Directors Cut: November 2010

Building world class partnerships As Dream A Dream is growing and seeking to reach out to more and more children, we are constantly looking at ways to improve the quality and depth of our programs to ensure we are able to create maximum impact on the children that we work with. We would like our programs to meet the best international standards of quality and build the capacity of our staff to make Dream A Dream truly a world-class organization. We have taken up many initiatives to make this vision a reality. One of them is to spread our network of partners internationally, as well and bring in learning from across the globe into our programs. As part of the above, we applied to become members of the streetfootballworld (www.streetfootballworld.org) network, a social profit organization that helps connect organizations that work in the field on Development through Football.

In February 2010, Dream A Dream received membership after a vigorous assessment conducted by other members of the network. Dream A Dream is one of the three organizations from India to be part of the network. This is a validation of the quality, impact and potential of the Dream Football Program. Dream A Dream as a member of the network benefits hugely from increased visibility of its Dream Football Program at both regional and global levels. More importantly, the network helps us increase our competence in the field of Development through Football, markedly improving the quality of the Dream Football Program. The Adidas Exchange Program was one of the initiatives organized by streetfootballworld in Mumbai in November 2010.  It provided the 3 India based network members the opportunity to a great learning experience. The exchange was focused on how to identify and nurture emerging young leaders from our programs and on the development of football coaching skills. The facilitators were the best in the network and brought international learning to the workshop. Dream A Dream has benefited enormously from this exposure. It has helped us not only to connect with organisations working in the same area, but also strengthen our work on the ground. We are eagerly looking forward to implement these learnings in our programs thereby strengthen the vision we have for Dream A Dream. Vishal Talreja Co-Founder & Executive Director Dream A Dream.