Peace Practices Application+discussion
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amanda Combes
Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 2:53 PM
Subject: Peace Practices Application
To: "[email protected]"
Dear Brandon
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brandon WilliamsCraig
Date: Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 12:45 AM
Subject: Fwd: Peace Practices Application
To: Christinia Cheung
Christinia,
Greetings! I've moved into high gear since we spoke and continue to be very
excited about our work together. I am near to hiring an assistant, have
started the process of purchasing mats and having them delivered to
Emeryville and San Mateo, and am putting together the announcement of the
program being funded and launched.
I just received an email from Amanda Combes, which almost went to spam
because she didn't use the [email protected] address I have used for
all grant-related communications. At the end of my conversation with you I
understood that we were approved and funded after the clarifications you
provided to the committee about the greater potential reach of the
training. Is acceptance still in question, making a reply to Amanda
necessary? Just in case, I have included below a draft of a reply to her
which I hope you will read and critique so I may send it back right away.
If I don't hear from you in the next 24 hours or so, I'll go ahead and send
it to her tomorrow (Friday) night.
When may we meet next week? Is either Tuesday between 12 and 2 or Thursday
morning an option? When are you usually in Emeryville?
As promised, here is a static snapshot of the project management structure
being developed in our online office. The items which most immediately
concern us both are in *red and bold*.
Project Management Projections
Administration
1. *BW create contract from proposal and email draft to CC. Outline plan
to promote PRIntS and PxPx to local businesses.*
2. *BW schedule meeting for next week w CC to sign contract and talk
about everything as yet undecided for early May launch.*
3. *BW access PRIntS master calendar for both campuses and overlay with
PxPx class times proposal*
4. BW draft job descriptions
1. Assistant Instructors
2. Personal Assistant > Administrator
3. Study Director
4. Study Assistant?
5. Interns
5. BW contact Cheyenne re admin assisting
6. BW contact Ethan to spec and cost estimate website ramp-up
7. BW post internship invitation to various sites
1. UC Berkeley Calisto
2. more
8.
Communications (Fundraising, Media, & Promotion)
1. BW generate 1st announcement/appeal and sketch newsletter/appeal
schedule as far out as possible
2. BW script first YouTube video - introduction
3. BW (& Saeki or Otsuka Sensei ?) *Request permission to prepare
entries for Phrase of the Day blog*
Development & Travel
1. *BW contact service clubs to schedule speaking engagements to promote
PRIntS and PxPx*
1. BW Rotary
2. BW Lions
3. BW Kiwanis
4.
2. BW National Travel
1. BW Texas - Montessori Training Center, Dallas, St. Alcuin
2.
3. International Travel - none scheduled at this time
Infrastructure
1. BW order mats - called 20140410 and requested estimate
2. *BW and CC tour San Mateo to introduce BW*
3. *BW & CC notify and prep Emeryville and San Mateo to receive mats
shipment*
4. BW evaluate and engage online collaborative technology. Opt in to
best relevant services.
5. BW create online applications
1. interns
2. ?job applicants?
6. BW Young's Trading discounted price list for gis and equipment
7. BW create order form and ABC PayPal store to buy related items
8.
Instruction
1. BW Complete release draft: first set of lessons as folio pages
1. CH
2. Elem
3. Edrk
4. Full/Adult
2. Create first flashcards set by level as above
3. BW Recruit assistants
1. Tyle
2. Cesar
3. Adam
4. ?
4. *BW Prepare May 1st demonstration for Emeryville (& San Mateo?)*
Planning/Project Management
1. Project special events and seasonal variations to have special
learning possibilities
1. Summer - Heat fluidity and Watery movement, misogi/purification
2. Fall - Base/Earth center, preparation, ritual, and focus
3. Winter - Extension and Breath, inner fire/Ki/Chi, ki-ai
4. Spring - Lightness of spirit, release of anger, performance and
testing
5. School observed special events, especially linked to Japanese
culture
1. mochi pounding?
6. more...
2. Transfer this list to communications-integrated system
*Study*
1. BW interview potential study consultants/contractors
1. Christopher Schalge
2. Richa Pokhrel
2. BW contact UC Berkeley statistics dept for recommendations
3. *BW CC ABC staff review Aikido in the School New York
questions/targets and establish study parameters*
4. *BW CC ABC staff May 2014 frame entry questions and overall
instrument*
5. *ABC staff June? 2014 Manage and refine system collecting qualitative
data with an eye toward shifting toward a more quantitative lens later.*
6. ABC staff January? 2015 Collect preliminary data set and process
qualitative data in order to generate polished NGO-style reports for for
primary funder (private international family fund) and to support
additional fundraising.
