BRILLO DE SOL

The two long-term goals of Brillo de Sol, USA are (a) to assist the Asociación Brillo de Sol Guatemala to develop sustainable funding in the form of individual gifts and organizational grants to supplement the fundraising we do in the United States, and (b) to provide support for the educational programming for the children with disabilities who are attending the school. The fundraising goal includes a long-term capital fundraising project for building a school that allows us to meet the needs for schooling for local children with disabilities.
Our current short-term goals are (a) to increase the coordination and collaboration with the Guatemalan partner organization, setting common goals in the pursuit of the ultimate goal of improving the educational outcome for the children attending the school; (b) to pursue joint strategic planning; (c) to support the Guatemalan partner organization in hiring a technical directors to oversee educational programming and the operation of the school

(a) Board collaboration: Most recently, we have begun to formalize the relationship between the two board of directors, defining mutual expectations, making joint plans, and implementing annual performance evaluations of the status of the execution of these plans.
(b) Joint strategic planning: We have obtained the commitment of both boards to participate in a strategic planning retreat, planned for 2019 in Antigua, Guatemala.
(c) Hiring of a technical director: This is primarily the task of the Guatemalan board. However, we have provided technical information on the hiring process at this point.
(d) Salary increases: We have increased our marketing efforts with current and future donors in North-America (US and Canada), Europe, and Guatemala, by publishing a monthly donor/ volunteer newsletter for donor recruitment and retention.

Although welcoming new board members with professional level expertise and experience (particularly in fields such as education, special education, social work and counseling, occupational therapy, school administration, etc.), our small, all-volunteer board of directors is a highly engaged board. We are reaching out to educational institutions, to coordinate volunteer programs with them. We have formed partnerships with individuals and organizations and regularly involve them in our program implementation.

In the past 6 years of collaboration between the two organizations, Brillo de Sol, USA, has provided fundraising and accounting expertise that has resulted in a broad and sustainable donor base and fiscally sound management practices in both organizations. We have coordinated educational efforts in training teachers and administrative staff, provided such training ourselves, and participated in training by other individuals and agencies. The next steps or objectives in the implementation of our 4 short term goals are (a) continue the process of collaboration by assisting the Guatemalan organization in formalizing their conception of inclusive education, (b) setting time and place for a joint retreat and hiring a facilitator, (c) executing fundraising plans to find the funding for a technical director, (d) executing fundraising plans to find the funding for salary increases for the professional staff.