The Urgency of Now - conference in Atlanta

The Hands On National conference was in Atlanta this year. The birthplace of Martin Luther King and the Hands On network itself. I was the lucky LiFT member to go to the conference from the Bay Area. I was excited to go and packed my agenda with so many back-to-back sessions.

Apart from hearing President Carter, Congressman John Lewis from Georgia and other inspiring speakers, I spent a lot of time talking to HOBA staff. I was searching for a way to describe what I feel towards all of them. And Hans beautifully summarized it by saying: "My heroes are my colleagues that are tireless in the service mission"

With that, I end my blogging spree at HOBA. Its been a great ride so far. The new LiFT team will start with renewed vigor and focus. Our congratulations to them and wishes for a great performance.

"Goals are dreams with deadlines" - Diana S Hunt

The end came with a simple ceremony and now we all belong to the Alumni group of LiFT HOBA. It was very nice to meet everyone together at HOBA and share a few laughs. The SFO team and our Silicon Valley team did short presentations with a summary of accomplishments.


Many of us will be part of Be the Change Day in October. All of us will be involved with HOBA in one way or another. Although goodbyes are difficult and ambiguity looms, Theodor Seuss Geisel, says: "Dont cry because it is over, Smile because it happened." I like the latter part of the sentence and all the strong memories it conveys.

Whats in store for all us now? I am looking forward to going to the Hands On Network Conference in Atlanta in two weeks. Holly has an impending move, Vanessa has just graduated with her Masters from SFO state, Larry will still be at Google(and give us more opportunities to meet!) and Karen has a piano recital. And so life will go on for all of us. Personally for me, I am embarking on a journey that holds lot of promise and I am excited.

“Let your performance do the thinking.” Jackson Brown Jr.

It cannot be more appropriate for us at this time when we are almost at the end of our LiFT programme. Now that we are done, what did we accomplish? Were we successful? How can we let others learn from our mistakes? Should we?

We met as a team for the last time. We talked about what we want to do post LiFT duties. Somehow, with this group, I feel completely at ease talking about my aspirations. I do not feel judged and do not feel intimidated. It is a supportive environment where I feel my voice has a value. It is a great group accomplishment especially in a competitive world!

There has been so much learning for all of us. What we do with this learning is our legacy to this world.

Completion of Teamworks and thoughts

We are done with our Teamworks series. This was my first experience as a coach and I promptly forgot to take the questions I wanted to ask the team! But what can I say about our group? Committed and compassionate individuals who were eager to be part of the learning and volunteering. They willingly took hours off from their schedules to come and share their time and thoughts. Here is a picture when we met for dinner after the Share Your Mind project in Santa Clara:

I asked Holly what she thought about her experience. I could'nt have said it as well as she has:

"The team we had was full of energy and quite enthusiastic about working together and sampling the HOBA projects that the SV LIFT crew had put together.

It was refreshing to volunteer with the TeamWorks group, and listen to their perspectives about how each project affected them, and how they hope to get further involved with HOBA. I had never participated in a TeamWorks before, but now I see why it's such a great experience. The bond and friendships you can form from volunteering with a consistent and familiar group is really remarkable."

In essence, Teamworks is all about team-building and connecting with like-minded individuals. If you haven't been part of one, I urge you to consider it. Its an experience that you will most likely remember for a long time to come.

The last training and Personal Action Plan

We met Jim Pitofsky, HOBA's Executive Director for our last training. He is a very inspirational speaker who likes to call himself a "facilitative" kind of leader. His energy, his humility and his success are all worth aspiring for. Like always, I am so energized when I meet HOBA staff. It rubs off on me and makes me want to do more.

During our meeting, Dana made a remark that startled me - everyone in LiFT was going to write down a "Personal" Action Plan. This plan will be made "Public" during our graduation. When I questioned why, Erica said a beautiful statement that will echo in my ears for a long time. She said "Wont it be wonderful if you are sharing your dreams and your passion - putting that on paper and committing to it, knowing that you have the entire LiFT group to rely on, knowing that you have HOBA staff to support you?"

