Tiziano Project Marketing Package

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The Tiziano Project Providing the voiceless with tools to report their stories and improve their lives

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A brief summary of the project, where we are, and where we want to go.

Transcript of Tiziano Project Marketing Package

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The Tiziano Project

Providing the voiceless with tools to report their stories and improve their lives

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The Tiziano Project

Mission StatementThe Tiziano Project endeavors to develop and encourage world-class journalism on a global scale by empowering local communities and expanding access to information worldwide in conflict, post-conflict, and under-reported regions. We provide locals with the equipment and education to practice journalism and tell their own stories while improving the standard of living of those we serve by using media to create jobs.

Our VisionThe Tiziano Project strives to extend coverage of conflict and post-conflict zones by training locals to be citizen and professional journalists and by creating the capacity for broadcasting stories to the world. We also serve as a content facilitator between our reporters and established journalism entities.

The Tiziano Project is an NGO dedicated to empowering people in underrepresented communities around the world with professional journalism skills. We teach people how to tell their stories using digital technology. We provide cameras, laptops and the opportunity for our students to be trained by professional journalists who share their credibility and expertise with their students and help them find jobs in new and traditional media.

Tiziano is currently operating bureaus in Rwanda and DR Congo and has run pilot programs in Kenya, Iraq and in the Los Angeles juvenile prison system. CNN has partnered with our student journalists for live webcam interviews in several of these locations.

The Tiziano Project is a 501(c)3 tax exempt non-profit public corporation.

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The Tiziano Project

Letter from the President and FounderI started The Tiziano Project in 2007 as a solution to the problem of increasingly limited foreign and humanitarian coverage in modern news, despite unprecedented global connectivity and access to information.

The concept was inspired by two photographs I saw on display when I visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The two photographs were the only images captured by the prisoners themselves; all other photographs of the atrocities at Auschwitz were taken by the liberating armies. I realized that if the winds of history had blown slightly differently, all evidence of the German holocaust could have been erased.

Then I thought about all the other ongoing slaughter in the world: Darfur, DR Congo, Chechnya, and how in all of these places it is now possible to have an internet connection.

It felt immoral to have YouTube and undocumented mass-murder at the same time.

I thought, that if the mainstream press is unable to cover the plight of people in these situations, then perhaps the people suffering could cover it themselves if they were provided with the tools and training necessary to create and distribute their own stories.

So, I started developing a user-friendly Web site to allow people anywhere in the world to post their own stories with minimal training. After starting Tiziano as a company and recruiting a small crew we traveled to Rwanda to establish this vision.

I had never been to Rwanda, but I thought Tiziano would work there. I was born and raised near Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and I remember how the shootings effected the community. I thought that many people in Rwanda would feel the same way, only far more deeply, about the way their genocide had been treated.

After an enormous effort, grave risk, and personal sacrifice to establish the concept in Rwanda, it started taking off and very quickly our students encouraged us to cross the border and start working in the war-torn northeast of DR Congo. The Congolese needed help to chronicle the agony of people whose lives are being destroyed by the war.

Through these initial moral yearnings and a desire to give a voice to people in the worst situations in the world, the Tiziano team synthesized education, job creation, and journalistic expansion into a single program. I hope that Tiziano can offer something sacred and inviolate that is tragically denied to so many around the world.

Now, let’s get to work.

Andrew McGregor

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About Tiziano TerzaniThe Tiziano Project is named after Tiziano Terzani, a legendary Italian journalist who was one of few foreign correspondents to remain in Saigon after the American forces pulled out. He chronicled the three months he spent in Saigon in the book Giai Phong: The Fall and Liberation of Saigon and subsequently spent the next four decades earning a reputation for his insightful and intrepid reporting throughout Asia.

