Rosemary Tisch, Founder
Kids Are Special
Family Education Foundation
San Jose, CA
I just finished reading your [February] article, “U.S. Youth Programs Go Global.” Because of your concentration on large nonprofits, you missed many of the small nonprofits that have been or are working internationally. I am aware that [programs run by] two nonprofits from the San Jose area have been replicated internationally:
Kids Are Special provided training for teachers, police workers and counselors to work with children of alcoholics and addicts to break the cycle of addiction in families in Russia and Ukraine from 1989-1992. Kids Are Special’s group model has also been replicated in Sweden and Mexico.
The Family Education Foundation is developing a school-based prevention curriculum to be piloted in Moscow next year with 10,000 students. Following the pilot year, it will be replicated throughout Russia.
I appreciate the difficulties of trying to reach all the small nonprofits throughout the United States, but I believe one of the strengths of services offered in the U.S. is our ability to have numerous small nonprofits doing fantastic, targeted, innovative work. Mentioning at least a couple of the “successes” of small nonprofits in reaching out internationally would have added to your article. This article seems once more to indicate that “big is better.”
