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- || UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION/USA
||
|| WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF NORTHERN CAL.
||
|| WORLD CENTER-SAN FRANCISCO ||
|| WORLD FEDERALIST ASSOCIATION ||
|| WORLD LEARNING ||
|| WORLD WITHOUT WAR COUNCIL ||
|| WORLDLINK FOUNDATION ||
|| YMCA OF SAN FRANCISCO ||
|| YWCA OF SAN FRANCISCO ||
|| YOUTH FOR UNDERSTANDING ||
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- UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION/USA
-
- KEY CONTACT: Laina Farhat, Executive Director
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Gerald Yoachum, President
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The United Nations Association of the U.S.A. (UNA/USA) is a nonprofit national
membership organization seeking to broaden public understanding and knowledge
of the U.N., and to create an informed, supportive constituency for the
U.N. in the United States. With headquarters in New York and 200 chapters
throughout the U.S., UNA/USA alerts its members to current world problems,
provides new ideas for solving these problems, encourages informed discussion,
and presents its views to the U.S. government and the U.N. The San Francisco
chapter (UNA/SF) is the largest of fifteen in the Northern California Division.
It enjoys the challenge of being the "Charter Chapter," representing
the locale where the U.N. Charter was signed in 1945. Other active chapters
in the Bay Area include those in Palo Alto, Berkeley, and Monterey. Each
chapter has its own by-laws and governing body elected by its respective
membership.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
The San Francisco Chapter was founded in 1954 by a group of individuals
concerned with maintaining a high level of local public interest in the
U.N. Each year it commemorates Charter Day (June 26) and U.N. Day (October
24'date of ratification) with public events. Programs have included addresses
by President Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt, panel discussions on Chinese
representation at the U.N., and benefits for UNICEF. For many years UNA/SF
has encouraged and supported model U.N. clubs in schools. Education Directors
in the past have devoted energies to such projects as debates on the Law
of the Sea and a local conference preceding the Mexico City International
Women's Year Conference in 1975. Ten years later, UNA/SF sponsored a tour
to Nairobi, Kenya for Forum '85. The conference' addressed the plight of
women worldwide, explored solutions, and promoted cultural exchange. From
1972 to 1979, the San Francisco Chapter operated a store which sold ethnic
artifacts and UNICEF materials. 1985 marked the 40th anniversary of the
U.N. UNA/SF hosted 4 days of commemorative events in which over 100 diplomats
from all over the world participated.
GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
UNA/USA's program mandate involves informing and educating its constituency
about current global issues shaping international politics.
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- PROGRAMMING
Informational and educational activities undertaken by the San Francisco
Chapter include the Model U.N. programs within Northern California secondary
schools, civic events, conferences and panel discussions with guest speakers,
and periodic co-sponsoring of programs with other community organizations
furthering citizen education on the U.N. and world affairs.
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- CURRENT PRIORITIES
The UNA/SF has recently begun programs on international careers including
symposiums which present experts in various international occupations.
UNA/SF is actively involved in planning the celebration of the 50th anniversary
of the United Nations.
-
- LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
-
- ANNUAL BUDGET: $88,250.
-
- FUNDING SOURCES
Corporate, private foundation, and individual contributions (99%), and
membership fees (1%).
-
- PUBLICATIONS
The Courier, newsletter, published monthly.
ges its aInterDependent, national newspaper, published eight times a year.
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- WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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- KEY CONTACT: David Fischer, President
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Nancy Jarvis, Chairman,
Board of Trustees; Jean Fowler, Executive Vice-President
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- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The World Affairs Council of Northern California is a membership organization
that promotes public study and informed discussion of developments abroad,
foreign policy problems, and other issues which transcend national boundaries.
It offers over 200 programs annually, more than any of the 100 similar
community world affairs organizations in the country. The San Francisco
head office serves Northern California, from the Oregon border to Monterey
county, but its main constituency is the greater Bay Area. The Council
has self-governing affiliates in Sacramento and San Joaquin County. The
Council owns and operates the World Affairs Center which houses and provides
meeting facilities and services for nonprofit organizations with international
interests.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
The Council was founded in 1947 by a number of California leaders in education,
business, labor, and civic life to conduct and promote public discussion
and educational programs on international issues and foreign countries.
