Inviting you to become a Circle Fund member
Our work over the years would not have been possible without the contribution of people like you, people who care about the education of vulnerable children in poor countries. We’re inviting the friends we’ve made over the years to consider pledging $5,000 or more annually for at least three years to Haiti Partners’ mission and values and becoming founding members of our newest endeavor:
A community that cares
The Circle Fund is a small group of like-minded people and organizations with an interest in Haiti and her children who want to invest in helping Haitians change Haiti in a strategic way. Members of this group share the belief that the best way to help these children – and, ultimately, their country – is through an extraordinary education: An education that promises community development, stronger families, and students who can not only identify problems, but who desire to engage on behalf of their community and country to fix them.
At Haiti Partners, we call this, “changemaker education,” and it’s what takes place each day at the Children’s Academy and Learning Center.
The central challenge of our time is to make everyone a changemaker. To do that you start young. – Bill Drayton
The Circle Fund is for those who want to go deeper with their giving. It’s for those who want to see the direct impact their investment is having on children’s lives and to be part of finding innovative ways to make their gifts go further. Members of The Circle Fund are smart about the way they give as they invest in a brighter future for people who have been left behind.
Circle Fund ROI
The Circle Fund founders are committed to the long-term sustainability of Haiti Partners and to the vision of the Children’s Academy as a thriving school-based community development model that is helping to pioneer the future of learning. These are the values the staff, parents, students and other members of the community strive for:
- Good Character – Strive to always be respectful, honest and wise.
- Sense of Purpose – Discover and realize your unique contribution to the world.
- Sustainability – Think, design, act with future generations in mind.
- Community – Move forward together with love, compassion and joy.
The Children’s Academy is complemented by a network of six partner schools which benefit from its model practices. Between the Children’s Academy and the partner schools, Haiti Partners impacts the lives of over 1200 students each day.
The Children’s Academy has set out to not just improve education in Haiti, but rather to transform how school should even be conceptualized. – Sara Wolf, Director of InnovEd, A partnership of Quisqueya University and Haiti’s Ministry of Education
It is with deep admiration and respect that I look to the Children’s Academy as a model school in Haiti. The school community has created a glorious opportunity for learning, innovation and reflection.
Here at InnovEd, we are constantly seeking and partnering with schools that can promote growth and liberation for the Haitian student. Our team has had the privilege of collaborating with the Children’s Academy since its inception by providing professional development to the teachers and school leaders.
The Children’s Academy is exemplary in the following three key ways:
- Engagement – All members of the community have been intricately involved in creating an inclusive, safe and joyful school environment for all learners. From starting every day with a school-wide Morning Circle to hosting language classes for youth and parents, the Children’s Academy values each member of the community and seeks opportunities for involvement.
- Connection – the Children’s Academy fosters meaningful learning through cultural and contextual connections such as promoting mother-tongue Kreyòl as a language of instruction and providing deep understanding through experiential learning in the garden.
- Reflection – the Children’s Academy seeks excellence through continual reflective practices for improvement. It is as refreshing to see students pause each day to reflect on how they are feeling and what they are learning, as it is to see teachers and parents sit and reflect together on how best to democratically govern the school.
The Children’s Academy has set out to not just improve education in Haiti, but rather to transform how school should even be conceptualized. Our team is grateful to be working alongside them in this konbit. Chapo ba!
– Sara Wolf, Director of InnovEd, A partnership of Quisqueya University and Haiti’s Ministry of Education
Member benefits
The opportunity to participate in:
- Quarterly video conferences featuring updates from children, teachers and parents along with special guests
- An annual trip to Haiti for members and their families
- Online community discussions about topics central to our work like: early childhood development, the future of education, innovative leadership and organizational culture, community development, permaculture, and even hand paper-making.
- Additional opportunities TBD with your input
As an organization committed to empowering, transformative education, we invite Circle Fund members to involve their children in these activities. Through visiting Haiti and/or these periodic interactions, young people receive an excellent opportunity to broaden their horizons, develop meaningful relationships, and share experiences making memories with their families that can enhance and change their lives forever.
A smart investment
The Circle Fund is expected to play a foundational role in Haiti Partners’ budget. We invite Circle Fund members to invest $5-$50k in cycles of at least three years:
- Visionary: $50,000 +
- Leader: $25,000 +
- Changemaker: $10,000 +
- Sustainer: $5,000 +
Our goal is to have collective contributions from Circle Fund members cover the operational expenses of the organization each year. Operational expenses this fiscal year are $160,000. This amount will provide a solid foundation of support and will also allow us to communicate to other donors that 100% of their contributions will go to programs.
Please email Haiti Partners’ Director, John Engle, if you have questions, suggestions or simply wish to sign up as a founding member of The Circle Fund.
Inspiring others to support the work
We honor and respect when donors decide to give anonymously. At the same time, we also know that actions inspire others. For this reason, The Circle Fund will have a web page honoring the members who are playing a vital role in making this work possible. The page will go live when we reach the 50% mark.
Learn more
- View a dynamic, graphic presentation about the Children’s Academy.
- Read a two-page story by Haiti Partners’ Director, John Engle, about how he got involved with Haiti and the creation of the Children’s Academy
- Read a published case study about the Children’s Academy as an example of education-centered community development.
- View a video about PhD research at the Children’s Academy
- Haiti Partners’ Annual Reports
- Haiti Partners’ financials
