Selected Grants of the Re-evaluation Foundation

People-of-Color Leadership Development

People-of-Color Leadership Development in North America has focused on three separate key constituencies: Black, Native, and Chicano/a.

Black Community Development Projects were led by Barbara Love, International Liberation Reference Person for People of African Heritage in the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. Projects included: development of local black leaders in Oakland California, Washington DC, Delaware, and Atlanta Georgia; annual funding of Black Liberation Community Development workshops including new multi-conference model; black young people and black young adult workshops; dedicated money liberation workshops for African Heritage people, and increased focus and workshops for black men.

Native American Liberation Projects were led by Marcie Rendon, International Liberation Reference Person for Native Americans in the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. Key activities included: introductory workshops for Native people, workshops at reservation sites, ongoing support for Native people to participate more actively in family co-counseling work, Native Americans raised-as-white workshops, introducing RC to Native people who are in prison, Native Women and Native Men workshops, Native Teachers and Leaders Workshop, and the initiation of a project to spread RC to Native Alaskans.

Chicano and Chicana Leadership Development Projects were led by Lorenzo Garcia, International Liberation reference Person for Chicano/as in the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. Activities included: introductory workshops for Chicano/a people across the United States, ongoing support for Chicana and Latina liberation work, ongoing support for Chicano/a and Latino/a people to more actively participate in family co-counseling work, Chicano/a Leaders Workshop, dedicated money liberation workshop for Chicano/a Leaders, and the initiation of a project to spread RC to Mexican immigrants in California.

Global Initiatives

Our global initiatives over the last two years were concentrated in 2 regions: Africa and Latin America.

Africa Community Development Projects were led by Melphy Sakupwanya, Regional Reference Person for Africa in the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. Introductory workshops were held throughout Africa over the last 2 years to spread the tools and concepts of co-counseling. In addition, targeted projects to develop co-counseling communities were conducted in Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Experienced African Heritage RC Leaders from the United States and Europe led workshops across Africa to build the capabilities of local African RC’ers.

Latin American Community Development Projects took place in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Argentina, and El Salvador. Funds primarily served to support introductory workshops to expose increased numbers of people to Re-evaluation Counseling. In addition, targeted projects introduced co-counseling to public school teachers across the Caribbean and helped build stronger co-counseling communities in Mexico and El Salvador.In addition, projects to spread RC and develop RC leaders were funded in Hungary, China, Bulgaria, India and Israel.

Young People Leadership Development/Family Counseling Work

We have continued to focus on the introduction of young people to co-counseling through family-based counseling and the development of young leaders. Our approach to family-based counseling has gained increased interest and numbers, and led to our funding of Family Counseling Workshops across the United States, Europe, and Australia. Specific projects to introduce young people and/or low-income families to co-counseling have occurred in California, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. One particular focus area has been the development of People of Color family work leaders. We also funded Young People’s and Young Adult Liberation Conferences, bringing together young leaders and young adult leaders from around the world.

Elimination of Racism

The elimination of racism has been prioritized within the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities as a key goal for our counseling work over the next period of time. In addition to raising money for United to End Racism projects, we funded the coming together of a small, select group of leaders on eliminating racism counseling work for them to develop the best policies and counseling approaches to propel this critical work. In addition, we supported RC leaders to attend and provide RC literature to distribute at public conferences as United to End Racism projects.

Mental Health

A bold new project to fund the creation of a drug-free counseling center has begun to take shape under the leadership of Janet Foner, International Liberation Reference Person for Mental Health Liberation and Joe Gallagher, International Liberation Reference Person for Physicians. The Pajaro Valley Sunrise Center is a residential recovery center that will help people to get off psychiatric drugs safely, and assist them by teaching, counseling, and supporting them in their work to live their lives more intelligently and creatively. The center is scheduled to open in January 2009.

In addition, the Foundation supported RC leaders to attend workshops dedicated to the development of mental health liberation policy and counseling skills.

Updated May 2008