Hello! I am glad that several of you have joined the coordinators blog and I hope that you will use this as a forum to continue the many valuable discussions that began in Kenya. One topic I would like to hear your thoughts on is the YES Fund. I gave a very brief introduction to the Fund during the coordinators workshop and I want to reiterate that the formation of the Fund is still underway so it will be another 9-12 months before the Fund is operation.

During this development process it is extremely important that the Fund is created in the right way to best serve the YES family and the youth. We are still considering partners for the management of the Fund because it will have to be an outside entity. YES HQ is not equipped to support the demands of an international fund but we will work very closely with whatever organization is selected. The role of the management organization will be to facilitate the financial side of the Fund, this includes: accepting donations (their primary role will be dealing with tax issues), investing the money so that the Fund will be sustainable, and communicating with local banks where the money will be made accessible for qualified applicants. The role of YES HQ will be to set the criteria for who is able to receive money, what sort of activities/programs/proposals will be considered, setting standards for qualification by the recipient (ex: having a local bank partner who can facilitate the financial exchange), the quantity of money given at a time, whether money from the Fund will be available as grants or as loans etc...

The issues that I mentioned as the responsibilities of YES HQ are still being determined and I would like to hear thoughts from the coordinators. For example:

1) Do you think money from the Fund should be made available as grants or loans? Why?
2) Who should be able to apply for support from the Fund?
3) What sort of projects should applicants propose for funding?

Please feel free to post your thoughts, questions, comments about the Fund or any other issue on the blog but I just wanted to get the conversation started!