Business Development is Key

"We see every day how human beings are packed with unlimited capacity, unlimited potential. They're not helpless people; they're as capable as anyone else. It's that society never gave them an opportunity to unwrap that gift. It's a matter of removing the barrier." - Muhammad Yunus

There are so many ways for individual people to be brought out of poverty. We here at ASCEND are working on one of them: providing the same basic access to business and financial know-how to everyone we work with. When Muhammad Yunus created the Grameen Bank, he touched on a fundamental principle of poverty: when people don't have access to capital, they aren't able to create any of their own. What a basic concept! Yet so few institutions, even after decades of microcredit successes, believe in the power of human creativity and the capacity of an individual to bring his or her own self out of poverty.

Part of why I have loved working with ASCEND so much is that this organization DOES believe in that capacity, and is laser-focused on building it. We are working on a couple projects that could really do some fantastic things in the world of business development. Getting a network of young entrepreneurs from across the globe together to take on humanitarian projects, like small business mentoring; partnering with colleges and universities to create academic programs focused on teaching small business consulting so students, while learning consulting skills, also learn how to use those skills to holistically better their own communities; and always developing more and better ways to help those with the desire to provide for themselves to be able to do so.

Capitalism has created drastic challenges for the modern global economy. But wise capitalism - that which takes into consideration more than the monetary bottom line - can be the answer to those very challenges. It's a pretty exciting thing to be a part of that.

Written by: Sabrina King
ASCEND Alliance Intern

First Week on the Job

Greetings! My name is Tim Marti and this is my first week as an administrative intern at the Ascend Alliance HQ. After only two days on the job, I have already learned a ton about what it is like to be an intern and what it is that the Ascend Alliance does. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself: what my hobbies are, what my goals are and what I am currently working on at Ascend.

First off, I am an avid biker and hiker. When I’m not working, you can probably find me on the streets and canyons of Salt Lake City on my bike or hiking in the glorious and majestic mountains that bless our valley. To me, finding a little solitude and serenity in our mountains and canyons is the perfect relief for the hectic lifestyle that our society has become so accustomed to and that I am also a part of. One of my goals is to climb all of the peaks along the Wasatch Front that are taller than 11,000 feet, a goal which I have almost already met.

When I’m not posing as an intern, a worker at ARUP Laboratories or an outdoorsman, we may cross paths at certain nightclubs and bars in the Salt Lake Valley where one of the two bands with which I currently play are performing. I play bass guitar and my greatest musical influences are Jazz, Soul, World and Reggae music, although I am open to pretty much any genre of music that carries a heavy, danceable beat.

Well, that is enough about my super-interesting hobbies (even though I know you want to hear more about my incredibly exciting life!). What I really want to talk about is why I choose Ascend Alliance and what my goals are for this internship. The main reasons why I chose Ascend are that it seems like the organization in Salt Lake City that has the most genuine intentions and mission, it has a proven track record of success and I think it will provide me the best chance to impact the lives of those who are not so fortunate as I am. I feel that my education in entrepreneurism and Spanish (U of U baby!) will be utilized for the benefit of those whom we help. My personal goals for my HQ internship are to:
• Secure an international internship for next fall so I can go to South America and meet firsthand with our beneficiaries and live abroad
• Experience the day-to-day operations of a nonprofit
• Understand all of the projects that Ascend engages in
• Offer new insights and ideas for possible projects
• Polish up on some Spanish
• Learn a little bit (or a lot) about myself in the process
• Experience the satisfaction of knowing that the work I do makes a difference in someone’s life

Currently, I am working on compiling a demographics and health survey that is going to be used in Bolivia by expedition teams and in-country staff. I look forward to working with all everyone at ASCEND.

Written by: Tim Marti
ASCEND Alliance Intern

Life as an Intern

So life as an intern is pretty routine. My day usually consists of me sitting at my computer from 9-5 working on assignments that keep coming. It's ok though because everyone in the office is extremely nice and willing to help and answer questions. The last couple of days I have been working on a book that shows ways to have successful fundraisers and how to donate for those who are interested. I have been able to completely look over all the pictures that are in ASCEND's file and had to laugh when I saw myself on an expedition that I went on this last spring break. Seeing all of the other pictures that people have taken has really boosted my motivation to go and see the world through a humanitarian stand point. Helping others brings so much happiness. Oberserving all the great work that goes on here in the office and the field work shows me how amazing this company is and its goal to help those in need.

Written by: Abbi Aird

ASCEND Alliance intern

Stay Gold

My dear mother is the kind who would gather up her children on one of the days of early spring, take us outside and recite the poem "Nothing Gold can Stay" by Robert Frost--which, I can still repeat verbatim. She was careful to point out that the gold we could see in the quaking aspen trees in our front yard was just the kind new-gold that Frost was talking about and that it never lasted very long so you had to celebrate it while you could.