The Council has grown to encompass over 11,000 individual members. The
Council has provided forums for a number of leading international figures
including: Fidel Ramos, Jiang Zemin, Yegor Gaidar, George Bush, Vaclav
Havel and Mikhail Gorbachev.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The Council's programs are global, issue and area oriented. Its goal is
to keep its members and the general public well-informed of current international
issues.
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- PROGRAMMING
Forums, lectures, conferences and in-depth study groups on selected world
affairs topics constitute the core of Council programming. U.S. and foreign
diplomats, government officials, journalists, academics, business leaders,
and other prominent visitors are frequent guest speakers. The Council's
School Program provides curriculum materials and staff development training
for Bay Area elementary and secondary teachers. The Council maintains an
extensive library on world affairs issues open to the public and also offers
a large variety of informational services. It trains facilitators for the
Foreign Policy Association's Great Decisions Program and promotes the sale
and distribution of Great Decisions booklets. The Council's annual Asilomar
Conference draws more than 800 members and colleagues together for a weekend
to discuss an important theme related to world affairs. A gala Annual Dinner
and the Annual Consular Corps Reception are popular events.
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- CURRENT PRIORITIES
The Council promotes the ideas of continued American engagement in world
affairs. It believes in and promotes cross-cultural understanding and respect.
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
The Council's membership is composed of individuals, students, seniors,
teachers, organizations, and corporations. Anyone sharing the Council's
interests is invited to join. Council services and programs are intended
for members and the interested public.
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- PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
The World Affairs Council offers a nonpartisan platform for opinions on
foreign policy and for world affairs education and policy discussion from
a variety of perspectives. By providing authoritative information and the
opportunity to explore divergent views on contemporary problems in world
affairs, the Council believes that it contributes to more effective public
participation in the policymaking process.
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- LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
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- ANNUAL BUDGET: $2.1 million.
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- FUNDING SOURCES
Rents and interest (29%), individual membership dues and contributions
(20%), corporate members (25%), foundation grants (7%), and program revenues
(19%).
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- PUBLICATIONS
Spotlight, monthly member newsletter.
Booknotes, monthly review of publications.
Colloquy, triannual newsletter with global resources for K-12 education.
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- WORLD CENTRE- SAN FRANCISCO
-
- KEY CONTACT: Patricia DiGiorgio, Board Chair
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Lili Li-Lou Lim, President;
Paul Cortez, Director of Operations
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The World Centre-San Francisco is a nonprofit organization whose mission
is to sustain the founding principals and ideals of the United Nations.
The World Centre works to establish a "Global Watch Museum" that
will inform up to one million visitors a year about the history of international
cooperation -- especially through the UN -- and ongoing multilateral efforts
to achieve sustainability in peace, economic cooperation, and environmental
health. The Centre's highly interactive museum will use the latest communications
technology to bring an up-to-the-minute 'situation report' to visitors
on major projects of the UN's specialized agencies and programs. The World
Centre will create, as affiliates or projects of the museum, international
centers for communication, legal resources, and conferences.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
The World Centre began in the early 1980s as a planning effort to consider
ways of recognizing the contributions of the U.N., not only to world peace,
but to the welfare of all peoples. The World Centre has collaborated with
other agencies, such as UNA/SF and the World Affairs Council, and is a
founding agency and member of the UN50 Committee.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The World Centre addresses all issues faced by the UN specialized agencies
and programs, including global sustainable development, human rights, and
children's issues.
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- PROGRAMMING
Major events scheduled for 1995 include the installation of the prototype
of the United Nations Umbrella, a 32 foot high kinetic sculpture, at Justin
Herman Plaza; and the implementation of interactive programming software
that will introduce the World Centre's activities via Internet.
