SERES Annual Report
2014
SERES Annual Report
2014
Immigration 3
Field Report 4
What’s New
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How SERES helps young people to find hope and reasons to stay at home…
Stories of young leaders working to transform their communities despite the odds
New projects helping to give emerging leaders the tools, knowledge and attitudes to create real, long-‐lasting change
Highlights of 2014 “Knowing that I can
change and make change happen is extremely profound” “It has been a beautiful and rewarding process – I feel like a great
leader that can create change”
660 new youth leaders and change makers joined the SERES movement
National Energy Globe Guatemala
goes to SERES for youth empowerment and leadership programs
SERES Embassy opens its doors hosting 5 residential training programs in the first 6 months!
ED’s Report
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Our Impact
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SERES Embassy
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Financial Report
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SERES Annual Report
2014
that lies ahead. Yet time and again, we find that the very nature of this work – which requires us to rethink our relationships with each other and with the earth on which we walk – is the very force that sustains us, rejuvenates us and invites us to continue moving forward.
ED’S REPORT It has been another remarkable, stimulating and challenging year for SERES as a team, an organization and a movement of young leaders working for change under difficult circumstances. As each day presents more evidence that points to the deepening social, environmental and economic crises that we as citizens of this planet face, the need for our work becomes stronger and our drive more urgent. At times, being face-‐to-‐face with the realities of what happens at the intersection of huge economic inequality, environmental degradation and climate change, we find ourselves overwhelmed at the sheer enormity of the task 2
One thing that has become apparent over the last 12 months is that there is a growing need for the kind of transformative sustainability leadership work that SERES does – evidenced by various invitations to scale-‐up our work at home in Guatemala and El Salvador, expand our programs further into Central America, bring our experience and expertise to international gatherings and forums and replicate our program offerings such as in our new partnership with the University of California, Irvine. I am immensely proud of the work we continue to deliver: providing knowledge, skills and values for young people to take on roles as active citizens in an increasingly challenging, interconnected world and giving the opportunity for these young leaders to engage in essential conversations with their peers about what that means. We are pioneering a new way to look at development and aid in the
context of equity, sustainability and global solidarity, and getting results – evidenced not just by what we see happening at the grassroots level, but by the increasing number of invitations to our facilitators and alumni for their thought-‐leadership and expertise. We were also excited this year to welcome a new addition to our team – Isabel Pérez – a talented and passionate young woman who has made a significant contribution to this years successes. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a dedicated and passionate team who go above and beyond to support SERES and our young leaders. Lastly, as SERES moves into its 7th year of operation, I hold in my heart the knowledge that the work that we do would not be possible without the generous support of our partners, donors and SERES family. I am so grateful for your encouragement that comes in so many forms. On behalf of SERES, I’d like to thank you all for your generous contributions. Thank you,
CORRINA GRACE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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SERES Annual Report
2014
COLLECTIVE IMPACT SINCE 2010 Collective impact of SERES youth leaders in Guatemala and El Salvador through their action plans and community initiatives
SERES facilitators stepping up as international thought leaders around education for sustainable development and transformative leadership World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development Aichi-‐Nagoya, Japan Corrina Grace, SERES ED, was selected last year as one of 50 youth delegates from more than 5,000 applications to attend UNESCO’s World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development. As a youth delegate, Corrina was involved in providing recommendations for and drafting the Youth Statement that fed into UNESCO’s Roadmap for ESD over the next 5 years. As you can imagine, putting youth front and center and empowering them as
leaders and change-‐makers is a economic, social and environmental central theme. The statement and conditions. More about Isabel’s UNESCO’s Roadmap can both be experience can be found here. downloaded here.
CIVICUS Civil Society Week, Johannesburg South Africa
University of California Irvine, California
SERES has been invited to partner Isabel Pérez, SERES Strategic with UC Irvine to offer trainings and Director, was invited last year to programs in transformative represent SERES at International sustainability leadership. This work, Civil Society week. As part of the which was piloted last year and will program, she was also invited to continue into 2015 was picked up by attend the Rustlers Youth Retreat, the White House as part of their new with over 60 socially active youth National Climate Education Initiative. leaders from every continent. This As part of the collaboration, we will was a fantastic opportunity to be developing projects that bring develop long-‐lasting collaborations emerging leaders from both and exchange amongst youth from geographic regions together for regions with similarly challenging dialogue, skills-‐sharing and training. 3
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SERES Annual Report
2014
SERES Embassy and Ecology Center, Guatemala The SERES Embassy serves as co-living and learning space for the SERES team and a base for running our sustainability learning and leadership programs. A living social laboratory: designed to foster creativity, dialogue and collaboration.
