Organizations
Maintaining a Kurdish Vision
"Rwanga is a Kurdish word which means “vision.” The foundation has three main strategic approaches: to provide direct services; to build capacities for teachers, school or education administrations, and students; and to design policies."
NATIONAL IMPACTS of INDIGENOUS ADVOCACY & COALITION-BUILDING
"In the U.S., when people think of American Indians, they tend to think that we’re all on horseback and that we all live in teepees—the “Noble Savage” stereotype—but almost 80% of us don’t live on reservations. We live in cities."
A SENSE OF PURPOSE: ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT FOR REFUGEES
"We tend to think of refugees as poorer individuals who might have not had a chance to get that much education, but that’s not always or even often the case. At NaTakallam, we’re tackling a forgotten niche in the refugee world and community"
THE CHANGING FACE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
"The first references to CSR go back to the 1950s. At that time, CSR was based on short-term interventions, and it wasn't an integral part of overall corporate development or marketing plan. Now, as we are faced with the realities of globalization, the whole role of corporations has altered, and the nature of how companies interact with their client base is hugely different."
THE ART OF EFFECTIVE HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS
"Donating is not as easy as cleaning out the closet. We’re trying to help in a global world now, across languages, cultures, and backgrounds—so you need to work very carefully based on a sensitive regional understanding and cultural awareness."
PART II: ADVOCATING FOR GREEN BUILDINGS: IMPACT OR RHETORIC?
"Recognition can drive some of that demand from CEOs and clients, and mechanisms like that also help to create that demand and interest, but also guide the specifics to make sure that those buildings are true to being a green building."
PART I: ADVOCATING FOR GREEN BUILDINGS: URGENCY AND POSSIBILITY
"When you look at a vehicle, you see the emissions coming from the vehicle. It's different with buildings—you don't actually see the emissions that come from buildings, even though buildings contribute to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions"
H3C: HELPING HOSPITALS HEAL CHILDREN EXPLORATORY STUDY
"Multiple children in one incubator; crumbling facilities kept scrupulously clean; these scenes are just a few examples of the extreme human dedication amidst extreme resource deprivation and mismatched inputs that we encountered during our exploration of the public medical facilities of Kyrgyzstan"
TRANSFORMING KYRGYZSTAN, ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME
"On a daily basis, we try to see the enthusiasm with which the kids are in school: if they are happy, if they are signing up for extracurricular activities like chess, talking club, and summer camps. We track the exchange program admittances, and our kids get selected for highly competitive exchange programs."
FOSTERING EXCELLENCE IN THE ARAB WORLD—AND BEYOND
"Finding role models was a challenge at the beginning, because using role models and one’s story to empower others is such a new concept in the region. Most of the time we at Arab Excellence focus on the end result. But in this region, we don't want to talk about our achievements or story—because it means you're showing off. We have to change this mindset because, at the end of the day, some members of the young generations end up getting inspired by the wrong role models such as criminals or terrorist guys who lead them to Syria and Iraq to fight for ISIS."