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
These audiences include the general public, school and civic groups. The
conferences target labor and business leaders, environmentalists, peace
groups, and the military.
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- PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
The World Centre values international and intercultural peace and harmony,
human rights, and environmental health.
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- LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
-
- RECENT BUDGET: $125,000
-
- FUNDING SOURCES: Grants and private gifts.
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- WORLD FEDERALIST ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
- KEY CONTACT: John O. Sutter, President
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Jean Apaydin, Vice President
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- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The World Federalist Association of Northern California (WFA/NCa) is an
education and action orientated organization committed to developing a
major movement leading to world federation. Supporters of the world federation
concept believe that democratic world governance would be the best way
to manage the world so that succeeding generations could live in an environment
with the absence of war, a sustainable economy, and respect for basic freedoms
and justice. The WFA/NCa is a branch of the national World Federalist Association
and is affiliated with the international World Federalist Movement.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
The WFA/NCa has been involved in the community since 1947. The name of
the organization prior 1976 was the United World Federalists of Northern
California.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The WFA/NCa district includes the northern 3/5 of California and the Reno,
Nevada area.
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- PROGRAMMING
WFA/NCa achieves its mission through: networking; coalition building; letter
writing; media campaigns; membership building; fund raising; publishing
and distributing literature; support of initiatives such as One World/Philadelphia
II; a United Nations Parliament; Campaign for a New U.N. Charter; WFA chapters;
WFA partner groups; planning and promoting the U.S. Commission for Improving
the Effectiveness of the U.N.; Earth Day and U.N. Day involvement; providing
scholarships for students to attend the U.N. Charter Review Conference
Simulation; involvement in San Francisco activities commemorating the 50th
Anniversary of the U.N.; a speakers bureau; communication workshops.
CURRENT PRIORITIES
-- Working with other movements to develop common goals and strategies.
-- Working toward restructuring the United Nations so that it can deal
with global problems more successfully and therefore better reflect the
consensus of the world's peoples.
-- Working for the creation of a global constitution to make it possible
to replace the antiquated global system.
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
The WFA/NCa targets the media; people and organizations concerned about
world affairs and the United Nations, students and faculties; appropriate
federal government officials; professional people and the general public.
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- LEGAL STATUS: California IRS 501(c)(3).
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- ANNUAL BUDGET: $22,000.
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- FUNDING SOURCES
Memberships dues, grants and miscellaneous contributions.
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- PUBLICATIONS
Periodicals: Toward Democratic World Federation Quarterly (WFA/NCa);
World Federalist newsletter (WFA);
World Federalist News (WFM);
Books: Uniting the Peoples and Nations: Readings in World Federalism,
World Federalist Reader I,
On the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution;
Various booklets and pamphlets.
-
- Updated April 1999
- WORLD LEARNING
- KEY CONTACT: Kate deBoer, Regional Director West Coast
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Shelley Hamilton, Western
Regional Manager; Neal Mangham, President, School for International Training
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
World Learning, Inc. is one of the oldest private, nonprofit, international
educational service organizations in the world, and the oldest institution
of its kind in the United States. Today, World Learning's broad range of
international expertise is represented by its three operating divisions.
The first is its accredited college, the School for International Training,
which offers a bachelor's degree program in international studies, master's
degree programs in intercultural management and the teaching of languages,
and college semester abroad programs in more than thirty-five countries.
World Learning's cornerstone division is its Citizen Exchange and Language
Programs, operating the institution's trademark Summer Abroad program which
uses a simple approach known as the "homestay," as a cross-cultural
learning laboratory. The third division comprises private, voluntary organizational
activities operated by Projects in International Development and Training.
BRIEF HISTORY
World Learning was founded in 1932 as the U.S. Experiment in International
Living, a pioneer in people-to-people exchange. For more than sixty years,
it has sustained its founding concept- learning the culture and language
of another country by living as a member of one of its families - while
it has also pioneered new initiatives in response to a changing world.