Her tendency to quote poets and post vocabulary words around the house is probably the reason that I don't remember if the quote by Emily Stone, "The decision to have a child is a momentous one...it is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside of your body," was one that she had posted to the cabinets or if she whispered it in our ears when we were heartbroken or had skinned knees.

Both of these quotes have been rattling around my brain for the last couple of days. In July, I am preparing to travel with a group of families from Park City. Each of these families have lost a child in the past year. Their combined children are known as the PC5. If you go to their website 5 young, beautiful faces stare back at you. In a world where children are taken by drunk drivers, in car accidents, in falls while hiking and mysteriously in their sleep Stone's quote becomes something of a warning and not just a touching commentary about parent's relationships to children.

I amazed at what the families of these 5 teenagers have done. This is the news clip that ran on a local station last night.

ksl.com - Park City moms turn tragedy into opportunity

Shared via AddThis

The premise of the Frost poem that my mother used to quote is that things that are young and beautiful (like tiny leaves in spring) can't stay that way. I think he's wrong. I believe that the service that these women are providing is the way that they are keeping the memory of their children gold and new and beautiful.

Please support them--show them that you believe making something wonderful out of a great loss is worthwhile. We're getting a team together from Ascend to run/walk the 5K on Saturday. Please join us. We'll be sporting our Ascend t-shirts. And don't worry; some of the interns are good runners but I'm considering puff-painting my Ascend t-shirt to say, "I run....slowly." Let me know if you'll be there and I'll bring extra puff-paint for you too.

Welcome to the Ascend Blog

I have to say it. The first blog post is a little intimidating--it's supposed to set the tone for a whole new blog. There's a lot of pressure to be witty, informative, nice and charming. The good news is I'm pretty sure that I am all of those things. If I don't seem it, let's just chalk it up to nerves and pressure
I once saw a t-shirt that said, "Blogs: never has so much been written by so many and read by so few." I thought that was funny (which, I believe shows that I have a sense of humor) and somewhat true. That being said, I wish this blog to be something more than just another in a long list because the work that we do is hugely important.
We are in the business of making people's lives better. If you've been to our website or heard about what we do you may be thinking that I'm talking about those people entrenched in poverty that we help with our programs in Latin America and Africa. We do help those people to improve their lives. But I'm talking more about the people who aren't living in abject poverty, those who support our programs by volunteering their time and resources to our good cause.
At Ascend we believe that everyone can do something to make other people's lives better. Everyday I see examples of people doing just that. In our office right now we have more than 10 students from universities who donate their time to help make a difference. They work an average of 15 hours per week. That's amazing to me; none of these students are experts in development and all of them have other important things going on in their lives but they find time to serve other people. That is inspiring to me.
On the whole, we're average people who have jobs, hobbies, books to read and things we're working on and who also care about dedicating our skills and efforts to making a difference. This blog is our attempt to inspire other (extra)ordinary people to do the same.
There are a few things you should know about this blog before you add us to your RSS feed (which we hope you will do)

It's Personal: We're not going to talk in vague-ities (just made that word up) and infinitives. We're going to talk about our lives, how we think about volunteering and we fit it into our busy schedules (that means sometimes you may hear about how tired we are and how much we hate going to the dentist--first root canal ever is in my plans in the next few weeks and I'm sure you'll hear about that).
I'll start by introducing myself. I'm Sallee. I work here at Ascend and I have for more than 5 years. I manage the army of interns and volunteers that work here. I do a few other things around the office as well. I'm a reader, a baker and a pretend runner/fitness fanatic

It's Collaborative: I figure that you don't wan tot hear from me all the time (even though we've already established that I'm smart and funny) so you're going to hear from our interns and volunteers as well. They'll tell you about themselves and their experiences. I'll be here managing the whole thing and hopefully wind some kind of narrative and meaning through the process (I'm shooting for a cross between the narrator from Our Town and Garrison Keillor--ambitious; I know.)

It's Not All About Ascend: We are a great organization and we do good things. But there are lots of organizations who do good things out there and we would love to be friends with them. There is no shortage of people who need help. We want this blog to be about ways and ideas of using your specific talents to help other people. There will be some propaganda (I'm just trying to be honest) but please feel free to comment. Tell us about what you're doing and the organizations you admire. We'll do the same.

Now feels like the right time to say, "welcome" and maybe steal a line from Law and Order and say, "These are our stories." Just, with a little less crime and bloodshed though. We hope.