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Position Description
Operations Manager, New Haven Land Trust
Our Mission
The New Haven Land Trust promotes the appreciation and preservation of natural resources in New Haven for the benefit and education of the community. We do this through land conservation, community gardening, and environmental education.
Our Culture
The Land Trust is a rapidly growing non-profit with a strong, community-focused mission. We harness the strengths of community members, volunteers, employees and our other organizational partnerships in a positive, yet dedicated way. The Land Trust’s approach is one of “can do”, where staff and volunteers are encouraged to be persistent, think outside of the box to confront challenges, and take ownership over the organization’s ongoing projects and mission. If you are someone who doesn’t give up after hearing “no”, who puts all your energy and passion into the projects you implement, and who enjoys working collaboratively with a diverse group of individuals, then you will fit in at the Land Trust.
Position
The New Haven Land Trust seeks an Operations Manager with strong organizational skills and a passion for community and environment, who can both manage the administrative tasks of the organization and play a supporting role to the many ongoing projects and strategic initiatives that the Land Trust is implementing.
Work Commitment
The Operations Manager will work 40 hours per week and will report directly to the Executive Director.
Compensation
$40,000/year with benefits.
Primary responsibilities of the Operations Manager will be:
Bookkeeping: This includes recording financial transactions and reconciling monthly statements, creating financial reports, making bank deposits, and managing accounts receivable and payable.
Office systems: Develop, strengthen and maintain office systems that ensure that key information is effectively recorded, filed and organized, office communication systems are in place, and a sufficient inventory of supplies is on hand.
Database management: Manage the Land Trust’s donor, volunteer and contact lists.
Outreach and communications: Assist with design of the Land Trust’s communication strategy. Keep the Land Trust’s social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, website and email – active and alive with current information and notices. Assist with design of brochures and outreach material.
Events planning: Spearhead the planning and execution of Land Trust meetings and fundraisers such as our Annual Meeting and Fall Fundraiser.
Ensure the smooth running of office procedures: Triage incoming phone and email communications, order supplies, maintain an effective filing system.
Grant writing: Draft, compile and process grant applications for ongoing and future Land Trust programs.
Liaison and Representative: Assist with coordination, attend and in some cases lead various stakeholder meetings including both internal and external meetings.
Responsibilities will vary with specific tasks assigned as needed and to address the changing needs of the organization.
Ideal Skills and Qualities
The Operations Manager must demonstrate the following skills, experience, and expertise:
Strong organizational and financial skills
Candidates must be highly reliable with a keen sense of responsibility. They must bring a can-do attitude to their work, with a creative approach to solving problems. This includes an ability to multi-task while maintaining strict attention to detail and work well under pressure. Candidates must also have experience in keeping financial records and maintaining a tight financial management system.
Excellent project management skills
Proven track record in setting project objectives and timelines, managing tasks against a project plan, and providing insightful evaluation following completion. Ability to manage multiple project components and make adjustments in response to changing conditions.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills
This includes oral and writing skills and an ability to relate to and communicate effectively with people of diverse backgrounds and styles. Experience running meetings, giving presentations, developing and executing marketing and communications strategies are all highly desired. Ability in Spanish language is a plus.
Experience in managing office systems.
Including ease with managing documents in Google Docs and Dropbox; facility with Adobe, and Microsoft Office Suite. Expertise in managing database systems, and in promoting through social media platforms is also required. Bookkeeping software experience is also highly desired.
New Haven Knowledge
Knowledge of New Haven’s diverse neighborhoods and in particular New Haven’s food system and environmental arena is highly desired.
Passion for environmental and food system issues is required.
Please send cover letter and resume by August 7, 2015 to justin.elicker@newhavenlandtrust.org. Please include “Operations Manager” in the subject line.
New Haven Land Trust is an "equal opportunity employer." New Haven Land Trust will not discriminate in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
Values matter and should drive the policies and practices of a nonprofit.
