NPOWER ANNOUNCES SECOND ANNUAL “2 FOR 1” CONFERENCE FOR NGO’s/NPO’s

Mary’s Fancy, St. Maarten – World NGO (Non-Government Organizations) Day is on Feb 27th and the international community will be celebrating and honoring NGOs across the entire world. For its second annual year, NPOwer is honoring all the charitable, liberal, goodhearted organizations and individuals on the island by hosting another exciting NGO Conference. This year’s conference will be a week-long event, combining smaller face-to-face workshops and larger online workshops to accommodate social distancing regulations and to stay covid-19 safe(r)! 

The week-long event will start on Monday, February 22nd, hosting online & face-to-face workshops throughout the week until the main online event on Saturday, February 27th. The NPOwer project, one of  Foresee Foundation’s projects and funded by Samenwerkende Fondsen Cariben, is excited to host its second annual NPO (non for profit organization) workshop conference on Sint Maarten.  The “2 for 1” NPO conference will be organized from the new shared office building of R4CR and Samenwerkende Fondsen, where the NPOwer Tech team will be streaming the workshops online for the participants. There will be limited spots available for the face-to-face workshops during the week, ensuring a covid-safe(r) environment. 

Director of the NPOwer Project, Alston Lourens, stated, “Getting more than what we ask for is a dream of all NGOs and being able to provide more than what is asked of us is the goal of all NGOs, I am proud on behalf of the Foresee Foundation and the NPOwer project to bring to you all the best 2 for 1 specials in st maarten. Let's collaborate and learn from each other”. Former President and Director of Foresee Foundation Jose Verschueren-Sommers envisioned a platform where all of St. Maarten’s NGO’s and NPO’s could receive more support, collaborate, build capacity and gain new knowledge from experts. Together with her and the seven person team of volunteers and presenters,  

Nina Bijnsdorp, young local St. Maartener, with a passion for the St. Maarten community, has recently joined the conference team as the conference coordinator. Currently a significant number of bright, experienced and innovative minds are being invited to become facilitators for close to 30 engaging workshops in the different areas. The final program will be shared  in full on February 8th which coincides with the kick-of of the online registration.

Sint Maarten is home to a rather large NGO/NPO sector, ranging from those that take care of our elderly, our disadvantaged youth and children, our ill, the economically challenged, our fragile natural environment and the animals that are neglected, those passionate about growing and securing food locally and many more. The goal of the annual conference is to support these passionate initiatives and create an opportunity for them to learn and grow over time. By building knowledge and know-how, NPOwer also assists foundations in running their organizations effectively, having a positive impact on the community at large. 

The week-long event kicks off on Monday, February, 22nd, at 6:30AM with a Pre-Conference during the week leading up to the main conference event on Saturday, February 27th. The pre-conference includes a wide variety of physical, creative and practical workshops in the morning, afternoon and evening.

The main conference will take place on Saturday, February 27th, starting at 8:30AM with a fun early morning radio host virtual walk in.  Based on the very positive evaluation by attendees of last year’s conference, community organizations and other interested persons can expect to choose from a wide variety of topics including engaging activities,  leading up to a great surprise closing the end of the conference. 

Registration for the event will open on Monday, February 8th, NGOs interested in  this community service organization event will receive two free tickets for members of their organizations to join the pre- and actual conference once registered with NPOwer online. Extra participants, non members of NPOwer and private persons pay a small fee of USD 50 to take part. Limited space is available for the face-to-face workshops, so make sure to register on time to reserve your spot!

NPOwer is one of Foresee (4C) Foundation's latest projects which aims to bring Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) together, to share expertise and grow capacity, assist with funding, fundraising, marketing, governance, and other innovative strategies. More information about the NPOwer conference and registration can be found on the NPOwer website www.npowersxm.com, www.npowerconference2021.sched.com and facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NPOwerSXM.