New Year Update (Newsletter 5)
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Founding Connectors!
It’s been a while since I sent out an update because I’ve been busy traveling for the holidays, meeting with folks in SF and Las Vegas for One Degree, and taking an intense two-week course that just finished up. Needless to say, there’s a lot to catch up on.
NEW NAME
First, you’ll notice that we changed our name from Connective Possibilities to One Degree. Read about the name change here. Also do us a favor and “like” our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
SF LAUNCH PARTY
Last month an intimate gathering of 30 community supporters helped us launch One Degree! It is amazing to think that what started out as an idea already has the connective tissue that we aspire to bring to the communities around us. Each of the attendees at the event pledged to connect One Degree to one of his/her connections in the Bay Area, and in that sense it really was a “How do we get One Degree launched” Party. Thanks to Richie Perez for his help in planning and executing the event and to Joanne Protacio for her event help and photography. Check out her photos from the event.
SSG FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
We also successfully raised over $5,100 from 100 of our friends and family members in 45 days through our SSG Campaign. The fact that a hundred people are backing and supporting One Degree, even while we are in the start-up phase, shows how much our community really needs and wants this. We purposely wanted to build a strong foundation of supporters first before going after larger institutional funding to show the power of our community. Thank you for your support and thanks to the kind folks at StartSomeGood.com! Check out our interview on SSG’s Blog.
FELLOWSHIPS & COMPETITIONS
Our next steps for fundraising are to apply to as many social entrepreneurship fellowships and business plan competitions as possible. So far, we’ve submitted applications to Echoing Green, Yale Education Business Plan Competition, Harvard Graduate School of Education Innovation Pitch Competition, and UPenn Education Business Plan Competition.
Up next, we’re applying for the Clinton Global Initiative University, Harvard Social Enterprise Conference Pitch for Change Competition, HBS Business Plan Competition, the Mind Trust Fellowship, and a few more. Cross your fingers!
CRITICAL QUESTION
What other fellowships and competitions should One Degree apply for and are there any skills of yours (proofreading, content revision, networks, etc.) that One Degree could leverage as it seeks start-up funding? Please write your recommendations as a comment on our blog (http://1degree.tumblr.com).
Lastly, I’d like to leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., who’s an inspiration and a guide for how we all can make positive change happen:
- “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
For our youth,
Rey
Rey Faustino
Founder
One Degree
Check out these new links!
Founding Connectors Blog: 1degree.tumblr.com
Facebook: facebook.com/1deg.org
Twitter: @1deg
Our website: 1deg.org
