Of Special Interest to:
Community Leaders
“The YWCA hosted a premiere of A Woman’s Place in fall 1998, which identified us publicly with a global progressive analysis of women’s issues. A lot of people confuse us with the YMCA or think we’re only a place to work out, when the YWCA is really a movement to empower girls and women and fight racism. So to be identified with an event that had groups like the NOW Legal Defense Fund and different international and UN groups, placed the YWCA in a different kind of venue. It had an implicit and explicit message.”
Prema Mathai-Davis, CEO
YWCA (http://www.ywca.org)
Non-profit organizations are always looking for opportunities to get the word out on pressing social issues and television offers an extremely powerful, but often, elusive way to do so. By being active partners in outreach campaigns around PBS documentary broadcasts, many non-profit organizations - from national organizations like the YWCA and The American Red Cross to grassroots organizations like the Minority AIDS Program and the Seattle Foster Care Coalition - have all expanded awareness of their organizations and gained valuable new partners. By participating in a single outreach, organizations stand to gain new and long-standing relationships with public television broadcasters, the media, legislators, funders, state agencies and other non-profits.
We recommend that non-profit and community leaders read the following chapters
(if they don’t have time to review the entire site):
Chapter 1: A High Impact Television First
The Getting to the Heart of the Matter Campaign
Chapter 2: The Television Race Initiative
Sparking Dialogue That Can Lead to Action
Chapter 3: Take this Heart
A Coalition Model
Chapter 7: Nonprofits on Using Media to Reach Constituents
The American Red Cross
The Greater Hartford AIDS Fund
“Television is an important tool through which we can engage the community in dialogues about pressing social issues. It's a medium that powerfully speaks, especially to young people. Many of our projects which involve collaborations between colleges and universities with community partners have proven to help build stronger multi-cultural communities. Television and other new media can be effective ways to build these sorts of bridges, and to begin dialogues on volatile issues like race.”
Debra Humphreys, Director of Programs
Office of Education and Diversity Initiatives
Association of American Colleges and Universities (http://www.aacu-edu.org)