Global Business Brigades, Miami University - Project Development Leadership Manual

Abstract

This manual represents the culmination of the planning for, execution of, and reflection upon a uniquely valuable experience in the lives of 23 Miami University students who took the time to learn about a foreign culture, raise the money required to travel there, and help its indigenous people by sharing the education we so often take for granted. It was made possible, in part, by the generosity of Miami University’s Associated Student Government and University Honors Program, as well as the invaluable leadership of Molly Babbington, our fearless leader.

The contents of the manual represent a variety of resources that were accumulated during the course of the semester leading up to the Winter 2011 Brigade to Piriati Embera, Panama. As Vice-President of Project Development, it was my responsibility to gather what information I could about the Global Business Brigades model as well as the culture to which we would be applying it and share this, in turn, with our team of brigaders. Not having traveled on a brigade before, and finding myself at the tail end of a complete restructuring in the Global Business Brigades model, this was a daunting task at times. In retrospect, there are many things I wish our group had done to better prepare ourselves for the incredible experience that awaited us. In hopes of continuing to improve the international impact of this organization as it seeks to serve the kind, passionate people of communities such as Piriati Embera, I offer this manual as a resource for all those who will follow in my footsteps. Just as the model of Global Business Brigades applied abroad is meant to be sustainable in the long run, I hope that this manual will help Global Brigades leave a long-standing legacy of learning, hard work, and compassion at Miami University.

-C. Nathan Warden