In the so-called City of Brotherly Love the so-called Sisters of Mercy (yes, irony on both counts) fired a teacher because she is married (a value the Roman Catholic Church does embrace) but, wait for it, to another woman.
According to the core values of Roman Catholicism, relationships including marriage between two people of the same sex is not permissible. So, when the Sisters of Mercy (again, irony) learned from ever-so-faithful parents (remember the "casting the first stone") that one of their female school teachers was indeed married to another woman, according to their core values, they were compelled to remove that teacher from the school. The article below speaks primarily to the head of the church's position in support of this action, again as consistent with the Church's core values.
The lesson: right or wrong, nonprofit values matter and acting according to those values is necessary and proper. This story should remind all nonprofit boards of the importance of periodically (at minimum during the 3-5 year strategic planning process) reviewing, updating, and, reconciling their values in recognition that these fundamental statements of belief will indeed guide all policies and practices of their institution.
Kudos to the Sisters for being clear about and standing by their values! At the same time I am led to wonder whether the Sisters and their Church aren't a bit confused about how to reconcile this value with at least two of their other stated core values: mercy and love.
Chaput: Waldron right to fire gay teacher
KATHY BOCCELLA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, July 14, 2015, 1:07 AM
POSTED: Monday, July 13, 2015, 3:25 PM
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said Monday that the Mercy Sisters who run Waldron Mercy Academy showed "character and common sense" in firing a lesbian teacher who has been married since 2007.
In his first direct comment since the firing became public last week - after parents of two students found out about the marriage and complained - Chaput said in a statement, "Schools describing themselves as Catholic take on the responsibility of teaching and witnessing the Catholic faith in a manner true to Catholic belief.
"There's nothing complicated or controversial in this. It's a simple matter of honesty.
"I'm very grateful to the Religious Sisters of Mercy and to the principal and board members of Waldron Mercy for taking the steps to ensure that the Catholic faith is presented in a way fully in accord with the teaching of the church. They've shown character and common sense at a moment when both seem to be uncommon."
MORE COVERAGE
Editorial: School that fired gay teacher gets public money
Support grows for fired gay teacher
Firing of lesbian roils Catholic school
The archdiocese, through its spokesman, has insisted it had nothing to do with the dismissal of Margie Winters, the director of religious studies. She was fired June 22 after refusing to resign. She has maintained that school administrators had known of the marriage and had told her she could be open with faculty but to keep the information from parents.
After the complaints were lodged, Nell Stetser, the school principal, told parents in an e-mail that in order to continue as a Catholic school, Waldron had to comply with Catholic teachings and the authority of the archdiocese.
In a letter to parents Monday, the Sisters of Mercy Mid-Atlantic Community Leadership Team said that it upheld the decision and that if Stetser had not fired Winters, "our Leadership Team would have had to do so."
Some Waldron staff and some nuns are supporting Winters vigorously.
And a group of parents and others supporting Winters, calling themselves Stand With Margie, said in response to Chaput's statement, "Margie Winters' ministry ... was faithful to the teachings of the church. ... Margie was terminated from her position simply because she is married to her wife, Andrea Vettori. Stand With Margie is a community that believes this is fundamentally wrong and that together we should discuss how to be more inclusive in life and in our church."
As the same-sex marriage movement has rippled across the United States, same-sex married couples who work at Catholic institutions are finding it difficult to keep their jobs, according to Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, an organization for LGBT Catholics. She said she knew of more than three dozen cases of teachers in same-sex marriages being fired from Catholic schools.
"It's been absolutely horrendous," she said. "It's only going to get worse."
The U.S. Supreme Court last month declared same-sex marriages constitutional. Religious liberty has been a major priority for U.S. bishops, who contend the ruling has made it difficult for Catholics to practice their faith.
Whether the religious-liberty principle applies to faith-based institutions that accept public money is under debate. Waldron Mercy, a 92-year-old private coed school with 532 students, has received more than $270,000 in state tax credits in the last two years, and more than 70 students have received financial aid since 2005 under a program called the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, according to the school's website.
