Lesley Carson, Director
Alphonso Nyenuh <NyenuhA@LCHR.ORG>
Forefront Leaders
333 7th Avenue, 13th Floor ·
New York, NY 10001
TEL: 212)845-5273 (2000)
FAX: 212-253-4244 (2000)
carsonl@forefrontleaders.org
URL http://www.forefrontleaders.org.
Has a well-defined highly suitable project for determining characteristics of exile human rights leaders. Also some database projects which I do not think are suitable unless students have experience. See messages below.
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Date |
Notes |
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20 November, 2000 |
e-mail query about project for 2001 |
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20 November, 2000 |
equivocal e-mail response see Appendix |
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29 November, 2000 |
HS followup e-mail see Appendix |
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From: Lesley Carson <carsonl@forefrontleaders.org>
To: "'Herbert F. Spirer'" <hspirer@bigfoot.com>
Subject: RE: connexion with SIPA?
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 16:01:24 -0500
Ok, I'll give it some thought-- and, I just passed it around the Lawyers
Committee for HR too, in case someone in the office is interested.
Lesley
From: Lesley Carson <carsonl@forefrontleaders.org>
To: "'Herbert F. Spirer'" <hspirer@bigfoot.com>
Subject: RE: connexion with SIPA?
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 12:18:14 -0500
Hi Herb, Forefront is my same organization of grassroots human rights leaders who have won the reebok hr award. our site is www.forefrontleaders.org.
I am interested in having the help of your students, or perhaps one of our groups may be-- but would have to think carefully about defining a project and time to manage it. Are you thinki gof next semester?
29 November, 2000
Dear Lesley,
In the interest of efficiency (and maybe even effectiveness), maybe we can work out something by e-mail.
First and foremost. The idea of our "consulting" approach is that the client (like you) is to have minimal work dealing with the student team. What we need from the client is a definition of a problem and access to data. Since we generally work with documentary data, often all the client is in for is to say "This is what I would like to know," and then to point to a box of papers. (It has actually happened this way more than once!) These are not interns, and I am their boss, not the client. However, they do have questions of interpretation, but some clients have delegated answering questions.
I should add that some clients really get involved with the students, both for reasons of wanting to get something that can't be easily defined, or expanding the horizons, or just personal interest. Some permanent relationships have developed.
But secondly. It is important to have a question to ask. As a consequence of looking at your website, what comes to my mind is related to both management of your enterprise (how it has grown!) and the "sociology" of the leaders/winners (lws). Do you have a good demographic and activity study of the lws you work with? Do you know the distribution of their ages, countries, activities, any statements of their intent, motivation, purposes, nature of support they get? Maybe this could be extended to opinions or perceptions of theirs? Would you want to have this put together in a report for Rbk or grant supporters, or whatever?
You might want to take a look at the web site http://www.columbia.edu/itc/sipa/U8165/
and go to Projects and take a look at the one earlier project (JRS) available there for viewing. It is much in the line of what I suggest to you above.
I would be glad to sit with you on this. However, in interests of saving your time, maybe we can work this out in a general preliminary form by e-mail/phone. We do have the problem - experienced once before - that I don't know how many students I will have and what their characteristics will be and whether they will buy in.
So I could offer a general problem -- something like the above or something that is triggered in your mind by the above description -- and then wait to see if they bite. If they do, then they and I could come and see you to kick off a project.
What say?
Best regards.
20 December
Dear Lesley,
Your first project - scoping the exiles will fit our class goals. The students can get data. We can't solve the whole problem, but from our experience with other projects, we can deliver value to you.
The second project is basically to build a database. Last year I took on one such project and even had a volunteer info system person work on it, but this is beyond the students' capabilities and there probably isn't enough time.
The third project is similar and involves a web site. The same considerations apply.
HOWEVER, re the last two projects, I may be able to hold out some long-term hope for low-cost resolution of these nominally high-cost projects.
Look at the website www.benetech.org , project Martus. Benetech is working on building data base capability for NGOs that would be delivered to the NGOs at zero cost through the use of philanthropic and gift-in-kind support that Benetech obtains. I have been working with them to try to define the nature of the database systems and services they need to provide to the NGO community. Their Martus system is intended for either local or internet bases - or hybrids.
This is in the future, of course - if we are defining needs now we are not likely to see beta testing for many months.
However, nothing wrong with getting something going. With your permission (and you don't have to give it if you don't want to), I would send your message to Jim Fruchterman, their CEO, to (1) give him an idea of what NGOs need and (2) in the hopes that they might be able to help you - even make you a beta site.
Summary:
1. Yes, yes on Project 1.
2. Let me know if I can release your message to Benetech (look at site first)
3. We may – depending on student interest, be able to do something on last two projects.
Delivered-To:
hspirer@bestweb.net
From: Lesley Carson <carsonl@forefrontleaders.org>
To: "'Herbert F. Spirer'" <hspirer@bigfoot.com>
Cc: Alphonso Nyenuh <NyenuhA@LCHR.ORG>
Subject: RE: connexion with SIPA?
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 15:01:13 -0500
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0)
Hi Herb,
We have been grappling with this a lot over recent weeks. We want to take
advantage of bright young minds working with us for a semester, but at the
moment we have a lot of great research questions and very little data to
offer for analysis! We need data GATHERERS and analysts!
Let me give you an example: We are launching a new project called the
Exiled Activists Project. To do this, we want to find out how many
activists from human rights organizations (which would have to be defined
clearly) are forced to go into exile each year, from which countries and to
what countries they go. Then we want to find out what happens to them after
they arrive in a new place, ie. how many are able to continue their work in
a meaningful way? How many are able to seek higher education? What are the
obstacles to continuing their work? It is a fascinating research project
that would help our organization a lot, but we don't have any raw data or
where to turn for the info...just the problem.
Similarly, for the same project we want to compile comprehensive information
about the resources available to exiled activists around the world (ie. in
major ports of entry for asylum such as France, Belgium, Holland, Canada and
the US). These resources would be legal assistance, education, social
services, etc. We want to build a database, translate it into many
languages, and post it on the web so activists have a place to go for good
information.
Finally, we want to survey and compile organizational development and
activism "how to" resources out there in English, Spanish, French, Arabic
and other languages for human rights defenders. I know that over the years
many organizations all over the world have done training programs addressing
various topics, yet there is no comprehensive place where they have been
compiled and/or are made accessible to activists. Mona Chuna and I are
doing a joint project (if we can get it funded) to create a big online web
resource center in many langauges for human rights defenders all over the
world. Again, this is about analyzing what is out there, but it also is
about digging up the information.
Let me know what your thoughts are about these, and I'll also keep thinking.
I've copied my colleague Alphonso Nyenuh, who is conceptualizing these new
projects with me.
Thanks, Lesley