Terzani also vociferously argued against the encroachment of carte-blanche materialistic values that swept through Asia and extinguished indigenous values and voices. He dedicated the later years of his life to study and contemplation in India until the tragedy of September 11th. During this time, Terzani composed the book Letters Against the War (Lettere Contro La Guerra) which implored a shift away from militancy and towards peace. After Terzani succumbed to stomach cancer in 2004, a number of foundations and awards were established in his honor and streets were named for him in both Florence and Rome.

Terzani’s reporting was characterized by courage and intelligence and the guiding philosophy of this organization is to uphold and spread those values throughout the world.

Tiziano Terzani in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2001

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Using Media to Create JobsTraditionally, aspiring journalists in developing countries have been severely curtailed by government censorship and limited resources. At the Tiziano Project, we instruct our students in video, writing, photography and radio to employ and broadcast these forms of media locally and online. The Internet is an instant and global broadcasting platform so our students see the value and possibilities of journalistic expression immediately.

We then work to advance the careers of our students by developing relationships with established journalists and news agencies. We also work to foster a network of professionals who are available to our students online in order to create an educational resource to further their professional development. The students contribute to established news outlets and become journalists in their own right. Once our more promising students have become proficient in journalism and are regularly producing material, we offer fellowships for them to work as teachers to help educate a new generation of journalists within their own countries.

The Tiziano Project has also established a relationship with CNN. We have conducted webcam interviews with our students in Iraq, Rwanda, and DR Congo. These interviews were broadcast live on CNN International.

When fighting in Congo re-erupted in the Fall of 2008, Solange Nyamulisa, a Tiziano student, was one of few trusted reporters on the ground. CNN and Reuters immediately contacted her for information and Solange made it possible for the story to make it into the news within hours rather than days or weeks.

Screen shot of Tiziano student, Solange Nyamulisa being interviewed on CNN International next to her multimedia piece

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“ I am currently working as a journalist and teacher for The Tiziano Project in DR Congo. I am in charge of providing stories, photos and short documentaries for the Tiziano Project while teaching journalism to young Congolese.

I was blessed in August 2007 when I met people from the Tiziano Project in Kigali because they made becoming a real journalist possible. They started training me in photojournalism, videography, and editing. I produced two short documentaries that were broadcast on CNN. When I first saw my film A Visit to a Kigali Metal Yard broadcast, it was like a dream for me. Then, when I was called by CNN for a webcam interview about the film that I produced, I was really excited and I did not believe it. I thought to myself: ‘Me! On CNN? What have I done that is so special to be broadcast on CNN?’ I realized that anything is possible in this world.

The Tiziano Project made my dream become a reality. It is doing a great job for us African journalists to tell our stories about our countries. Before I started working with Tiziano, I could never imagine one day being interviewed by CNN. Never! I became a star after my first interview with CNN, everybody congratulated me.

I was so happy to be interviewed by CNN on a film that I produced for The Tiziano Project because it gave me confidence in myself and what I am doing. The interview also gave me a lot of hope. If Tiziano was not in Rwanda and DR Congo, I could not produce all the work I do because [I did not know] how to film and edit. Something I find amazing is that all the works produced by me are in English although my first language is French. The Tiziano Project also helped me to become fluent in English. I am very grateful.

After I did an interview with CNN three times it became very comfortable for me. I hope one day I can also be trained by CNN and I think it is possible because Tiziano’s vision is to connect African journalists to the western media so they can learn how to tell their own stories.

Being a female journalist in DR Congo is not an easy job. The Tiziano Project is encouraging me by publishing my stories and photos on their Web site. I focus my work on chronicling the violence against women in eastern DR Congo. Tiziano is also helping tell these stories and other young Congolese who would like to become journalists achieve their dreams.

There are a lot of people from northeastern DR Congo who would like to become journalists but there is no school for journalists there and no center to teach them so Tiziano is working to give the skills necessary to those who really want to become journalists. I am teaching photojournalism and [introducing them] to video. I would like this to grow, especially in DR Congo because by teaching Congolese people to become journalists we can tell our own stories, the true story of Congo.