Since opening the SERES Embassy 6 months ago, we have already run 5 residential training programs. The Seres Embassy is a sustainable co-‐living and learning space located just outside of Antigua, Guatemala in the town of San Juan del Obispo. During the first six months of operation, we ran 5 of our programs at the Embassy: 86 youth from Guatemala and El Salvador came to participate in the Sustainable Livelihoods (Integral Watershed Management and Sustainable Agriculture) and Transformative Leadership and 4
Facilitation Program Levels I & II. We also ran our annual Youth Sustainable Summit at the Embassy with the support of the San Juan del Obispo community who hosted most of the youth and provided the spaces for the hands-‐ on workshops. The Ecology Center aspect of the Embassy serve as a community education center, providing hands-‐ on sustainability-‐in-‐ action learning that helps people to understand how to implement solutions at the household, workplace and community level. For the majority of youth that stay with us, it offers the first glimpse
of what sustainable living looks like. SERES Embassy is also part of the international Embassy Network of co-‐living spaces, providing a place for those who seek to immerse themselves with innovative peers and a dynamic environment with events, discussions and projects, rather than staying in impersonal hotels.
There’s room for all, come stay with us. Visit The Embassy page for more information.
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SERES Annual Report
2014
Changing the Narrative: giving youth hope and dreams and a reason to stay Written by
Isabel Pérez
In 2014, the USA claimed a “humanitarian crisis” as waves of unaccompanied minors from Central America flooded the US border. While the rest of the world looked for solutions to stop them coming, SERES facilitators focused on building reasons for them to stay home…
communities and making the dangerous journey to the US border.
insecurity – are the reasons that are commonly given for the large volumes of youth leaving their
These are some of those stories, celebration resilience, creativity, power and innovation. We hope
Without a doubt, the social, economic and environmental situation in this tiny region of the world is dire and there are ample reasons for young people to choose immigration. However what we have found working at the grassroots level with youth that make up this demographic is that the immigration story is so strong because no other narrative exists. With everyone else focused on Changes in weather patterns continue to wreak havoc telling the story of those that leave, we decided to in Central America amongst peasants and subsistence farmers, where the drought impacted more than 50% of focus on telling the stories of those passionate, staple crops and left many people with concerns about courageous and committed young people that choose to stay. food shortages as we move into the second half of the dry season. In rural communities, many face not only We believe that changing the narrative, creating role hunger but also less access to work opportunities in the models and building new stories around what is year ahead. possible for those that stay is essential if we are to turn the tide on youth immigration. This situation – along with poverty, violence and rising
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SERES Annual Report (Continued)
that they inspire you as they do us, and more importantly that they inspire other young people and give them hope that they too have the power to create change.
2014
their bodies. About two years ago, they also met SERES and started down a pathway that called for their leadership as change-‐makers in their community. As the skilled weavers they are (the boys weave El Papaturro, Suchitoto ES It’s been 5 months in this journey of in the evenings on large foot looms El Papaturro is a small community challenging collective habits, health to help support their families) the of 104 families in the northern choices and local economic systems B-‐Boys mixed their vision for a region of El Salvador. Two young sustainable community with the at the micro level but it’s catching leaders, Antonio Cruz Sanchez (Co-‐ on. Little-‐by-‐little, these two young compulsive music-‐theatre of founder of SERES) and César breakdance. Through their art they men are transforming their Recinos (SERES accredited are able to summon and approach community and its people. facilitator), started the Papaturros a big diversity of youth, and have The B-‐boys from Cantel, Ecológicos (a local environmental introduced many young women group) two years ago. What first and men to their vision of more Quetzaltenango started as a youth cleaning sustainable and peaceful Chiriquiaj i s a r ural c ommunity i n t he campaign turned in to an un-‐ community. Guatemalan H ighlands w here l ima precedent organization process beans, corn and handmade textiles As unique as the threads they that involved not only youth but are the main products. A few years weave after school, these young the community as a whole. In ago, three teenagers – Ricardo Say, men managed to creatively September 2014 El Papaturro integrate their Guatemalan rural Josué García and Hidany Sam – citizens gathered in an assembly, discovered hip-‐hop and breakdance life-‐style, the new found urban convened by the Papaturros identities and an ever growing through a compilation of random Ecológicos, to discuss actions they commitment to achieving videos they found at the local could take to tackle the enormous sustainability through their actions. market. They discovered and amount of un-‐treated waste To learn more and see the B-‐Boys appropriated of a new world of production at the community level. identities, skills and ways to inhabit in action, check out their video. These discussions lead to an exploration of consumption habits and questions as to where these products come from and where they go after being consumed. Thus, subjects such as health, local economy, waste production and management were brought to the table. Out of this process, a powerful question arouse: what would it be like if the community was to stop selling packaged fast food like chips and plastic bottled sodas at the local store level? This would spark local innovation to replace such products and further
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activate local economy; it would mean healthier children and health prevention rather than treatment; at last it would also tackle the problem they started with: waste treatment.
