Merger Announcement November 2008

Highlights:
Dear Friends
Supports Just Think’s Strategic Plan
Expanding Access For All
One Economy’s Media Entities
Rey co-founded One Economy

Just Think is very proud to announce our merger with One Economy Corporation. One Economy Corporation is a global non-profit that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology to low-income communities, connecting them to valuable tools for building better lives and entering the economic mainstream.

Just Think’s Elana Yonah is awarded the Jefferson Award by CBS 5 in San Francisco for her ongoing work with Media Literacy Education.
Watch the Video
Read the Chronicle article here where the merger announcement was first published.

Dear Friends of Just Think:

On November 4th, within hours of the announcement of our nation’s next president, Just Think’s board of directors approved a merger with One Economy Corporation, a growing global nonprofit organization that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology and information to low-income people, connecting them to valuable tools for building better lives and entering the economic mainstream.

Founded in 2000, One Economy Corporation has grown from a small basement shop to a global entity with offices and programs across the country, and an expanding presence in countries including programs in Jordan, South Africa and Turkey.

Just Think’s strategic plan to Shift the Landscape of Learning in America included our goals to scale direct delivery of programs and to greatly expand dissemination of the rich media curricula we have developed for 13 years. This strategic plan was exponentially enriched by the proposition of merging.

This is a momentous opportunity to thank you for all your support for Just Think since our birth in 1995 and to share the details of this important decision at a remarkable time.

One Economy Corporation maximizes the potential of technology to help people improve their lives and enter the economic mainstream by catalyzing wide-scale access to broadband, computers, and online educational content. Their focus, like Just Think’s, is on populations who traditionally have had limited access to technology, limited knowledge of how to use technology to improve their lives and, once they gain access, limited information pertinent to their lives.

In addition to bringing broadband services to affordable housing and other communities, One Economy has also trained young people to help community members use technology effectively. Their Digital Connectors program dovetails with Just Think’s Youth Media Educators program, teaching technology, career, and life skills and sending trained youth back into their communities to teach others. Just Think will add a strong critical thinking component to the Digital Connectors and greatly expand the media arts component, guiding young people to thoughtfully examine issues of concern to them and then to produce media projects that explore these issues. Our Youth Media Educators have produced films on body image and nutrition, depression and suicide, immigrant rights, freedom of expression, and global warming.
Just imagine what the new Digital Connectors will create!

In a demonstration of insight, two years ago One Economy held a press conference with Senator John McCain and now president-elect Barak Obama to announce the establishing of the Public Internet Channel —the first online network developing creative and relevant public-purpose programming for and by diverse communities.

The PIC will significantly expand the reach of One Economy Corporation’s current media entities: The Beehive, providing information about financial services, education, jobs, health care and family; ZipRoad, helping parents and students find education-related resources in their communities; and 24/7 TownHall, a community forum dedicated to change. Additionally, as a public-purpose online network, the PIC is designed to inform and inspire people to take action.

If there was ever a merger prospect uniquely suited for Just Think, we believe it is One Economy Corporation. The root of our confidence in this marriage is our belief in One Economy’s leader, Rey Ramsey.

A dynamic visionary, Rey has spent his life challenging racial stereotypes and working to level the playing field for people from diverse backgrounds. Rey grew up in a working class family in New Jersey, attended Catholic schools, then went on to graduate from Rutgers and the University of Virginia Law School. He moved to Oregon and, after practicing law for only a few years, became the youngest cabinet member in the state, directing the Department of Housing and Community Services under two governors. He volunteered for Habitat for Humanity International and later became its chair, then moved on to become the president and COO of James Rouse’s Enterprise Foundation. In 2000 Rey co-founded One Economy and has since served as its CEO.

Just Think brings a dedicated staff and a wealth of experience to One Economy Corporation, particularly in the areas of media production, content and curriculum development. Just Think’s Executive Director Elana Yonah Rosen will become a senior advisor to Rey Ramsey, assisting with strategic planning, international media and program development, fundraising and communications.

You will receive much more information about One Economy as we implement the merger and add you to One Economy’s communications. Meanwhile, please join us as we celebrate 13 years of Just Think’s service and this momentous new beginning.

We’d love to hear from you, so feel free to call us at 415-561-2900, drop by the office in The Presidio before December 31, or email think@justthink.org with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Daniel Kunstler Elana Yonah Rosen
Board President Executive Director

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