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With the goal of helping under-served communities in India, Nepal, and Tibet receive the vital services they need, Karuna-Shechen was founded in 2000 by Matthieu Ricard (www.matthieuricard.org), renown TED speaker, author, and humanitarian. We strive to reduce inequalities and work toward a fairer and more compassionate world. We trust that communities can be lifted out of poverty, that change is possible, and that the well-being of every individual, regardless of race, gender, class, or caste, is essential. We believe that building on local strengths and knowledge is the most efficient way to respond to the specific needs and aspirations of our beneficiaries. Rooted in the ideal of "compassion in action", we serve others with joy and determination by cultivating altruism in our hearts and actions. We provide vulnerable and disadvantaged populations access to health care, education and vocational training, clean water, solar electricity, and other sustainable solutions that offer options to find a livelihood and a better life. We work with a grassroots network of local partners, and give special attention to the education and empowerment of girls and women. Karuna-Shechen's name expresses its mission while paying homage to its roots: Karuna means "compassion" in Sanskrit, and Shechen is the name of a major monastery in Tibet.

The Advocacy Project - A Voice for the Voiceless The Advocacy Project (AP) helps marginalized communities around the world take action against the root causes of their disempowerment in a way that benefits society as a whole and produces social change. To do this, we partner with community-based advocates who represent these communities and share their problems. Our support for partners is innovative and effective. First, we deploy Peace Fellows (experienced graduate students) to help partners tell their story, launch campaigns, and strengthen their organization: we have deployed 274 Peace Fellows since 2003, and in the process given our Fellows a unique experience. Second, we help partners to raise funds and manage their campaigns: we have raised over $2.5 million for partners, and are currently seeking funds through Global Giving for exciting projects in Nepal, Vietnam and Uganda. Third, we promote the work of partners internationally, using new methods of story-telling such as advocacy quilting: over 300 women have produced embroidered panels for our quilts, which have been shown throughout North America and Europe. AP is a 501(c)3 organization, based in Washington DC. Visit us at www.advocacynet.org

Mission: "Girl Scouts build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place." The Value proposition is that Girl Scouts is where girls find their voices and make them matter. The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland has served the Metropolitan area since 1962. In the ensuing five decades, the neighborhoods and communities of Baltimore City and certain surrounding counties have changed. The GSCM has endeavored to change to be responsive to these changing demographics and keep current with the needs of girls in Central Maryland. GSCM conducted extensive research into the needs of girls and young women who live in Baltimore City. The families in these areas are typically single-parent families with income levels near the poverty line. Many parents work more than one job to make ends meet. And then there is the special group of girls, often forgotten, who are separated from their mother for reasons over which they had no control. Delivering the extra-curricular activities that are necessary for girls to achieve later in life is a founding principle and goal of Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. This includes learning the real meaning behind the Girl Scout Law of "I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout. In underserved communities there is a lack of availability of programs, and lack of transportation. GSCM intends to continue to fill this void with its Beyond Bars program and needs your support to assure we can continue to transport girls from their neighborhoods to the facility which houses their mother. Overall, for the entire council, the goals for 2015-2018 were established for a target population of girls in kindergarten through 12th grade, the goals and are: (a) to empower a culturally diverse population of girls through engagement in a Girl Scout leadership pathway; (b) to increase the reach of GSCM's programs and unique experiences by enrolling an increased number of girls, particularly girls from underserved communities, as members of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland; and (c) to recruit, screen and orient new and existing adult volunteers, who are guided and trained to mentor a culturally diverse Girl Scout population.

WE CARE Solar promotes safe motherhood and reduces maternal mortality in developing regions by providing health workers with reliable lighting, mobile communication, and blood bank refrigeration using solar electricity. The Problem Maternal mortality worldwide accounts for more than half a million deaths a year; 99 percent of these occur in underdeveloped countries. For every maternal death, at least 20 women suffer severe complications from childbirth. Major causes of maternal death include obstetric hemorrhage, obstructive labor, eclampsia, and sepsis. These emergencies cannot always be predicted, nor are they always preventable. However, with prompt, appropriate and reliable medical care, they are unlikely to result in loss of life. Sporadic electricity impairs the operation of surgical wards, delivery wards, essential hospital equipment, and hospital communication devices. This compromises the ability of health workers to provide safe, appropriate and timely medical care. Labor and delivery nurses cannot quickly notify on-call physicians of emergencies. Midwives and physicians are forced to make treatment decisions without the benefit of necessary diagnostic tests. Obstetric procedures and emergency surgeries are conducted under grossly suboptimal conditions, and can have tragic consequences. Our Background Co-founder Dr. Laura Stachel went to Northern Nigeria in 2008 to study ways to lower maternal mortality in state hospitals. She witnessed deplorable conditions in state facilities including sporadic electricity that impaired maternity and surgical care. Without a reliable source of electricity, nighttime deliveries were attended in near darkness, cesarean sections were cancelled or conducted by flashlight, and critically ill patients waited hours or days for life-saving procedures. The outcomes were often tragic. Laura wrote to her husband, Hal Aronson, a solar energy educator back in Berkeley, California. Together, Laura and Hal co-founded WE CARE Solar to improve maternal health outcomes in regions without reliable electricity. Hal designed an off-grid solar electric system for the hospital Laura was studying, targeting the maternity ward, labor room, laboratory and operating theatre. A Portable Solution Hal created a suitcase-sized prototype of the hospital solar electric system so Laura could show Nigerian hospital workers the LED lights, headlamps and walkie-talkies planned for deployment. When Laura returned to Nigeria toting the "solar suitcase," her Nigerian colleagues immediately grasped its significance and began using this kit to charge headlamps and walkie-talkies while they awaited the larger solar installation. In addition, hospital employees introduced Laura to clinicians in outlying health facilities who begged her to bring solar lighting to their own clinics, too. Our five-year goal is to serve 5 million mothers in remote areas by deploying 10,000 Solar Suitcases to health care facilities around the globe.

The Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!) was established in 2008 to help rural populations in the developing world prepare for water, food, and fuel shortages resulting from the impact of climate change on their communities. CREATE! operates on the principle that all people have a right to water, food, shelter, energy, and the means to earn a living. We work with village populations to meet these needs through a culturally respectful, participatory process grounded in our belief that people must have a stake in their development and contribute towards solving their own problems. The cooperative groups in our beneficiary villages have already demonstrated the validity of this approach. CREATE! currently operates in Senegal. Senegal is representative of many Sub-Saharan African countries that are hardest hit by the increasingly disastrous effects of global climate change. CREATE! responds to the inter-connected crises generated by climate change with strategies that decrease dependence on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources, and increase the use of appropriate technologies. Our programs produce sustainable, human needs-based development at the village level while forging resilient and vibrant communities across rural Senegal. CREATE! seeks to face these challenges and assist rural Senegalese residents with small-scale, accessible, and "appropriate" technologies - technologies that are adapted to, and fit, their local conditions - and with human needs-based strategies that can both better their lives and build their capacity to meet these inter-connected challenges. CREATE! works in six villages in two regions of Senegal. One region is in the rural north of Senegal, centered around Linguere in the Louga Region, where CREATE! implements programs in the village of Ouarkhokh. The other region is in the central-west of Senegal, centered around Gossas in the Fatick Region. CREATE! implements program activities in five villages in this region. The total beneficiary population of the six villages is approximately 12,000 people, comprised of both agricultural and pastoral peoples. The average per capita annual income of the population in these villages is approximately $350 a year. In each of these villages, CREATE! staff work closely with local and traditional authorities, including village chiefs and imams, in addition to other community leaders, families, and public schools. CREATE! values the expertise and input of community members and strives to incorporate their knowledge and participation into each stage of our programs. As a registered NGO in Senegal, CREATE! works with government officials from the regional office of the Department of Water and Forestry. CREATE! also respects the Senegalese government's strategic development goals for rural communities. Although CREATE!'s administrative office is located in the United States, CREATE! relies on local Senegalese staff and volunteers to plan and implement successful development interventions. Barry Wheeler, CREATE! Founder and Executive Director, has spent the past 27 years working to alleviate suffering and to provide basic human needs for rural villagers, displaced persons, and refugees in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. After serving in the Peace Corps for six years as an Improved Cook Stove and Appropriate Technology volunteer, trainer, and technical advisor in Togo, Barry earned a Master's degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. Barry has served as Country Director for the American Refugee Committee's programs in Uganda, Sudan, and Rwanda; as a consultant for UNICEF and UNHCR; and as a team leader and training coordinator in local capacity building, renewable and appropriate technology, and sustainable rural development. CREATE! Chief Operations Officer Louise Ruhr has more than 30 years of private sector and nonprofit management experience and has spent the past eight years working with international NGOs, including the American Refugee Committee, to support women's cooperative groups in Rwanda and Senegal. CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck oversees program activities and conducts site visits in CREATE! communities. He also manages CREATE!'s finances and staff in Senegal. Omar closely collaborates with local and traditional authorities, community volunteers, and CREATE! staff to achieve both organizational and village goals.

The core ideas that underpin the mission of Ujyalo Foundation are: Innovation, Gender Inclusive Leadership, and Social Enterprise. Based on these core ideas, Ujyalo Foundation's mission is "to empower communities through technologies, innovation, social enterprise, and gender inclusive leadership, collaboratively locally and globally". We strongly believe that the best way to create sustainable development in any community is by investing in its young women. With initiatives like EmpowHER, and Women Leadership Summit, we provide safe platforms for young women to enhance their leadership skills, explore their unique selves as leaders in their communities, and develop their ideas into potential livelihood opportunities in Nepal. These programs give women a safe space to learn and lead without any social stigma or fear of discrimination. After going through our programs, our women have become confident, independent leading their ideas in different capacities, and creating their own strong collectives of young women. After leading these initiatives for two years and working with 1600 young women, we have discovered just how much such an effort can contribute in the advancement of young women and their causes, especially in a society driven by patriarchy. We want young women in Nepal to believe that a space where young women can lead fearlessly on the basis of their merit and idea, not their gender is possible. Our vision is to create a world where young women can live, learn and lead without any prejudice and discrimination, and have men as the champions to promote women safety and leadership.

