Mission: The mission of A-Team for Wildlife is to serve youth saving endangered species through education, inspiration, guidance, and engaging them in individualized fund-raising activities.
The Challenge
As the earth’s human population continues to grow, so do environmental problems. Habitat destruction and Climate Change is threatening our ability to provide for humanity’s basic needs. At 1,000 times greater than the normal extinction rate, loss of biodiversity has reached proportions that define this time as the greatest Extinction Event since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. 25% of all wildlife are now threatened with extinction within the next 20 years. Today’s children are the last generation that can save the many species of exotic animals that we all know and love… for time is running out. Despite decades of conservation messaging, poaching is at an all-time high. Poaching is killing off our most treasured species, for example, on average: 3 Tigers per week, and 50 Elephants, 4 Orangutans, 3 Rhinos and 2 Giant Pandas, each day!
Further, it must be considered that 70% of today’s conservationists will be gone within 20 years, due to aging and retirement. All of those conservationists must be replaced, and many more will be needed to enact conservation programs in the near future. As natural environments decline, more conservationists (and conservation-minded people) are needed than ever before. Indeed, only about 10% of world species have been studied and indications are that the IUCN Red List of endangered species would be tripled if more were known about more species. A proactive effort to create students of conservation is needed to insure an adequate supply of professional conservationists in the future.
Half of the world’s population are children. Today’s generation is increasingly concerned about the state of the world they are about to inherit. Youth of the last generation experienced being invited for the first time, into social movements as participants. Today’s generation is going further, asserting themselves as change-makers; stepping forward as leaders in both social and environmental activism. Kids today are not just joining in, they are taking the lead.
Change-making youth leaders are raising consciousness and funds like never before. Leading youth-activist charities, Free the Children, Roots & Shoots, Earth Rangers, and Alliance for Climate Education, each raise from 10 to 40 million dollars annually for their causes. We think we can do even better for wildlife. There is nothing more powerful, more universal than a child’s love for animals. That connection leads to wanting to save endangered species, their habitats, and eventually to preserving a healthy natural environment that can sustain us all. It also can lead the way for motivating children to realize their ability to change the world. While those other programs include laudable social justice components, A-Team for Wildlife is focused specifically on saving animals and their habitats - a theme more readily embraced by children of all ages.
Conservation of endangered species is a huge world-wide problem requiring much more funding than it currently receives. Fund-raising is an activity in which children of all ages can easily participate. Children require education, motivation and practice. Leadership training in conservation and fundraising is eagerly accepted by children as they are universally fond of animals. Tapping into children’s enduring love for animals is an excellent avenue for motivation, education, and experience in fund-raising. From that initial calling, their education and concern can broaden to include recovery of lost habitat, provision of human social needs, and mitigation of Climate Change as among their efforts in time. Initially and fundamentally, it can all grow from children’s love for animals.
Vision: A-Team for Wildlife will be the leader in youth-generated fund-raising with Local A-Teams in every community in the country and many countries around the world, supporting and rewarding young achievers with life-changing Exciting Educational Wildlife Experiences, and offering record-breaking sums as donations to endangered species preservation programs in the campaign to reverse extinction trends.
Goals:
1. Reverse the trend towards extinction of the many endangered animals who suffer from habitat loss, poaching, and declining quality of life, through public education and funding of effective conservation efforts.
2. Challenged by a global ecosystem in decline, A-Team for Wildlife will nurture the development of the next generation of conservationists to insure sufficient quality and quantity of new professionals entering the field to meet the needs of both wildlife and humankind.
Objectives:
- Through our school assembly presentation program: 1) educate students about the issues of endangered wildlife and the impact on people’s lives. 2) motivate students to join as members of A-Team of Wildlife and form or join Local A-Teams to create fund-raising campaigns, further their own conservation education, and provide public education about endangered species.
- Establish and maintain a youth leadership council of proven prodigies of conservation, known as the “International A-Team” to serve as an advisory board to the board of directors, and to inspire all children to pursue conservation education and fund-raising for endangered wildlife.
- Offer to provide to our “International A-Team” members technical, networking, promotional and mentoring support to further their careers in conservation.
- Promote Leadership Skills and a Community Service Ethos through the nurturing and application of individual empathy, passions and talents in all youth members.
