Our Passion

Initiatives with Meaning

...a latticework of support.

Initiatives are for The John Ernest Foundation what for others are called projects. We Asked Google and like what we found.

• Goals are broad; initiatives are narrow.
• Goals are general intentions; initiatives are precise.
• Goals are intangible; initiatives are tangible.
• Goals are abstract; initiatives are concrete.
• Goals can't be validated as is; initiatives can be validated.

Artistic Practice and Theory in Modern Art

Steward - Niels Kroner

TJEF underwrote an Art History Symposium at the Frankfurt campus of Goethe University in November 2010. TJEF received a grant of 5,000 euros to be matched by the Friends of the Goethe University. Its recent President, Hilmar Kopper, underwrote a buffet supper at the close of the Symposium, hosted by TJEF. Several Vorstand members were present as TJEF showcased its method of incubating visions - i.e. largely from behind the scenes.

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Charles Fellow

Steward: Jessie Chen

The Charles Fellow honors the memory of Charles Chen, Jessie Chen’s father, and is an honor program enabling a young person from Shanghai and a similar high school junior to spend some time in each other’s setting. Colin Gavin was the 2010 Charles Fellow. He practiced his Chinese serving customers in a Shanghai tea house. Tommy Zhang, this year’s Fellow, returned to Western Reserve Academy following a first year in which he interned at the Brunei Hall at the Shanghai Exposition Recent Fellows are also studying at the University of California, San Diego, and Stanford University.

Kelsey Broderick, an earlier Charles Fellow, has just won a post-graduate Fellowship from Stanford to spend next year continuing her studies in China. TJEF sent her to China as a high-schooler to practice that Chinese ear! Congratulations, Kelsey.

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Constitution Future (new)

Steward: Andrew Fowler and Robert Patterson

Nation-building, with constitutions relevant to current circumstances, is the vision this unfolding Initiative has as its goal. The idea is germinating with some of Bob Patterson’s colleagues. Andrew Fowler is developing the game plan which will begin on Stanford turf. It begins with another corps d’elite impassioned with some a-historicism – leaving unwanted and archaic baggage behind in cultures which are finding new geographic definitions – an appropriate constitution for a new age.  

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Cross Court (new)

Steward: Christian Groenke

Unfolding as we write, Eric Peus brings to TJEF the request to incubate an exchange program involved the finest tennis players in the United States and Germany to week long exchanges, cultural as well as professional. Dick Gould, the winning Stanford tennis coach over the years and a long-time TJEF friend – is our first mentor. Negotiations with the United States Tennis Association and the German Tennis Federation are underway.

The first venue is scheduled this August at the Taube Tennis Center, Stanford.

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European University at St. Petersburg

Steward: Jonathan Gifford

TJEF continues to support the European University at St Petersburg (EUSP), Russia's leading independent post-graduate institution in economics, humanities and social sciences.

Professor Niels Kroner is lecturing in International Economics this spring at EUSP. He is also mentoring their development processes with good advice from Jonathan Gifford. Juergen Doering has just given his lectures surrounding breakthroughs in solar technology. On selective occasions EUSP calls on TJEF for guidance with faculty recruitment, alumni work and development work. Andre Munennich will showcase the new international accounting standards in the autumn of 2011.

For interest in directly supporting the EUSP, a US registered 501c charity, please contact Alexander Kurylev, Vice Rector for Development via email: kurylev AT eu.spb.ru or via phone: +44 7999 345 705

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Global CDH

Steward: Ken Kaufman

CDH = congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Few TJEF Initiatives have moved along as quickly and successfully as has Global CDH. Milestones have been met. While quite out of our geographic terrain, SKYPE has kept us close. See www.globalcdh.org for more information.

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Institute Fuer Kommunikationsfabrik

Steward: Ken Kaufman

Garrett Menghini did so well as our first TJEF intern at the Institut that Professor Peter Jung wrote highly of his work and offered TJEF two more internships. We are looking for suitable candidates to fill these internships.

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International Summer Science School, Heidelberg 2010

Steward: Ken Kaufman

The Lord Mayor of Heidelberg has given TJEF 3 scholarships for high school juniors at American schools to attend this summer’s program. In 2010 Oliver Curtiss, Kristyn Harpool and Laurel Estes worked at labs at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and the German Cancer Research Center. Following this, Oliver received early admission to CalTech. TJEF was given the honor of choosing the American students for 2011. They are Tiffany Fisher (Mountridge High School, Kansas), Monica Mehta (Western Reserve Academy, Ohio), and Simon Orlovsky (Burnham High School, San Jose, CA).