The scope and diversity of World Learning's programs have grown well beyond
the institution's original homestay exchanges, but its mission remains
intact: to enable participants to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes
needed to contribute effectively to international understanding and global
development.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
World Learning currently administers more than 260 programs in nearly seventy
countries, providing direct program services to more than 54,000 participants
and indirectly benefiting more than 500,000 people.
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- PROGRAMMING
World Learning offers travel, homestay, foreign language training, and
study abroad programs for students of U.S. and foreign high schools and
colleges. The programs may last from four weeks to one year. World Learning's
educational arm, the School for International Training, offers: a Master
of Arts in Teaching Program, which prepares language teachers committed
to professional development and service in their field; a Master's Program
in Intercultural Management, a graduate program that provides competence-based,
profession11,000 individual members. The Council hasal-level training for
intercultural managers; Bachelor's Program in World Issues, a two year,
upper-division bachelor's program offering a degree in international studies;
and College Semester Abroad, offering fifty study abroad programs in thirty-five
countries in every part of the world for college and university students.
Through the Citizen Exchange and Language Programs, English language programs
are offered to international students locally at Notre Dame College in
Belmont.
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience is high school and college students who are potential
candidates for enrollment in World Learning exchange programs and the School
for International Training. Other target audience is international business
executives and students desiring extensive English language training.
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- PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
World Learning's mission is to enable participants to develop the knowledge,
skills, and attitudes needed to contribute effectively to international
understanding and global development. This is accomplished through cross-cultural
experiential education programs. The international and cross-cultural understanding
gained through a World Learning program their way of furthering the mission.
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- LEGAL STATUS: Vermont 501(c)(3).
-
- ANNUAL BUDGET: $50,137,731 (international).
-
- FUNDING SOURCES
Tuition and contract fees (91%) private gifts (9%).
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- PUBLICATIONS
Odyssey, a national biannual magazine.
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-
- WORLDLINK FOUNDATION
-
- KEY CONTACT: Kirk Bergstrom, President
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Adriana Dakin, Associate
Director
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
- e-mail: worldlnk@well.com
- Key Contact: Kirk Bergstrom, President
- Principal Officers/Senior Staff: Adriana Dakin, Associate
Director
-
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
WORLDLINK Foundation is dedicated to making innovative global education
programs available to communities, schools, and individuals worldwide.
It provides teacher training services, develops curriculum-based programs,
and offers channels for youth to discover solutions to global and local
problems. The Foundation works with affiliate organizations in over 30
nations to equip young people with the knowledge, values and skills required
to effectively participate in our rapidly changing, multicultural world.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
WorldLink Foundation was founded in 1989. Since then, the organization
has
developed several ongoing programs. From 1990-1992, the Foundation
developed the EnvironmentBridge Program, which connected pilot schools
in
Brazil and the United States. From 1992-1996, WorldLink convened three
Global Youth Summits, bringing together youth leaders from over 50 nations.
Recently, the Foundation initiated the Virtual Expeditions Program which
provides inquiry-based learning experiences via the World Wide Web. In
1997, WorldLink organized the US-Japan Education Forum, a collaborative
inquiry into learning, technology and culture.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The Foundation works in partnership with organizations in the United States
and around the world. Areas of interest include global education, learning
and technology, youth leadership, cross-generational dialogue, and
intercultural communication.
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- PROGRAMMING
The Foundation administers four major programs:
-- Global Citizen Workshops provide one and two-day in-service education
for teachers K-12. The workshops introduce a global perspective in education,
provide hands-on experience with learning activities and make available
innovative curriculum resources.
-- EnvironmentBridge is a telecommunications program which links schools
internationally. This program features an interdisciplinary curriculum,
international electronic mail and computer conferencing and environmental
service projects.
-- Global Youth Summit (GYS) is an international forum for young people
to develop leadership skills, learn about critical global and local issues,
design community service projects, and make their voice heard to a larger
constituency. The first GYS convened in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro as
part of the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development.
