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February 3, 2011

 

 

Greetings! 

 

I want to welcome our new Board of Advisors members and thank them for supporting the efforts of the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation. We're entering into an exciting period of growth and we hope that the expanded Board of Advisors is the initial step to building a solid infrastructure for the foundation. Let me tell you briefly about the members.

 

  • Jeremy Alexander - Director, Government Affairs, Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
    • Jeremy has been a kind and passionate supporter from the first day he heard about the organization. He brings to the board his knowledge of Capitol Hill and insights for negotiating the political landscape.

 

  • David Blight - Yale Professor of American History, Author, Director of the Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition.
    • There are few people in America that know Frederick Douglass better than David Blight. Perhaps, even more importantly, he understands that Douglass is as essential to the present as he is to history.

 

  • Paulette Brown-Hinds, PhD - Managing Partner, BPC Media Works.
    • Paulette brings media savvy to the board as well as her tremendous knowledge of political campaigns, corporate America and African American issues especially as they pertain to women.

 

  • Anthony Chavez - Activist, Public Speaker, Grandson of Cesar Chavez.
    • Having grown up understanding and fighting for the rights of farm workers, Anthony is a great spokesperson and personality especially for addressing issues related to labor exploitation. 

 

  • Michelle Duster - Author, Historian, Great granddaughter of Ida B. Wells.
    • Michelle carries the legacy of one of America's greatest freedom fighters, Ida B. Wells. Michelle is an eloquent spokesperson and writer bringing the important component of history to our board.

 

  • Joseph E. Esposito - Former President of MGM/Bally's Hotel Casino Corp.
    • Joe is an unyielding supporter of the foundation and provides a deep knowledge/vast experience of the corporate sector.  Aside from his business sense, Joe brings a common sense approach to helping build the organization.

 

  • Sidmel K. Estes - CEO, Breakthrough, Inc.
    • Sid is an ardent supporter and one of America's most accomplished media experts. She was the first woman elected to be President of the National Association of Black Journalists and is listed in Ebony magazine's 100 Most Influential Black Americans and Organizations. 

 

  • Glendene Grant - Mothers Against Trafficking Humans (M.A.T.H).
    • Glendene is one of our most passionate board members; a passion born from experiencing the crime of human trafficking first hand. The search for her daughter, Jessie Foster, is what drives Glendene.

 

  • Amparo Grisales - Actress and Activist.
    • In 2000, Amparo was selected as one of the 10 most important Colombians of the 20th century. She has leveraged her fame as an actress and model to help address crimes against women in Latin America especially the crime of human trafficking.

 

  • Dottie Laster - President, Laster Global, Internet Radio Talk Show Host.
    • Dottie is one of the leading minds in the anti-trafficking movement and we're pleased to have access to her insights. She is also host of TRAFFICKED on "Here Women Talk Radio" and Executive Director of MillionKids.org.

 

  • Brad Lockhart - Founder, ShaniyaSpeaks.org.
    • Brad has become a leading voice in fighting Child Exploitation and Sexual Crimes Against Children. He was pulled into this cause when, tragically, in 2009, his 5 year old daughter, Shaniya, became a victim of an unfathomable sex crime. We're honored to have Brad join us.

 

  • Carlita McIlwain - President and CEO, McIlwain Medical Management.
    • Carlita is here to get things done. With a great deal of experience in both the corporate world and with charities, she has an uncanny ability to organize causes and motivate people.

 

  • Terri Miller - President, S.E.S.A.M.E. and former Director, Southern Nevada Human Trafficking Task Force.
    • Terri is a true heroine for the cause of child exploitation. Against powerful forces that attempted to derail her every step of the way, Terri persevered for years and, in the end, won life sentence judgements against two child sexual predators/teachers in her community.

 

  • Victor Rodriguez - Creative Owner, Eurie Creative.
    • Victor is a leader in creating brands through visual presentations that communicate powerful messages. He has won numerous awards for his creative work and that of his company.

 

  • Melissa Snow - Director of Programs, Shared Hope International.
    • Melissa is on the leading edge, at Shared Hope, in developing programs to address the fundamental challenges within the area of domestic and international human trafficking. She's really been an advisor since the day we met, now it's official.

 

  • Gordon Woodward - Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis.
    • Gordon is a distinguished Washington DC attorney with an expertise in non-profit entities. Gordon also does pro-bono work in civil rights cases providing access to justice for his clients.

 

As you may know, our goal is to one day see an end to all forms of slavery and human trafficking in the United States and all over the world.  As our mission states, we believe the first step to fulfilling that goal is to raise awareness - "Abolition Through Education."

 

We have found an incredible niche to teach students about human trafficking and do it within the context of history. We then ask students to carry that message to their peers and the community through, what is called, Service-Learning.

 

The Frederick Douglass Service-Learning Program

 

Service-learning is exactly what it says - it's classroom learning combined with community service. It's students participating in a cause with the guidance and support of teachers and administrators. Most importantly, for FDFF, we believe that service-learning is the best opportunity to accomplish our mission of one day ending human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

 

Here's how it works.

 

1)     We identify a community partner/non-profit organization.

2)     Together we create the curriculum for a service-learning project that relates to some aspect of human trafficking.

3)     Teachers from participating schools select one or more service-learning projects for their class from a menu of projects approved by their school district.

4)     FDFF tracks the progress of each student with our partner, Compassionworx.

 

Where we are:

 

At this moment, the California Department of Education is interested in incorporating the FD Service-learning Program in CA schools. On February 8th we will present details about our projects at a conference that will be attended by all of the service-learning coordinators at the specific school districts in California. For those that want the projects as part of their service-learning offering, we will ask for a kind of Letter of Intent so we'll have a good idea of the number of: a) districts, b) schools and c) students that want to participate.

 

Next Step

 

We begin to identify and select local organizations and some national organizations interested in reaching students with their message regarding the issue of human trafficking.  Together, along with experts, we start creating the curriculum.

 

Funding

 

In the meantime, we must find corporations, non-profit organizations and individuals to help fund this effort. There will be different levels of funding: larger grants or donations from state or national corporations or non-profits that find this educational initiative addresses their organization's mission; as well as local businesses and individuals that agree the projects are a benefit to students and the community as a whole.

 

March for Human Rights Education in May

 

 As a means of introducing the program to the public and to teachers, we have begun to plan a march that would be led by Ken Morris and, hopefully, joined by a large cast of students, press, activists, advocates, celebrities and others. The idea would be to have Ken and Robert visit 20 participating California schools over a period of two weeks. Presentations would be made to an assembly of students at each school and one at the state capital at the end of the march. It would be a way to raise awareness and raise funds for the program.

 

Please stay tuned for more information about upcoming events and the educational program. Of course, if you have any thoughts about potential funders or other way you can help, please let us know.

 

Celebrity Spokesperson

 

One component we're still missing (aside from a large donor) is a celebrity spokesperson. If anyone can help in this area, we're ready to listen.

 

In Freedom,

ken sig
 

Kenneth B. Morris, Jr.
President
Frederick Douglass Family Foundation

www.fdff.org


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