Here are two photos from prior events:

Oliver will intern at Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Kristyn at Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics, and Laurel at the German Cancer Research Center. You can read Oliver Curtiss's blog on his time in Heidelberg here.

Also review www.ish-heidelberg.de

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Institute for Social Emotional Education

Steward: Dr. Stanley Fischman

The Institute for Social Emotional Education in Durango, Colorado, will build on a tested curriculum, Discovery I, designed to teach anger management skills.

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John Ernest Business Plan Competition

Steward: Markus Mau

Edward Krubasik, a long-time friend, has helped TJEF incubate – for instance, RAPID Venture Accounting – where he made valuable connections in the Venture Capital community. Edward will mentor TJEF Europe as we build our business plan competitions. The first happened with TJEF donor, RAPID Venture Accounting at the Technical University of Ilmenau last summer. We will expand, improve and repeat this venue in August, 2011. Ken Kaufman chairs this ‘campus’. In April, he will visit the Hungarian Academy of Science in Budapest with a view to building out a Hungarian competition.

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John Ernest Fellows, Americas

Stewards: Americas, Dr. Stan Fischman and Ken Kaufman

During the summer of 2010, TJEF connected twenty students under twenty to life-changing experiences around the world. They were labeled by program. We wanted them to have a TJEF distinction. Thus, each of these students may use the title – John Ernest Fellow – for college and job applications. TJEF likes to think it bestows this title carefully and caringly. Those Americans visiting the International Science School in Heidelberg are such Fellows. Newly named are three students at CAMPUS 21 in Munich, who will have internships at Stanford and in Palo Alto this summer. Hot off the press: they are Fabien Koch, Rebecca Rappensberger, and Philipp Reissmann.

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John Ernest Visiting Lectureship

Steward: Ken Kaufman

Currently in incubation, the seeds of this Initiative come from TJEF’s work with the European University in St. Petersburg. The idea is that a scholar will give his or her time and lecture; the host institution will cover the local costs; and TJEF will fund the travel costs for lectures around the world. In a sense this builds on the lectures Brigitte Seebacher Brandt gave at Stanford…and the lectures recently taking place at EUSP. Our next challenge is to build Master Classes in Germany with the help of our good friend, Vance George. 

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Mentoring at TJEF

Stewards: Dr. Stanley Fischman, Mario Haeuptli

The TJEF Treillage mentors through coaching and guidance. Personal chemistry, ethical considerations and geography are factors, which TJEF's Committee on Objectives Under Consideration heeds before entering into a mentor-mentoring relationship. Learning is always a two-way street. Mentors provide resources, knowledge and advice to individuals and groups. Attaining specific goals and visions are the shared reward in a mentor-mentoring relationship. TJEF's Ken Kaufman honors one of his mentors in the following

Ode to a Fallen Mentor -

Long before the old word "mentor" again became fashionable, I well learned the best of definitions from several women and men who helped shape my life. Erwin was chief among them. What the concept came to mean so vividly to me, was a safe haven, where one could live without fear. Authority, while ever present, was overridden by a mutual respect, which the mentor duly earned.

• A good mentor listens honestly.
  
• A good mentor uses judgment with the utmost care.
• A good mentor is a master of the chemistry of friendship.
• A good mentor does not require hearing hints, as she or he wants them told, rather in naked language.
• A good mentor is a patient teacher, and learns when to employ instruction.
• A good mentor is clever, and understands how temporary disappointment can be.
• A good mentor is seldom bored by the pupil.
• And most important, a good mentor is also in a constant state of learning and often from the pupil.
  

Erwin was a model mentor to me. To the very end, he listened as I learned…agreeing at times with my thoughts and behavior, or critiquing my assumptions. I always felt important to him. I always felt I could translate what was to me a very complicated world, and that he truly
understood and enjoyed hearing its parameters. Never did I feel my world baffled him. We were always equals. Even when I was sixteen. What so commanded my respect for Erwin was his proper sense of good and evil.

• He understood duplicity.
• He understood false pride and vanity.
• And, he also taught me that the means to than end, if suspect, were unacceptable.
• Credibility is a scarce commodity, hard earned.
• It was, to Erwin, the best of traits.