"Legally, there's no problem with Catholic schools firing same-sex people," Duddy-Burke said, since they are private faith-based organizations. "Morally, it doesn't equate with what Catholics expect from their institutions."
More than 100 people, including some Waldron staff and nuns, attended a prayer vigil in Narberth on Sunday night to support Winters, who was hired eight years ago.
Stand With Margie's Facebook page has more than 9,000 likes and many wrote to condemn Chaput's statement.
"I just called and left him a message telling him how cowardly and disgusting this statement is," wrote Natalie Bucciarelli Pedersen. "I encourage others to do the same."
"The urge to beat him with a bible is rising," wrote Matt Ryan.
"This man is misguided. ... It's 2015 for the love of God!!!!" Mary Rowely Meixell wrote.
A GoFundMe account set up by parents and students has raised nearly $14,000 for Winter and Vettori.
In 2013, French and Spanish teacher Michael Griffin was fired from Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem after filing for a marriage license in New Jersey, where he and his partner lived.
Griffin said he had brought his partner to many school functions, they both wore rings, and an administrator had attended a ceremony for their civil union in 2008.
Duddy-Burke said she hears privately from school administrators who do not want to follow orders to fire staff. Stetser, for her part, wrote, "In the Mercy spirit, many of us accept life choices that contradict current church teachings."
But with Pope Francis visiting in September during the World Meeting of Families, "Philadelphia is under a lot of scrutiny," Duddy-Burke said. "It's sort of Catholic central for the U.S. right now."
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150714_Chaput__Waldron_right_to_fire_gay_teacher.html#Hiju8rUrdV1pgk48.99
City Atlas: New Haven is compiling a comprehensive list of nonprofits in the New Haven area with the hopes of facilitating easy collaboration & increasing public awareness and involvement.
If you'd like to be included, fill out THIS FORM!
google form link | facebook post
#nhv #gscia
@cityatlasnhv
Planning to engage your community online requires a disciplined thought process just like any other form of strategic planning. The more time and considered planning you give to the process, the more likely you are to run an effective and meaningful online engagement... continue reading:
In case helpful, there's a site call techsoup.org that I'm told offers deep discounting on software for non-profits. I am not affiliated in anyway; just like to pass along useful information if it can help your organization. Enjoy your day!
About City Atlas: New Haven
City Atlas is a new project about the future of New Haven. We feature and promote the
sustainability goals of New Haven and Yale, and help connect members of the Yale community
to the city's new initiatives and civic organizations. We aim to strengthen the ties between social
justice, sustainability, and community building.
City Atlas: New Haven is modeled on City Atlas: New York (newyork.thecityatlas.org). City Atlas:
New Haven is the beginning of a network of sites in partnership with universities, drawing on
talented young people to create a new, locally relevant platform for a public conversation about
the future. (A project is beginning in China as well, at beijing.thecityatlas.org).
What we’re looking for:
You, Your ideas, and Your Creativity!
Do you want to get involved? Hone those communication, photography, or other skills? Are you
interested in sustainability, improving your city, or getting something cool in New Haven on the
radar? City Atlas: New Haven wants to help you do it!
We are looking for content that is local and relevant to New Haven. Therefore, we want to
invite submissions from all areas and perspectives across the city of New Haven who have
different stories to tell or “insider knowledge.” What’s your story? What do you love about New
Haven? What’s your vision for the future of New Haven?
If you are interested in producing content for City Atlas, we would like to know you can think
creatively and critically. Here’s the challenge:
- Pick an issue that you care about and that you think is relevant to New Haven.
- Come up with a brief pitch (a few paragraphs at most) that details
- What the issue is
- The population it affects
- Why it's important
- What future solutions might be out there
- What medium you might use to present all of this information.
**You can look to pieces on City Atlas: New York (http://newyork.thecityatlas.org/index/) for
guidance.