So, thats the homework we will all have to sleep on for the next few weeks. An action plan. The most important thing I learned today from Jim is that patience pays..So, I will sleep on it. So will my team.

TeamWorks and bonhomie

Our TeamWorks has started with a group of extremely nice people. It was wonderful to hear everyone's story, share the same passion and feel the spirit of community. We met at Celia's in Menlo Park. Around the table, we shared a few jokes, ice-breakers and general bonhomie.

We have four more sessions to get together at different project sites, talk about issues that are dear to our hearts and contribute to causes that are worthy of our time. And to each, HOBA is the common enabler.

We look forward to the grand finale of completing TeamWorks, knowing that our last few weeks in LiFT will be busy.

Look at our charts now!

We updated our charts for new volunteers and you can see why we can hardly contain our excitement! We have _almost_ met our goal for new recruits, thanks to the popular Singles events. We have already met all our Regional Programming goals but our Fund-raising goal has not really materialized. I think we will hold a little post-mortem about it soon.

In little less than 6 weeks, we will all belong to the "LiFT alumni group" and I presume that we would all be closely connected to our alma mater as the years go by.

The next few weeks, culminating into a graduation from LiFT, promises to be filled with work. I am reminded of the quote by Robert Frost - "But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep."

Focus Group - sharing ideas for next LiFT group

I remember Lou mentioning in the very beginning of our program that we would be the "guinea pigs". I had wondered what that meant!! Now, I know.. We had a request from the staff at HOBA to participate in a "how to improve the LiFT program for next year".

Beth, Lou and Erica drove down to South Bay Hobees in Palo Alto. We shared a nice meal together and talked about inputs for the next years' LiFT team. Holly and I had a lot of things on our minds. I dont remember eating anything - I remember talking, staring at the pinkish halogen lamp in the ceiling and mostly, talking a lot!

Holly and I both feel that we have had such a nice time being part of LiFT. It is a great program wildly fulfilling and exceeding many expectations. But there are areas that could be changed and it was amazing to see how much our inputs were valued. All three of them were taking notes as we spoke and I felt like an Executive Director!

It might take me many years to get there but this was the next best thing!

Prom 2.0 - Yelpers fundraise for HOBA

Vanessa from LiFT, along with Sabrina and Erica from HOBA, attended Prom 2.0, a fund-raiser benefiting HOBA. Here is Vanessa's summary of what happened on Feb 17th at "Enchanted by the Sea Prom 2.0" in the beautiful Historic Ballroom in Oakland:

Yelpers and Friends came out about 150 strong to support Hands On Bay Area and relive old memories (and make new ones). There was ambiance (even a real photographer and backdrop for prom-like pictures), raffles (a $500 gift certificate to Sports Basement!) yummy food & drinks and of course, dancing!

Some people pulled their old prom dresses from the 80's and some of us had new gowns. Either way, the best part of the night was request music, all night!

In addition to all the fun, we set up a table where people could get information on volunteering through HOBA. We had a few visitors to our table and some of them signed up to join our 10,000+ strong volunteer base.

There was also a table set up as "Princess Project", which promotes self-confidence for low-income family high-school girls by providing free prom dresses and accessories . The dress giveaways are coming up in the next few weeks. I have volunteered at their dress give aways and believe me, the girls do leave happy!

Overall, Prom 2.0 was a success.

Planning Silicon ValleyTeamworks in Feb meeting

We met at Google again. Lou and Beth from HOBA came to officially preside over our 6 month team review.

We also completed the planning of our Teamworks series starting on Mar 23rd. We have chosen five projects that will give a good idea about HOBA's partner agencies. At the end of each project, we will facilitate a discussion of the issues concerning the project. Like mentioned earlier, the same group of people will come together as a team for this entire series.

The projects are
(1) Be a Kid Again - March 26th 6-8pm followed by a social at Celia's in Palo Alto
(2) Save the Bay - March 29th 9am-12pm - Mountain View
(3) Second Harvest - April 2nd 6-8pm - San Carlos
(4) Share your mind - April 8th - 6:15 to 8:00pm - Santa Clara
(5) Bring Me a Book - April 15th - 6:00-8:00pm - Mountain View

We, in LiFT will take part in the series as Project Leaders and Project Coaches. We are looking forward to meeting often. Almost everyone today felt a somber moment knowing that our LiFT program was going to end in another few weeks.