Finally, Erwin taught me a lot about competence, which is born in the pursuit of truth.
For the competent, ignorance is the ever lurking enemy.
While one doesn't have to know, to be modern, and to experience.
At his house on New Year's Day, Erwin proudly handed us his present, the book, How We Die.
Even near his lucid end, he was modern. He was learning. He was experiencing.

I am but one small life Erwin touched.
He lives in the many who carry his flame!
He wrote, very creatively, on the slate of eternity.
And it is we, who must pass one these salient truths, which will honor his memory.

He understands what we are going through and has solid recommendations. He is the ultimate sounding board of reason and empathy.

Here are a few current pupil updates:

During the summer of 2010, twenty students under twenty years old at locations around the world benefitted from TJEF connecting them to “life-changing experiences”. Andre Delagnes is a junior at Menlo-Atherton High School. Andre’s family has long been a supporter of TJEF. Andre will intern with TJEF this spring and summer. Tony Zhou comes to us through Jessie Chen. He is a champion writer winning many competitions in China. He has spent the last few years in the U.S. and TJEF Americas is developing a long-range college strategy for him. We want each of the students to have a TJEF distinction, so each student may use a title- John Ernest Fellow – for college and job applications.

Those Americans visiting the International Science School in Heidelberg are such Fellows. Newly named are three students at CAMPUS 21 in Munich, who will have internships at Stanford and in Palo Alto this summer. Hot off the press: they are Fabien Koch, Rebecca Rappensberger, and Philipp Reissmann.

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New Scholars (new)

Steward: Kenneth Kaufman

TJEF’s role with New Scholars is largely board-building. The first boot camps in Kenya gave dramatic evidence that the concept is needed. New Scholars is a social venture empowering African entrepreneurs to not just jumpstart their economies – in particular, the” world’s newest country”, Southern Sudan – and eventually the entire continent. The New Scholars model addresses and then bridges the knowledge and funding gaps that exist for early stage entrepreneurs in Africa. New scholars will hold equity in the businesses that are created, with 5 businesses presently being incubated. See: www.newscholars.net for more information.  

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Principles of Development for Effective Results

Steward: Audrey Ryder

Members of the Foundation’s Treillage have considerable experience with fund raising for educational institutions. The foundation has a curriculum and occasionally facilitates lectures on a global basis. Shanghai and the University of Duisburg/Essen are the sites for future lectures. On occasion TJEF uses its Treillage members to showcase how successful development campaigns can happen. Robert Freelen (Stanford) and Dan Williams (University of Oregon) taught a two week course for a visiting German university, while Ken Kaufman continues to visit several German institutions with this intention. Paramount in TJEF’s system is accounting for cultural differences when exciting “endearment” among a university’s prospects.

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sarahOBAMAbike (New)

Steward - Marius Klee

Together with support from Sarah Obama, the honorable and intuitive grandmother of our President, who has kindly allowed us to use her name for this project, a low-cost industrial bike has been designed for use primarily in Africa (Zambia and Kenya) and Cuba to bring efficiency and affordable mobility. A fully loaded container with nearly 200 high quality bicycles, specifically designed for the developing world, is on the high seas from Hong Kong to Mombasa. Here is a drawing of the featured Cargo model:

www.movement-bikes.com

The official one page TJEF flyer can be seen here

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TJEF Systema (new)

Steward: Tyler Bridges

From Lima, Tyler Bridges – an investigative reporter – writes:

“It was December 2009, and the scene was the central plaza in the out-of-the-way town of Carmen, a two-hour drive south of Lima that is known for its Afro-Peruvian music and dancers. A bunch of teenagers were practicing their dance steps in the central plaza. This intrigued the parents and second graders visiting from Lima’s Trener School – Luciana, Cecilia and I among them. Would the teenagers do their dances – known as a zapateo -- for us? No way, the teenagers said, copping an attitude worthy of a New York City rap star. Music teacher Gabriel Bustamante shrugged off their dismissive response and led the 20 Trener children -- and about 30 parents – to a hall across the street. Gabriel had brought the Trener kids to Carmen so they could play their wooden box drums known as cajones in the seat of Afro-Peruvian music. Just before they could begin, however, a different group of youths from Carmen, slightly younger, entered the hall. Without attitude or pretense, they sat in the front row and nodded their heads appreciatively, as the Trener kids pounded their cajones in rhythm, under Gabriel's direction. The kids from Carmen didn't hesitate when Gabriel asked if they would take over. Not surprisingly, the Carmen kids showed more flair. After a time, three of the Carmen girls stood up and began to shimmy and shake their hips. The Trener kids looked on with rapt attention. It got even better. The local teenagers who had spurned Gabriel walked in. First, they stood in the back. Then they sauntered up front, and soon they were playing the cajones and showing off their zapateo. The captivating scene had melted their bravado. The impromptu encounter ended with the Trener and Carmen kids playing together, side by side. The unofficial leader of the Carmen kids, an 11-year-old boy named Gian Franco, even gave a few pointers to the Trener students. They eagerly followed his instructions. The leader of the Carmen girls, a 12-year-old named Leslie Andia, fascinated the Trener girls. The biggest town near Carmen is Chincha, about a 30-minute drive away. I drove to Chincha on Wednesday to meet with Gian Franco (now 12) and Leslie (now 13), and their mothers. (Their fathers don’t play much of a role in their lives.) I paid to enroll Gian Franco and Leslie at a good private school in Chincha. It’s called Ada A. Byron. The school director was very glad to have them. Leslie actually studied there last year but on a scholarship that she wouldn’t receive for the upcoming school year. (With the opposite season, the new school year is beginning next week.) Leslie said it had been a challenge going from her under-funded public school in Carmen to Ada A. Byron. But she got good grades and starred on the school volleyball team. Gian Franco said he was up to the challenge. Like Leslie, he’ll shine in the school’s music and dance program. Gian Franco is also taking up the violin because Carmen’s music often features that instrument. I explained to the two kids and their mothers why I wanted to help them. I said that I have been fortunate to travel a lot and meet a lot of people, but I have seen few children with the charisma and leadership abilities of Gian Franco and Leslie. What they need is a chance to fully develop themselves and see a broader horizon. Leslie’s mom works as a secretary in Carmen. Gian Franco’s mother Maricruz is a dancer (principally for the tourists who come to Carmen) who works when she can at a plant that exports asparagus, avocadoes and grapes. I asked Leslie about her dreams for the future. “Be famous,” she said first. Then she said she wanted to be a police woman or an obstetrician. Gian Franco said “pediatrician.” When I asked them to explain their choices, they both said they like to help out children. I told the two – and their mothers – that I would do my part in paying for all of their school-related costs. It’s about $1,200 per year. This includes the entrance fee; the yearly psychological test; the monthly tuition payment; the purchase of school books and the uniform and shoes; bus fare to and from school every day; and a daily school lunch. The $1,200 includes about $100 for any extras that might crop up. I told the two – and their mothers – that they would now have to do their part. They seemed thrilled to have the chance to study at Ada A. Byron and promised to do well. I’m glad to be helping them out.”

This brings a new concept to TJEF – and we are glad to be incubating Tyler’s vision.  

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WikiSym

Steward: Dirk Riehle

WikiSym is the International Symposium on Wiki's and Open Collaboration, an annual event that brings together researchers and practitioners of wiki's and related collaborative technologies and media. WikiSym is the leading event in its space and since its inception in 2005 it has been growing steadily and has had prestigious keynote speakers like Douglas Engelbart, inventor of Hypertext and the mouse, Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, as well as many well-known researchers. WikiSym is dedicated to global diversity and has taken place in many different cities and countries around the world: San Diego, USA (2005), Odense, Denmark (2006), Montreal, Canada (2007), Porto, Portugal (2008), Orlando, USA (2009), and Gdansk, Poland (2010).

WikiSym 2010 was a great success. TJEF once more sponsored this important event. It was held in conjunction with Wikimania in July in Gdansk, Poland with a total of 109 people in attendance. Keynote speakers were Cliff Lampe and Andrew Lih. The town of Gdansk was lovely in the summer with many outdoor cafes, street musicians, etc. and everything within walking distance. Photos of the event can be found here.

WikiSym has had another good year. TJEF will once again host the finances for the 2011 symposium to be held in Silicon Valley, California. See www.wikisym.org/ws2011 for more information.

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Yes

Steward: In Postponement

Rebecca Dorst, now a graduating senior at Menlo-Atherton High School, just received her

Apple laptop, which completes the program. TJEF is looking for a Steward to reinvent the

Initiative. Rebecca will attend UCLA on a water polo scholarship. Fred Stahl, Jr. is at

the University of California San Diego on a volleyball scholarship. Garrett Menghini is at

Harvey Mudd. Lisa Aguilar is at the University of Colorado. And Ross Bilger is at

Dartmouth. All freshmen!

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Social Networking. TJEF is now on facebook (causes and groups) where ideas and solutions can be discussed live. Please visit today!

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