-- Earth Voyage is an around-the-world shipboard education program for
college students from many countries. Earth Voyage works in collaboration
with Semester at Sea to build a multicultural shipboard community for 100-day
global voyages aboard the S.S. Universe.
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- TARGET AUDIENCE
Youth and educators, K-12.
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- LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
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- FUNDING SOURCES
Program tuition fees, foundations, corporate partners, individual
contributors, government agencies, university partners.
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- PUBLICATIONS
Spaceship Earth: Our Global Environment (video and study guide), Our
Future, Our Planet: The Spirit of Youth Service (video), Interactive Earth:
A Global Learning Tool (CD-ROM and curriculum).
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- WORLD WITHOUT WAR COUNCIL OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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- KEY CONTACT: Robert Pickus, President
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Kale Williams, Chair,
National Board; Paul Ekman, Chair, Northern California
-
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The World Without War Council (WWWC) challenges peace organization stereotypes
even as it seeks alternatives to the Pentagon's. It works in the multiple
arenas in which nongovernmental organizations seek to shape American purpose
in world affairs. It is not a membership organization, but a kind of management
consultant agency for enterprises that do not yet exist: enterprises essential
to wise American leadership in progress toward a world that resolves international
conflict without mass violence. The Council conceives the programs, relationships
and structures necessary to such progress, then persuades government and
independent sector agencies to bring them into being.
-
- Persona grata in the State Department, the National Endowment
for Democracy, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and consultant to a range of
organizational and institutional networks, the Council is nevertheless
not an establishment organization. WWWC, a critic of the peace movement
of the past 30 years, sees itself as an initiating and planning center
for a more adequate American peace effort, sounder in its analysis, prescription
and strategy of work. nt.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
The WFANC has been involved in the commuIt does its work from two regional
offices (Berkeley, Chicago) and with its sister organization, the James
Madison Foundation, in Washington, DC. A senior staff who regard their
work as a vocation rather than a job forms its core. Leaders from all offices
serve on the Board of WWWC, Inc., the central Council organization. WWWC
of Northern California serves as both a regional office and the Office
of the President of WWWC.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
The Council began its work in Northern California in 1958, when twelve
national peace organizations cooperated in establishing Acts for Peace.
The project, founded by Robert Pickus, developed in 1961 into Turn Toward
Peace (TTP), a cooperative national effort of some 60 organizations ranging
across the peace and liberal parts of the political spectrum. WWWC came
into being in 1969 when TTP split between those who opposed "America's
war" in Vietnam and those who sought an end to the killing by Hanoi
as well. The latter group formed WWWC. Since that time the Council's strategy
of work has shifted from a focus on the peace movement to the whole spectrum
of organizations interested in America's role in world affairs. The Council
gathers those seeking to build support for alternatives to war in the resolution
of international conflict and the defense of democratic values.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The Council addresses the flow of foreign policy issues and conflicts.
It focuses, however, not on current headlines, but on developing and advancing
a perspective on America's purposes in world politics and the obstacles
to achieving them. Ethnic conflict abroad, Democratization, International
Human Rights, Arms Control and Disarmament, and World and Regional Economic
and Institutional Development are among WWWC's current priorities. In each
case, the Council works - in ways which protect and promote our national
well-being - for progress toward democratic governance, and concepts of
community that make possible the nonviolent resolution of international
conflict and the protection of fundamental human rights.
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- PROGRAMMING
As catalyst and consultant, WWWC aids major organizations and institutions
in developing programs appropriate to their charters. It then organizes
coordinating centers for such work in different sectors of the field and
with different audiences. Current projects include: Assessing the Public
Effort for Peace in America; Improving American Competence in World Affairs;
Speaking Truth to Power: New Currents in Pacifist Thought; Regional Guides
to Peace and World Affairs Organizations; the Department of State/ Independent
Sector project; and the Americans & World Affairs Fellowship Training
Program. In conjunction with the James Madison Foundation: Reestablishing
and Extending the Idea of the Common Good (Diversity, Multiculturalism,
and a Common Civic Culture). As consultant, the Council helped form AEGIS
(the Alliance for Education in Global and International Studies), a consortium
of pre-collegiate educational organizations. As coordinator, the Council
convenes the Northern California Consultative Group on Americans and World
Affairs, guides regional Foundation International Groups, and has helped
informing networks of exchange organizations. Current model projects include
Civil Society: US/USSR, Integration/Separation in Precollegiate Education:
1995. The James Madison Foundation has taken the lead on civic education
projects, especially as they involve immigration problems and defining
common ground in a multicultural America. (For more information on these
and other Council programs see page 200 or contact Council offices.)