How To Submit:
Interested applicants should send a pitch of their idea and/or a brief sample of the medium they
are interested in producing via email to liana.epstein@thecityatlas.org with “City Atlas: New
Haven Content Submission” in the subject line. Please address the questions listed above and
tell us what your story can bring to the project, and why it should be told!
Have questions? Want to learn more?
Contact Liana Epstein at liana.epstein@thecityatlas.org
Details for submitting ideas here: City Atlas: New Haven | Content Submission
***Link here: http://bit.ly/1KboYp2
The following Comstock Magazine article offers prescriptive (not necessarily research based) advice to nonprofit boards on how to be functional. Again with this presumption that nonprofit boards are predominantly dysfunctional! Now I'm not denying that there are indeed dysfunctional nonprofit boards (this is pretty much my stock and trade as a governance consultant) but nonprofit boards by-and-large function, they just do not always function efficiently and effectively.
My first wish, lets not focus on dysfunction but efficiency and effectiveness. Nonprofit board work should focus on results, not conditions. Maybe this is semantics for some but the difference to me is about what I truly care about - supporting nonprofit boards so they can achieve mission.
But back to the article. In my experience, board members are frequently highly engaged individuals. Depending on the board's stage of development, engagement ranges from making it to all the scheduled board and committee meetings to actively volunteering (especially for boards in their infancy and adolescent stages) and passionate people. Do boards engage in doing the work of governing? Perhaps less so. Are they engaged? Yes. So, are is all the advice given in the following article correct? Maybe. I for one do indeed agree that all great boards begin, not solely, with great chairs. But they equally begin with selecting the right people for the job. Composition matters. And yes, term limits matter when enforced but the question is to whom do they matter and for what outcome.
Well readers, please take a look at the following and be sure to consider that the question is: do the following "tips" increase my board's effectiveness and efficiency? And remember, the conversation is one for all to have, not just one.
Let’s Get Functional
3 tips for better board performance
BACKARTICLEJUN 18, 2015By Kim Tucker
Our region’s nonprofits save lives everyday. Many of them do so despite answering to dysfunctional boards. From all-volunteer, grassroots organizations to multi-million-dollar, statewide agencies, we’ve heard the stories of boards that lack leadership, management, strategy and vision.
Most board members join an organization for the right reasons, but many fail to make a meaningful impact. Meanwhile, executive directors complain their board lacks engagement and makes unreasonable demands. Obviously, a disconnect exists, but this scenario has a solution and can be fixed. Here’s how:
First, recognize that highly functioning boards share these attributes:
An engaged board chair — someone not over-committed, who is available, responsive and supportive of the executive director
A culture of accountability among board members
Board term limits that are followed and celebrated
Objectives that are accomplished between board meetings
Structured meetings with the advance distribution of consent calendar and meeting materials
Exceptional board management requires strong leadership. The board chair should pay attention to and make great use of individual board members’ talents and interests. A strong board chair should also establish a culture of accountability with personalized job descriptions that leverage members’ spheres of influence. Board leaders should inform members that the expectation is an individual contribution averaging six hours of monthly service outside of board meeting time.
Successful board meetings are dynamic exchanges wherein everyone engages, and discussions are about the strategic and long-term. Does that sound like your last meeting? If not and you’re a board chair, consider how your style might contribute to a lack of engagement. Are you too focused on consensus? Do you steamroll through the agenda, not allowing time for meaningful discussion? Do you let that one annoying board member dominate the discussion? If so, accept responsibility, and take corrective action.
You are responsible for the culture of the board, and you can change it to one of accountability, respect and impact. Transforming a board into an exceptional one, or at least improving its performance, is an exercise the board chair shares with the executive director. Together, consider these upgrades.
Recruit strategically. Give up pursuing for your board the nine players in your area who run big corporations, and focus instead on a diverse group that aligns with your mission. Recruit new board members who are passionate about the organization and have a firm grasp on whom or what it serves and how it goes about achieving its mission.