7. BW ABC staff March? 2015 Primary reporting window for year one data.
Report due.
...
Dear Amanda,
Thanks very much for the opportunity to respond to your questions. I am
very glad the committee has decided to carry this further.
1. You asked "How much are the other two private donations in 2014
worth? The Foundation may not agree to the full UD100,000 in the first year
and if this is the case, we need to understand how you would address any
shortfall with alternative income."
We requested USD100,000 annually for three years and intend to tap two
donors who have expressed interest, contingent on our application's
success. Both donated $5,000 to support ABC's successful bid in 2008 to
have me become Executive Director and create the first administration for
an international aikido and peace NGO called Aiki Extensions. Each donor
has asked that I return to them when I have funding from other sources but
neither has signed a letter of commitment for a specific amount. There are
also several donors from ABC's past who made similar requests but are
further out of touch. I hope for ongoing donations from each but know that
the economy and their other commitments may effect their response.
If the requested amount is not available, we will travel less, ask more
from our instructors for a slightly lower hourly wage, focus more energy on
interns and volunteers, minimize special events, and throw more of our
weight behind fundraising than deepening the data on which our study will
be based. We might also restrict our study parameters to existing questions
already in play in the hands of related organizations.
One thing is certain. This learning is a human survival necessity and the
project will move forward with gratitude for whatever you are able to
provide. We will definitely be able to raise funds from other sources in
order to promote the program nationally as we prove ourselves during the
first year.
2. You asked "How will you secure the significant further donation
targets in years 2 and 3?"
Our primary fundraising will not be contingent on any particular source,
even your foundation or the donors mentioned above and their associates. We
intend to raise funds in all of the following ways:
- recruit board members with fundraising expertise from a pool of
several who have expressed interest
- pursue grants from both governmental and institutional sources
including the Ford, Hewlett, and Gates Foundations.
- create and distribute newsletters including appeals to families of
students, the international aikido community with whom I am intimately
acquainted, and the Association Building Community network of roughly 2,000
supportive constituents and donors,
- create or participate in special events and demonstrations in order to
appeal for funds
- visit and speak to Asian cultural associations and embassies, local
businesses, and service clubs including Rotary, Lions, and Kiwanis
- offer teacher training, certifications, and professional development
for aikido, business management, and Montessori professionals
- sell* uniforms, branded equipment, and training aids such as flashcards
- publish and sell* both training manuals and a book geared for the
general public
** All items essential to training will be provided rather than sold to
students experiencing financial hardship.*
3. You asked "Bearing in mind the annual budget you have outlined,
what will this incremental funding be used for – as you appear to be asking
for the whole pilot project sum for three years from The C COM Foundation?"
The budget we requested is "bare bones" for a start-up that intends to move
from two local campuses to a national and then international level in three
years. It does not include:
- additional mats to establish new training communities (dojos) in new
schools
- scholarship uniforms and equipment for students from struggling
families
- legal consultation for contracts and trademarks
- the expanded insurance that will be required as the project grows and
liability expands
- hosting conferences and annual training events
- modest administrative expansion and staff development
Our fundraising targets of USD150,000, USD300,000 and USD600,000
respectively in 2014, 2015 and 2016 have to do with diversifying funding
sources, replacing the initial seed money we hope your foundation will
provide, and making the project functionally independent and
self-supporting, as well as expanding it to a national and then
international level. Additional funding will go directly toward impacting
more children and families. Given the two campuses and extended communities
we know we will serve right away, we expect to include between 150 and 200
people in the training in 2014-2015. We would prefer that five times that
number might at least begin to learn "conflict done well" in the first
three years of the program. We will reach as far as our financial support
allows us to train and deploy instructional materials and instructors. If
all goes according to our strategic community plan, an expanded ABC
membership will fund the entire administration so that every possible bit
of large grants, government, and institutional funding can go directly to
sustaining the children who will carry civil society into the future.
Please allow me to convince you to fully fund our beginning budget as
requested in the application. I look forward to exceeding expectations and
making you proud to have supported us.
Brandon Williamscraig
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amanda Combes
Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 9:53 PM
Subject: Peace Practices Application
Dear Brandon