Feb Training at Lytton Gardens, Palo Alto

We met as an intimate group for our training in the South Bay . We had an opportunity to meet two wonderful people.

Alisa Dichter is the Director of Volunteer programs of Lytton Gardens. She is responsible for coordinating the diverse set of volunteers who come into their campus. She spoke in detail about her organization and how a large part of her job is relationship building. She also talked about her challenges and some creative customized corporate volunteer sessions.

The other speaker was executive director Robert Jones from an organization in East Palo Alto - EPA Can Do. If you have recently driven up on University Ave in East Palo Alto and wondered like me, about the mint-looking reddish-brown apartments, you have in essence, understood the role of his organization. They are responsible for affordable housing in East Palo Alto. Affordable and jazzy - changing the character of the city in such a positive way.

Listening to him was very inspiring. Here is a man who gave up his lucrative real-estate career to do what is dear to his heart. Here is a man who has been associated with his organization for over 18 years. In no other way could he have showed his commitment and passion. It was clear that he loved what he was doing.

And to me, that is a reaffirming thought. It helps me understand that there is no single-shot rise to success or fame. It naturally follows those who have the drive, the courage and an endless supply of optimism.

Board Match Fair at SanFrancisco

With a background as a telecom engineer, I am familiar with technical job fairs in the valley. But I wasn't ready for this evening's Board Matching Fair. It was held by "The Volunteer Center" at the Metreon on Mission and 4th in SFO.

As I walked to the fair, I wondered how the turn out would be, if people would be interested in working as a board member for a non-profit without any pay, benefits, nothing.

There were about a 100 different agencies represented! And so many board seekers like me!! I quickly felt overwhelmed and had to find comfort in the familiar HOBA booth! Energised by meeting the staff and board at HOBA, I decided to venture out to talk to a few organizations.

I met Vanessa there too - she was happy that the event was in SFO, her home turf! She too felt that she didn't expect so much turnout. We browsed through some of the booths together.

Advocacy organizations, health/wellness, women's issues and education were a few key areas represented at the fair. I can see that what draws me to some of the organizations are core-values that are personally meaningful to me. I loved meeting a few executive directors and seeing how I too could perhaps take on a leadership role.

HOBA has given me a base to explore these opportunities, a place where I can stretch out if I want to, not because I have to.

Its 2008 already!

Another year rolls by. Its been quick! We met at Google again for our monthly meeting. Some very good news from Montez - he has secured us about $2000 in funds. That was a lovely introduction to the evening.

Vanessa also had good news. She has teamed up with Prom 2.0, an event in SFO that will host a prom-like event. Its an evening filled with dancing, food and socializing. A certain percentage of their tickets proceeds will go to HOBA. We are excited about this and will have a presence at the event with a table, information about HOBA etc.

Beth and Ambrosia from HOBA gave us a good introduction to Teamworks. The TeamWorks program brings together a group of 8-15 volunteers to participate in direct service, facilitated reflection and issues education over a series of 5-6 events. Often times, they revolve around a existing social problem or theme. Our team wants to initiate one in the Silicon Valley.

The same set of volunteers will come to all the projects in the series. Each project is followed by a postmortem. Clay and Karen from our group have already done the TeamWorks series in the past. Their experience has left the remaining of us wanting to do it too.

Never having felt the lack of ideas, we have come up with a TeamWorks Silicon Valley Sampler. This will include 5 consecutive projects each with different HOBA-affliated agencies. At each event, you will get to meet at least one member of our team.

Ambrosia talked about leaving behind a legacy as part of the first LIFT team. Its hard to imagine that we will graduate out of the program in just over three months.

