TELL US YOUR STORIES
Share Your Recollections About the Ford Foundation HERE
MEMBER FORUMS
Affinity Groups (2) |
Events (5) |
Volunteers (2) |
Classifieds () |
Recollections (1) |
 |
NEWSLETTER
|
Chapter News: Tell Us Your Stories
The New York chapter used the occasion of a gathering December 1 at the Foundation to open a new initiative by LAFF called the Recollections Campaign, an opportunity for members to share memories from their time at Ford.
Members came from all over the country, including San Francisco, Vermont and Washington, D.C., and some had worked abroad, especially in the Cairo and New Delhi offices. The format of the gathering enabled them to talk about their own experiences and comment on those of others at the event.
The idea for the initiative came out of last summer’s meeting of LAFF’s executive committee, when members discussed how best to maintain a continuing connection among colleagues through sharing recollections of time spent at Ford.
Following the meeting, Suzanne Siskel, a vice president of LAFF who is working with all the chapters to foster their connections with their members and the Society as a whole, wrote to the chapter heads encouraging them to plan meetings with varied formats that enable members to share their stories, such as open-ended conversations and meetings structured around a theme.
“Collectively,” she wrote, “we hold much of the history beyond the written official record of the Foundation’s accomplishments, both small and large. Our stories illuminate many significant moments of 20th century history.
“…we supported processes of decolonization around the world and fledgling democratic institutions in Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and South Africa. We underwrote civil and human rights movements, anti-poverty and educational reform programs in the United States and abroad, and galvanized the philanthropic community globally in response to the AIDS/HIV pandemic.
“This history can be enriched further with our individual and collective recall,” she wrote. “Hence, the suggestion that we create a platform for us to tell some of our stories in new ways…. And we are particularly eager to elicit members’ suggestions for how we can create a more permanent home for our recollections.”
One step toward this goal has been the creation of a special section on the home page of the LAFF website titled “Tell Us Your Stories”, in which members are urged to write of their experiences and comment on what others write. It is in the upper right corner of every page.
And before the new initiative was developed the LAFF chapter in the Philippines held just such an event as was envisioned. When Rosalia Sciortino, who works in Bangkok for the Southeast and East Asia International Research Development Center, attended a conference in Manila early last year, LAFF members there used the occasion to socialize and share memories over lunch at the Bistro Remedios.
|
