GLN Communication 12/2016

Dear GLN Team,
 
I cannot believe that it has been over 11 years since I founded our organization. We have so much positive energy and enthusiasm keeping our organization fresh and exciting, it makes 2005 seem like just yesterday. 
 
In the past two years specifically we have grown more than ever, and we are anticipating our spring 2016 semester to be our biggest semester yet.
 
Unlike investing money in a for-profit company, which may or may not make you rich in the distant future, investing your time and energy in GLN will pay-off big, now and for many years to come. You may not become rich by volunteering with GLN, but your life will become enriched. As hundreds of GLN volunteers will tell you, your return on investment at GLN is immediatelasting, and priceless. You all recognize that this is the time to invest your time and energy in GLN and we are humbled that you have joined our team in every way that you can.
 
We are delighted to announce a number of open volunteer positions, including the Business Leadership Fellowship, GLN Internships, teaching positions, and a wide variety of volunteer positions and opportunities. If you know any suitable candidates, please send them our way!
Additionally, we are in the process of recruiting an additional Director to serve on our Board of Directors. If you know a seasoned professional who might be a good fit, let us know.
 
Ever since our founding, GLN has has been a leader in the community, conducting itself with the highest level of ethics, transparency, and service–not just for the students, but for the greater DC community. We have a dedicated staff and volunteer team that has given more than we could ever ask, it is no wonder why GLN, along with its leadership and volunteers, have won numerous awards for leadership and community service. We are firmly committed to continue upholding our high level of transparency, ethics, and service, and as such we remain, as we always have, open to your feedback and comments in order to meet our joint goal of making GLN the best organization it can be, inside and out.
 
While it may be a couple weeks past turkey day, every day is thanksgiving at GLN, and we would like to take a moment to say thanks to all the great individuals making GLN what it is.
 
It helps to first understand a little about the structure of GLN to appreciate how much our team dedicates to the organization. GLN is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, and as such we have a Board of Directors which oversees the organization as a whole. One main function of our Board is to set policy and direction for the organization consistent with federal, state and local laws, and to see that these policies are implemented.  The Board as a whole helps with various aspects of strategic planning, financial oversight, public relations and general advising on key organizational needs and strategies.
Our Board currently consists of four seasoned professionals who selflessly volunteer their expertise, time, and energy to making sure GLN continues to do great things.
Our Board of Directors includes: Charles Maslin, Esq, Dr. Richard Sawaya, Mayor Bennard Cann, and Andrew Brown
On our Board of Directors, we have three officers: Secretary, Treasurer, and President.
-Dr. Richard Sawaya serves as GLN’s Secretary and his responsibilities primarily include recording all votes, actions, and minutes of all proceedings of Board meetings, as well as some other responsibilities such as maintaining records, communicating Board meeting notices, and other duties assigned by the President.
-Mayor Bennard Cann serves as GLN’s Treasurer and his responsibilities primarily include having custody of GLN funds, keeping financial records, making financial payments and deposits on behalf of GLN, and overseeing financial statements, among other duties assigned by the President.
-Andrew Brown has served as GLN’s President and Chairman of the Board since incorporating GLN in 2008 and has been the chief executive officer since founding the organization in 2005, having the power, responsibility, and authority to preside over all meetings of the Board, supervise GLN’s administration, operations and finances and the management of GLN’s affairs, including delegating powers and duties; present reports to the Board of Directors, issue Board meeting notifications and see that all orders and resolutions of the Board are fulfilled, sign minutes and resolutions of the Board, and perform other duties relevant to the President of the organization.
 