Dec monthly meeting and 6 month review

Half way there! Its been a 6 month journey for all of us at LIFT. We met at Google this month, thanks to Larry. He was the gracious host, walking umpteen times in the rain, to receive each one of us at his plush office. After the warm welcome, we unanimously agreed that the "Googlers" were really spoilt people. Their office amenities include mobile hair-cutting salons, heated bathroom seats and bidets!

We toasted to our little success at Books Inc, the LEARN event at the local public middle school and the fund-raiser/social at Chevy's. We seem to have nailed quite a few things down. Our charts are beginning to look good!

We are now planning our Valentine's Day event, the TeamWorks event and a Book Club event. Montez has worked on some fund-raisers and suggested programs like silent auctions, free tickets etc. We have also decided to adopt a big project in January 2008 South/East Bay to bring all the extended LIFT family together. Lake Elizabeth in Fremont seems like an attractive place to meet, volunteer and barbecue. After all, this is sunny California and we cannot stop boasting of our winter weather.

We also completed our 6 month review. It was a totally productive meeting.

Dec 5th, LEARN event at a local public middle school

A thick fog filled the early morning in West San Jose. The Multi-purpose room at Easterbrook Discovery School was packed with middle schoolers. They were ushered in for a day of Community Service. On the agenda was a morning filled with lectures, workshops and research.

The 160 students first heard from four people in their community. Our LIFT team organized speakers to talk about volunteering, impact in the community and about the rewards of volunteering. HOBA veteran volunteer Maeve and South Bay Program Manager Ambrosia attended the event as well. The other two speakers were from Sacred Heart of San Jose and Optimist Club of Campbell.

After the morning talk, the students all got split into different workshops. They researched about ways to volunteer in the community through HOBA, made fleece scarves for donation and watched films of teenagers who have made a big impact by their volunteer activities.

It was a short but very eventful morning.

Chevy's social

A fund-raiser cum social at Chevy's in Mountain View. It went fairly well and although I couldnt make it in time, Holly, Larry, Karen and Vanessa did. Thanks to all our friends who supported us by coming to Chevy's to help us fund-raise for HOBA.

Books Inc fund-raiser

What can be more compelling than snacks inside a bookstore? A good book, a cozy chair, a glass of wine in one hand and some tempting chips/salsa close by. Thats my idyllic vision of heaven!

On Sunday Dec 2, our LIFT team met at Books Inc for a small fund-raiser. Eric, the manager of Books Inc kindly agreed to donate a percentage of proceeds between 6-9pm towards HOBA. We had a small table where we set up wine, cookies, chips and salsa. Karen's choice of salsas were terrific. We tried to set up a salsa tasting contest! As the patrons browsed in the store, we offered our snacks and wine.

I loved chatting with my team. We talked about the HOBA book club that meets the fourth Monday of every month at Books Inc.

I bought a book that I have read a while ago and loved. It is by John Wood, the founder of Room to Read, and the title is "Leaving Microsoft to Change the world".

The efforts of our evening paid off well and was worth the time.

Our "Singles" event at RAFT was a big hit!

A group of 22 people from HOBA were at RAFT for our Singles event. Although this was November, the Bay area is blessed! It was a gorgeous sun-filled morning, clear blue skies and 65 degrees.

People slowly trickled into the parking lot at RAFT. Resource Area for Teachers or RAFT in short, is a great place to be. For the creative at heart, it is manna from heaven. For the environmentally conscious folks, it is a place that has proven that excess office/corporate inventory need not end up in a land-fill. For teachers, more importantly, it is place where they can network, shop for their classrooms while enhancing their teaching skills using low-cost science and math kits for their students.


<--Look at our lovely young women with happy smiles and dirty hands!




--> And here you see veteran volunteer Howard sorting through paper. He is an active participant in HOBA's events.


HOBA volunteers worked together with another local non-profit group to sift through 12 pallets of office material. We sorted paper, office supplies and helped pack them for their big move to Sunnyvale.

See part of our big group here.

Sometimes it is hard to lay a value on this kind of effort. Why would a group of 22 people come to a nondescript place on a lovely Saturday morning while the world could have otherwise beckoned them with thousand other things?