Train your new folks well. Once you identify a new board member and they willingly accept, remember that it’s not the qualified who are called, its the called who get qualified. Provide great mission-centric exposure and information, and make sure the board has an orientation protocol that offers periodic training on a variety of subjects. The protocol will get your new members up and running and will establish a pipeline for new board members.
Training for new board members should include an introduction to a strong committee structure where newbies can visualize a good fit for their skills. Start by combining all internal, external and governance-related functions into three committees, with every member assigned to just one committee. Getting work done at the committee level and between meetings allows time for big-picture discussions at the board meetings.
Whether a board member is new or has been around a while, institute an individual board development plan for each person. Toss out the old job description that gently suggests 75 percent attendance at meetings, and instead convey higher expectations. Create a fill-in-the-blank template that generates ideas of how each individual can make a difference for the organization. You’ll be amazed how ho-hum can morph to wow when board members are empowered with information and direction.
Commit to individualized attention. Part of the job of board chair is to conduct meaningful, strategic planning and board evaluations annually. Meet one-on-one with each member of your board at least once a year. The outcomes will be valuable when considering whom to groom as a potential leader.
If you are an executive director, get to know these board members. Conduct your own one-on-one interviews, especially with new board members, and do it well within the first 90 days of their term. It will be very helpful to you to know how each board member can support the mission, i.e. support you. A great board will have your back if relationships are formed early, expectations are clear and courtesy and respect are mutual.
If you serve on a nonprofit board and feel out of the loop or think you don’t matter, think again. Consider the above-mentioned upgrades — and speak up!
Don’t forget, you are on a board because you bring skills to the table. Your nonprofit’s impact depends on the engagement of all board members. If strategic, mission-centric board pursuits aren’t happening, take it upon yourself to lead change.
Part-time Positions Available at New Haven Reads. We have two part-time positions now available at New Haven Reads: an Assistant Site Director at our Dixwell Site and a Book Bank Assistant. To learn more about these positions, please check our our website: http://newhavenreads.org/home/get-involved/careers/. Any questions? Email Kirsten at kirsten@newhavenreads.org!
New Haven Bike Month was a celebration of biking culture this past May 2015 in collaboration with Elm City Cycling, the New Haven Department of Transportation, the New Haven Parks Department, and many other community members. It included over 160+ events, including over 50 large group rides, 30 bike repair clinics, 5 Open Streets events, and much more.
We had two main goals with New Haven Bike Month:
1. To promote the already tremendous number of biking activities happening in New Haven.
2. And to expand -- by neighborhood, type of rider, etc. -- what it means to be a part of the biking community in this city.
We are very proud of what we were able to accomplish and begin during this past May. Movements, however, are only sustainable with consistent and regular reflection on both the successes and weaknesses. In early June, after sending handfuls of Thank You letters to our partners, the New Haven Bike Month organizers, volunteers, and participants met up for an After-Potluck/Debrief to discuss what worked, what didn't works, future goals, and next steps. In addition, a survey was sent around to folks who were unable to attend the debriefing session.
Here is a link to the summarized debrief notes.
Have feedback as well? We would be thrilled to listen, whether you heard of Bike Month of not, whether you participated in Bike Month or not, your thoughts are extremely valuable. Here is a link to survey.
For more information on New Haven Bike Month, here is the link to our website.
Want to get involved further? Want to meet up with the organizers to discuss all things biking in New Haven? Email caroline.tanbee.smith@gmail.com.
Intern with City Atlas: New Haven!
City Atlas: New Haven (modeled on an existing project in NYC), will be a hub for sustainable initiatives in New Haven, and a way to link up a conversation about the future with other cities around the world. We're seeking summer interns for the 2015 season. If you're interested in contributing ideas to improve New Haven we'd love to have you join our team!
Get in touch if you're interested, and please circulate this opportunity to your friends, classmates, students from other New Haven schools, colleagues, and anyone else whom you think would be interested in working on our team this summer.