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
In addition to staff and Boards of Directors, each Council office draws
upon knowledgeable Consultant panels in shaping Council projects and upon
Advisory Councils of influential leaders in opening various sectors of
community and national life to Council programs. In all, some 400 Americans
have served in Council structures. The Council initially targets leaders
in world affairs organizations and institutions, then leaders in the primary
sectors of American life (e.g., philanthropy, higher education, the mass
media, religious leadership, business, labor). Council offices also conduct
local projects designed to model the programs needed in each of these sectors.
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- PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
The Council sees war as a problem, not a fate to be suffered. It acknowledges
the inescapable realities of human conflict and aggression but believes
it possible to control war - their most terrible expression. It teaches
that ending war is not contingent upon achieving a world of perfect justice
and harmony; nor does ending war require a fundamental alteration in human
psyches or the resolution of all the tensions that lead to conflict. It
does require establishing alternative legal and political processes through
which nations can resolve their conflicts and defend their values as they
act on their presently divergent views of what constitutes justice, security,
and a rightly ordered society.
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- Building such institutions is the work of generations.
That work can proceed only as common ground forms in world affairs. Economics
and technological change move us toward interdependence, but that fact
encompasses a threat as well as a hope. Only as changes in values and understandings,
religious in nature, move us toward freely chosen community will that hope
be realized. The Council therefore skeptically regards plans for global
governance that underestimate the time needed for essential agreements
to form. Still, progress toward peace will be measured by progress toward
sound institutions capable of legislating and enforcing international law.
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- Committed to the growth of free societies, and opposed
both to those who see America as the single global villain and to those
who counsel American withdrawal from world politics, the Council's judgment
is that the U.S. is the most capable, among world power centers, of leading
in progress toward needed world structures and understandings.
- Such leadership is unlikely, however, given the current
lack of public consensus on America's right role in the world and the profound
confusions engendered by separatist currents in American public life. Needed
efforts to build a more inclusive society and broaden concepts of what
an educated person should know go wrong when they undermine a common civic
culture and substitute racial or ethnic identity for a common American
identity. Hence, with its James Madison Foundation partner, the Council
is currently deeply engaged in civic education both at home and abroad,
seeking to strengthen the common ground that makes peaceful diversity possible.
This perspective leads to the Council's overview efforts: catalyzing and
critiquing the field's programs and ideas in an effort to strengthen the
agreements necessary for sound and consistent policy.
- The Council works to strengthen nonviolents and skills
required to effectively participate in our ra alternatives to war and to
do so in ways that contribute to the well-being of our own society. Convinced
that war can come both from efforts to build military power and from the
refusal to do so, the Council invites both pacifists and those committed
to strong national military capabilities to join in developing such alternatives.
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- LEGAL STATUS
WWWCI is a separately incorporated not-for-profit New York State corporation
with 509(a) and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. WWWCNC is incorporated in
California and has the same IRS status. WWWC Midwest has similar status
in Illinois.
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- ANNUAL BUDGET
$400,000 total national (including some funds for Council-guided programs
through other organizations).
-
- FUNDING SOURCES
Foundation and other grants; individual contributions; services.
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- YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (YMCA)
-
- KEY CONTACT: Eileen Murray, Intl. Program Coordinator
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Greg O'Brien, President
-
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is a nonprofit, international
human services organization which operates in more than 120 countries.