It is easy to find that answer if you pause and ask the right question. Why?
Mahatma Gandhi once said: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

Dec 4th - Print our flyer and meet us at Chevy's in Mtn.View

Please join us for dinner at Chevy's in Mountain View on Dec 4th. You will get to meet our team and learn more about HOBA, its mission and its goals.

(Although this is an all-day fund-raiser, our LIFT team members will be able to join in only for dinner between 6-9pm.)

Trainings as part of the LIFT programme

One of the nice things about being in the LIFT team is the opportunity to attend some training sessions. The staff at HOBA, organizes for the LIFT team, lectures and discussions from well-known non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Since there are three LIFT teams at HOBA(the San Francisco team, the Silicon Valley team and the East Bay team), the meetings are hosted in either of the three locations.

This time, we had a 7:00pm meeting at SFO on Howard Street. Holly and I decided to car-pool(and save gas). I picked her up from her office at 6:00pm. SF City is about 30 minutes from Palo Alto. We got on the freeway and after chatting for more than an hour, found overselves just about 20 miles away. We were stuck in traffic that moved so ridiculously slowly. In the end, as Holly says, we made an executive decision to return back home. The others had gone ahead and made it in good time.

Meanwhile, Holly and I laugh about our excursion and the unforgettable trip halfway to San Francisco.

October 2007 monthly meeting

Larry brilliantly facilitated this meeting. We nailed down a lot of dates/agenda. We have so many things to add to our calendars. A fund-raiser at Books Inc in MountainView, our "Singles event at RAFT" and our Chevy's fund-raiser. Plus a host of other possible project dates!

Firstly, we have made a decent progress with fund-raising and recruitment of new volunteers. For HOBA day, our LIFT team was able to raise about $400 and we recruited 10 new volunteers.

We decided in our meeting to be more transparent to the world! And thanks to Google, we will share our information at the world's fingertips. Our target goals for volunteer recruitment, fund-raising, community-outreach will be available in the blog for all to see. Our success/otherwise will be very visible.

My personal impression so far - it is real hard work to build something as large an organization as HOBA. The non-profit world can be a difficult environment for raising capital and the efforts are often under-appreciated. Volunteers vary in size throughout the year. But yet, there is energy. There is hopefulness beyond belief. It is clear to me that the board and staff I have seen at HOBA are very committed, resourceful and motivated people. To them, and to the members of the larger "Hands On Network" in other local cities, I tip my hat.

Wasn't there a famous quote ? - "Do not doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that ever has."

HOBA Day and the Spirit of Volunteering together

How does it matter that on October 13th, I had beside me, in spirit, 900-odd fellow volunteers all across the Bay Area? Does it matter that they too worked on community projects, volunteering, like me, to feel powerful in that common "spirit" of volunteering? You bet, - it does matter.

These are times I ask myself why I do this - why be a part of HOBA, of LIFT and of the small but growing community of volunteers? Why am I trying to recruit more volunteers, spread HOBA's mission ? And for every creeping thought such as that, my true answer is HOBA helps me focus beyond myself.

I am glad to have this chance to meet with other like-minded people around me. In the Silicon-Valley, where the culture is so competitive and fast-paced, I love the chance to be able to pause and seek my core values. And to have an organization that supports that.

All right, on a glorious Saturday morning, my family (my husband, my two children and I) came to Palo Alto. Karen and Larry were project leaders for our "Save the Bay" project. More than fifty people slowly trickled down to the entrance. We had a feast of bagels, coffee cake and coffee spread out for us. We listened to a brief talk about how our San Francisco Bay has changed over the last few decades.


Save the Bay project leader talking about "Is it a Bay or is it a river?"

We walked down a muddy trail, adjoining a golf-course. On one side, the grass was green and lush and occasionally, I could hear the sound of golf balls "putting". On the other side of the trail, where we walked, we could see desert-like vegetation. I had never seen the Bay in such close quarters. Some mallard duck families floated down the water.

About a quarter mile into our trail, our area of interest stood before us. We were given instructions on how to plant native seedlings, weed and mulch. The next hour or so was silent activity. For me, personally, it was a chance to feel that I wasn't sitting on my couch and watching "The Inconvenient Truth". I was doing, thanks to HOBA, something about it.

