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Improving the lives of children with autism and their families through innovative technology solutions.

Perched atop the buried pre-classic Maya city of Chocola, the village of Chocola on the back slopes of the volcanoes that form Lake Atitlan, is poverty stricken yet poised to become a model of cultural celebration and self-sufficiency. What it needs most is leadership training and technical support to develop its potential for diversified agriculture, archeological-tourism, health care for its families and education for its children. In its simplest terms, the mission of Seeds for a Future is to help this impoverished community plan and achieve prosperity based on balanced development principles that protect cultural tradition, the natural environment and preserve the Mayan and post-colonial history of the town. Seeds for a Future traces its roots to the period from 2003 through 2006 when many Earthwatch Institute volunteers came to Chocola to work on the archaeological site, which was then being excavated under license from the Guatemalan government. The volunteers embraced being associated with an important archaeological endeavor and learned about the vast pre-Classic Maya city that may hold keys to the early development of Mayan language, system of time and other fundamental cultural practices. At the same time, many of us fell in love with the community, its families and children and the fabulous, healthy mountain environment. As a result, groups of volunteers organized to help a community struggling with terrible poverty and deprivation to find a way to prosperity without destroying their way of life or the delicate balance of their natural environment. A vision emerged among a core of volunteers, Guatemalan visionaries and local leaders in which Chocola is seen as lifting itself into a more healthy and prosperous community based on its historic farming skills, adding value to its coffee, vegetable and cacao producers and through community cooperative action. In the future, there is great promise for the development of Chocola as a tourist destination based on archaeo-tourism; conservation of the natural resources in which the community is embedded and conservation of one of the first and greatest coffee processing plants (beneficios) established during the 1890s. But we also discovered in the early years that before Chocola could begin to realize its potential, the people needed training in identifying their own vision for the future, learning to work together and acquiring the technical skills needed for success. Overcoming 500 years of economic and social servitude is not easily done, but real progress is being made and our program has been recognized as ground-breaking, by the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and others. Four operating principles guide the work we do: We provide information and technical assistance to the people of Chocola to help them evaluate new opportunities and to plan. We provide direct funding and other forms of support for community requests for assistance on specific projects. These requests must come through Chocola leadership and must demonstrate sustainability and a willingness and capability of the community to provide part of the needed resources. All programs must aim at achieving self-sufficiency. We will help with programs that governmental agencies believe may be of value, provided that they too meet the same test as is noted for the community above. All such requests must be consistent with our mission to help the people and do no harm to either the Maya archaeological site or to the 1890 Coffee Finca site. In all of our programs we try to ensure that the participants become more engaged in the social and civil fabric, that they gain self confidence in their ability to change their own future for the better, and that we provide knowledge and coaching for a sufficient period of time that their activities and new ideas become self-sustaining in the community.

Apps for Good works to power a generation to change their world with technology. We want to transform education to help young people become tech creators and digital makers, so that they can thrive in a tech driven future. We achieve this by working with teachers to create a new kind of learning - one that's rooted in real world learning and driven by the students themselves. While doing the Apps for Good course students move through the full product development cycle of an app, from concept to coding to launch and in doing so learn how to solve real world problems with technology.

To unlock the potential of young marginalized Afghans through education as a means to prepare them to fully participate in the society.

Advancing innovative citizen-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries.

Action for Development assists communities in the achievement of their own development goals. In other words, it aims at ensuring a certain relief for the Afghan population through development programs. Our efforts are spent in ways that maximize the impact of any of our actions and we remain fully accountable to communities where our programs take place. The sustainability of any development program lies within the communities' acceptance of the change. For our action to produce lasting results, communities have to guide the use of resources and learn the managerial and technical skills to do so. This is why our approach is fundamentally community-based. We seek to provide fractured, new, or changing communities with opportunities to work together for a common purpose and the ability to undertake future endeavors of their own. Participation transforms communities into effective teams. Community involvement in project implementation, and interaction with development organizations leaves them more enabled, ensuring that subsequent programs have lasting effects. Community familiarity with the programs leaves them with expectations. These expectations drive the performance of future implementers and encourage them to engage in a process of learning. Thus the dynamics of development change. AfD also emphasizes collaboration with vertical programs and asks of other organizations what we ask of our team members - "How can we make sure that a wide range of health services are provided to people?" AfD believes that yields from separate but related development efforts are maximized through the integration and harmonization of programs. Today's efforts and resources should be used to enhance opportunities for a healthy and prosperous life. AfD is committed to helping Afghan communities according to their own development goals and to explore creative avenues to give Afghanistan Solutions for a Brighter Future.

JFCU advocates for and supports the rights and needs of children affected by all forms of violence and/or whose right to education has been denied. Special attention is given to children heading households and those affected by child marriage and armed conflict.

Empowering community to build an environment for peace building, interfaith harmony and development.

Our mission is to promote and enforce human rights and to strengthen constitutional democracy in South Africa, as part of a broader civil society movement. We do this mainly through strategic public interest litigation to enforce the rights entrenched in the South African Bill of Rights, as well as law and policy advocacy, supported by and movement building to promote awareness of human rights and social justice issues.

Texans Care For Children works to improve the lives of Texas children by building commitment and action for improved public policy and programs. Texans Care For Children is dedicated to the belief that the society can do better for the children. It is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do, because the well-being of Texas is tied to the well-being of its children. They know that many Texans share their vision, and by raising their voices together, they can improve the lives of their children and the success of their state.

Protecting a child's right to live and be loved by loving moms and dads.

New Yorkers for Children (NYFC) improves the well-being of youth and families in the child welfare system with an emphasis on older youth aging out of the system. NYFC provides direct educational, financial and emotional support and develops programs to fill gaps in the system in partnership with foster care agencies, community organizations, and the NYC Administration for Children’s Services.