

East Europe Foundation seeks to support successful community-driven development initiatives. Website.

Global Alliance for ICT & Development creates an inclusive global forum and platform to promote discussion on using ICT

for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Website.

Global Alliance for Community Based Research promotes Community-Engaged Research as a fundamental means to

contributing to human betterment by the sharing of knowledge across the world. Website.

Collaborating Knowledge Partners

Page 14

Global Interactions, Inc works with professionals to interact with domestic and global counterparts to increase exchange of

practices, technologies, and research. Website.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (India) offers 338 programs of study through over 3,500 courses to a cumulative

student strength of over 30 million students. Website.

Jagiellonian University (Poland) is the second oldest university in Europe located in Krakow. Website.

Leaders De Demain (LDD) – Leaders of Tomorrow – is an Association of Educational Consultants based in Cameroon with

Partners all around the world. Their objective is to open borders to African youths to study and work abroad. Website.

Leadership Learning Community identifies, evaluates, and applies ideas and practices in leadership development in order to

make leadership more effective. Website.

Orbis Institute develops global leaders through programs that advance awareness, critical thinking, and action. Website.

Sias International University combines Chinese educational philosophies with Western educational models to develop

professionals who are prepared to meet the demands of trans-national corporations and enterprises. Website.

SoReCom conducts and disperses research that focuses on social issues relevant to Europe and its policies. Website.

Taking It Global uses the power of online community to facilitate global education, social entrepreneurship, and civic engagement for millions of youth worldwide. Website.

UN Millennium Campaign supports and inspires people from around the world to take action towards the Millennium Development Goals. Website.

United Nations Foundation advocates for the UN and a platform for connecting people, ideas and resources to help the

United Nations solve global problems. Website.

Video Voice Collective: brings academic researchers, filmmakers, technology mavens, social justice champions, and

community leaders together to improve the health conditions of underserved communities. Website.

Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities is a private university that educates students in psychology, philosophy,

humanities, and social sciences. Website.

World for World Organization (Italy) is an Italian-based non-profit organization, operating in Italy and internationally.

Website.

Page 15

Directory

HEAD OFFICE

Arizona State University

Department of Psychology

P.O. Box 871104, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

Tel. 480-965-6253

Email: [email protected]

FACILITATOR

Executive Officer

Dr. Marek Wosinski*

Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT FACILITATOR FOR

AFRICA

Osee Romeo Tcheupgoum

Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT FACILITATOR FOR

ASIA & PACIFIC

Birendra Kumar

Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT FACILITATOR FOR

EUROPE

Ganeswar Sahoo

Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT FACILITATORS FOR

NORTH AMERICA

Osee Romeo Tcheupgoum*

Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT FACILITATOR FOR

SOUTH AMERICA

Susana Pesis

Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT FACILITATOR

John Mabey

Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT FACILITATOR

Robby Uppal*

Email: [email protected]

COORDINATOR OF

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

Andy Chen

Email: [email protected]

ICT COORDINATOR

Adam Euerby

Email: [email protected]

ICT ASSISTANT COORDINATOR

Dorav Kumar

Email: [email protected]

ICT TEAM

Uttam Bhat

Adam Euerby

Dorav Kumar*

Mohan Moorthy

Loc Nguen*

Karan Puttannaiah*

EXECUTIVE TEAM

* executive team members already listed above

in this directory are marked with an asterisk

Dr. Iris Drower

Dr. Eva Szeli

Lauryn Bates

Mohamed Camara

Alexis Huth

Fritzgerald Jerome

Angela Kabasan

Abidah Khalife

Carlos Plascencia

Dieu Sababera

Marie Simonsen

Christopher Wells

REGIONAL OFFICES

AFRICA

Contact Person: Osee Romeo Tcheupgoum

No. 1 Ansumana Ceesay Street, Dippakun-

da UCP-SARnet -The Gambia

(Non-Profit & Charitable organization)

P.O.BOX 2192, serekunda, KMSD. The

GAMBIA

Tel. (00 220) 6548963/7953521/

3438 808 /6717761

Email: [email protected]

ASIA & THE PACIFIC

Contact Person: Birendra Kumar

University Community Partnership for So-

cial Action Research Network.

UN Commission on Sustainable Develop-

ment (Youth and Children Major Group )

Tel. +91-9910711112

Email: [email protected]

EUROPE

Contact Person: Ganeswar Sahoo

via s cosma e damiano 103

trento, tn 38122, ITALY

Tel. +39 3319782685

Email: [email protected]

CANADA

Contact Person: Adam Euerby

Candidate M.ASc. Systems Design

Engineering, B.ASc. Systems Design

Engineering, University of Waterloo

Advanced Interface Design Lab

1.519.888.4567 x34904

[email protected]

UNITED STATES

Contact Person: Mohamed Camara

Department of Psychology

P.O. Box 871104,

Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

Tel. 480-965-6253

Email: [email protected]

SOUTH AMERICA

Contact Person: Susana Pesis

Email: [email protected]

ADVISORY BOARD

Rimjhim Aggarwal, Arizona State University

(USA)

Robert Cialdini, Arizona State University

(USA)

Liz Cunningham, University of Brighton

(England)

Aecio D’Silva, University of Arizona (USA)

Kim Eagles, Grassroots Activist (USA)

William A. Foster, Foster and Brahm

Management Consulting (USA)

Rajesh Jangareddy, Vitesse Semiconductor

(India)

Solomon O. Kanu, Kanu and Associates (USA)

Richard Knopf, Arizona State University (USA)

Grazyna Prawelska-Skrzypek, Jagiellonian

University (Poland)

Jan Sadlak, Warsaw School of social Sciences

and Humanities (Poland)

Daniel Schugurensky, Arizona State

University (USA)

Jerrie Ueberle, Global Interactions, Inc. (USA)

Christopher Zambakari, Student Representative

(USA)

For more information about our worldwide network

of educators, researchers, students and community leaders,

please visit our website:

ucpsarnet.asu.edu

If you want to get involved, please click CONTACT US

and fill in the relevant application form..

Educating, Empowering and Engaging Communities Page 16