Birth of a Movement: Entreprenuers Striving to Change the World

When I decided to take a break from nomadding and devote a year to launching Let’s Get Global, I knew I had to settle somewhere. Washington, DC, seemed like a good choice. Lots of organizations have national offices here and it’s the seat of government, foundations, and more. So I found a place to rent via Craigslist. After a month snuggling in to a tiny but well-located and well-appointed studio, I got kicked out. The landlady had gone to Peru, gotten sick, and was flown home. I was evicted. Now I had to find another place.

Fortunately, Gordon and Stacia Roesler, who had been my Servas hosts in June, offered to let me stay in their Alexandria home until I found something. My key needs were: furnished, reasonably priced, and near a Metro. After a couple of weeks of searching, I decided on a carriage house in Cleveland Park. It wasn’t near a Metro and it wasn’t all that reasonable, but I loved the 15-foot-long desk space where I could imagine special piles for the various parts of my projects. The day I saw it, I wasn’t quite ready to settle, but I was serious about the place. The owner promised that before she rented it to anyone else, she would check with me. Actually, what she said was, even if someone comes to me with an armful of cash (she gestured), I’ll ask you first!

After two days I decided I wanted it. Besides the long desk, my friends Susan and Debbie were close by. I e-mailed my decision (twice) and left a couple of messages on her phone. No response and no answer. I knew that was trouble. The next day there was an e-mail. She’d rented it to someone else. So much for integrity.

So I started again. I blogged, Facebooked, and listserved my quest…and a got a number of leads. Yesterday I took a place (following a lead from Barbara Bode on my listserv). It’s the ground floor of a house….. with a twin bed, a desk that is considerably smaller than 15 feet, a nice living room, and no kitchen!! ( There’s a double hot plate and a refrigerator in the utility room. A cement floor. No real counter or cabinets. And a few plastic bowls.) But I like the location. And in the end, I chose the place because I like the woman that I will be renting from. She lives up the stairs, says I can use her kitchen, and she does have good taste. She’s close to my age and is devoting her life to a non-profit that benefits women in the developing world. She’s a feminist, has traveled at least as much as I have, and has an interesting history in government and movements. I anticipate some stimulating discussions. I’m going with what has always been the most important element in my life…..the human part. I’ll learn to live without a kitchen. I’ll pretend I’m on a sailboat.

For those who know DC, the house is near 7th Steet SW and G. Near L’Enfant Metro and close to the waterfront fish market. I think I’m going to like it. I like the diversity of the neighborhood. Cleveland Park was a little too white bread anyhow. So there!

I learned a lot. The Council on Standards for International Educational Travel exists to “identify, promote and support international youth exchange programs.”  There were sessions entitled Advocacy & Federal Budget Updates, US Department of State J Visa Session, New Oversight Initiatives for Grant Programs.

Those of you who know me can imagine the glaze that settled over my eyes during those meetings, though the ones I attended were impressively managed and professionally conducted and certainly relevant to people who run exchange programs. I have nothing but admiration for the programs that have to deal with such things, and relief that I decided that LGG would promote intercultural activities but not run programs.

There were sessions that dealt with how to manage crises and how to go about screening host families. There were some recent unfortunate incidents in the high school exchange world of incoming foreign students that  everyone wanted to discuss …. and the conference focused a number of sessions on dealing with problems. I left those discussions happy once again that LGG had chosen not to run a program.

CSIET deals mostly with high school academic exchange programs. Let’s Get Global is focusing mostly on encouraging young people to have Gap Year experiences during the year between high school and the next phase of life, but LGG’s campaign will help everybody who was at the conference by increasing interest in intercultural experiences. Our campaign will benefit outgoing, incoming, short-term, long-term, academic, service, and every other kind of program.

I attended the session given by Chris and Mike of Anne Klein Communications Group on how to interview and get your message across to the media. It was enlightening. Their main message was “be prepared” and the chief  advice was, whatever the question, just keep repeating your key messages (which you have written down so you don’t forget them.).  The idea of answering with your message no matter what it is they ask was a little unnerving (they made us practice) for someone who is more of a journalist than an organization person; but  it was well-thought out, well-delivered, and presumably good advice.

There were two senatorial keynoters, Senator Casey of PA and Senator Luger of Indiana; and Judith McHale, Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs gave a luncheon talk. And tons of other sessions with government, organizational, and educational representatives. A lot of information and advice was presented.I gave the closing talk during the final luncheon in which I talked mostly about my life…and a little about LGG.