It seeks to improve the spiritual, moral, and intellectual aspects of contemporary
society through a variety of programs aimed at strengthening family, local
and global communities. In addition to program centers, the organization
maintains inexpensive hotel facilities in many large urban centers in the
U.S. and throughout the world. During most of its existence, the YMCA has
conducted many international programs dealing with international exchange,
peace, development, education, and citizen awareness of international issues.
The YMCA of San Francisco is one of almost 1,000 independently incorporated
units in the U.S., which manages twelve branches in Marin, San Francisco,
and San Mateo, Solano and Napa counties.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
The YMCA of San Francisco was established in 1853. Since that time, it
has concentrated on the area of social service to families and youth. Established
in the 1920s, the branch in Chinatown continues to focus on services to
Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, particularly in maintaining their
relationships with relatives and friends in the People's Republic of China
and Taiwan. International work has gone on for 60 years, largely through
utilizing YMCA hotel facilities for foreign visitors. The YMCA of San Francisco's
Camp Jones Gulch has been a host site for the triannual YMCA World Camp
Program.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The YMCA's international concerns are worldwide with centers operating
in more than 120 countries. Its International Division addresses issues
of global inter- dependence, cross-cultural understanding, peace education,
social service and development projects, and citizen education about global
issues.
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- PROGRAMMING
In addition to its main program goals centered in health, recreation, family
and community life, the YMCA conducts international cultural and educational
exchange programs, overseas service projects, and citizen education projects
on global interdependency issues. The San Francisco YMCA coordinates citizen
and staff exchanges with its partner Y's in Osaka, Japan and Taipei, Taiwan.
It also offers programs to serve the local refugee population, including
English language training, orientation to American culture, leadership
development, recreation, and general survival skills.
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- CURRENT PRIORITIES
The YMCA is expanding its international activities at the local level.
The national office assists local units in developing international program
components which include more exchanges, educational programs, and cooperative
relationships with YMCAs around the world. Reestablishing YMCAs in Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union is a current priority.
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
The YMCA worldwide network has approximately 13 million members and program
participants. The San Francisco YMCA reaches nearly 150,000 people in the
Bay Area. Its target audience includes families, youth, seniors, refugees,
foreign visitors, and all others interested in the YYMCA's activities.
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- PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
The YMCA's International Division serves the National Board's goal of uniting
people around the world to work for harmonious interdependence and world
peace. Its strategy lies with the work of local YMCA units throughout the
world which consciously serve as models of global organization, that is,
working together in a worldwide network on common problems with a common
purpose.
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- LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
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- ANNUAL BUDGET: $24 million.
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- FUNDING SOURCES
Capital and other donations 19%; government and foundation grants 19%;
United Way 22%; current support campaign 35%; special events 5%.
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- PUBLICATIONS: YMCA local newsletters.
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- YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (YWCA)
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- KEY CONTACT: Amy L. Reisch, Executive Director
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Maria Fort, President
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- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a multi-service community
nonprofit organization serving the United States and 84 countries of the
world. Like the National Board YWCA, the YWCA of San Francisco, Marin County,
and San Mateo offer programs and services that improve the quality of human
life, increase the opportunities for women of all ages to develop their
full potential, and work toward the elimination of racism wherever it exists.
The YWCA works to accomplish these goals by offering programs, services
and education to help women, as well as the total community, adapt to a
changing society. They also seek to improve the quality of life for all
people, with special emphasis on those who face inequities in life due
to race, sex, class, culture, age, life-style or disability.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
During the first 30 years of this century, the YWCA established centers
in the Japanese and Chinese communities of San Francisco to help them bridge
the cultural barriers facing the new immigrants. During the last 30 years,
the YWCA of San Francisco has followed the changing roles of women in society
and has taken a leadership role in developing programs to deal with these
changes.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The YWCA's global purpose is to draw together into responsible membership
women and girls of diverse experience and faiths so that their lives may
be open to new understandings and deeper relationships; together, they
may join in the struggle for peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all
people. The YWCA of the U.S.A. and its local global connections are strengthened
by International Study Participants working in their home communities through
such activities as community planned peace conferences, a world awareness
camp, and involvement with an ongoing African peace study/involvement program.
