The Darfur Dream Team

The Darfur Dream Team is a dynamic partnership of organizations working together on the Sister Schools Program, an initiative to connect American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with sister schools in the 12 refugee camps in Chad. The two main objectives of the program are: (1) to provide a quality education to every refugee child from Darfur; and, (2) to develop connections between students from Darfur and the United States while promoting mutual understanding. Principal partners in the Darfur Dream Team's Sister Schools Program are USA for UNHCR, Participant Media, The Enough Project, Facing History and Ourselves, the Education Partnership for Children in Conflict, and i-ACT.

Several NBA players have already signed on to this initiative by pledging financial support and/or dedicating time to working directly with U.S. sister schools. Tracy McGrady, Derek Fisher, and Baron Davis are currently recruiting additional players. Early participants include Luol Deng, Brandon Roy, Jermaine O'Neal, Etan Thomas, and others.

Principal Partners

UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which has twice won the Nobel Peace Prize (1954 and 1981) provides protection and assistance to refugees and internally displaced people around the world. For more than five decades, the UN refugee agency has helped an estimated 50 million people restart their lives. Today, a staff of around 6,300 in more than 110 countries continues to help more than 32 million people worldwide. UNHCR relies exclusively on voluntary contributions from governments, private individuals, foundations, and corporations.

USA for UNHCR

The United States Association for UNHCR (USA for UNHCR) supports UNHCR's humanitarian work to protect and assist refugees around the world. The organization provides American individuals, corporations, and foundations an opportunity to aid in protecting and aiding refugees in the care of UNHCR. The organization strives to meet the needs of the world's most vulnerable people, building support and awareness in the United States for UNHCR's life-saving relief programs.

Enough Project

The Enough Project is helping to build a permanent constituency to prevent crimes against humanity. War crimes are not inevitable, and Enough wants to create noise and action both to stop ongoing atrocities and to prevent their recurrence. Enough's mission is to help people from every walk of life understand the practical actions they can take to make a difference. Enough's strategy is to energize diverse communities, including students, religious groups, activists, business leaders, and celebrities, to ensure that their voices are heard on some of the most pressing foreign policy and moral challenges facing the world today. Enough conducts intensive field research in countries plagued by crimes against humanity, develops practical policies to address these crises, and shares sensible tools to help empower citizens and groups working for change.

Take Part

TakePart.com is Participant Media's new social action network. Participant Media is a Los Angeles-based entertainment company that focuses on socially relevant, commercially viable feature films, documentaries and television, as well as publishing and digital media. Participant Media is headed by CEO Jim Berk and was founded in 2004 by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who serves as Chairman. Ricky Strauss is President.

Participant exists to tell compelling, entertaining stories that bring to the forefront real issues that shape our lives. For each of its projects, Participant creates extensive social action and advocacy programs which provide ideas and tools to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Participant's films include The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Darfur Now, An Inconvenient Truth, Good, Night and Good Luck., Syriana, Standard Operating Procedure and The Visitor.

Educational Partnership for Children of Conflict

The Education Partnership for Children of Conflict (EPCC) was founded by Jolie and Sperling as part of a 2006 Clinton Global Initiative commitment. Housed at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Partnership helps fund new education projects for children in conflict, post-conflict, refugee and emergency situations. New projects developed through the Partnership will be announced annually at the Clinton Global Initiative. EPCC has catalyzed a wide array of commitments supporting education for displaced Iraqi refugee children; young people affected by the Darfur genocide; girls and youth in rural Afghanistan; and other groups affected by conflict across Africa, Asia Latin America, and the Middle East.

Facing History and Ourselves

Facing History and Ourselves delivers classroom strategies, resources, and lessons that inspire young people to take responsibility for their world. Internationally recognized for its quality and effectiveness, Facing History harnesses the power of the Internet and partners with school systems, universities and ministries of education worldwide. Each year Facing History reaches more than 1.8 million students through a global network of more than 25,000 educators, staff, adjunct faculty, and international fellows. It facilitates hundreds of seminars and workshops annually, and it reaches the public through community events and extensive online resources.

i-ACT

Interactive-ACTivism (i-ACT) connects the surviving victims of the Darfur conflict with those who want to help, thus creating an interconnected community. i-ACT uses the power of the internet to put a human face to the immense numbers of dead, dying, and displaced in Darfur. Visitors to the i-ACT website see first hand the victims of this ongoing crisis through daily field reports; watch videos of conditions in Darfuri refugee camps; and make comments, ask questions, and post suggestions on the website's interactive blog feature.

Affiliated Organizations

Jewish World Watch

Jewish World Watch is an affiliated organization supporting the Sister Schools Program by working directly with Los Angeles schools that will be linked to schools in Darfuri refugee camps. Jewish World Watch works to mobilize synagogues, their schools, their members and the community to combat egregious violations of human rights around the world through education, advocacy, and refugee relief.

Campus Progress

Campus Progress, part of the Center for American Progress, works to help young people -- advocates, activists, journalists, artists -- make their voices heard on issues that matter. Through an online magazine and campus journalism organizations, public events, multimedia projects, and grassroots issue campaigns, Campus Progress acts to empower new progressive leaders nationwide as they develop fresh ideas, communicate in new ways, push policy outcomes in a progressive direction, and build a strong progressive movement.