shared air

two of my favorite non-profits and great examples of how strong partnerships can help organizations help people.

charitywater:

“We believe poor people have the right to health. And that includes the right to water.” — Amanda Schwartz, Partners in Health

We’ve been working with Partners in Health to build water projects in Haiti for more than two years now (did you see our live broadcast from Haiti when charity: water turned three years old?). Today, their grants development assistant, Amanda Schwartz, and their executive director, Ophelia Dahl, came into the office for a little Q&A and some quick meetings with staff.

Ophelia gave a quick overview of our progress with PIH on video, too:

Here’s a little background on Partners in Health: Their founding members worked for years in Central Haiti before launching the organization to provide health care to one of the poorest areas in the Western Hemisphere. From Haiti, PIH branched out to form health care programs in Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho and Malawi, almost always in remote locations where virtually no medical systems or services existed for people in need.

Amanda told us her new nickname at the office — “the water guru.” She earned it because she is (along with other PIH staff) constantly looking to implement more water projects in PIH regions. Safe water is obviously a major need in hospitals, but just the access to clean water for a community will keep thousands from getting sick in the first place. It’s called “preventative intervention for health” and we’re well aware of how much it can make a difference. Take diarrheal disease, for example. Clean water reduces deaths from diarrheal disease by 34%.

PIH’s attention to providing preferential treatment to those in need — and their reputation for creating thorough, quality systems in these places — drew us to them from the start. We’re excited to scale work with PIH because, of course, we agree with Ophelia and Amanda — water is essential to health.

Today, I came across an interesting posting from Clutch Magazine, ”Blacks Need Not Apply: Whitewashing of the Modern Résumé” reacting to a NYTimes article “‘Whitening’ the Resume.” Speaking on black applicants altering their names and activities on their resume, reporter Michael Luo writes:

Most of those interviewed described their strategy as a way to eliminate one more potential obstacle that might keep them from at least getting the chance to make it to an interview so they could present their case in person. Experts said that course might be wise. Research has shown that applicants with black-sounding names get fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names, even when they have equivalent credentials. Affirmative action programs in the private sector have largely receded since the early 1980s, replaced by a variety of diversity efforts rarely shown to be effective in raising minority representation.

To be honest, I’ve never really thought of my name as being distinctly “black” but I am sure an employer would be able to glean from some of organizational membership and community service that I am a woman of color.  However, I think that it creates a fuller picture of who I am.  While there are definitely traits that most employers value, maybe that should not be the point we take away from a story like this.

Think about where you would be most happy- odds are it is place you will be able to thrive and grow being yourself.  So why misrepresent who you are on your resume only to end up unhappy and unsatisfied in a job that does not allow you to bring your diversity to the table and be an asset?

Being an open book can be a difficult line to walk, but its important to stand by who you are and know the difference between editing and hiding the truth.

December can be one of the busiest months of the year for many non profits many of whom host their biggest events around the holidays.  In our office, we’ve been working on the press flow for our biggest annual event.  It is a gala for our donors, the public and the press.  And again, I say: the press.

Working out the media flow for the event has been one of the biggest challenges. Like any org, we want to acknowledge our donors and gain awareness.  However, when photographers are trained to snap pictures of socialites and celebs, how can an org give equal recognition to its “civilian” donors?  In mastering cause marketing, have we all just gone ‘Hollywood’?