Board of Directors

The Elevator Pitch
In our fast paced business lives we often have a very short time to express our ideas to convince others to lend their support.   Where I work we have what we call "the elevator pitch," which is shorthand for being prepared to sell our idea to a decision maker in the 60 seconds it would take to ascend a tall building.   We are all trained on how to build the elevator pitch using the NABC's: N eed, A pproach, B enefits, and C ompetition.   So here's my elevator pitch for you to become an active supporter of the Coalition for Effective Local Democracy.

Need
In much of the developing world, people are missing the local civic infrastructure that would empower them to realize their desire for a better life for themselves and their families.   They want the same as you and I: schools, clean water, a community that is safe and attractive, a place to be proud to live in.   For millions this remains a hopeless dream because they see no opportunity to help themselves to build a better community.    The school building falls down.   The well becomes polluted.   The people wait for help from a central government that is too overstretched to have much local impact.   Their own energy and capability goes untapped.

Approach
The Coalition's Mission Statement summarizes our approach: strengthen citizen empowerment and involvement by advocating and supporting a variety of community initiatives.   These self help initiatives are of the citizen's own choosing, developed through direct collaboration between committed individuals in the U.S. and Africa.   The initiatives are hands on projects that provide experiential learning and "prime the pump" for an ongoing flow of similar projects.

Benefits
Project by project a civic infrastructure emerges, empowering local citizens to build communities that meet the needs that they themselves see as the most important.   While each project provides tangible progress, the most important result is the local energy and pride that flow naturally from self-accomplishment.    

Competition
Even though many worthwhile initiatives to help build local capacity can be done top down through centralized governmental and global non-governmental agencies, in the end they will only be successful if they are accompanied by bottom up initiatives undertaken by citizens themselves.   When local citizens are empowered, help from a central government or an overseas donor is leveraged many fold.

So as you "step off the elevator" having heard my pitch, now is the time to add your support to unlock the civic energy of Africans who are ready to build a better future in the communities where they live.

Thomas Boyce, President
Athena Solutions
Los Gatos, California