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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 ||
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.

 
 
WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
 
KEY CONTACT: David Fischer, President
PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Nancy Jarvis, Chairman, Board of Trustees; Jean Fowler, Executive Vice-President
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
CURRENT PRIORITIES
The Council promotes the ideas of continued American engagement in world affairs. It believes in and promotes cross-cultural understanding and respect.
 
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.
 
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.
 
LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
 
ANNUAL BUDGET: $2.1 million.
 
FUNDING SOURCES
Rents and interest (29%), individual membership dues and contributions (20%), corporate members (25%), foundation grants (7%), and program revenues (19%).
 
PUBLICATIONS
Spotlight, monthly member newsletter.
Booknotes, monthly review of publications.
Colloquy, triannual newsletter with global resources for K-12 education.
 

 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
PERSPECTIVE ON WORLD POLITICS
The World Centre values international and intercultural peace and harmony, human rights, and environmental health.
 
LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
 
RECENT BUDGET: $125,000
 
FUNDING SOURCES: Grants and private gifts.

 
 
WORLD FEDERALIST ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
KEY CONTACT: John O. Sutter, President
PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Jean Apaydin, Vice President
 
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.
 
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.
 
GEOGRAPHIC/PROBLEM AREAS
The WFA/NCa district includes the northern 3/5 of California and the Reno, Nevada area.
 
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.
 
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.
 
LEGAL STATUS: California IRS 501(c)(3).
 
ANNUAL BUDGET: $22,000.
 
FUNDING SOURCES
Memberships dues, grants and miscellaneous contributions.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
LEGAL STATUS: Vermont 501(c)(3).
 
ANNUAL BUDGET: $50,137,731 (international).
 
FUNDING SOURCES
Tuition and contract fees (91%) private gifts (9%).
 
PUBLICATIONS
Odyssey, a national biannual magazine.
 
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
TARGET AUDIENCE
Youth and educators, K-12.
 
LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
 
FUNDING SOURCES
Program tuition fees, foundations, corporate partners, individual
contributors, government agencies, university partners.
 
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).

 
 
WORLD WITHOUT WAR COUNCIL OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.

 
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
 
ANNUAL BUDGET: $24 million.
 
FUNDING SOURCES
Capital and other donations 19%; government and foundation grants 19%; United Way 22%; current support campaign 35%; special events 5%.
 
PUBLICATIONS: YMCA local newsletters.
 

 
YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (YWCA)
 
KEY CONTACT: Amy L. Reisch, Executive Director
PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Maria Fort, President
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
LEGAL STATUS: California 501(c)(3).
 
FUNDING SOURCES
United Way, program service fees, grants, contracts and contributions.
 
PUBLICATIONS: YWCA local newsletters.

YOUTH FOR UNDERSTANDING
 
KEY CONTACT: Judy Johnson, Regional Director
PRINCIPAL OFFICERS/SENIOR STAFF: Rhoda Rasmussen, Support Services; Bengtson-Wong, Community Relations Coordinator
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
LEGAL STATUS: Michigan 501(c)(3).
 
ANNUAL BUDGET
$350,000 regional; $18 million national.
 
FUNDING SOURCES
Student tuition (76%) and grants and designated gifts (24%).