Dear Bpeacers,
 
BEING OPEN TO SUPPORT FROM ANY DIRECTION
 
Providing expertise and opportunity to our Fast Runners so they can create more jobs is how we drive the Bpeace mission. We do our best to set positive connections in motion, but we know there is expertise we could be tapping, opportunities we might be missing. We have also learned that connections can happen in some unexpected places.

Guatemalan Fast Runner takes a mini road trip 

Lorena, second from right, with Rhina and the Fuenteclara team.
Last year, Bpeace volunteer experts Isabelle Echeverria and Angela Scalpello advised Salvadoran Fast Runners facing challenges such as high overtime rates and waste of raw materials. So when Guatemalan business owner Lorena was facing similar problems at Labrica, a high-end furniture manufacturer, Bpeace organized a mini road trip for her to visit El Salvador.
 
Lorena spent a morning with Rhina of cleaning products manufacturer Fuenteclara learning how to manage quality control and improve productivity. As a result, she adopted a 7:30AM to 4:30PM work schedule to accommodate employee travel time, and organized employees into production teams to avoid paying so much overtime.
 
Bpeace also coordinated meetings for Lorena at two high-end architecture firms in San Salvador where she sold the furniture samples she had brought with her and from whom she is already receiving orders. Lorena expressed her gratitude to local Bpeace staff for their "support and motivation," adding, "Truthfully, we had not considered visiting San Salvador as an option."  
 
Are there experts hiding in your network?
Skill-based volunteering is in vogue now (Bpeace was ahead of the curve), and as we grow, we want to grow our pool of volunteer experts by building partnerships with organizations and institutions.
 
Is there expertise in your network you might have overlooked? Think about where you (and your friends) work, play, eat and socialize--alumni associations, retirement groups, angel investor groups, business associations, Rotary Clubs, sports teams, marketing consulting companies, management consulting companies, food and technology companies. These can be rich sources of skills and expertise, and we would love to tap them. 
 
Contact Program Manager Alexandra Salas for more information on asking groups interested in skill-based volunteering to join forces with us.


Current Volunteer Opportunities
 
Graphic designer with animation skills
Create a two-minute graphic/typographic video and enhance a series of presentations. The volunteer will work with the Bpeace team and a copywriter to develop the video, which will be used to grab the attention of potential volunteer business mentors.
Copywriter
Develop content for above-mentioned video. Work virtually in collaboration with the Bpeace team and the graphic designer to brainstorm, create and transform ideas into words for the video.
Author a Bpeace blog
Interview an Afghan Fast Runner to capture his story, and write it up for the Bpeace blog .  
 
Contact me for more information on any of these opportunities.

Work hard, play hard, pay it forward.

Marla Gitterman
Bpeace Chief Program Officer