On Wednesday, I had a meeting with Kirsten, the Environmental Studies advisor. At this meeting, I told her about ODA, our current project, and what we have done so far. She was very enthusiastic and really liked the fact that we will be basing our project off of a needs assessment of the area. In our discussion, I mentioned how we had originally been looking into doing a project in India or Peru. With my mention of India, she informed me that she had actually worked in India for a nonprofit, consequently, she had a number of contacts there. She said that whenever we are ready to focus on India again she will pass along the contact information.
Also, concerning finance, she suggested that we check out the Knight Library’s grant database. Apparently it is great and free for U of O students. Kirsten will send along to us any funding information/opportunities that comes her way from now on. She will also pass along to us any information that she thinks might be of interest to us. Kirsten also mentioned that she has some friends in California that have a business that does basically what we are trying to do (need assessment of an area, come up with an appropriate project, get funding, implement project). She will be e-mailing me their contact information shortly.
After the meeting, I e-mailed Kirsten a link to our website and a link to our responses to the Clinton Global Initiative so she can get a more in depth look at ODA. She wants us to keep her updated with our progress. I thought the meeting went well and Kirsten seemed willing to help.
Great! I’m glad we have this connection now. Thanks for taking the initiative on this. I’m sure Kirsten will be a valuable asset for our project(s).