Annual Report 2012 1

SERES Annual Report 2012

Author: Corrina Grace Position: Executive Director Date: 23rd January 2013

Summary 2012 was a great year for SERES and our community, and we met a number of significant milestones for the organization that place us in good standing to achieve the ambitious goals that have been outlined for 2013.

At the beginning of 2012, we launched a new program called Youth Leaders for the Pachamama. The purpose of this new program was to build on our 2011 achievements, furthering our mission to engage, educate and empower people to become leaders of sustainable change. Our goal was to reach more youth and provide additional support and mentoring to program participants. In 2012, a total of 293 youth and young adults passed through our programs – an increase of more than 220% over 2011 figures.

In administrative terms, we have significantly consolidated our position from 2011, taking on additional staff, registering the organization in Guatemala and establishing firm international partnerships that are helping us to achieve our mission and vision.

Due to the significant program and organizational growth during 2012, Seres faced challenges in matching financial resources with growth towards the second half of the year. This situation required both staff and Board Members to come together and work hard to help meet our funding needs. The results of this effort were successful and we finished 2012 with a small surplus of funds. The situation however has highlighted the need for a stronger financial strategy and commitment at all levels of the organization, which is one of our key goals for 2013, and we enter this year with a strong business, financial and organizational plan going forward.

In terms of overall strategy, there has been significant revisiting of SERES’ long-term goals and vision. The Seres Center proposal is a key area for progress this year, with a multi-organizational, cross-cultural working group focused on getting the project launched in 2013. Board member Sherry Miller and Executive Director Corrina Grace are heading up this project.

Looking ahead, 2013 is set to be another great year of evolution and opportunity for SERES. As our reputation grows, we are finding more demand for our programs, more prospects for collaboration and a stronger platform from which we can fundraise and apply for grants. It will be a time for us to clearly demonstrate SERES’ offering and we are dedicated to producing consistently high-quality results, and expanding the network of youth leaders and change-makers that we work with both in Central America and further afield.

Achievements

Youth Leaders for the Pachamama

• # Congresses: 8

• # Participants: 161

• # Community Projects: 24

Youth Leading the World

• # Participants: 55

• # Communities Involved: 13

Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship 2012

• # Fellows: 7

• # Facilitators: 11

Photo: Young leaders at SERES’ Youth Leading the World 4-day camp learn about non-violent conflict resolution through play.

Sembrando espacios resilientes y ecologicamente sostenibles

Annual Report 2012 2

Administrative Summary

One of the major milestones achieved by SERES in 2012 was the legal incorporation of the organization in Guatemala under the name Asociación Seres. The date of incorporation is 8th August, 2012. In addition to being legally incorporated in Guatemala, SERES has established fiscal partnerships that allow us to fundraise in Australia, Canada and the U.S.A. Appendix 2 provides an overview of the streams through which funds are directed to SERES operation’s on-the-ground here in Guatemala.

In addition, SERES saw growth in our community of staff and volunteers. The number of full-time employees doubled (from 1 to 2) and SERES hired an accountant to work one-day per month. Thanks to the training provided by the Australian government, the total number of trained facilitators available to assist us in implementing our programs also increased as shown below:

• Number full-time employees: 2 • Number part-time employees: 1 • Number volunteer facilitators: 9 (+ 2 in Columbia)

Achievements SERES’ ran a total of ten programs in 2012: eight 3-day congresses, one 4-day youth leadership camp and one 5-week intensive Fellowship program in Australia. These programs directly benefitted a total of 293 people from 30 different communities.

• 161 youth and young adults (72 females, 89 males) passed through our Phase 1 leadership program;

• 55 youth and young adults (28 females, 27 females) passed through our Phase 2 leadership program;

• 7 young adults (4 females, 3 males) passed through our Phase 3 leadership program;

We conservatively estimate that the indirect benefits of this work are at least 15,000 people, who are impacted by the community action plans implemented by these youth when they return to their communities.

Revenue and Expense Statement While 2012 was a moderately difficult year financially for SERES due, as discussed above, to organizational and program growth, overall there was strong growth in our revenue streams and we finished 2012 with a small surplus which will carry over to projects for 2013. Growth within number of supporters however was limited, as is indicated in the table below (figures in orange represent 2011 statistics).