See attached PDF (below) for internship details and feel free to contact Liana Epstein, lead developer, at liana.epstein@artistascitizen.org with questions! Thanks!
City Atlas Summer Internship Description
*Follow this link if you have difficulty downloading the attachment
About City Atlas: New Haven
City Atlas is a new project about the future of New Haven. We feature and promote the sustainability goals of New Haven and Yale, and help connect members of the Yale community to the city's new initiatives and civic organizations. We aim to strengthen the ties between social justice, sustainability, and community building.
City Atlas: New Haven is modeled on City Atlas: New York. City Atlas: New Haven is the beginning of a network of sites in partnership with universities, drawing on talented young people to create a new, locally relevant platform for a public conversation about the future. (A project is beginning in China as well, at beijing.thecityatlas.org).
Check out City Atlas: New Haven!
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Ok. The folks who have modified but effectively stood-by their anti-gay position that gay scouts cannot join the ranks of scout leaders have made another value statement: The Boy Scouts of America has banned water-gun fights saying that it's not kind" for scouts to shoot each other with "simulated firearms." The organization's new National Shooting Manual also forbids the use of potato guns and marshmallow shooters.
I'm not quite clear what impact this edict will have on the Scout's CBP Explorer Program (which I once read includes weapons training) but the idea that water-gun fights are not "kind" and the recently reversed modification of the Scouts anti-gay position aren't easily reconcilable for me. A simple conflict in values is what I call it.
Nonprofit values statements are the parameter-setting commitments developed to guide the board, staff, volunteers and "customers" in both the way they do business and expectations. So, when values compete, what should anyone expect?
Three-cheers to the Scouts for considering the value of "kindness". Three more cheers for the Scouts when they get all their values to be consistent.
Common Ground is seeking a new, half-time staff member who can work with teachers to strengthen our curriculum and classroom teaching — ensuring it is driven by standards, rooted in our local community and unique site, culturally relevant and inclusive, and pushing students towards both environmental leadership and college success.
Our ideal candidate has classroom teaching experience, deep roots in New Haven, and a commitment to sustainability and social justice.
Read a full job posting on our web site: http://commongroundct.org/2015/06/common-ground-seeks-half-time-curriculum-developer-environmental-resource-teacher/
The Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) is pleased to announce the results of the inaugural round of grants under its Matching Funds Program. Of the many qualified proposals, the CIRCA Executive Steering Committee selected four outstanding projects to receive matching funds. Collectively these projects will work to advance the mission of the Institute, increasing resiliency in Connecticut towns and cities to the threats of climate change. In total, CIRCA will provide nearly $100,000 in matching funds to support these diverse and important projects:
The Kent Land Trust: Creation of a Strategic Workplan to Identify Parcels Enhancing Climate Resilience
Lower Connecticut River Valley Regional Council of Governments: Regional Long Term Recovery-Land Use Resiliency Plan
Wei Zhang and Research Team from the University of Connecticut: Resilient Coastal Communities under Wind and Flood Hazards
Stephen Swallow and Research Team from the University of Connecticut: Public Support for Adaptation to Sea Level Rise
Please see the CIRCA webpage for funding opportunities through the Institute's Matching Funds Program. Our second round of grants available under the Matching Funds program is currently available!
CIRCA will consider requests from Connecticut municipalities, institutions, universities, foundations, and other non-governmental organizations. To be funded, a successful Matching Funds request must have a commitment of primary funding within 6 months of the CIRCA award announcement, or have received a waiver from the CIRCA Executive Steering Committee. CIRCA Matching Funds will provide up to 25% of the primary funder's contribution other than a municipal or State of Connecticut funds to enhance the likely success of project proposals that advance CIRCA research and implementation priorities. Requests are due to CIRCA by July 15, 2015.
From entrepreneurs in their 20s to established real estate developers, the diversity of people who joined the first few gatherings on neighbourhood economics in Cincinnati had an initiator of the effort, Peter Block, happily stunned.
“The most excited people in some cases were the people who came in with the most responsibility — and they got it,” Peter says.