- Provide or facilitate Exciting Educational Wildlife Experiences to achievers in fund-raising to reinforce and reward accomplishments.
- Provide excellent campaign guidance through assisting volunteer Local A-Team Leaders, and providing needed documentation.
- Shepard donated funds to existing, proven non-profit programs for preserving endangered species, as vetted by our Donation Review Committee.
We are Unique
A-Team for Wildlife combines some uncommon elements to “synergize” into a powerhouse for conservation.
- Excellence is in our name. “A-Team” means number one; a special, elite group of people working together. It inspires our young members to do their best, and to have pride in their membership.
- No other wildlife conservation-only organization in the U.S. has followed the youth-activist model for fund-raising successfully demonstrated by the likes of Free The Children. A-Team for Wildlife does.
- No other conservation organization has created a formal program to identify, honor and provide on-going support for prodigies of conservation, as we do with our “International A-Team”.
- Most conservation organizations compete with other conservation organizations for donor dollars. A-Team seeks to generate new dollars in new ways and pass on donations to deserving conservation efforts engaged in by others.
- Most conservation organizations offer public education as secondary to their field work, and many often neglect it. A-Team focuses exclusively on education, reaching out into communities with our dynamic presentations, leaving the wildlife field work to those already so engaged.
- A-Team uses the behavioral fact that rewards reinforce behavior, by incorporating Exciting Educational Wildlife Experiences for our youth.
- We are designed for exponential growth. Each Presenter will routinely train additional Presenters to multiply and spread our impact, state by state. A centralized manager will oversee quality control.
- Only A-Team for Wildlife has TARZAN as our spokesman. DeWet Du Toit is an online media star as “The Real Tarzan of Africa” bringing a message of integrity, healthful living, and protection of wildlife.
Who we are
The founder and founding board of directors are parents, educators, and conservationists. Our Advisory Council is made up of professional conservationists and journalists outstanding in their fields of expertise.
Our founder, CEO, and creator of the A-Team model is Ken Jones. Mr. Jones has years of experience working in schools and youth groups providing nearly 1,000 conservation presentations while managing the Tropical Rainforest Museum and Rainforest Expo. He also received awards and honors while volunteering for Earth Day efforts and San Jose City environmental events. His environmental education career is extensively documented online. Mr. Jones expertise includes New Media, having produced an online TV series and several podcasts. He currently produces and hosts the conservation podcast, Jungle Deep.
Included on our Board of Directors are members each credentialed and experienced in their positions on the board. Corrie Cody has degrees and certificates in education and child development. Brian Cooper, Director of Website Design, has a successful website design business. Sony Miller, Director of Presentations, has years experience performing school presentations in conservation. Thea Powell has a BSc degreee in Zoology/Ecology, Master’s degree in Evolution and Conservation. Mick Mittermeier, Director of Wildlife, is an extensively-traveled conservationist. Robin Maxwell, Director/Author, is a best-selling author of historic novels. DeWet Du Toit, our African Ambassador, is an actor/filmmaker, and professional TARZAN impersonator.
Our Advisory Council was founded with conservation professionals, some with publishing and/or photo-journalist credentials, experience in non-profit management, and the arts.
The Ask
We are seeking $20,000 in startup capital. This will fund equipment, supplies, insurance, transportation costs, etc. for providing the initial round of membership fulfillment and school presentations for the first 3 months, until revenue generation kicks in from assembly fees and membership purchases.
“Saving Endangered Species” School Assembly Program
See our video:
Introductory/Grant Proposal Video: http://youtu.be/2psd-ZRjBDA
Read our planning document: http://www.a-teamforwildlife.org/school-assembly-program-summary
$40,000 is required to produce the props and purchase the technology for our outstanding “Saving Endangered Species” stage presentation, to be provided to schools.
$50,000 is sought to replace our initial documentary video with a custom film that is professionally produced in High Definition, contains animated segments, and is choreographed with the animatronic portions of our stage presentation.
$10,000 is needed for marketing of the assembly to schools and public venues.
Together these amounts equal $120,000 required to fulfill our offering to youth as designed, and put our programs into full swing. A descriptive eight-page pdf of the “Saving Endangered Species Presentation Program Summary” which details the elements of the presentation is available in pdf format upon request.
Will you help us toward this goal?
Contact: Ken Jones, CEO, , 209-225-9660
www.A-TeamForWildlife.org
###
