Adriana Correa: Colombia links to WSF
I am Adriana Correa and I will be spending the next two weeks at the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF). I was nominated to be part of a mentorship program supported by the U.S. State Department, ESPN, the University of Tennessee and different benefactors such as WSF. For the next two weeks, I will be documenting my experience as I learn about the WSF and all that their programs do for American women and girls.
Currently, I work as consultant at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a strategy called Borders for Prosperity Plan. We try to enhance the living standards of the population who inhabits the 77 municipalities at the borders of Colombia through educational, cultural, health, economic development, drinking water and sport programs.
During the following days I will have the privilege to have Kathryn Olson, Chief Executive Officer of the Women's Sports Foundation, as my mentor. Throughout this experience I hope to learn about fundraising; I am also hoping to gather statistics and data about the benefits of sports and physical activity in women as fundamental solutions for many social problems.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to witness the announcement of the WSF among the winners of the 2012 Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy, a distinction given by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This accolade was given to honor the organization for its contributions in getting girls and women healthy and active. Applause for them!
At the end of the afternoon we went through an interactive session about the importance of program evaluation and the best process for collecting data and what to do with the information once it has been gathered. If you can't measure it, then it doesn't exist!
I am grateful to the Women’s Sports Foundation because not only did they volunteer to host and mentor me, but they are sponsoring my stay and travel to the United States. Thank you WSF!