I bought a bumper sticker back in 2004 and loved it:

Do Something For a Change

Unfortunately the car that hosted it is gone, but the phrase still sticks with me.

I began obsessing over outreach and consulting for nonprofits when I saw an incredible, invisible gap: the disconnect between nonprofits or civics leaders and the people they serve. This gap is not always a result of lack of trying, but very often due to a lack of time, objectivity, funding….choose one.

More on that gap later, but the connection between it and the bumper sticker is a simple one. While you are busy changing the world, I help you reach as many people as possible. This is what attracts me to nonprofits like The Global Theatre Project. How Bari Hochwald does what she does is not simple, but her mission can boil down to:

creative engagement and collaboration that will unite American theatre artists and students with their international counterparts positively affecting the communities where they work

I know from some time overseas – and across the country – that travel and true creative collaboration is the key to an open and receptive mind. I feel it greatly affects my ability to adjust to new situations, embrace new tools, and understand the world a little more.

When the opportunity to work with Bari on a fund-raiser for The Global Theatre Project arose, I couldn’t believe my luck. Honestly, I still can’t. I learned many lessons through past campaigns similar to this, and relish the chance to improve and aid in their fund-raising outreach efforts. Amanda Aitken wrote this great article on framing and tuning yourself to attract the right collaborators to your work. I truly feel that my work with The Global Theatre Project is exactly why I started consulting in the first place.

Did I also mention that I wouldn’t know Bari if it weren’t for LA FPI? Oh, that little detail!