8/19/2002 10:51:00 AM|W|P|Deacon Jim|W|P|The idea of a platform... That was it. It answered our needs and would open the door for others faced with the same challenge � using their resources to do good in ways only they could imagine or design. We adopted the word Polonia as part of our name. The word is derived from the Polish language root word �pole� meaning a field or platform. As our chairperson has said, we do not want to be the tallest tree in the field or the biggest building � we would much rather be the platform on which good works are based. Our platform idea allows those who want to direct their funding into a particular outcome to design a program that meets their requirements. We provide the support to bring their vision to reality. We designed nine specific platforms for a start. They include platforms for children, families, seniors, education, learning, dialog, sports, the arts, and our soon to be announced tenth platform in wellness. In my next installment � think globally act locally � the clich� must end. |W|P|80436956|W|P||W|P|konicki2000@gmail.com8/09/2002 05:52:00 PM|W|P|Deacon Jim|W|P|In the past few days I've had a few people asking me about the origin of PGF. Not the where and when, but the why. Over the next few posts I'll attempt to explain a little. About 8 years ago some friends and I were invited to a meeting. A city school district was going to do away with foreign language programs. At the same time the district was closing out its desegregation program. We were asked to represent the community, speak to the school board and come up with a plan. We saved the language programs right away. We also worked on a comprehensive plan to turn district schools into world schools. Several K-8 schools would be converted into magnet schools. Each would represent a study in a particular culture. The schools would feed into a U.N. High School. District students would be prepared for achievement on a global scale. Unfortunately the larger plan never went beyond the Board and administration of the district. I�m sure you can imagine well integrated city schools turning out positive, dynamic and educated young people with a global vision. Unfortunately others could not. For my colleagues and I, this was not our first or last community service mission. We involved ourselves regularly in civic projects and charitable ventures. What we did learn was that people with dynamic ideas of their own do not fit well into organizations that already have specific missions and values. You can work to the best of your ability and donate funds to keep it going, but you cannot reinvent (nor would I want to reinvent) that charity. For me, the years spent in not-for-profit financial management, the years serving on Boards of Directors, the years of learning were my street education. Well after a few too many nights of getting together with my fiends, philosophizing, reasoning and talking into the wee hours, an idea formed. The idea of a platform� |W|P|80049039|W|P||W|P|konicki2000@gmail.com8/08/2002 08:18:00 PM|W|P|Deacon Jim|W|P|Welcome to the PGF blog. I'll be using this blog to talk about the work of PGF, world events that may be of interest to you, and some of the day-to-day stuff my colleagues and I encounter in running a non-profit agency. For those of you unfamiliar with PGF, it is an organization that's a little over two years old now. Our vision and mission are concerned with our world, the place and value of culture and societies in the new global vision and how we can effectively work together to build bridges of understanding, respect and cooperation. I'm happy that you will have a chance to share the experience with me. In the next few installment's I will be discussing the origin of PGF and the work we facilitate. In the mean time I invite you to visit our homepage by clicking here. |W|P|80010033|W|P||W|P|konicki2000@gmail.com