| Partners for Prosperity 2011 in Review |
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2011 was a time of development and Change for Partners and we are happy that many of you have Joined us and each other in our adventure.
Our primary goal was to continue building on past successes of projects that we have worked on over the past 9 years, learning from our successes as well as our errors, building on successes, and gathering momentum. We went forward with the intention of developing more Partnerships, and to help more individuals and groups develop their capacity by providing an infrastructure for Community Building projects. We put together a more robust Project Proposal platform, devised a better way of tracking projects, and developed a better approach to project accounting. While we are still in the early stages and continuously learning from our new approach, we have managed to facilitate a few new projects and we have been joined in our journey by many new Partners. Suffice it to say that most Partner Projects are actually your projects and we can’t take credit for your efforts. But we would like others to take a look at what you’re working on. Here is a partial list of Projects that Partners have initiated on the Web-site. Click here to see the list…
Part of the effort to invite more Partners to participate in the Community Building process, was to create a new web-site that would reflect what we are doing. So the first thing you will notice on the web-site is the map of Partners on the Home Page. We’re still working on the system to make it easier for you to find Partners with similar skills, experiences and interests, in your own area of the world, but we’ve at least incorporated a visual map so you can begin to find other Partners in your area. We’ve introduced other tools as well, like a chat box, a message system, group messaging, the project system and a discussion forum as well as other tools for measuring progress and communicating with other Partners. We are testing a system which allows all Partners to have their own Blog (you can check it out now) and you can post your own updates.
In 2011, we had a significant increase in the number of Partners (36 in all), especially NGOs from Africa and Asia, as well as an increase in the number of news-letter readers (about 75) and more people joined us on our Facebook group. But we look forward to having you invite your friends, your colleagues and family to create their own Partner Profiles and Projects. We hope that there will be more friends who are willing to become experts in the Partners Community Building Process that will help us develop our respective communities and who are willing to share their skills with other Partners.
2011 was a year of change at Partners.
First, I came on board when Barb Kruger left Partners for health reasons. Although Barb stepped down from her full time role, she has continued to support me as a volunteer throughout this year of transition and I would like to thank her for her continued dedication to Partners.
In addition our excellent book-keeper and accountant Michael Van Kesteren has created a solid system for our project accounts that will allow us to build momentum in 2012 and subsequent years. The other staff members at MGV Inc, (Lyn and David) to name a few also helped in supporting Partners. We thank them all.
I would also like make special of mention Karen Gould, a very dedicated volunteer who joined Partners in 2011 with her primary goal to support her project in Barton Hill, Jamaica where she has family ties, but who has helped very much in the development of our new web-site by providing feedback and suggestions. She has also helped us by developing her knowledge of the Partner process and has continuously recruited other Partners to her project efforts and to others.
For me, personally, it has also been a year of change, starting in Feb with Partners, my MA in Human Security and Peacebuilding in May, and making an almost seemless move back to Ontario. Most of you probably didn’t notice, except there has been a delay since last news-letter. We are now a truly virtual organization with Partners everywhere.
And not to be forgotten, our Board of Directors, Mark Granfar, Gifty Serbeh-Dunn, Barb Imlach and Adrienne Carter (who has been travelling in Africa most of the year) and Sally Walker who has now left Partners due to her recent marriage and move away from the Cowichan Valley.
Most important are the many Partners who are doing their part making the world a better place, we thank you all for your participation and sharing with us, your comments, your input, your suggestions and your hard work in your own initiatives. We have a number of goals this year.
As a personal initiative and part of my Masters program, I will be travelling in Africa (mostly Uganda) for 6 months conducting a research initiative on Partnerships related to the NGO sector. My goal is to learn more about development effectiveness and how Partnerships between organizations can help in that process.
Even while I'm away, I hope to meet with many organizations and keep in touch with you all on a periodic basis. So keep sending us your updates and information.
I hope to publish my results here on the Partners web-site sometime late 2012.
Best wishes for all in 2012, Garth Schmalenberg |
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