Solange Nyamulisa

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Tiziano Project: LocationsSince our first program was established in Kigli, Rwanda in 2007, the Tiziano Project has piloted programs, conducted workshops, and sent trainers to cities on three continents.

Left: Screen shot of Tiziano student Rahel Azad being interviewed on CNN International next to his multimedia story.

It’s great. I didn’t think I could ever be on international TV while growing up in Kurdistan. We actually did it, the hard work we did paid off and we got to tell the world about Kurdish culture! ... I don’t know what to say, this is a very cool thing for me, and I really thank you for coming to Kurdistan!

- Rahel Azed

Active Programs & WorkshopsKigali, Rwanda (Bureau office)

DR Congo (Trainer)

Past Pilot Programs & WorkshopsSulaimaniyah, Iraq (Two-week pilot program)

Nairobi, Kenya (Six-week pilot program)

Los Angeles Juvenile Prison System (One-month workshop)

Future Programs & WorkshopsNear East (Bureau office in Diyarbakir, Turkey covering the Kurdish regions of Turkey and Iraq)

Nairobi, Kenya (Bureau office)

Haiti (Six-week pilot program)

Newark, NJ (Domestic six-week pilot program in the housing projects of New Jersey in partnership with Prodigal Sons and Daughters Redirection Services, Inc.)

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Our ProgramsAll of the programs conducted by The Tiziano Project support our mission of providing equipment and education to people in parts of the world that need it most. Through these programs, we seek to empower our students to tell their own stories, while creating jobs and improving their standard of living.

The Displacement Chronicles The Displacement Chronicles educate locals living in adverse and dangerous conditions in journalism and multimedia reporting. The program endeavors to create self-sustaining, long-lasting coverage of situations in the world that the mainstream media either is unwilling or cannot afford to cover. With equipment and education, our students are able to produce continuous coverage of humanitarian disasters on the ground from their own perspective. Currently, the Displacement Chronicles is operating in the war-torn province of North Kivu in DR Congo, one of the most dangerous places in the world, and is providing critical access and documentation of that humanitarian disaster. The program has had a positive impact on the people in DR Congo as our students have contributed and provided support to Western news outlets. The coverage has also been used as an additional research tool by aid workers and Western journalists in the region to keep themselves informed and has received positive encouragement from the general news-viewing public.

Left: Soccer players during the Vacation Games. Kigali, RwandaPhoto Credit: Emmanuel Ntirenganya / Tiziano Project

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Citizen Radio

Citizen radio strives to create a new generation of local journalists competent in radio production at a professional standard. Radio is still the predominant form of media in Africa and the tools of radio production are indispensable for creating news stories online. The program has been successful because we hold our students to very high standards as we work diligently to connect them to established media and create jobs. In parts of the world with high unemployment this is a strong motivating factor and our students have shown great dedication and made huge strides in a short period of time. Our students are currently producing a weekly 30-minute radio program about genocide reconciliation for Voice of America. It airs throughout East Africa, reaching an estimated 12 million people.

The Forerunner Program

The Forerunner Program creates youth groups specializing in: radio, photography, video, and writing. The groups are encouraged to collaborate and produce multimedia content. The Tiziano Project works with these groups to teach the skills necessary for the production of news and multimedia content.

The Mentorship Initiative

The Mentorship Initiative aims to arm talented and dedicated local students with the skills necessary to work for top-tier news agencies. The students, in turn, teach others in the community these skills, in order to create self-sustaining, locally produced media.

Left: A scene from a local pool hall in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo Credit: Solange Nyamulisa / Tiziano Project

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The Tiziano Project“ When my editor told me to be at the office the next day at ten o’clock in the morning, I was a bit ambivalent, but he wanted us to meet a group of media professionals from the United States who could be of use in our cause. The guests arrived, actually only one is a stranger a big white man with a firm handshake and gentle smile, he is accompanied by our photojournalist.

