From the President

Dear Colleagues and friends

This is my last President’s letter as I will be stepping down on January 1, 2013.  It has been an enjoyable 2 years exploring with colleagues how we put form on a Peer to Peer structure while reducing our global systems to fit our actual needs. 

We decided two years ago that we would develop globally through self-organization, meaning individuals and organizations in the network choosing their own priorities and making them real through their own efforts.  It has been difficult at times since we have all been trained to assume “they” (ICAI) have authority, resources and responsibility. Now if I/we/you think something is needed for the global community, just raise the question and make an offer.  Some signs for me that this is working are that we are operating within budget, we have global initiatives starting like Winds and Waves, and we have more organizations joining or rejoining like ICA Guatemala, ICA UK and ICA Ukraine.

The current Winds and Waves is focused on the Nepal ICAI conference just completed as you will discover in the following pages.  I experienced it as a great event with tremendous participation and facilitation from over 362 participants from 35 countries including 100 organizations.  A key element was that it was hosted and run by our colleagues from Nepal with great participation from the rest of the world.  It was always clear this was a Nepali event to honour the larger community.

Global HIV/AIDS Meeting held on Saturday night before the conference included Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Canada, US, UK, Nepal, Taiwan and India (in person and virtually).

Youth Conference: First ever youth conference held in combination with one of our global conferences with 80+ participants - streamed live, thanks to Microsoft Nepal

Virtual & Media team on site and globally: we had a volunteer team from around the world creating opportunities for connection and dialogue that we never had before.

Nagarkot ICA Deliberation Event – Forty-five gathered to reflect and discuss options for the future of ICA.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in our community who over these past two years supported the transition which allowed ICAI to be a viable and transparent organization. I would especially mention Bill Staples and Nan Hudson in Canada, the Winds and Waves team, the virtual Sistah-hood, and my colleagues of the global leadership team.

Finally I would invite you all to consider your own engagement. Each ICA is looking for people willing and able to change the world. How would you like to be involved?  I have put some ideas that came from the conference and Nagarkot below but we are creating this together so if other ideas need to be tried please do share.

With respect,

Larry Philbrook
For the Global Leadership Team

Ideas from the Nepal Conference:
Some options where support is needed:

Local ICA Programs
wherever you are

Comprehensive Development Matrix:
From the Nepal conference and before, this database contains proposals and project descriptions from around the world.  The task is to continue to add to it and look for opportunities to do work together. http://top-global.org/
International Volunteer Program: Several ICAs are looking for partners who have facilitation and other skills that will help their project work and staff development, not just a short visit but a longer term development relationship

Virtual Dialogue Initiative:  
ICAs are moving into the digital age and have had great support from many people but the effort is still at its very beginning. We especially need people who have language skills in French and Spanish to work with colleagues in Latin America and Africa to make sure their wisdom is accessible and interactive within our global community

Global Archives in Chicago:
Converting more than 50 years of our work into accessible materials