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- PROGRAMMING/TARGET AUDIENCE
The YWCA currently operates five program centers in the Bay Area, one in
Marin County, one in San Mateo, and the rest in San Francisco. The Mission
District and Western Addition have ongoing child care and programs for
'high risk' girls. The 940 Powell site has subsidized housing for low income
seniors . The Chinatown/North Beach Center is a true community center offering
a variety of programs and services. The 620 Sutter Street site contains
a hotel, and recreation programs.
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- CURRENT PRIORITIES
They include increasing membership and income; expanding women's and girls'
programs; creating a YWCA leadership development program; and building
an advocacy program which addresses current problems such as women's needs
and racism.
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
The YWCA attracts women worldwide who are committed to its moral values
and socioeconomic goals. Its services are open to all persons regardless
of race, religion, or socioeconomic background. Its target audience includes
women, interested men, and those socioeconomic and minority groups in need
of its programs.
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- PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
The YWCA sees itself as an international human services and advocacy organization
whose positions and programs reflect social insurance priorities. It tends
to take positions on the liberal left of the political spectrum. Work strategy
focuses on providing social services for women, the socioeconomically disadvantaged,
and minorities and advocating for policies and programs for their benefit.
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- LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
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- FUNDING SOURCES
United Way, program service fees, grants, contracts and contributions.
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- PUBLICATIONS: YWCA local newsletters.
- YOUTH FOR UNDERSTANDING
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- KEY CONTACT: Judy Johnson, Regional Director
- PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Rhoda Rasmussen, Support
Services; Bengtson-Wong, Community Relations Coordinator
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- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Youth For Understanding (YFU) International Exchange is a nonprofit educational
organization operating one of the largest international high school exchange
programs in the U.S. With an annual exchange of 7,000 people, YFU encourages
understanding between people and cultures by providing summer and academic
year homestay opportunities for teenagers worldwide. Headquartered in Washington,
DC, YFU is affiliated with program offices in 35 countries and operates
ten regional offices in the U.S. The Los Altos regional office carries
out YFU activities in California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii regions. The
National organization is governed by a Board of Trustees.
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- BRIEF HISTORY
Since the organization's founding in 1951, over 100,000 students from 50
countries have participated in exchanges, of which 7,500 were served through
the regional office. YFU has been operating in this region for twenty-five
years and has occupied the Los Altos office since 1976.
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- GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
YFU conducts high school student exchanges between the U.S. and some 50
countries in Latin America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia.
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- CURRENT PRIORITIES
The Los Altos office was responsible for placing 320 American Students
in overseas programs during the academic year, as well as providing host
services for approximately 350 international students in this region. Its
seasonal priorities include locating host families for incoming international
students and recruiting students to go abroad.
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- PROGRAMMING
YFU offers academic year, semester and summer programs for U.S. students
going abroad. The year and semester programs involve placement with a local
school and family in one of approximately 30 countries, while the summer
program involves a two-month stay with a foreign host family. All programs
include pre-departure orientation services. The organization's reciprocal
program places international students with American families for a year-long
or six month homestay.
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- MEMBERSHIP/TARGET AUDIENCE
YFU seeks qualified students, ages 15-18, who possess a spirit for adventure
and the ability to adapt to new cultures and peoples. International students
coming to the U.S. are high school-age, and are selected by YFU committees
in their home countries according to program guidelines, including English
conversational ability, good health, and good academic performance.
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- PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
Youth For Understanding programs stress family living as the heart of the
learning experience. YFU believes that the establishment of international
friendships contributes to a deeper appreciation of global community. It
further maintains that firsthand experience of the values and attitudes
of another society and culture advances peace and understanding among nations
another step.
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- LEGAL STATUS: Michigan 501(c)(3).
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- ANNUAL BUDGET
$350,000 regional; $18 million national.
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- FUNDING SOURCES
Student tuition (76%) and grants and designated gifts (24%).
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