NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER
Over the past few weeks and months, the entire world has been coming together to help out, give back, and heal. Together. Join Partners of the Americas on GivingTuesday on December 1, 2020. We're proud to be a part of this global day of giving and unity. Learn more.
  • #EducationOnHold — UNICEF offers a resource to keep you up-to-date on the state of schooling in Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Available in Spanish)
  • Free Online Cooking Classes — The Institute of Culinary Education offers free online versions of their best-selling classes. Professional chefs provide instructions through live videos to guide you through crafting delicious homemade food.
  • Galápagos IslandsExplore Darwin’s living laboratory: the unique and beautiful Galápagos Islands. Discover isolated volcanic islands, uncover animals found only in the Galápagos, and investigate it all with immersive 360-degree views.
Membership Unit
Hurricanes Eta and Iota hit Central America in November and caused damage throughout the region, most notably in Nicaragua and Honduras. The Wisconsin-Nicaragua Chapter is forming a disaster relief fund to help vulnerable communities in Nicaragua that had everything swept away by Hurricane Iota. The Honduras Chapter also took immediate action to help their local communities in need and delivered clothing and shoes for distribution to Honduran shelters affected by both hurricanes. Donate to the relief fund today!

Partners will soon launch online communities of practice on PartnersConnect where members can join, connect, share, and discuss topics of similar interest. We are looking for volunteer leaders to be Community Moderators for these communities of practice. Read more about the opportunity and apply by December 4, 2020.
Economic Development and Health Unit
The EDH Unit is pleased to welcome Pablo Ramirez, the Chief of Party for Partners’ new USDA Food for Progress project in Colombia. Pablo brings more than 25 years of experience advancing agricultural value chains. This includes 10 years at Starbucks where he created a loan program to benefit smallholder coffee and cacao farmers. Pablo comes from a family of Colombian farmers and is passionate about improving their lives and businesses through economic development.

To date, the Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) team has facilitated over 100 remote technical assistance opportunities to offer expert technical support to our communities across Latin America and the Caribbean. The F2F Dominican Republic office is gearing up for its second cycle of webinar support to the Instituto del Ambiente. As a part of this, U.S. Volunteer Hugh Thomforde and local Jamaican Volunteer Garth Scott will provide support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Division in alternatives for fish feed.
Child Protection Unit
This past month, CPU’s U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL)-funded ATLAS program in Paraguay continued to conduct activities to reduce forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking. On November 10, 2020, the Ministry of Public Defense of Paraguay, represented by Minister Lorena Segovia, and the ATLAS Project Director in Paraguay, Macarena Jimenez, signed a cooperation agreement through the project. This agreement established collaboration guidelines between the two institutions, aimed at creating lasting change in the application of labor and criminal legislation in Paraguay for the reduction of child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking. The agreement also established training activities for legal actors to improve legal application and enforcement, the exchange of best practices between institutions, and an interinstitutional communication strategy. As a result of these efforts, ATLAS is continuing to move closer toward building strategic partnerships with key government actors to achieve the project’s goals in Paraguay.













Education and Global Citizenship Unit
The Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund closed its fall competition on November 13, 2020. Small grants up to $10,000 will be awarded to teams of at least one U.S. citizen alumnus/a and one U.S. or international citizen alumnus/a of government-sponsored exchange programs to carry out domestic and international public service projects that utilize the skills, knowledge, and networks gained through their exchange experiences. Proposals will undergo an evaluation by a review committee until December 4, 2020, and winners will be announced between December and January. Stay tuned for upcoming newsletters for an announcement of winning teams.

In late October, the Education & Culture Program closed its first cycle of small grants. Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded to Chapters to support community projects on the issues of the empowerment of women and youth, health and well-being, and literacy and education, among others.

On November 17 and 18, 2020, the 100,000 Strong in the Americas (100K) Innovation Fund hosted webinars about how to develop institutional partnerships and become familiar with the unique eligibility requirements for the U.S.-Colombia Grant Competition for 21st Century Higher Education Partnerships. The webinars also featured previous 100K grant recipients who shared their expertise and advice.
Seven Days in Tennessee That Turned into 193
Journalist and member of our Venezuela Chapter, Giovanni Daboin, describes what was supposed to be a weeklong-trip to Tennessee to help the Tennessee and Venezuela Chapters document their shared histories, and what happened when he could not return to Venezuela for six months due to the coronavirus. Giovanni was finally reunited with his family in September 2020 and prays that other stranded Venezuelans like him will be able to return home to their families.
Local Paraguayan Communities, with the Help of Paraguay Okakuaa, Confront COVID-19
From the start of the pandemic, the resilience of local Paraguayan communities has been put to the test daily. For the families of the Paso Yobai district, our Paraguay Okakuaa project, funded by USDOL, provided them the capacity building and technical assistance needed to improve their quality of life and confront the economic consequences of the pandemic. 
In Memory of Denise Decker
Sadly, long-time friend and change-agent, Denise Decker, passed away on November 4, 2020. Denise was a member of the Partners International Board of Directors and a member of our District of Columbia and Virginia Chapters. She had an immense impact on Partners and the communities she served. We send love and peace to Denise's family and friends. 
Open Job Opportunities
Partners of the Americas is hiring! We are currently seeking a Membership Officer, EDH Senior Director, Technical Director (Cacao for Development), Monitoring and Evaluation Director (Cacao for Development), Project Coordinator (México United 2026), Chief of Party (Education Project in Colombia), an EDH Senior Program Officer in Venezuela, an EDH Director, and an IT Support Specialist.
Open Internship Opportunities
Partners of the Americas is looking for interns! We are seeking a 2020 IT Intern, EDH Intern, Program Development Intern, Finance and Accounting Intern, and a Business Management Intern to join our team.