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Hi Everyone!

I want to share with you an excellent fundraising opportunity for Nourish.

Nourish International has joined GlobalGiving’s American Open, a fundraising challenge where American Non-Profits can win up to $6,000 in extra funding. Nourish is also eligible for a permanent spot on GlobalGiving.com, the internationally recognized marketplace for philanthropy that connects individual donors to the causes they care most about.

The American Open competition runs from June 8th –30th. The three projects that raise the most will receive awards of $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000, respectively; the project receiving the most individual donations will receive an additional $3,000.

Organizations participating in the challenge can also earn a permanent spot on the GlobalGiving website if they successfully mobilize supporters to raise $4,000 from at least 50 unique donors through GlobalGiving during the contest.

We need your support to earn a permanent spot on the Global Giving website! Every donation helps, and no donation is too small. You can support us for as little as $10 and make an impact.

Thanks!

Julie and Whitney

Julie and Whitney are interns with the National Office

Caroline Whistler, graduate of Nourish International’s Chapter at Duke University, was recently awarded the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship.

The Fulbright program offers opportunities for students to do research, study, or teach English abroad. Caroline will be traveling to Brazil, where she will conduct research on nonprofit growth strategies with Ashoka and the business school Fundacao Getulio Vargas. Caroline told us, "I was fortunate to get the fellowship in part because of what I learned working with social entrepreneurs during my Nourish experience.”

Caroline had previously led a Nourish Project in Fortaleza, Brazil, where her team aided in the construction of a center and factory, called the Bate Palmas Company, for the manufacturing of musical instruments. The business built upon community programs that provided young individuals with training to build and play instruments and to perform throughout the state.

“Working alongside Brazilian students and youth in the community was an incredible experience that helped our team gain a better understanding of life in Brazil and the importance of social enterprise in the economic development of the community”, says Caroline. “We learned more about Brazilian life and economic development than any textbook could have taught us. It was truly an unforgettable experience.”

Before she departs for her Fellowship in Brazil, however, Caroline is first finishing up a year with the Residency in Social Enterprise program, where she is working on nonprofit growth capital campaigns with the Nonprofit Finance Fund in Boston.

On April 17^th, we hosted Brew Local Act Global, a charity beer tasting event featuring North Carolina's local breweries and Nourish's home-grown effort to end global poverty. Held in the heart of downtown Raleigh at Mosaic Wine Lounge, the event was a great success! We could not have asked for better weather. Brew Local Act Global brought together over 70 Nourish supporters and beer appreciators, raising a total of $1,865 to support Nourish Chapters and their work.

Nourish International Hosts Brew Local Act Global

LoneRider Brewing Company, Natty Greene's Brewing Co., Aviator Brewery and the Mash House Brewery provided some of their finest brews. 518 West brought over a selection of delicious pizzas, dip and breads for all to enjoy.

We would like to thank our host committee, sponsors and volunteers for making this event possible!

SPONSORS

Aviator Brewery, Ham's Brewhouse, The Mash House Restaurant & Brewery, LoneRider Brewing Company,  Natty Greene's Brewing Co., 518 West, Mosaic Wine Lounge

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sindhura Citinenti, Ryan Allis, Buck Goldstein, Virginia Carson, Jud Bowman, Thomas Thekkekandam, Joshua Lee, Joel Thomas,  Mark Laabs, Neil Bagchi

SPECIAL THANKS

Braden Rawls, Julie Jenkins, Sebastian Wolfrum, Greg Overbeck, Sumit Vohra, T.L. Adkisson, Mark Doble, Ian VanGundy

If you are interested in being a Chapter Founder like Noreen, click here to finish your application!

Don't forget that the application deadline is Sunday, April 19th, at 11:59 PM EST!

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 919-747-3642, or email us at chapter.founders@nourishinternational.org.

The Inaugural Poverty Action Conference was this weekend — over 200 students from across the United States descended on Mary Washington's Campus for the event, which was sponsored by Nourish, Two Dollar Challenge and ASAP.

The Conference featured Anne Hastings from Fonkoze, Stephen Smith from George Washington University and Kate Drushel fromt the Grameen Foundation, in addition to global development icon John Hatch, founder of FINCA, as well as student groups from across the United States that are taking action against global poverty.

Nourish was extremely excited to be involved with the event because of its focus on demonstrating scalable impact and student action — we hope to continue it in the future!

Summer 2009 Projects

Hey everyone!

We’re happy to announce our partner organizations for the summer of 2009!  Below you can find information about each of our partners, the projects we’re supporting, and which Nourish Chapters are involved with each.  Also, if you feel so inclined, you can click here to donate directly to a Nourish Project.  And now, without any further ado:

Partner: Kigezi Community Project
Project: Cycle for Health Initiative
Chapter(s): Boston College

The Kigezi Community Project works in Kabale, Uganda, a region where hilly terrain, a lack of paved roads, and an inability to access motorized transportation make it difficult to mobilize people, goods, and basic resources.  The Cycle for Health Initiative addresses this problem by working with community health care organizations to effectively distribute donated bicycles and train employees in their maintenance to increase access to health care.

