Here I'd like to form up the foundational elements of Peace Train strategy for calendar year 2011.

1) Mission:  New mission statement agreed:

The Peace Train Charitable Trust is a federally recognized public charity in the United States (501 c 3). Our mission is to create a culture of peace by raising funds and awareness for small organizations doing work on issues of poverty, human rights and peacebuilding. We use technologies to bridge the geographical divides, and create powerful shared experiences. We are inclusive of all who aspire to make a positive change in the world, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, nationality or culture.

LOGO:  to be discussed

TAGLINE:  Connecting people, building peace, saving lives.

2)  Vision:  to be discussed further....

We have articulated some things in various posts, etc.  It would be good to restate them here, to make sure we have something we can refer to that reflects our aspirations for Peace Train.

Draft vision statement:  Peace Train ...

- Saves lives

- Creates peace

- Successfully blends online and in-place events in a unique way to build peace in the world.

3)  Goals:  These will be specific, measurable impact goals that help us define success, and then know if we achieved it at the end of the year.

Draft goals:

- Hold three live events during the calendar year, with at least one generating donations for identified organizations.

- Successfully provide orientation and coaching for interns, with positive evaluations for university partners

- Update our Peace Train website to be more reflective of our mission and activities.  Have evidence of positive web traffic growth.

- Provide at least US $5,000 in donations (total) during the course of the year.

- Make at least one print publication as a story.

- - - Thoughts from Dec. 30 - Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, shared panels, return to folks we've worked with, get UMUSEKE, Virtual Peace Conference, cotton interview re; visit to Africa.

4)  Strategy:  Now our strategy (or strategies) should line up to support the above.  

DRAFT Strategy:

- Our strategy includes three approaches:

1)  Seek collaborative relationships with supporting organizations that help achieve the mission.  

2)  Work to increase the number of core team members to meet the challenges of the new year.

3)  Use a blend of online and in-place events to increase opportunities for involvement and impact for organizations we support.

5)  Tactics:  And here are a starter set of tactics to help us achieve the strategy, and thereby the goals, vision and mission of Peace Train.

DRAFT tactics:

- Formalize a relationship (or two) with a university or other institution to provide internships or other support

- Select the appropriate social media outlets to use to build our presence.

- Double the size of the core team (from 3 to 6 core team members) in Peace Train to manage the growth, social media presence, and external relationships.

- Maintain an emphasis on using free technologies to advance the cause, keeping our overhead for operations very low, and our donating capability very high.

From SUE:

hey maybe we can do some kind of wall panel highlighting people like this:

[2:35:57 PM] Sue Matukas: In 1978, Archishop Oscar Romero said: 

"Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. 

Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all."

And he said this: 

"The church wants to rouse men and women to the true meaning of being a people. What is a people? A people is a community of persons where all cooperate for the common good." 

And he said this: "A society's ... reason for being is not the security of the state but the human person."...

as quoted by Carolyn Forche, who spoke to the him a week before he was gunned down in church, at a Commencement Address at the University of Scranton (May 10, 2010)