Christine Egger, who is supporting the gatherings in Cincinnati, says of all the communities she and her colleagues have been invited to learn with, Cincinnati is hosting the “most robust, diverse, inclusive” conversation on neighbourhood economics.
“Oftentimes we’re convincing people that they have the resources they need to create the communities they want to live in,” says Christine. “But in Cincinnati there was no need of that. There is already a very broad conversation that’s incredibly respectful of what each person in the room has to bring.”
People seem energized by the possibilities of something other than more human services in responding to problems in the city.
the rest of the article...
Saturday morning, 8am: Gateway Community College is a hive of activity. Approximately 200 family child care providers weave through the large, light-filled building, adjusting translation equipment, deciphering their workshop assignments, and greeting each other enthusiastically. Some began their days hours earlier when they boarded New Haven-bound busses in Bridgeport and Stamford. All are here to learn, connect, and explore at All Our Kin’s 2015 Family Child Care Conference.
Missed All Our Kin's 10th Annual Family Child Care Conference on May 2? Then check out our latest blog post here to read about conference highlights!
Storytelling Delegation to Leόn, Nicaragua - July 26 – Aug 2 2015
The New Haven/Leόn Sister City Project invites you to join a family oriented delegation (families with kids middle school age or older are welcome to join the group) to Leόn, Nicaragua this summer 2015. The trip is to experience the cultural and economic realities of the current Nicaraguan community through sharing stories and experiences between the generations and with members of the rural Nicaraguan community of Goyena.
Delegates will:
- Participate in a community project and share in the learning process.
- Use storytelling activities to deepen understanding and create our own stories to take home.
- Get to know life in Nicaragua through homestays and daily participation in the rural Goyena community.
- Tour Leon historical and cultural highlights while learning about current economic, cultural, and political realities in Nicaragua
- Explore natural beauty of Nicaragua via excursions to nearby cultural, historic and environmental locations.
- Stay with host families in Leon.
The cost of trips is $1200 per person or $2000 for a parent and child together. (Price includes housing, food, transportation, translation, all workshops and site visits). Partial scholarships are available.
Apply ASAP to: Susan Bramhall at sbramhall@newhavenleon.org
or : Chris Schweitzer at nh@newhavenleon.org
For more information about New Haven Leon SCP and other delegations go to www.newhavenleon.org or write to Chris at nh@newhavenleon.org or call 203.562.1607http://www.newhavenleon.org/homehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL50E5z8VVk
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven is pleased to announce two special grant opportunities for organizations working with immigrants or formerly incarcerated individuals and their families. Organizations providing services or programs that provide direct service, advocacy, collaborative efforts, capacity building, public education and leadership development in alignment with the goals of The Foundation’s immigrant integration or incarceration and reentry strategies are encouraged to apply online through the request for proposal process at www.cfgnh.org/grants; deadline to apply is June 8, 2015.
“The Community Foundation has a long history of supporting immigration integration and reentry work in New Haven. After hearing from community leaders working in these two areas, The Community Foundation decided to set aside special grant funds in 2015 of up to $250,000 to increase and enhance our long-term investment,” says Christina Ciociola, senior vice president for grantmaking and strategy. “Both strategies involve providing a more welcoming community to often marginalized groups in our community.”
Learn more about The Community Foundation's goals for its immigrant integration strategy and reentry strategy and how your nonprofit may benefit from these new grant opportunities.
For 20 years that we've been traipsing through the national parks, I looked forward to the day when we'd encounter black and brown Americans in such numbers among the visitors that their presence on the trail in Grand Canyon would be unremarkable. Their faces would be radiant with joy as we met among the giant sequoias in Giant Grove, Sequoia National Park. They'd move easily among the other guests at Yellowstone Lodge after a day watching bison and grizzlies in the park. I'd run into them at meetings in Washington DC to determine the future of Rock Creek National Park, and they'd be eager contributors to the cause of preservation with their dollars and their political clout...