After the intros and a few pleasantries, we got to the crux of the matter explaining to each other our activities. The media situation in Rwanda is not an ideal one, especially when working with the resource-constrained independent press, with no government support and at times hostility. It is positive news to meet someone willing to help in improving conditions of work and provide for expression. And this is what the big man from America is telling us about The Tiziano Project. Most interesting is the idea of having Africans tell their story to the world, rather than the other way around. So, this is how I get involved with Tiziano and it is a good experience

that lets me march on.

The core objective of the Tiziano Project resonates throughout much of Africa yet it remains unfulfilled. When one watches or reads the world media, dominated by western perceptions, Africa gets a low deal in the way she is covered. It is very annoying and actually a form of continued humiliation –from the colonial era– when only the worst of Africa is overblown and given as the identity of a whole people. Whenever there is a world crisis like the current food prices, it is images of desperate Africans in need of Western sympathy that are shown, yet when the West faces a crisis like 9/11 and Katrina, the images are edited to be moderate.

Africa is a vast and heterogeneous place with lots of cultures and values, stories and nuances, tragedies and breakthroughs, celebrations and inertias, so its portrayal as one sorry place is absurd to say the least. Many Africans celebrate life and hardly suffer any stress in their daily chores; However, they seem to be overwhelmed by an international order that does no favors.

So, having the opportunity to be one of those telling the story from Africa is not only humbling but also builds within me a fire to want to not miss any moment of it. I continue to learn the skills and get encouragement from more traveled journalists and hopefully the next level will be reached soon and a story will be told.

Let’s tell the story.

Muganwa Gonzags

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Tiziano Project: RwandaRwandan media were largely responsible for promoting the extremist ideology of “Hutu Power” prior to and during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Radio Rwanda and Radio-Télévision Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM) were especially potent. Radio was and remains the dominant medium. Many Rwandans are illiterate and most cannot afford to buy a newspaper, much less television or Internet. According to Alison Des Forges at the International Development Research Center, “Authorities used RTLM and Radio Rwanda to spur and direct killings…. They relied on both radio stations to incite and mobilize, then to give specific directions for carrying out the killings.”

If the media promoted destruction, it can also promote reconciliation and rebuilding. It is therefore essential for the development of Rwanda to have an active, professional and impartial media.

The Tiziano project is currently training two journalists, Timothy Kisambira and Fred Ndoli, in radio reporting and production, photography, and multimedia presentation. Kisambira and Ndoli are among very few Rwandan journalists who regularly go out and talk to average Rwandans about their lives. From their first story on the rise of theft on overcrowded buses in the capital, Kigali, to their most recent story on a single mother who supports a family of five working in a stone quarry, Kisambira and Ndoli have given a voice to people and issues not otherwise heard on Rwandan radio. The Tiziano Project hopes to expand this valuable project, increasing from the current team of two, to a team of six to 12 journalists.

A democratic society cannot function, or develop, without a well-informed populace. In Rwanda, radio is the medium through which the vast majority of information is disseminated. The Tiziano Project is working with its Rwandan partners at “Heza!” and Contact FM to provide high-quality radio journalism, aimed at keeping the Rwandan citizenry informed as the country works to develop in the wake of the genocide.

Left: Skulls of genocide victims at the Nyamata Church in Rwanda.Photo Credit:William Karambizi / Tiziano Project

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Tiziano Project: Near EastDuring the summer of 2008, the Tiziano Project successfully ran a pilot program in Northern Iraq teaching young people the multimedia journalism skills necessary to tell stories that are underrepresented in mainstream media. CNN International did a live, on-air webcam interview from Iraq on the opinions of local Iraqis about the US Presidential election.

Now, we are working to create a permanent bureau in the Near East so we can continue to bring people the opportunity to tell the stories of their communities. We are currently raising money to provide the education and tools, such as cameras and computers, our students need in order to find success in citizen journalism.