To influence and embrace all-inclusive development initiatives by incorporating youths, men, women, people living with disabilities and people with special needs through education, sports, health, networking, and partnerships.

To empower children, youths and women to focus, organize and work towards improved social-economic well-being. We achieve this by empathy, social and economic empowerment through self-help projects, Advocacy, psycho-social support, community mobilization and sensitization, outreaches, health, networking and educational support.

The Dahlia symbolizes drawing upon inner strength, making a dramatic and lasting change in one’s life and following your own unique path. That is precisely what we want to do at Dahlia Grove. Our business seeks to employ, empower, inspire and encourage the women rescued from human trafficking as they regain their independence and freedom. Our goal is to train and employ the women who have escaped the bonds of human trafficking to host and cater weddings, retreats, and corporate events. Our goal is to be the best facility in the Charlotte area for retreats and weddings, giving impeccable customer service and unparalleled beauty. We aim to create an atmosphere far exceeding those venues that already exist in the Metrolina area.

The VISION of AmeriCorps St. Louis is to be a purveyor of skill, a beacon of hope, and a model of public stewardshiparticularly children and elderly. The MISSION of AmeriCorps St. Louis is to enhance the professional skills and life-long ethic of the young men and women who serve; to respond to critical unmet needs in the areas of urban education, emergency response, and environmental conservation; and, to build the capacity of our partnering agencies and communities we serve.

CTF was born from the idea that the world would be a better place if we were all given the opportunity to give back. Established by a group of water women, we feel it is our calling to help others by teaming up with local organizations globally to raise awareness and address social, environmental, health and safety concerns in the places we visit. We aim to bridge the gap between the traveler and our projects enabling travelers to add a life-changing experience to their journeys and add purpose to travel.

MISSION To eradicate extreme poverty in rural areas of southern India. To improve the living conditions of India's most disadvantaged groups, enhance their dignity and self-esteem, and help them achieve the necessary means to combat poverty. To ensure sustainable development with the active involvement and leadership of the communities. To reach as many poor people as possible and help organize them both individually and as community-based organizations, affording them strength, confidence, and the ability to lead their own development. To transform the semi-desert land through a holistic approach involving land, water, vegetation, and livestock development and to ensure the people live in harmony with natural resources. To sensitize men and women to the inherent discrimination and violence against women in both family and society, and to develop appropriate support systems and networks to fight such discrimination. To help people with disabilities gain equal rights and opportunities in every area of development, as well as access to all resources and services related to health, education, livelihood, and rehabilitation, helping them live a dignified life. To build a dynamic and creative organization that strives to participate in all development efforts and is spiritual in its motivation, based on knowledge and skills, shares the aspirations and struggles of the poor, and, though permanent in time, adapts to the changing times and needs. To raise public awareness about the living conditions of the rural and urban poor and to promote a more caring society. VISION For everyone from poor and oppressed communities to live with justice, dignity, and socioeconomic equality, and for all people to live in peace and harmony with one another. For people to live in harmony with nature, on land capable of sustaining its population. VALUES Permanence: We are a long-term project. Respect: We respect the people's culture and customs. Participation: We encourage the active participation and leadership of our stakeholders. Action: We have an action-based work philosophy. Accountability: We believe in efficient and accountable program and financial management. Humanism: We are strong believers in people and their capacity to help others. OUR PRINCIPLES RDT-Vicente Ferrer believes that people are the main actors in their development process and ensures their active involvement and leadership in the programs. The organization endorses a multi-sectoral approach with a view to enhancing people's overall progress. As a result, RDT addresses all major areas of development, including access to quality education, improved livelihoods, ecologyand the environment, equal opportunities for people with disabilities, women's development and empowerment, and access to healthcare. We organize, at a grassroots level, women, men, andpeople with disabilities into groups to enhance their strength, confidence, and ability to resolve their own issues and problems. An important RDT-Vicente Ferrer approach is the continuous sharing of knowledge, skills, and awareness about all aspects of life. Collaboration with the government and other NGOs to draw maximum benefits from development. To raise people's awareness and support their use of government schemes and resources. Though the organization has a special program forwomen's development, it believes that women's progress should be a factor in every area of work and life, including education, where emphasis is placed on young girls, and healthcare, for the overall well-being of women and girls. We believe in continuous training and orientation for staff members and people. We also have an HR department that regularly organizes internal and external training sessions for staff members of all levels and people on leadership, group building, problem solving, and gender-related matters, among others. To create an efficient human organization capable of acting regardless of where the need arises, even in emergencies. We believe that we must have a strong organization focused on community development, yet flexible and able to accommodate the changing needs of the people. RDT-Vicente Ferrer also stresses continuous dialogue with people and seeks to ensure its programs are useful and practical. An empathetic approach to helping individuals in severe distress due to chronic or acute illness, abandonment, or abuse of any kind.