Partner: African Sky
Project: Organic Cotton Scrub Tailor Shops
Chapter(s): Emory University

African Sky is a community development organization that works with individuals and communities in Mali to confront the devastating effects of endemic poverty and inequality.  Emory University will be working to support the Organic Cotton Scrub Tailor Shops project, which facilitates local tailor shops in creating organic cotton scrubs.  The sale of refined products (scrubs) rather than raw materials provides farmers and tailors with a direct revenue stream and fair wages.

Keep reading...

Last Saturday marked the first deadline for Nourish’s 2009 Chapter Founders selection process.  In the months of January and February alone, we received 32 applications from students across the United States.  Applicants represented a wide range of universities, including Brown, Cornell, Georgetown, NYU, UPenn, Vanderbilt, Chicago, and many others.  In the coming weeks, these students will participate in a series of interviews before the newest group of Chapter Founders are selected to begin Nourish chapters.

Since the beginning of the selection process in January of this year, 264 interested students have begun Chapter Founder applications—a number that is expected to grow as the second and final deadline of April 19th approaches.  Ten to twelve students will ultimately be chosen to receive 500 dollars in startup capital, the opportunity to attend Nourish’s annual Summer Institute in Chapel Hill this August, and professional training and support throughout the year as they return to their campuses and begin their chapters during the 2009-2010 academic year.

If you or anyone you know are interested in applying, you can go here to tell a friend, and you can also visit our Chapter Founders page to start an application today!

Founding an organization is one of the most difficult things someone can do. It takes time, skill, dedication, and a healthy amount of luck.

Nourish International does everything it can to make sure that it’s Chapter Founders are as successful as possible. Our Chapter Founders program selects for students with the right mix of motivation and leadership ability. Each chapter receives $500 in start-up capital, training at the Summer Institute, and support from a full-time staff member throughout the year in order to make sure that our Chapters thrive from day one.

On the whole, we’ve succeeded. Of the 19 Chapters we founded last year, 14 have grown to the point of running multiple ventures on their campus, a success rate of over 70%. Even more impressive, this summer we expect 90% of our Chapters to participate in implementing a project abroad.

Despite our success, however, it’s important to be upfront about the places where we haven’t been as strong so that we can learn from them. Of the 5 Chapters that haven’t been able to run multiple ventures, 2 have been working to gain student organization status on their campus (the college version of “incorporating”), which will allow them to raise money in the future.

The other three chapters have folded.  Those Chapters are Princeton, Tufts and Virginia Tech.

More information on why these Chapters folded, and what we’re doing to make sure that this is the exception rather than the rule, will be available later in 2009.

Nourish International is seeking interns for its Summer 2009 internship program. Interns will work closely alongside full-time staff to expand and perfect Nourish's model. Interns will be key members of the Nourish team and responsible for several major projects. This internship is an excellent opportunity to gain experience in a challenging and entrepreneurial environment, learn how a non-profit works and develop leadership skills. This position offers the opportunity for an individual with superior communication, organization, relationship-building and management skills to play a crucial role in ensuring the long-term success of our movement.

The internship will take place at our National Office in Chapel Hill, NC.

Responsibilities
Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:
• Communicating with international non-profits and NGO’s to identify potential partnerships
• Assist international partners in developing proposals for community development projects
• Coordinate the Summer Institute training conference for our Chapter Leaders
• Develop and expand the curriculum for our Chapters.

Education and Experience
• High school degree required
• Previous leadership experience, preferably with an undergraduate student organization
• Previous international service experience preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Highly motivated, results-oriented individual who excels in an entrepreneurial environment
• Proven ability to build strong relationships with a variety of constituents
• Exceptional communicator with external and internal audiences
• Strong organizational and operational skills
• Strong management skills
• Respect for developing communities
• Passion for international development

Compensation
The position will be 40 hours per week, for a total of 8 weeks. A stipend of $1000 will be provided.

On April 4th, 2009, Nourish International will co-host the inaugural Poverty Action Conference at the University of Mary Washington.  The Poverty Action conference will bring together students and experts who are committed to reducing global poverty to present their work, share best practices and create new strategies.  Nourish is partnering with the Two Dollar Challenge and the Alliance for Students Against Poverty to put this conference on.

The Poverty Action Conference will have two components, keynote speeches and student sessions.  We have the following keynote sessions planned for the conference:

Economic Development and Why We Do What We Do- Dr. Greg Stanton and Steve Smith
Microfinance: Possibilities and Limitations- John Hatch and Anne Hastings
Keynote- Out of Poverty author Paul Polack

The unique portion of the conference will be the Students in Action sessions, in which students can apply to make presentations on their organizations.  They will receive feedback from the experts on how to improve their models.  This two-way dialogue will help bridge the gap between students and experts and prepare the students to become the future leaders in the field.

For more information on the Poverty Action Conference or how to register, visit: http://www.povertyactionconference.org/

Our Executive Director, James Dillard, will be presenting the Poverty Action Conference as our Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiatives University.  The conference will be held at the University of Texas at Austin from February 13-15.

Carlyn Cowen has been an intern at Nourish International since May 2008.  She is a senior international studies and philosophy major at UNC-CH.