The bureau will provide youth in the Kurdish regions of Southern Turkey and Northern Iraq with the equipment and training necessary to record and share their lives with the world. Our goal is to provide a self-sustaining voice to our students, who in turn will teach these skills to a new generation of journalists. We have already established connections in the region with a Turkish educational organization who will facilitate implementation of the project. In addition, we are working with the regional Minister of Education, who is fully supportive of this project.

We are currently working with news media outlets, such as CNN, to secure outlets for student work to be broadcast globally. We are seeking employment opportunities for our most talented students while they in turn train other people living in their communities.

Left: A local artist works in the Chaikhana, a Kurdish teahouse, in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq.Photo Credit:Deelan Newroz / Tiziano Project

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Our Team

Andrew McGregorPresident and Founder Andrew is a journalist, artist, writer, and filmmaker. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern California School of Professional Writing and has a BA in philosophy from Connecticut College. He works as a journalist while developing The Tiziano Project.

Nadine FaridChief Operating Officer/CounselNadine is an assistant professor of Law at Gonzaga University. She earned a JD with honors from Tulane University and has a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University. Previously, she spent nearly three years as a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard University. At Harvard, she taught in the First-Year Legal Research and Writing Program and established and served as a principal advisor to an international intellectual property and trade-related clinical advocacy project with Harvard’s Human Rights Program that was done in collaboration with Harvard Medical School and Partners in Health.

Her pro bono work has included handling issues of cybercrime and assisting in capital case appeals; she has also worked on immigration and refugee law and is an alumna of the U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program.

She is cofounder of two non-profits, one addressing the Middle East conflict and another, formed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, designed to help with the housing situation in New Orleans. She has spoken at the United Nations about the conflicts in East Timor and the Middle East, and speaks and writes on trademark rights, pharmaceutical patents, international intellectual property, copyright expansion, and perceptions of Islam in the courts.

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Kristen DormanTreasurerKristen is a project finance lawyer currently based in Paris, where she works for a major American law firm. She holds degrees in both law and finance from the University of Technology in Sydney and spent four years working in accounting and corporate finance prior to her career as a lawyer.

In addition to her extensive commercial legal experience, she has practiced international criminal law and recently spent six months living in Arusha, Tanzania where she worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

While on mission with the ICTR, she traveled extensively throughout Rwanda visiting prisons, collecting evidence, and interviewing genocide witnesses, victims, and perpetrators. She also recently assisted with the coordination of a legal advocacy training course in Nairobi, aimed at providing Kenyan lawyers with the skills and techniques required to successfully prosecute cases of rape and domestic violence.

David DeutschChief Knowledge OfficerDavid Deutsch is the founder of Synergi Communications, a strategic communications consulting firm in Los Angeles. Deutsch earned a master’s degree in Communications Management from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication, where he focused on multicultural organizational change management.

He also has a background in Washington DC, where he worked for the Office of Inspector General and collaborated with other branches of the federal government in criminal investigations prosecuting fraud. Previously, he studied Mandarin Chinese at Fudan University in Shanghai.

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Jon Vidar Interim Executive DirectorDirector of Operations for the Near EastJon is currently the full-time Multimedia Specialist for the library system at the University of Southern California. In his six years of experience in multimedia production, he has completed projects utilizing photography, video, and print. Jon regularly freelances for the Associated Press in Los Angeles.

He holds a master’s degree in Communication Management from the University of Southern California and has used his skills in photography and multimedia production during travels spanning six continents. In 2008, he successfully piloted a two-week Tiziano Project workshop in Northern Iraq.

Thomas RippeDirector of Operations for East AfricaTom is a journalist and teacher with more than six years of international experience. He holds a master’s in Journalism from the University of Southern California. He has taught in China and Japan and conducted a photography course at Roosevelt University in Chicago. From teaching, Rippe moved to Hong Kong where he worked as a radio producer for Voice of America, covering business, politics and international conflict in the region. While teaching journalism in Rwanda and DR Congo, Rippe continues to work as a photojournalist and radio reporter.