• No. Grants won: 2 (2) • No. Foundations: 2 (5) • No. Schools/businesses: 1 (3) • No. Donors >$500: 5 (4) • No. Donors < $500: 23 (18) • No. Monthly Donors: 4 (1)

Highlights

Photo: Fellows of the Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship in Australian learning to use field water testing equipment.

Photo: Youth Leaders working on one of the Community Action Plans to clean up San Martin Jilotepeque

Photo: Youth Leaders for the Pachamama congress in Guatemala City sponsored by Miracles in Action

The 2012 Financial Summary is provided in Appendix 1.

Annual Report 2012 3

Challenges and Opportunities

As with any organization undergoing significant growth, it is a time that always presents significant challenges and opportunities. With the growth that SERES has seen over 2012, there have been two key challenges: meeting workload with available staff and providing adequate follow-up and ongoing support to participants as the youth leaders network continues to grow.

The Australian Leadership Fellowship Awards program in Australia that SERES has won in collaboration with OzGREEN for the past two years has provided a fantastic opportunity both for SERES and the young leaders that attend the program. Through this training program, SERES now has access to a large group of local trained facilitators, and from this group we have taken on a new full-time facilitator who joined the team at the beginning of 2013. The group (known as the SERES Collectivo) also provides us with access to volunteer facilitators that can be called on to provide co-facilitation of congresses in both El Salvador and Guatemala. We recognize that this training program is currently dependent on winning the ALAF grant from the Australian government, and so in recognition of the value of this training program we will be looking ahead in 2013 to see what other opportunities exist for providing a similar training program independently of this grant program and/or outside of Australia.

Providing continued follow-up and support to program participants is an ongoing challenge for the organization, and is one of the key questions that SERES receives in regards to its programs. Our current commitment is to provide follow-up every 2 and 6 months, which includes a community visit from one of SERES’ facilitators. While this was the objective in 2012, it was not achieved in all cases (see Program Facilitator’s Annual Report). This was largely due to two factors: the availability of facilitators and the difficulty in communicating with participants due to their isolation and lack of resources in many cases (e.g. no access to internet for email or Facebook and/or no mobile phone reception). This issue is one of the key focus for the SERES facilitators in 2013, starting with a review of procedures at the AGM.

One of the major opportunities that has presented itself in 2012 is the way in which SERES’ programs have gained reputation amongst other organizations. This has resulted both in increased revenue from key program partners, and more opportunities for collaboration in the field. It is this collaboration that we hope will provide one of the answers for the challenges outlined above – working with program partners who have a constant presence in a given community and can assist in providing the follow-up and support required for the youth leaders.

Participant Feedback

Youth Leading the World • 97% of participants rated the

value of the camp as “Excellent”

• 100% of participants rated the value of connecting with other congresses around the world as “very important”

• 100% of participants rated the value of having local facilitators as “very important”

• 100% rated the opportunity to connect and develop relationships with other young people in the network as “very important”

“Today I am convinced to be the change…”

~ Congress participant,

San Martin Jilotepeque, July 2012

“It was amazing…it changed my life and now I am someone

completely different”

~ Congress participant,

San Martin Jilotepeque, July 2012

“It was amazing…I learnt how to put fear to one side and act…”

~ Congress participant,

Guatemala City, June 2012

Annual Report 2012 4

APPENDIX 1 – Financial Summary (USD)

Item 2010 2011 2012 2013 SUPPORT & REVENUE (Budget)

Agriculture and Technology 8,811 Education and Outreach 9,168 General 15,425 26,892 37,737 Total Support and Revenue 15,425 26,892 55,717

EXPENSES

AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

Materials 1,728 3,570 2,001 580

Salaries 1,261 800 1,575 1,000 Transport 500 2,000 430 260 Misc. 2,607 515 Total Agriculture and

Technology 2,989 8,977 4,520 1,840

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Congresses 2,472 5,500 9,296 15,840 Awards/Prizes 286 500 Transport 200 1,500 1,598 3,000 Salaries 1,261 1,000 5,085 11,300 Total Education and

Outreach 3,933 8,000 16,479 30,640

GENERAL NON-BILLABLE

Rent 400 500 636 1,150

Transport 2,752 975 661 4,180 Salaries 1,261 4,100 10,783 9,770 Overheads 1,717 1,937 4,906 2,580 Asset Acquisition 7,690 Total General Non-Billable 6,130 7,512 16,986 25,370 Total Expenses 14,352 24,489 37,985 57,850 Net Result 1,073 2,403 17,732