FAQS

What is the Mona Foundation?

Mission: Mona Foundation is a 501(c) (3) tax exempt public charity supporting grassroots educational initiatives and raising the status of women and girls in the US and abroad.

The Foundation extends its services to the world of humanity regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or economic status.

The Foundation believes that universal education and gender equity are essential strategies across cultural and national boundaries to the eradication of poverty, disease, and conflict.

The Foundation hence supports social and economic development projects which meet our project selection criteria, which are designed to raise capacity at the grassroots, and which aim to:

• Provide quality education to all children
• Raise the status of women and girls
• Build Community

The Foundation believes that these universally embracing principles elevate us all to recognize that we are members of one human family who inhabit the same earth, who share the same fundamental needs, and who can and will contribute to an ever-advancing civilization.

The Foundation's purposes, therefore, serve this ultimate ideal: To bring people of all backgrounds together in service to each other across cultural, national, religious, racial, and economic divides to systematically contribute our human and material resources and help create a world devoid of poverty, war and disease where every member of our human family is an active participant in the process of our human progress and development

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What are your core values?

The Mona Foundation integrates the following values in all aspects of its operation:

Service to the World of Humanity

• Regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender,
and economic status
• In the form of developing human resources and supporting social and economic development projects focused on improving education and the status of women and girls

Fostering Unity in Diversity

• Preserving the diverse cultural heritage of the people
• Building connected communities
• Building collaborative relationships
• Supporting others to develop themselves

Volunteerism and Service Learning

• Building a community of givers across borders
• Enabling volunteers to acquire essential competencies
• Facilitating service opportunities for volunteers

Consultation as a Medium of Decision-Making and Problem-Solving

• Respecting diversity of views
• Seeking diversity of perspectives
• Searching for truth
• Arriving at, and rallying around the group decision

Integrity

• Having conviction & courage
• Embodying trustworthiness
• Demonstrating confidence in our work and in people

Accountability

• Planning, organizing, and coordinating
• Collaborating across organizations
• Driving for results
• Managing change and processes
• Maintaining organizational agility

Embracing Significant Challenges and Seeing Them Through

• Being action oriented
• Remaining creative
• Thinking strategically
• Leading strategically

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Guiding Principles

The underlying basis for all the activities of the Mona Foundation is the belief that the key to poverty reduction and the development of human resources lies in universal education and gender equality. We believe that successful programs are those that develop from grassroots educational initiatives and which seek to raise the social and economic status of the community as a whole, including those of women and girls.

Objectives

Mona Foundation supports grassroots social and economic development projects aimed at:

Providing Quality Education to All Children

Human development is the core of any development process. Education—the empowerment of individuals through the provision of learning—is truly a human right and a social responsibility. Education unlocks creativity and intellect, whose expression underlies happiness and human dignity.*

Raising the Status of Women and Girls

The advancement of civilization now requires the full participation of everyone, including women. Any inequality between women and men is a result of educational differences; educated women develop the same capacities and abilities as men. Data documents the correlation between a variety of crucial development indicators and the education of girls and women. From infant mortality reductions, fertility, and the incidence of AIDS, to improvements in the environment, it is amply demonstrated that education of mothers makes the difference. The positive effects increase with every additional year a girl stays in school. When all the benefits are taken into account, educating girls yields a higher rate of return than any other investment that can be made in the developing world.*

Community Building

The process of community building affirms that all people can find the direction and the capacity for development within themselves. It furthers empowerment, not dependency. It promotes tolerance and understanding. It helps people develop skills in consultation to resolve differences and develop peaceful, collaborative relationships. These processes foster both self-realization as well as the individual's productive involvement in society.*

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What are your strategies?

The Mona Foundation serves its mission through:

Development of human resources

Offering training seminars, for example:

• Teacher training seminar on multi-cultural education, Puget Sound Educational Services, WA

• Teacher training seminar on curriculum structure, Ngabe Bugle, Chiriqui region of Panama

• For-credit courses on Sustainable Social and Economic Development Projects, University of Washington, WA

Promoting service learning and volunteerism

Facilitating the placement of volunteers in several of our projects

Integrating community service in our human resource development structure, such as requiring community service project planning and implementation as a requirement for our university courses

Bridging the digital divide

Offering skill-based training in public schools, for example, TechnoSisters Mentorship Program & CTLC in Ngobe Bugle Area of Chiriqui Region, Panama

Providing technology labs to the underserved, such as the Crow Reservation in Montana, Badi School in Panama, Setsembiso Sebunye high school in Swaziland, a vocational center in Swaziland, and Ruaha secondary school in Tanzania

Collaborating with other organizations to bring K-12 online curriculum for integration of technology across discipline to enhance learning, for example collaboration with SchoolKit International™ on Crow Reservation in Montana

Supporting our adopted projects through financial grants and material resources

Providing the finanical grants and material resources that these projects need for their everyday operation or for their development plans, including providing scholarship for needy and deserving students. Please see our Grants page.

Members of the board of directors of the Mona Foundation exemplify their commitments to these strategies by volunteering their time and resources, and by offering their professional services at no cost, or at substantially reduced rates, to educational institutions and/or the projects we support.