GLN has a dynamic full-time staff and part-time volunteer staff that manages the day-to-day operations of the organization.
-Andrew Brown has served as GLN’s Executive Director since founding the organization in September 2005. He sees over all day-to-day operations as well as general strategic operations, as determined by the Board. 
-Antone Neugass is GLN’s Program Coordinator and coordinates GLN’s language classes, teachers, and internship program. Antone provides the logistics and customer service needed to make GLN a success, and supervises interns and volunteers in alignment with GLN’s mission. While Antone is relatively new to GLN, he has hit the ground running and has done so much for GLN. His diligence, enthusiasm, commitment to the mission, and selfless dedication to the organization contribute to GLN’s growing success.  
-GLN’s Leadership Fellowship program is an unpaid fellowship program (30 hours per week) which allows top candidates to take a leading role in the day to day operations, and roles can vary from marketing to administration.
 Daisuke Horibe is GLN’s most recent Leadership Fellow. He just finished his Fellowship, for which he flew all the way from Japan just to volunteer 32 hours per week with GLN as part of The Washington Center’s esteemed internship program. 
-GLN’s Internship program is an unpaid internship (20 hours per week) which allows top candidates to take a crucial role in day to day operations, and roles vary from accounting to operations.
GLN typically hosts numerous volunteers and is grateful for the hard work of its current interns: Xin Liu and Nicole Matyas. While Xin is new to GLN, Nicole has been interning for nearly a year and has been a tremendous help to GLN, particularly with her diligence and expertise in finance and accounting.
Chris Zhao recently finished his internship with GLN during one semester away from NYU-Shanghai in his native China. 
-GLN has many volunteers such as Associates (10 hours per week) and Assistants (5 hours per week), helping with anything from greeting students for classes, to doing evaluations and classroom observations, to assisting with other administration, marketing, and customer service. 
-Perhaps most importantly, are GLN Teachers. GLN’s teaching program includes the GLN Teaching Fellowship (3 semesters of teaching) and Teaching Associates (1 semester commitment). We also have Teaching Assistants volunteer to help with classes, and this position is typically for someone who is not qualified to teach the class but would like to help the teacher prepare, or a former teacher who cannot commit to teach but wants to stay involved and assist. 
-GLN Partners includes organizations all over the DC-metro area and are typically organizations which share a common vision with GLN and wish to host GLN classes at their location.
-GLN Students are adults (18+) in the DC-metro area, coming from many different professional backgrounds, ranging from students to diplomats, lawyers to development workers. GLN has always been open and accepting and we aim to keep it that way with your help.
 
Lastly, we wish to thank a number of people for their contributions to GLN:
 
We thank Past and Present Directors of the GLN Board of Directors for their contributions:
-Richard Sawaya, PhD, Mayor Bennard Cann, Charles Maslin, Esq., Andrew Brown, Mohamed Gouali, PhD, Iouri Bairatchnyi, and Carrie O’Neill.
 
We thank Past and Present Full-Time Staff who contributed to GLN:
-Andrew Brown, Antone Neugass, Andrea Blazanovic, Catherine D’Ascoli, Perry D’Amelio, Karyn Dubravetz, Freidricka Camille, Svetlana Ghazaryan, Chelsea Lehman.
 
We thank Past and Present GLN Teachers for their unending dedication, and most recently, GLN teachers from fall 2016: 
Jingying Zhang, Andrea Blazanovic, Lang Gao, Riccardo Ruffolo, Belen de Vedia, Adriana Roccaro, Kimberly Bullard, Ruben Canales, Terry Kiruja, Zlatica Hoke, Mae Corbin, Daisuke Horibe, Julia Garcia, Geovanny Vicente Romero, Sylvia Chen, Yingzhao Chen, Meng Li, Mariko Uno, Rut Sayago, Lang Gao, Golnoosh Hakimdavar, Paul Massaro, Veronika Pasynkova, Lucas Regner, Abdul Qadir, Simo Habibi, John Chi, Ting Han, Amin Mehr, Ben Schmidt, Nataliya Yarova, Olga Khudyakova, Alla Malova, Belen de Vedia, Alexandra Endara, Bushra Akbar, Mengqiao Hu, Xi Zhang, Caitlin Carlberg, Elisabeth Harvey, Rachana Hanspal, Manuela Dimuccio Gonzalez, Marcia de Jesus, Svetlana Shargorodskaya, and Deirdre Clarke.
 
We thank Past and Present GLN Volunteers for their contributions, and most recently, GLN volunteers from fall 2016:
Daisuke Horibe, Christopher Zhao, Xin Liu, Nicole Matyas, Bushra Sultana, Miranda Proctor, Tationya McElrath, Elizaveta Zeinalova, Amanda Brown, Brendan Dowling, Bahar Alagheband, Laura Adviento, Casandra Thomas , Megan Rabe, Ann Kearney, Meghan Valle, Alvin Joseph Cruz, Rachel Horowitz, Chanel Bell, Shira Yardley, Yisroel Tenenbaum, and many more volunteers.
 
We wish to thank and acknowledge the contributions of:
Chris Kinne and Jonathan Henry
 
Lastly, we thank Marco (Facilities Manager), Maria (door security), the late night cleaning staff, and all the individuals constantly looking for ways to put their own interests aside to help GLN and save the organization and its staff time, money, energy, and effort as we continue to become a growing success.  
 
On behalf of GLN, thank you, merci, gracias, hvala, xie xie, and obrigado!
 
See you next semester!
 

Andrew Brown
Founder and Executive Director
The Global Language Network
www.TheGLN.org

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