October 10, 2001
Dear Companero,
You are invited to a meeting of the Northern California Chapter (NorCal) on Thursday, November 8th, to be held at the Creeekside Room, Creekside Center, 7 Mt. Lassen Drive, San Rafael. We will have coffee and tea available at 6:30 pm. and the meeting will from 7:00-9:00 pm. (see separate agenda and directions).
This is a pivotal year for Partners of the Americas. A new President, new funding and an invigorated Board of Directors augur well for the long-term health of the hemispheric organization. The Northern California Chapter needs to respond to these changes and reinvent itself to meet the opportunities and challenges ahead. We call on all individuals and organizations that have been participated in Partners programs and those new to Partners to come and get involved.
The Chapter has been pursuing a strategy over the past several years to foster interaction between Northern California non-profits serving Latino communities and non-governmental organizations in Mexico with counterpart missions. These efforts have included connecting leaders of organizations, gathering and posting information on www.companeros.net and conducting professional training sessions in Mexico.
A key goal of this strategy has been to evolve away from a membership based nonprofit organization with a Board of Directors, a newsletter, projects and social events. The plan is to become more of an umbrella organization serving as a connection and resource to the myriad of nonprofit organizations in both Northern California and Central Mexico that are effectively conducting social and economic development programs.
Having experienced the interest and confirmed the need for this approach (consistent with the overall vision and mission of Partners see www.partners.net/know_us/mission.htm ) we now feel this strategy should be employed on a U.S./Mexico regional basis to be fully effective. A regional approach will require better management, more resources and a more professional effort. Fortunately, there are now some prospects for these requirements.
Important Developments
Rudolfo Carvajal is an ideal leader to advocate and develop a U.S./Mexico Regional program. Having served as a Chapter President (Puebla), a Fellow in International Development (VII, 1992-94) and now as the Board Representative for Mexico, Rudolfo understands how Partners works. He is establishing a US/Mexico Task Force (Board Meeting 7/01) to help reactivate Mexico Chapters and strengthen all U.S/Mexico Partnerships. The Task Force will explore ways all of the Chapters in the region can collaborate, coordinate and consolidate activities. This is long overdue and is crucial to our Chapter.
For the past decade Partners has recognized the critical need to strengthen the U.S./Mexico regional programs as accelerating economic, social and political developments (NAFTA, immigration, drugs and electoral reform) have all emphasized the importance of the U. S. Mexico relationship. For a detailed history of Partners meetings and activities in this regard see www.companeros.net/background.htm .
In 1999 Norman Brown (the then new President of Partners) proposed a two-year regional initiative. The International Convention in Mexico City further focused attention on this need, but financial and organizational problems delayed progress. Despite this, the new President, Malcolm Butler (See http://www.partners.net/news/press_releases/2001_01_butler.htm ) whom assumed his office in January is equally cognizant of the need and opportunity of such an initiative.
The Partners website (see www.partners.net ) has been upgraded and is attracting a lot more use both by active volunteers and interested parties who are then directed to the Chapters. The Nor Cal Chapter website (www.forestdata.com/sfpartners.htm) has replaced the newsletter and serves as a link to Partners contacts, resources and programs as well as other networks and organizations.
The Mexico City Chapter has been actively developing their own training program and serving as a resource for NGOs in the Mexico City and outlying areas. The Chapter has expanded to include the Estado de Mexico and the Estado de Morellos. The Chapter has been offered office space in the Ben Franklin Library and a Video conferencing capability is being developed.
The Northern California Chapter continues to attract interest on the part of leaders of the civil sector. The need to serve Latino communities in general and Mexican American communities in particular remains an important motivation for culturally informing local programs with international expertise (Mexican).
New Programs and Possibilities
A variety of programs have been developed by Partners staff relating to women, youth and families, ranging from health resources to leadership development. Many are available for the U. S./Mexico region. For example, Partner’s has just announced a $600,000 two-year Initiative to Protect Women’s Legal Rights for Mexico, Columbia and the Dominican Republic (see www.partners.net ).
The Inter American Democracy Network (IADN) has established a growing network of lead NGOs that are cross training and capacity building throughout Latin America. Partners is a founding organization of IADN and actively engaged in its programs, currently coordinating the "Participation and Democracy" program with the Esquel Foundation. Other recent activities include participation in teleconferences of the Civil Society Task Force in conjunction with the Third Summit of the Americas in April and to augment the Summit Accords in July (see www.redinter.org).
The Mexico Youth Conservation Corps, initiated by Partners in 1989, has establish a national association of youth conservation corps (see http://dyred.sureste.com/cuerposdeconservacion). In conjunction with the new Global Gardening and the Farmer to Farmer programs there many opportunities for natural resource programs (see http://www.partners.net/what_we_do/agriculture_and_environment/index.htm).
Increasing funding is available for fostering linkages between academic institutions that could support the operations of our Partnership. For example, USF and ANUAC are two private Jesuit universities that have sophisticated programs on the civil sector of their respective societies. The University of California and UNAM are large institutions with many pertinent programs. Other organizational models such as BAIDO (see www.baido.org ) would enable NorCal to carry out its mission as an umbrella for communication, collaboration and community while foregoing the costs or maintaining an independent organization.
As always there are exciting possibilities for our Partnership. We call upon all past and present participants in the Partnership to come forward and engage in the restructuring of our Chapter and its programs. The meeting will serve to reaffirm the importance of the civil sector in light of the growing conflict that our government has embarked on.
The Mexico City Chapter is meeting on October 22-23 with representation from the Estado de Mexico and Estado de Morelos. The results of that meeting coupled with resolutions from the Northern California Chapter’s meeting will set the direction and goals for the Partnership for the next several years.
We hope to see you there. Please call us with
any comments or questions. Agenda additions are always welcome, time permitting.
Hasta luego!
Mark Switzer Tom Gaman
Acting President Secretary
Telephone: (415) 479-2790 Telephone: (415) 669-7267
Email: markswitzer@hotmail.com
Email: tgaman@forestdata.com
Chapter Meeting - Thursday, November 8, 2001 – 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Agenda:
6:30 p.m. Coffee, tea and introductions
7:00 p.m. Orientation and Briefing
Agenda Review/Additions
Presentation of three organizational alternatives:
8:30 p.m. Break
8:40 p.m. Vote on Organizational Form
8:55 p.m. New business, next meeting
9:00 p.m. Adjourn
Directions: The meeting will be held at the Creekside Room adjacent to Building C at the Creekside Center, 7 Mt. Lassen Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. Telephone is (415) 479-2790. From San Francisco, the Peninsula and South Bay, take 101 North over the Golden Gate Bridge and past Central San Rafael and the Marin Civic Center to the Smith Ranch Road/Lucas Valley Road Exit. Go west on Lucas Valley Road approximately 2 miles to Mt. Lassen Drive. Turn right and immediately left into the driveway of the Creekside Center just beyond the driveway to Big Rock Mini-mart. Park in the lot immediately to your right and walk to the right of Building D to the small, detached conference room between the creek and Building C. Coming from the East Bay take the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge and follow the same directions. Coming from the North Bay take 101 South past Novato and the Marinwood Exit to the Smith Ranch Road/Lucas Valley Road exit and follow the same directions going west on Lucas Valley Road.
For more information call:
Mark Switzer, President, at 415-479-2790-Site, 707-829-3015-Home