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SERES Annual Report
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NEW SERES PROGRAMS It is through education and learning that the next generation - those whose responsibility it is to rethink our relationships and interactions with each other and the planet - will be equipped and empowered with the tools and skills necessary to transform our systems and cultures.
In 2014, SERES launched two new programs: one in food and nutrition and the other in digital media and creative empowerment. Foodscapes and Soul Cocina SERES has partnered with international eco-‐chef Roger Feely from Soul Cocina to develop a new series of sustainability education programs focused on health, nutrition and real food. We are very excited about the potential for impact of this program. Despite being Central America’s breadbasket and the 16th largest U.S. agricultural supplier, malnutrition rates in Guatemala are the highest in Latin America and the 4thhighest in the
world.
confidence – the ability to harness This innovative series of programs creative skills to solve problems – through the power of digital and workshops differs from the storytelling. SERES is working traditional approach to nutrition and food security by incorporating with local photographer and culture, tradition, sustainability and videographer Javier Borrayo leadership to create a holistic shift from Piaf Producciones and San in beliefs and habits from a young Francisco chef Roger Feely to deliver this innovative program that will age, and inviting a new culture around food that celebrates the rich prepare young people to develop bio-‐cultural diversity of this country. original multimedia artwork that highlights issues they care about, For more information on this identifies solutions, and fosters program visit critical creative skills and a passion to www.projectseres.org/food make a difference.
Adobe Youth Voices
Working with Taking It Global, the Adobe Youth Voices program focuses on empowering youth through storytelling and digital media. The program is designed to ignite young people’s creative
Jose and Mauro Buc from Chuacacay community in a 2-‐ day editing session to prepare their final project for Adobe Youth Voices.
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SERES Annual Report
2014
Financial Overview Jan-‐Dec 2014
INCOME
Other Income, $854
Total = $88,888
Private Donaions, $39,407
Foundaions, $48,157
Program Services, $470
EXPENSES Total = $78,399
Construcion, $10,510
Operaing/ Admin, $8,366
Travel, $2,252
Fundraising, $1,577
Staff, $16,860
Direct Program, $33,656
Other, $5,177
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SERES Annual Report
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Local leaders connected globally, accelerating actions towards a sustainable future… Investing in SERES’ change agents and future leaders is not just investing in some else’s life, it is an investment in OUR future. In our increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, it’s imperative that
we go together. It’s all of our responsibility to help make this transition towards a life-‐ sustaining society. Help foster a new generation of sustainability leaders by supporting SERES to continue this work.
We’re committed to empowering a new generation of 7,000 sustainability leaders by 2020. Here’s how you can help us: § §
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$75 will sponsor a young person to attend one of our youth leadership congresses $250 will sponsor a one-day training or workshop for youth leaders to help them further their Community Action Plan $750 will sponsor an emerging leader to attend a transformative leadership workshop outside of their community $2,000 will sponsor a life-changing 3-day congress for 25-30 young people $5,000 will sponsor a 4-day camp bringing regional sustainability leaders together to share, exchange ideas, build networks and collaborate on new project ideas
All donations to SERES are tax-‐deductible*. To find out how you can make a donation, simply visit www.projectseres.org/invest-‐now and follow the instructions for online or check donations.
For more information about SERES visit www.projectseres.org *In Australia, USA, Canada, Guatemala and El Salvador