Sailing Science Center News

June 2019

Vol. 2, No. 10

Welcome to the June issue of the Sailing Science Center News! Our theme this month is teamwork and partnership, as we pause to acknowledge and celebrate all those who are supporting the project. We have so many people contributing now, that selecting just one volunteer for our Volunteer Spotlight has become difficult.

May was a milestone month for the project as you will read below, setting us up for the next phase of our project. The main news item was the attainment of our tax-exempt status. While this is a decidedly important milestone, a realistic perspective is that we've just reached Base Camp and the real climb is still ahead. Read on to learn more.

Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

– Vince Lombardi

Volunteer Spotlight - Olivia Malterre

Olivia Malterre was born and raised in Paris. She has one sister who is seven years older, and her entire family on her father’s side sails. Growing up, they spent a month every year vacationing at their family house in the South of France where Olivia, her sister, and her four cousins would spend 3-4 hours a day learning to sail at Club Nautique. She took lessons from age 5 through 16. At age 16 she started assisting at the sailing club and at age 17 went through a 10-week training program to become a sailing instructor. She says her favorite part of sailing is the social aspect, although she admits to also enjoying single handing.

Olivia went to college at HEC Paris , a French "Ivy League" school, where she earned her master’s degree in business. She now works for Fabernovel, helping companies to design their innovation strategies, with most of her clients being French companies in the Fortune 500. Her passions include discovering new cultures, learning about people, travel and nature. This fits with the fact that before coming to the U.S. in 2017 she had lived in Africa, Tokyo and Tel Aviv! Wow! Very exciting, Olivia!

We met Olivia through the Social Sailing program on Treasure Island in June of 2018, but it wasn’t until she came back for a second round in the spring of 2019 that she started a conversation with us about being an SSC volunteer. What attracted her to the project was her love of museums and sailing, her desire to be part of a friendly group and her interest in being involved with something bigger than herself. I think you speak for most of us with your sentiments, Olivia!

As a team member, Olivia has created an onboarding presentation and comprehension test that we have recently put into “beta test,” and she is now outlining an SSC Wikipedia page. Of course, the research she had to do to create these assets has helped her to be one of the better-informed volunteers on the project. You’re doing a great job Olivia, and your work will have a long-ranging impact. It’s great to have you on the team!

May Volunteer Event - SailGP

On May 4 SSC volunteers and their guests left from Alameda with Dave Fritz on his spectacular Jeanneau 54, EliBriSar, to watch the first running of SailGP in San Francisco Bay.

SailGP is grand prix racing sailboat style. It is sailed on 50-foot catamarans that literally fly through the water. If ever there was an event that brought sailing and science together, this would be it. Reports afterward confirmed that everyone had a great time!

Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.

– Amy Poehler

Tax Exempt Status

In a letter from the IRS dated May 2nd, the San Francisco Sailing Science Center received its IRS approved tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3) Public Charity, retroactive to our date of incorporation in January, 2018. This is a major milestone for SSC and marks a new phase in the project.

While it's been a long time in coming, I view our wait as having been a positive thing. Being in a position where we couldn't fundraise prompted us to focus on the important task of organization and team building, giving us the solid foundation and structure to build on that we have today.

With our newly-conferred status we have begun raising funds for our first exhibits. We invite you to join the excitement by testing the new Donate page on our website.

Volunteer Orientation

Volunteer Olivia Malterre has developed an online presentation and quiz for new volunteers joining the project. This will help volunteers to learn about the project, both for their own understanding and to be able to communicate to others about the project in an informed manner. Olivia has set a high bar by meeting all of her milestones ahead of schedule. Thank you Olivia!

Presentation

Quiz

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

– Henry Ford

Social Media Corner

Take 2 minutes to help us reach 1,000 Facebook likes!

We're expanding our social media presence and are asking you to help us crowdsource our push.

Our Twitter and Facebook pages will feature the latest developments from our project, plus the best links, pictures, and articles related to sailing science from around the web.

This month, we are asking folks to:

1) Like our Facebook page

2) Invite 5 friends to like us as well (see picture)

Facebook only allows us to invite our own friends, but if everyone takes a couple of minutes to inform their sailing-enthusiast friends about the page, we'll be able to get the word out much farther and wider than would otherwise be possible.

Or share the link by email: https://www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoSailingScienceCenter/

Acknowledging Supporting Organizations

In keeping with our theme this month, we want to acknowledge and thank the organizations that have graciously supported the Sailing Science Center project over the past year. These include the Treasure Island Sailing Center who provided us with meeting space and boats, Perkins+Will who provided us with beautiful renderings of the center, Groupe Insearch who helped us furnish the SSC office, the Exploratorium who hosted our April Volunteer Event, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati who are providing pro bono counsel during our startup, Latitude 38 who has helped us get the word out, and to the St. Francis Yacht Club, the Berkeley Yacht Club, the Corinthian Yacht Club, the Bay View Boat Club, UC Berkeley and SNAME for hosting our presentations.

Beyond their tangible support, these organizations have provided immeasurable support through the faith they have placed in the project. Thank you to all of you!

Outreach

KIDS for the BAY

We have started a conversation with an organization called KIDS for the BAY. KftB, as they refer to themselves, is very like-minded to the Sailing Science Center, insofar as they are seeking to deliver science education to the classroom in a hands-on, experiential manner.

KftB differs from SSC in that their focus is on the environment and ecology of the Bay, but the manner in which they are interacting with the educational community is almost an exact model of what SSC is moving to do. We'll be meeting with them soon to learn more about their outreach and to look for ways to create synergy between our two projects.

Presentation at

Bay View Boat Club

On June 2nd we gave a presentation on the Sailing Science Center at the Bay View Boat Club. It was the kickoff event for this season's Sunday Brunch series.

Besides letting folks know what we are up to, we also made some great new friends and contacts; and I would be remiss if I didn't mention what great hosts they were at the club, how helpful Larry was and how delicious the brunch was. Thank you to the Bay View Boat Club!

Leadership Corner - Teamwork

A large project like the Sailing Science Center will never reach its final vision without a tremendous amount of teamwork and partnership. And this is why I have devoted so much of my energy on this project to building our team.