Mission accomplished by the LiveOps and Karen's teams!

Meanwhile Holly's Team Nitty Gritty and the Tiffany's Accenture team worked at KIPP Heartwood Academy, a charter public school in San Jose.

Tiffany has the vision that I always admire. She is able to state facts so clearly and here they are for all of you to see:
90% of the students at KIPP are first in their family to graduate/attend college. HOBA's volunteer team helped them by
- Repainting school multipurpose room with an educational-theme
- Creating a formal school library by repainting, building shelves, and reorganizing books
- Repainting boys and girls restrooms
- Organizing music building instruments.

The existing library was a crowded portion of a classroom.
Library before and after


The team started by pulling everything off the wall. Then they created sections of books based on genre and reading level. See Holly having a ton of fun sorting through all of the books.

After the new shelves were put together, they went into hyper-speed and placed the books by category in their new locations. The library was much cleaner, easier to navigate, and more inviting for the students to come and explore.

Here is the entire Accenture team at KIPP. After painting, organizing and building, they are still in smiles ?!!!!!!!

Sept 30 - Monthly team meeting

Karen was really sweet to host us all at her house for a late lunch. Her sizzling grill was ready and we had mega-size portions of veggies for the day. Grilled veggies, grilled burgers, healthy salad and yummy desserts.

Our agenda was to go through our progress so far. Surely but steadily we are putting our baby steps forward. Tiffany, for example got us project time-line sheets. We can see what have to do before May 2008. We officially "graduate" from the LIFT program in May 2008. And having that birds-eye-view is very helpful.

Our big target date is HOBA Day on October 13th, a Saturday. Hopefully, all of us will be working at different projects with all our friends and families.

Sept 29 - Costano Elementary School, East Palo Alto

Our LIFT team signed up to be part of the Children's Festival in Costano Elementary School in East Palo Alto. We helped run some of the activities in the school on that day.The entrance to the elementary school was through a really small, nondescript driveway. I recognized Larry driving out of the school. He was beaming, probably had enjoyed himself!

Larry and Karen in smiles!

Karen was there for the morning shift too and said that she instantly loved the feeling of community. She enjoyed watching the kids when they were having fun. She loved the break dancers too - oh! the music was great too! She manned the basketball booth and I wonder if she got as addicted to it as I did! If you score one basket, you cannot move away from it!

I took over her shift in the afternoon. A little girl came up to the booth and tried so hard to get the basket. She was unsuccessful about 99% of the time. But she never gave up. Finally, after about many minutes, she finally got her first shot. She was so proud. And wanted to do this all over again. Meanwhile, a little line had grown behind her. I had to gently guide her to other activities at the other tables. She returned in less than five minutes saying that she had done play-dough and wanted to try to play basket ball again!

Vanessa was confidently managing a popular destination - the big slide. She had many simultaneous customers and with a beautiful smile on her face, she steered them in small groups onto the huge slide. She returned back from Peru just a day ago..and she didnt look like she was jet-lagged. I learned later about how poor I was in geography. Peru is just two hours behind Pacific Standard Time! I am used to 13 hour differences when I travel to India!!

Tiffany owned the jump house in the afternoon. Her customers were so highly energetic that she got worried whenever there were little ones inside along with the big kids! When it was time to close at 4:00pm, the children didnt want to get out. The machine had to be turned off before the they came out of the bounce house!

Overall, it was a great opportunity for us to evaluate this project. We will have suggestions and feedback right away.

August brunch at Hobees and Larry's birthday

We met at the Pruneyard Hobees for brunch. Apart from it being our usual bi-monthly meeting, it was also Larry's birthday. His wife was out of the country and we gave him a hard time about his so-called partying! Not everyone could make it but it was nice to see each other again.

We brainstormed some ideas. We would each think of an area/issue that interests us and try to incorporate that into the LIFT goals. That sounds incredibly simple, isnt it?

But although it seems like we are good with generating ideas, we havent put anything into action yet! And that is making us re-evaluate our goals.

