One World Administration

Who’s in charge anyway?
How is One World organized?
Who makes decisions?
Who sets priorities?
Who calls the shots?

One World programs are run by committed volunteers who serve in various capacities. There is the Collective, which oversees all aspects of the program. There are Working Groups that oversee things specific to one of the programs — the Africa, Central America, India, or Mexico programs. And there are also Teams that work to implement an aspect common to all of the programs, such as correspondence, finances, Selection Weekend, Debriefing Weekend, Reunion weekend, the Preparation Period, etc. All decisions are arrived at by consensus decision-making.

In practice, the lines between these various groups are blurred. People may serve in several capacities, according to One World needs and their own availability. For example, someone who is not on a Working Group may be called upon to fill in or assist with a Family and Friends’ Meeting. Similarly, much of the evaluation, reflection, decision-making and planning that goes on at Collective meetings is shared by whoever is in attendance at the meeting.

Since Collective meetings are open meetings, and since many members of the Collective live far away and have other commitments, there are often more than twice as many non-Collective members participating in a Collective meeting as there are actual Collective members! (Typically there are about twenty-five to thirty people in attendance at a meeting.) Also, very often people are on a Working Group as well as on a Team, or as well as on the Collective. Or inversely, people who have not formally committed to taking on any of these administrative tasks often offer (or may be called upon) to help out.

One World is often thought of, at least by many members and associates, as the “One World Community”. Although most of us live far apart, and in many cases only see one another two or three times a year, we feel that we are somehow interconnected. We experience One World as a community. This is especially true on those rare but precious occasions when twenty or thirty members are physically all together in one place.

The Collective

The Collective tries to gather and utilize the collective knowledge of the One World community to improve the program. It tries to ensure that the human and material resources needed to continue the program are all in place. The Collective also takes responsibility for ensuring that the goals and objectives of the program are being, and will continue to be met.

Most members of the Collective and those who attend Collective meetings have previously participated in at least one of the One World programs. All collective meetings are open meetings. Therefore all those who choose to attend the meetings have input into the evaluations, reflections, decision-making, and planning that goes on at the meetings.

There are also occasionally closed sessions at Collective meetings. These are not open to non-Collective members. These usually take place when confidentiality is concern --decisions regarding the suitability of someone who has applied to be a facilitator, for example. In such cases only those who have accepted a formal invitation to officially join the collective are involved in the decision-making process.

Working Groups

Most of the work of running and maintaining One World programs is done by Working Groups and Teams.

Working Groups look after tasks that are country-specific. There is a working Group for each of the four One World destinations. Members of a working
group usually have experience in the country in question (The Mexico working Group in Mexico, the India Working Group in India, etc.).

Working Groups are involved in setting up the overseas itinerary for their program in collaboration with our overseas’ hosts. They are also responsible for monitoring the programs from the time when applicants are selected up until the end of the program. This includes helping participants prepare for their journey, staying in contact with them and their hosts while they are abroad, and helping them organize presentations and do their debriefing after they have returned to Canada. Working Groups also act as a liaison between friends and families of participants, the participants themselves, and One World as a whole.

Teams

Teams look after everything that is common to all the programs, and not country-specific. These tasks include looking after finances, correspondence, fundraising, applications, and planning for and running One World sponsored events and activities (See Events Calendar). For instance there is a team in charge of planning and making all the arrangements for Selection Weekend. Another team looks after the purchase and maintenance of One World vans. Another team looks after planning the preparation period, etc.

Team members may or may not be members of the Collective, and may or may not also be part of a Working Group.

Facilitators

The primary task of facilitators is to be a readily available, easily accessible internal resource to the group that they are facilitating. Hopefully the commitment, wisdom, group experience, cross-cultural experience and life experience of facilitators will help their group rise to many of the challenges it will face while participating in a One World program.

Friends, Supporters and Communities

One World would cease to exist without the support of friends, organizations and communities, both here in Canada and abroad. This support can take many forms.

There are organizations and communities who help us set up itineraries for participants, and host One World groups while they're abroad; who financially support One World activities; who make space available to us to hold various One World event, etc.

Similarly individual supporters contribute a lot. There are those who make themselves and their knowledge and wisdom available to us in terms of preparing participants to go abroad; those who financially support us; those who host One World activities; and those who keep One World needs in mind and try to connect us with others who can help us meet those needs, etc.

Many past participants, families of past participants, and past associates are amongst the active supporters of One World.

In summary then, One World is the continuation of the collaborative effort of many different people and organizations. There is no one person, or one specific group of people that makes decisions. Decision-making is done on a consensus basis, and as One World grows, so does the bank of wisdom, knowledge and experience that informs its decisions. The decision-makers are those who value the One World programs and One World objectives enough to want to actively help One World improve its programs and better enable it continue to work towards its objectives.