I left impressed with the organization of the conference, with the quality of  people who run the exchange programs, and with my friend, John Hishmeh, who, with his staff, put it all together.

LET’S GET GLOBAL will be working with many of the groups attending:  Rotary, AFS, other programs,  the State Department, the principals and counselors and international teachers. We’re hoping that many of the groups attending will lend their support to our efforts. And….to all of you who attended, I will be happy to talk in your town. I usually talk to a group of adults one night and to both elementary (I write kids’ books) and high school groups the next day. For travel expenses and a generous donation to LGG, I’ll go just about anywhere. Talk to me.  http://femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com

For the next two days I will be attending the CSIET annual conference. The mission of the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel is to identify, promote and support international youth exchange programs. John Hishmeh, Executive Director of CSIET,  is on the board of Let’s Get Global and he has been educating me about the ways of non-profits. His group deals mostly with high school exchange programs. LGG will deal mostly with Gap Year experiences, that year between high school graduation and the next phase of life.

I will be giving a talk about my life and LGG on Saturday…but I plan to attend the various sessions. John invited me to be a guest at the dinner tomorrow night. When I got the invitation, I gulped. FORMAL ATTIRE. I e-mailed back. “You gotta be kidding.”  He promised me that I didn’t need a gown…as long as I looked nice. So, Chico’s travel tunic and pants it will be. With a great necklace I bought in India and have never worn. A little tacky, perhaps, but what can you expect from a nomad?

I feel as though I’m neglecting my baby. I can’t focus on Let’s Get Global until I have a place to live. I just want it to move ahead without me for a while, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. I looked at two apartments today, two yesterday, and tomorrow there will be two more. I’m not sure when to give up on the ideal and start to compromise. It sure is easier being a nomad!

Servas is very much in my life these days. On many levels.  If you don’t know what it is, check it out:  www.usservas.org.

First, I am staying with Stacia and Gordon Roesler who Servas-hosted me and Jan, my daughter, when we were here for the first Let’s Get Global meeting in June. In September they invited me to stay in their home in Alexandria while they were in CA for a month. At that point I had a city home in DC that I had sublet, and a country  home in VA.

When my sublet fell through last week (the sublet-or was flown home from Peru very sick and needed her apartment back), they invited me to stay on until I found a place. So here I am, hanging out in Alexandria while looking for an apartment in DC. But back to Servas.

I just got back from the U.S. Servas annual conference in Wisconsin where I gave two talks, one about my life as a nomad…and the other about Let’s Get Global. Servas has agreed to be the “fiscal sponsor” of LGG….while we are applying for our 501c3 status.

It all sounded so logical and simple. Our values are totally in alignment. Both Servas and LGG are about connecting around the world. LGG is focusing on young people; Servas would like to encourage more young people to be a part of their organization. Because they are a 501c3 and we are not, Servas offered to help us out by taking donations, administering the distribution of funds, and doing all the accounting. In exchange, the government makes them responsible for LGG’s actions and programs.  Since what we do is directly linked to their tax-deductibility, they have to be very careful to oversee every cent that we collect and spend. They have to approve of what we do and how we do it. And that’s the reason I’m spending today reading and rereading the contract that makes them our fiscal sponsor. This week I have to submit it to the LGG board.

You may suspect that legal talk and I are not a good match…and you would be absolutely right. I know this is important. Our relationship with Servas legitimizes us. Servas has been in existence for 60 years. Funders can contribute to our cause confidently, knowing that we are “a project of US Servas, Inc.” And we can benefit from their guidance. But just reading the contract is a major undertaking for my writer’s psyche….and I’m also struggling with the fact that in signing the contract, I’m turning over the control of everything we do to Servas.

Now I love them. The people on the Servas board are great and I doubt that they would disagree with anything the LGG team wants to do. Our goals and values are nearly identical. But reading that contract is scary. It has to get signed so LGG can get on with business. Don’t get me wrong. Having Servas as our 501c3 umbrella and our fiscal sponsor is fantastic; they are my favorite organization in the world. I’m honored that they want the affilitation.

But it’s driving me batty. I can’t get myself to sit still for a couple of hours to be sure I’m happy with what I’m agreeing to. I’ve eaten a million snacks, spent far too much time on Craigslist looking for an apartment, answered too many e-mails…..and now I’m writing this.

This Birthing of a Movement isn’t nearly as simple as I would like it to be!!