BuildingBlocks International Celebrates Successful First Year With a Salute to the Chilean Culture of New Yorkers

Entrepreneurial Non-Profit Plans Celebration of one year of success in Chile Featuring Live Music by The Juancho Herrera Group, Chilean Cuisine, and a Raffle for an Adventure Rafting Trip to Patagonia.

New York, N.Y. (PRWEB) July 11, 2003 -- In celebration of its successful first year of operation and the completion of its pilot program in Chile, BuildingBlocks International (BBI) will host an event paying tribute to Chilean culture on Monday, July 14th at 6:30pm at the East River penthouse apartment of the British Consul General.

The event is open to the public ($60 donation requested) and attendees will have an opportunity to experience the best of Chilean wine and cuisine, as well as live music performed by The Juancho Herrera Group and the chance to win an adventure rafting trip in Patagonia (donated by Global Adrenaline).

BBIs founder Jennifer Anastasoff and various board members will share pictures and stories from the inaugural pilot project in Chile. This event follows a similar celebration held two weeks ago in Washington, DC, presented by the Chilean embassy.

In its first year of operation, BBI sponsored three Fellows -- Elizabeth Keyser, Rick van der Kamp and Himber Villareal -- for a year-long assignment working in Chile with local non-profit organizations. Through the program, BBI fellows help existing organizations such as Consejo de Defensa del Niño; Comité para la Democratización de la Informática; and Fundacion Cerro Navia fulfill their mission of providing more children with access to education and the ability to succeed at school.

Our unique funding model has gained us the support of some leading social entrepreneurial thinkers," said Anastasoff. BBI fellowships are paid for by corporations as a leadership training experience and sabbatical opportunity, creating a win-win-win program that helps non-profits reach out to more children, while providing a real benefit to supporting corporations.

"Additionally, our fellows have the unique opportunity of living and working in another country, while developing their leadership skills and pursuing their own passion for helping children."

Eventually, BBI expects to be completely financially self-sufficient, covering its entire operating budget from corporate sabbatical fees.

BBI fellow Rick van der Kamp has been working since last October with Chiles Comité para la Democratización de la Informática (CDI). CDI has been very successful in their young existence." said van der Kamp. However, they were lacking someone with the skills and experience in running and managing a large-scale project in order to take their activities nationwide. My reception here has been very positive."

Since 2001, CDI Chile has opened 21 schools of information technology and citizenship in low-income communities in Santiago, Chile. CDI works with local schools, community centers and other non-profits to establish these computing schools with the goal of reducing the digital divide.

About BuildingBlocks International
BBI was established in 2002 by Jennifer Anastasoff, formerly a student at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government. Anastasoff formed the founding principles of BBI based on her observations as a teacher in Texas that reducing barriers to learning outside of the classroom were a prerequisite to achieving success in the classroom.

BBI helps existing organizations with a similar philosophy to expand their reach, by training and providing high quality managers from leading corporations for one-year fellowships. BBI is currently being incubated at the Womens Technology Cluster in San Francisco, California. More information is available at www.bblocks.org.