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Project Selection Criteria

The role of the Mona Foundation is to find and support educational programs that meet the following criteria:

The program is founded and operated by local residents.

The program addresses a vital and significant deficit in the basic needs of children, needs which prevent the full development of their capacity as productive members of their society. These needs must include education, but also may include housing, food and a nurturing environment.

The program serves children of all backgrounds, regardless of age, sex, race or ethnicity, religion, or economic status.

The program seeks to develop human resources for the community.

The program has a historic rate of success, having been established and functioning for a significant period of time. The local administrators of the school have shown a long-term commitment to the development of the program, including not only ongoing maintenance but also capital development and expansion.

The program administrators are active participants in developing and implementing plans for the self-sustainability of their facility.

The program enjoys the support of the local community.

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What is a social and economic development project?

Social and economic development projects are designed to build capacity at the grassroots and help people help themselves. These may include schools, health care facilities and clinics, agricultural projects, and the like.

What are some of the activities of Mona Foundation?

Teacher Training and Operational Support

In addition to providing extended curriculum and teacher support both in the United States and abroad, Mona Foundation supports our adopted projects through financial grants and material resources that these projects needed for their everyday operation or for their development plans, including providing scholarships for deserving students.

Bridging the Digital Divide

To address the digital divide in underserved areas, we have supplied technology labs and technical support to schools and community centers in the US and abroad. These include the Crow Reservation in Montana, Fairmount Elementary School in Everett, Badi School in Panama, Setsembiso Sebunye High School in Swaziland, a vocational center in Swaziland, and Ruaha Secondary School in Tanzania.

In 2002, we shipped computer labs to an elementary school in Swaziland, and two schools in Chile, expanded the lab in Ruaha Secondary School in Tanzania, and provided them (in collaboration with SchoolKit International) with online K-12 curriculum and professional development for integration of technology across disciplines to enhance learning.

Service Learning

In addition, one of the main objectives of Mona Foundation is service learning. We have placed volunteers at many of our projects both locally and internationally, including mentoring after hours at local public schools and service overseas for periods of 6 months to one year. Last summer a group of 16 youth went to the indigenous areas of Panama to help with our eight tutorial schools, and came back transformed and committed to do more for their own communities.

Presently we support the following projects: (please click on these links for more information on each of the projects.)

ADCAM, Amazonas
Badi School
Barli Institute
Books for Africa
CORDE Schools
CROW Reservation
Digital Promise
Digital Study Hall
EMPIRE Program
Full Circle
Mapuche Schools
Ngobe-Bugle Schools
Ngobe-Bugle University
Nur University
Ruaha Secondary School
Setsembiso Sebunye HS
Sunflower Mission
Tarbiat Vocational
Technosisters
Tierra Santa Home
Anis Zunuzi School
Soloy CTLC

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Who is Mona?

The work of the Mona Foundation is inspired by the example of Mona, a 16-year-old high school girl who was executed in 1983 because she was a Bahá’í. Mona taught children's classes, and said a prayer for the unity and prosperity of mankind before she was hung.

Are you a religious organization?

No. We are a 501 (c) (3), tax exempt public organization supporting social and economical development projects that build capacity at the grassroots and help people help themselves.

While many of the Mona Foundation volunteers and supporters are inspired by Mona and the Bahá’í teachings regarding service to humanity and the right of all to recieve an education, there are many who are not Bahá’ís. Our support extends to all children without regard to religion, gender, nationality, race or economic status.

Ultimately, our purpose is to go beyond the artificial barriers that so sadly afflict our societies, and bring together people of all backgrounds around one common principle of indiscriminate service to the world of humanity.

Who are members of your Board of Directors?

Our professionally and culturally diverse board of directors enjoys 40 years of cumulative experience in implementing sustainable social and economic development projects:

Mahnaz A. Javid, Ed.D
Director, Microsoft Corporation, President, Mona Foundation

Sima Mobini
Board member, Secretary, Mona Foundation

Diane Marie Samandi
President, Jon Quill, Mona Foundation Board member

Stephen Waite, Ed.D.
International Development Consultant, Mona Foundation Board member

Rita Egrari, Ph.D.
International Public Health Consultant, Mona Foundation Board member

Duy-Loan Le
Texas Instruments Senior Fellow
National Instruments Director, Mona Foundation Board member

The board of directors also continues to enjoy the services and support of its Board of Directors Emeritus including:

Mrs. Patrece Banks

Dr. Randie Gottlieb President, Unity Works

Dr. Manaji Suzuki Providence Hospital, Everett Washington

Which firm advises you and is responsible for your financial and tax reporting?

Grant Thornton LLP
701 Pike Street, Suite 1500, Seattle, WA 98101, 206-623-9247.

Do you have paid staff and what is your overhead?

Our work is carried out by a cadre of over 30 volunteers, including members of the board of directors, from all walks of life who continually give of their time and resources to support the Foundation's aims and projects.

At times, the Foundation secures the professional services of experts to insure efficient administration of our operations. At this time, we are able to allocate approximately 97% of our resources in direct support of our projects.

How can people participate and help
with the work of the Foundation?

Contact Us

Mona Foundation
218 Main Street, Suite 404
Kirkland, WA 98033
425-743-4550
monafoundation@att.net

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