The Stone Soup Leadership Institute’s
Global Technology Initiative
Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories of Everyday Heroes is a blueprint for building a better world. Its heroes are legendary people and ordinary folks who, by conviction, imagination, innovation, persistence, frequently hard work, and not infrequently moral or physical courage, have lifted their neighbors and their communities. They challenge each of us to respond in kind.
In the last century we’ve shown the world how we can attack and solve perplexing problems with technology. Imagine if we were to apply that same intellectual power to solving the greatest problems the world faces – poverty, overpopulation, pollution, and medical insufficiency, as well as our dependence on nonrenewable energy resources. Now is a good time to launch a bold new national initiative. This could be our version of the putting a man on the moon. It's time to take action -- and chart the course for our future. Walter Cronkite
The Stone Soup Leadership Institute is ready to leverage a decade of service to respond to President
Obama’s Call to Action. For the last 12 years, the Institute, a 501 c3 nonprofit organization, has been
turning hope into action -- from Stone Soup gatherings to a best-selling book and educational curriculum; from national grassroots educational campaigns to celebrity events honoring local heroes; from training teachers to organizing community initiatives; from empowering multicultural youth to developing a four-year demonstration project.
The Institute’s educational curriculum, Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories of Everyday
Heroes is a "handbook for humanitarians" and “a blueprint for building a better world.” This flagship
service-learning program harnesses the energy, enthusiasm and idealism of youth with timely tools –
using a values-oriented, multidisciplinary approach that teaches process-oriented critical thinking skills. Piloted by the YMCA of the USA, it’s being used in 120 communities around the world to prepare a new generation of leaders to address the economic, environmental and social challenges of the 21st century.
The Institute uses the curriculum to train young and emerging leaders to develop innovative solutions to issues facing their communities and our planet. The Institute’s trainings bring the Stone Soup fable to life, inspiring people to give their gifts – so together we can feed the hunger in our souls and the hunger in the world. The Institute’s faculty includes seasoned leaders from the book and youth leaders trained in the Institute’s initiatives that work along side traditional and grass root leaders. The Institute’s annual Youth Summits for Sustainable Development serve as action-learning laboratories to inspire, train and empower young people to become tomorrow’s leaders. We’ve seen the power of the possibilities and the promise.
A small nonprofit, the Institute leverages its resources to impact policy and programs affecting young lives around the world. From Cincinnati to Oakland, from Martha’s Vineyard to Vieques, Puerto Rico, Virgin Gorda and the Philippines, we fulfill the Institute’s pledge “together we will forge new directions, bridge the gap between the haves and have nots, and strive to build a more peaceful and sustainable world.”
The Institute’s youth leaders are especially eager to respond to President Obama’s Call to Service.
“As I listened to the Institute’s faculty: Melba Beals, Nane Alejandrez, Barrios Unidos, Cesar Chavez,
Avon Mattison, it struck me that these incredible people along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar
Chavez and Mahatma Gandhi fought so hard so my generation has the opportunities we do today,” says 26-year-old Arianna Caplan. “It’s important to continue their legacy, to carry the torch, and to gather my peers to continue the dream of a better world. It's our turn now!”
The Institute is eager to scale-up its operations and develop a technological infrastructure in order to
expand its impact and enable millions of people to respond to President Obama’s Call to Service. Our
goal is to document the Institute’s 10-year history of processes and programs; develop best practices;
complete next book and curriculum; create an online train-the-trainer certification program; and develop a web-based Stone Soup Library – as the first step towards a comprehensive online interactive university.
By combining the Institute’s curriculum, programs, initiatives and users with the savvy of the web 2.0
world we will provide invaluable resources so people, schools and organizations can maximize their
response to President Obama’s Call to Service. The Institute will create an online Education Resource
Center, so people will enjoy the inspirational stories, exchange creative ideas and explore ways to engage others to work together to improve their world. By collaborating with the Institute’s team of education, environmental and international development leaders, educators will be able to access our capacity building training; increase their ability to develop partnership projects and create online communities-in-action with socially positive projects.
The Institute’s cost effective collaborative approach is uniquely suited for these challenging economic times. For every dollar raised, the Institute matches with in-kind contributions from its community partners. The Institute is prepared to leverage our reputation and generate significant return for your support through good will and global recognition.
In order to accomplish our expansion goals, we need the technical services and operational resources to
implement, support and manage this expansion through corporate partnerships, in-kind contributions and budgetary expenditures.
We invite you to personally get involved and share your experience and wisdom.
Thank you for your consideration.
Walter Cronkite is honorary chairman of the Institute’s International Advisory Council that includes Dr. Muhammad Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Cesar Chavez and global leaders in education, technology, international and sustainable development. Over the years, the Institute has built strategic alliances and broad-based coalitions with national and global organizations and companies to create exciting media-oriented educational events like the World’s Largest Book-signing, a 10-City Education Campaign, the Celebration of Heroes with Walter Cronkite and an annual Youth Summit for Sustainable Development. In 2007, the Institute culminated its four-year bi-lingual demonstration project in Vieques, Puerto Rico with the 2020 Report on Sustainable Development. First presented to Puerto Rican government leaders and ministers of Caribbean islands, then at the (Asian-Pacific Economic Council) APEC Youth Summit in Peru to inspire youth leaders from 21 countries to create a declaration for world leaders for the APEC Summit in November 2008.
P.O. Box 5324, Larkspur, CA 94977 • 415.646.0416 • soup4world@gmail.com • www.soup4world.com
P.O. Box 5324, Larkspur, CA 94977 • 415.646.0416 • soup4world@gmail.com • www.soup4world.com