Global Weekly Update April 30, 2012
Global Action Week for Education is Over, But Our Work is Not!
During International Global Action Week for Education (April 22–28), we partnered with our U.S. poverty RESULTS advocates to conduct organization-wide outreach to grasstops leaders on education. We took time to identify nearby influential voices and grasstops leaders (anyone whose voice is more likely to be listened to in the community) who care about education, and that important work should continue!
Take Action:
1. Make sure your House member has cosponsored the Education for All Act of 2011. And if he/she is a cosponsor, request that they ask their colleagues to cosponsor. Right now the legislation has 65 cosponsors. We are over halfway to our goal of 100, and momentum on this legislation will mean that more and more members of Congress will know about the vision for a Global Partnership for Education.
2. Check out our tips on building a coalition of community allies and start brainstorming with other activists about people and organizations who care about educating kids and might be interested in collaboration. Local school board? Teachers union? Girl and Boy Scout troops? Head Start center? PTA? Education department at the local college, business leader, local government official? Who is in your neighborhood working for education? These groups may not know about RESULTS and our commitment to early childhood education here and around the world, and they might love to learn about us and consider collaborating. Continue to use our Education for All Outreach Kit for the April action sheet, a relevant laser talk, education fact sheets, inspiring videos, and other outreach resources to help you.
3. Research the contacts at the organizations of your choosing and make a few calls to set up meetings. Partnership building is relationship building around common visions and goals. It takes time to talk about those common goals and develop ideas on how you and other like-minded groups can work together. Now is a great moment to start taking that time.
4. Take a quick action that emphasizes the link between education and microfinance and then share it with a friend!
5. Glance at the international Global Action Week website for a splash of inspiration, as many people have posted great stories and photos of what took place last week.
Did You Hear the Exciting International Conference News?
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Jeffrey Sachs will attend our conference this summer! Dr. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior United Nations advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 80 countries. He has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. He was called by the New York Times, “probably the most important economist in the world,” and by Time magazine “the world’s best known economist.” A recent survey by The Economist magazine ranked Professor Sachs as among the world’s three most influential living economists of the past decade. Economist Dean Baker also just confirmed his attendance!
The REAL Change program (for 18-25-year-olds) is receiving applications until May 15, and other financial assistance options are drawing to a close. Check out the details at the Financial Assistance tab on the right side of our International Conference webpage.
Register today, and keep your eyes peeled for information on inviting your members of Congress to our spectacular conference reception! And get ready to use our official conference hashtag, #RESULTSConf, to keep track of and contribute to the buzz before, during, and after the conference.
Wednesday is the BIG Fundraising Day!
All day Wednesday, May 2, your gift to the RESULTS Educational Fund will have a greater impact. Thanks to the Seattle Foundation’s giveBIG campaign, gifts of any size will be stretched. Any donation will also make you eligible for a Golden Ticket, increasing your donation by $1,000! Thank you to Karen Gielen and our Seattle partners for setting up this opportunity. On May 2, donate to RESULTS Educational Fund on the Seattle Foundation’s website and spread the word via social media.
Other Grassroots News You Can Use
1. Are you interested in discussing the possibilities and excitement of the RESULTS strategic plan with other grassroots advocates? Check out the strategic plan discussion thread on our website forum called My RESULTS.
2. Are you a new RESULTS partner? Join our two-session RESULTS New Activist Orientation series on May 7 and 21! Dial in to (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 at 9 pm ET to get more details on how RESULTS works and how to bring your powerful advocacy work to life. For more information, contact us.
3. Do you know someone who is hearing about RESULTS for the first time? Invite them to a RESULTS Introductory Call, a snappy, 30-minute meet-and-greet call during which new folks can get a taste of who we are. We offer two of these calls each month, and anyone can RSVP online to get all the details.
4. “Extending the Conversation on Reaching the Poorest: Another Look at the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit.” CGAP and the Microcredit Summit Campaign invite you to participate in a virtual conference on reaching the poorest. Last November, the Campaign hosted more than 2,000 people from around the world for the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit in Valladolid, Spain. It was an intense 3 days of learning, sharing, and networking about emerging and more mature best practices for reaching the poorest. This goal of this virtual conference is to continue the conversation and capture any new developments since the Summit. Check out the online registration page if you are interested.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
– Theodore Roosevelt
March-May: Global Poverty Project 1.4 Billion Reasons presentations
May 2: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.
May 2-4: Extending the Conversation on Reaching the Poorest: Another look at the 2011 Global Microcredit. Check out the information available online for this “virtual” conference co-presented by the Microcredit Summit Campaign.
May 7 and 21: RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9 pm ET. New activist with RESULTS? Then join our two-session orientation to learn the basics of who we are and how we work together to become vibrant advocates for the end of poverty. To RSVP, contact Lisa Marchal. To call in, dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262.
May 12: National grassroots conference call for global campaigns. 2 pm ET. Dial (888) 409-6709 a few minutes before the call. (Check out our conference call archive, too!)
May 15: RESULTS Free Agents domestic poverty group call. Contact Jos Linn for more information.
May 18: RESULTS Introductory Call. 1 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.
May 21: RESULTS Free Agents global poverty group for activists in towns without RESULTS groups. 8 pm ET, (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587. Contact Lisa Marchal with questions.
July 21–24: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC