News & Media / OWN Celebrates 2011
A Message from the Executive Director
Dear Friends & Supporters of OneWorld Now!:
As 2011 comes to a close, we want to share the highlights of yet another exceptional and exciting year at OneWorld Now!.
2011 is the year of our independence, having left our fiscal agent, The Tides Center, to become our own 501(c)3 organization.
We expanded OWN’s innovative and effective program model to an underserved school in Oahu, Hawaii—thanks to generous support from the Qatar Foundation International (QFI)— launching the first high school Arabic language program in all of the Hawaiian islands.
We also sent high school youth abroad on scholarships to China, Qatar and Kenya and offered our first middle school study abroad trip to China this year.
We held our annual STARTALK Summer Language Camp for the 5th year in Seattle, providing Arabic and Chinese language and cultural experiences to high school students. OWN-Hawaii also held it’s first residential Arabic language camp at the University of Hawaii in 2011.
Additionally, OWN youth from Seattle and Hawaii organized our 6th annual—and largest to date— “Get Global Leadership Conference” at the University of Washington for visiting high school students from around the world.
All of these exciting activities and developments were possible with SUPPORT from DONORS LIKE YOU! As you consider your year-end giving, we hope you will be inspired to give generously to support our young leaders! Your donations make our innovative program of language, leadership and study abroad possible for these underserved high school students, which often positively shifts the trajectory of their lives. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND GENEROSITY!
Sincerely,
Kristin Hayden
Founder/Executive Director
Meet our newest cohort
OWN's 2011 incoming class is as unique as each of the individuals.
The newest cohort of OWN students speak 25 languages, including Oromo, Vietnamese, Amharic, Tagalong, and Spanish. These students represent many diverse backgrounds. Forty percent of the new students were born outside of the United States. Ninety-one percent of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The majority of students report that neither their parents nor their grandparents attended college. Through OWN’s college prep workshops, these students will become first generation college students. Finally, 99% of students completing two years of language and leadership with OneWorld Now! attend college or university.
OWN's Independence and Birthday
After nearly nine years of working with the Tides Center as our fiscal agent, OneWorld Now! became an independent 501c3 non-profit organization on May 1st, 2011.
This is an important step in our history and we are grateful for all the support we’ve had along the way to make this possible. As OWN ends our first decade of operation and enters into the second, our vision is to sustain and scale our innovative program model.
We thank our donors, supporters, partners, staff, Board, volunteers and especially our students for your commitment to developing the next generation of global leaders! This work is fulfilling and our students are inspiring!
Thank you to all who have made OWN the strong, successful, and INDEPENDENT social venture it is on the eve of our 10th year!
Seattle Strong
On November 15, 2011 OneWorld Now! held our Seattle Strong Luncheon to announce Seattle’s partnership with President Obama’s 100,000 Strong Initiative, which aims to strengthen US-China ties and American familiarity with China by diversifying and increasing the number of American students studying abroad in China.
OWN’s nine year track record of teaching Mandarin Chinese and providing study abroad scholarships to China, as well as our focus on underserved youth, make us a natural lead agency in Seattle on this initiative, where the goal is not just to increase but also to diversify who goes to China. Seattle has been selected by the Obama administration, along with Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C., as one of the four leading cities to participate in the initiative.
Through the Seattle Strong partnership, OWN hopes to generate funds and opportunities for underserved Seattle youth to study abroad in China. Seattle Public Schools Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield spoke at the event, as did OneWorld Now! alumnus Philmon Haile. U.S. Ambassador to China and former Washington State governor Gary Locke spoke at the event via video and expressed his support for the initiative and the work of OneWorld Now!. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn voiced his support for the Seattle Strong initiative in a press conference following the luncheon.
Watch the full press conference online.
Donate today!
OneWorld Now! is the recipient of wide-based support from hundreds of individuals, organizations and companies. It is through your generous support that our programs are possible.
There are many ways that you and your company or organization can support OneWorld Now! and our mission to create global leaders. This includes making donations, volunteering, providing space and resources or making in-kind donations.
Please make your tax-deductible donation via check (payable to OneWorld Now!) and mail to:
OneWorld Now!
600 First Ave., Suite 620
Seattle, WA 98104
Or donate online! Thank you!