Two month evaluation

Having spent two months together as a team, we had to do a two month evaluation! Holly invited us over to her lovely sparkling office. The wall was filled with big mural-like paintings. And in the conference room, we helped ourselves to pita pockets with delicious dips. Tiffany was thoughtful to pick up enough for everyone.

Some important things that came out of this meeting: Firstly, we have formed buddies in the team. We will all be in touch with our buddies to let them know of personal/professional commitments that will keep us away from LIFT duties. Secondly, we must meet more often. The once-a-month meetings were too few and far between. We all felt that we needed to get the enthusiasm rolling.

A brunch at Hobees and a late-summer grilling party at Karen's will get us together again.

The power of ideas

"Having ideas is like having chessmen moving forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game." - Van Goethe

Our little team is brimming with ideas. We have put on our thinking hats and the team goal is appealing to everyone. Montez with his usual brilliant clarity said that "if we find one team member falling short of the target, we will all step in and help" and everyone echoes that spirit.

Jamie and Larry are brainstorming to pick projects where we can invite our family and friends. The target date is in August 2nd week 2007.

I am feeling so positive to talk about our team to the rest of the world. I have found that it is a great starter in conversations. Almost everyone I have talked to is excited to hear about HOBA. To us, at the Silicon Valley team, the words of Thomas Mann, the German novelist sound really apt: "If you are possessed by an idea, you find it expressed everywhere. You even smell it."

What did I sign up to do?

Our first team meeting. We remembered each other's names and faces! Isnt that a positive sign? Everyone except Tiffany and Karen were present. Montez hosted us at his Mountain View office in "Bring me a book" foundation. He not only ordered Pizza and drinks but also facilitated the meeting. He was far ahead of us all! He knew exactly what he was going to do for the LIFT project and when. As for the remainder, we had so many questions.

Our first meeting was very productive. We discussed various matters from governance to having a basic mission statement to blogging to the specifics of how we would achieve our group goals of recruiting volunteers, fund-raising etc. Jamie's enthusiasm and Montez's clarity is just what I need.

All in all, I am happy. We are making a lot of progress. I am a little nervous to be transparent to the world but deeply happy. Happy to have such a lovely team and eager to get to know everyone well. Did'nt someone mention a social? In the next few weeks, Holly is going to bring the team together for lunch/dinner.

A fellow? What does that mean?

28 people together in a room for what?

The San Francisco AIDS foundation was our "retreat" on June 23rd 2007. We were here as part of the Leadership Institute Fellowship team(LIFT). This was the first time that a 9 month Fellow program was being initiated at Hands On Bay Area(HOBA). For some members in the team, there were known faces at HOBA. But to many others, it was a new experience. The atmosphere was electric.

We did a wonderful group activity called "Inside or Outside the circle". One person would step into the center of a circle of people with a comment such as "I am an avid football fan". The others who felt connected to that would step into the circle. There were many circles made that day. It was here that we discovered each others diversity. The Bay area is indeed a melting pot of cultures, languages and people.

After this, Jim, the Executive Director of HOBA talked of his career progression and his vision for HOBA. It was very inspirational to see his energy and hear of his challenges early on.

During lunch, we found the teams that we had been assigned to. There were 9 of us in the Silicon Valley team reporting to Beth - Montez, Clay, Larry, Vanessa, Karen, Jamie, Holly, Tiffany and Shubda. The next group activity was totally hilarious. We shook hands and literally got entwined. There was sweaty palms and criss crossed arms! And we couldnt get out of each other's handshakes.

See us all shaking hands and unable to get out!

Our Silicon Valley LIFT team would run as a small non-profit with its own governance, its own seed-capital(given to us from our Fellow application fees) and would have its own focus areas. We, the Fellows, would have our own goals/group goals. We would do fund-raising, community outreach and volunteer recruitment. And we would do it together. We talked about areas that we wanted to focus on, our interests, our passion. Here we were united by a single common thought - to make a difference.

When we left for home that day, we knew we loved being part of HOBA. This surely would be an enriching 9 months ahead of us.