Chris MendezDirector of TechnologyChris is currently a full-time Web Applications developer for the USC Libraries at the University of Southern California. He has contributed to many online projects including multimedia packages for LaTimes.com and ChannelOne.com. Chris is currently working on a master’s degree at the Annenberg School for Communication. In 2008, he helped usher the Tiziano Project into Northern Iraq.

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David TorstensonMultimedia and Videography Specialist/MentorDavid Tortenson is a journalist, teacher, and musician based out of Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California and has worked as an associate producer for Good Morning America, MTV News, and ABC-TV’s World News Tonight before relocating to northern Iraq in 2005 to teach science, music, and math to Kurdish middle school students. Since returning to L.A. in 2007, David has been producing an independent feature-length documentary on the subculture of Volkswagen owners and enthusiasts in America. During the summer of 2008, he helped usher the Tiziano Project into northern Iraq.

Victoria FineDirector of Advancement and OutreachVictoria Fine is a journalist who has written and contributed to publications in the U.S. and abroad, including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Expatica.com, and L’Officiel, a fashion magazine based in Paris. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Medill in interactive storytelling. Most recently, Victoria worked as a corporate communications associate and writer in Basel, Switzerland. She is also the author of two books.

Becky HolladayPhotojournalism and Multimedia Specialist/MentorBecky Holladay is a documentary photographer. She is originally from the great state of Oklahoma and a graduate of the full-time Photojournalism & Documentary Photography Program at the International Center of Photography in New York, NY. While at ICP she was awarded an ICP Director’s Fellowship and nominated for a 2008 New York Photo Award. Her clients include The New York Times and Mercy Corps. Her work has been exhibited in the city of New York and in Pingyao, China.

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KC Cole is the author of seven books and has written for The New Yorker, The LA Times, New York Times, as well as many other publications. She has been honored with the American Institute of Physics Science Writing prize; the Los Angeles Times award for deadline reporting; the Skeptics’ Society Edward R. Murrow Award for Thoughtful Coverage of Scientific Controversies; Los Angeles Times award for best explanatory journalism, and the Elizabeth A. Wood Science Writing Award from the American Crystallographic Association.

Michael Parks is a journalist and educator whose assignments have taken him around the globe, and whose “balanced and comprehensive” coverage of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa earned him the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. From 1997-2000, Michael served as editor of the Los Angeles Times, a period during which the Times garnered four additional Pulitzer Prizes. He has served as interim director and now teaches as a professor at USC’s School of Journalism.

Advisory Board

Mohamed Keita is currently an Africa Research Associate for The Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ). Prior to joining CPJ, he was responsible for a project on the structures and mechanisms of the African Union and helped organize outreach activities in West Africa for a project on the UN’s “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine. Mohamed also monitored various UN reform consultations at the United Nations. He has been on several panels and regularly advises and gives interviews on international press freedom issues in Africa.

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How can you help?

The Tiziano Project has set country specific funding goals for all of our programs. We are currently working to secure stable funding for our programs in: Rwanda, DR Congo, Kenya, Turkey, and Iraq and are looking forward to launching programs in Somalia, Afghanistan, Haiti, Burma, and housing projects in New Jersey and New Orleans.

You may see our work on our Web site, www.tizianoproject.org. With your support we can realize our dream of improving journalism and bridging the digital divide by providing jobs and education to people in critically neglected parts of the world.

Equipment Donation ProgramThe Tiziano Project has established a grassroots equipment donation program where outdated technology sent to our offices and deliver it to our students abroad. If you have an old laptop or digital camera, you may send it to:

The Tiziano Project147 Standard Ave.El Segundo, CA 90245

Every laptop and camera we receive helps create a career for one of our students.

Left: Tiziano trainer David Torstenson teaches filming techniques during a workshop in Sulaimaniya, Iraq. Photo Credit: Jon Vidar