Areas of Technical Expertise

• General development issues: Women in development (e.g., legal, social, and economic issues)

• Project management: Training in basic project management skills

• Evaluation: Evaluation design, program evaluation and assessment, impact evaluation, rapid assessment and synthesis of evaluation findings for program decision-making

• Training skills: Needs assessment, design, training materials development, presentations, facilitations, management and evaluations

• Strategic planning: Organizational development and technical assistance in conflict management, social sector analysis, social marketing research

• Research: Behavioral studies, qualitative research, synthesis of research findings for program decision-making purposes

• Prevention of violence against women and children: Technical consulting services, training and evaluation of programs that advocate for ending violence

• Quality assurance program development: Development of quality indicators and standards

• Organization development: Empowerment of non-governmental organizations in the area of project management

The SHARE Institute Activities at a Glance

Advocacy, Education, Training and Public Speaking

The SHARE Institute advocates for the following issues:

• Economic empowerment of women. The SHARE Institute provides funding and technical assistance for organizations that offer micro-credit to women.
• Prevention of violence against women, including trafficking in women.
• Bridging cross-cultural gaps of communication via public speaking events and correspondence between schools in the U.S. and internationally.
• Girls' education and literacy programs, especially in countries where girls' education lags behind boys' education.
• Women's reproductive health and rights.
• Promotion of cultural awareness and good will.

The SHARE Institute strongly opposes and advocates against the following issues:

• All acts of violence, including genocide (e.g., military activities in Darfur, Sudan).
• Female genital mutilation. SHARE provides health education sessions to parents and health care professionals and holds speaking events to raise awareness about the negative impact of FGM.

Public Speaking Events
In the last four-and-a-half years, the President of The SHARE Institute, Dr. Soheir Stolba, has conducted over 100 speaking events. Presentation topics vary and many deal with the status of women globally. SHARE sponsors many public speaking events, including a monthly speaker series on global topics presented by different speakers. Organizations that have requested SHARE speakers include The Rotary Club in Sacramento, U.C. Davis, Stanford University, The World Affairs Council in the Bay Area, Soroptimist International of Sacramento, etc. For further information on the SHARE Institutes speaking events or to arrange for a public presentation, please contact the SHARE Institute at sstolba@aol.com or (916) 966-7482.

Education and Training

Health

• HIV/AIDS in India: The Institute sponsored four workshops in Bangalore, India. The workshops trained physicians and outreach workers in skills needed to educate community members about HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease.
• Prenatal care in Nigeria - the SHARE Institute funded a project that provides perinatal care to 50 women in Nigeria.
• HIV in Eritrea: A KAP survey on HIV/AIDS was funded in Eritrea.

Micro-Credit Projects

• SHARE has funded three micro-credit projects in Nigeria and Yemen.

Project Management Training

• Project management training courses were conducted in the U.S. and internationally (e.g., Fresno, Davis, Sacramento and Jordan). The course dealt with basic project management strategies (budget development, goal setting, writing scopes of work, and evaluation).
• The SHARE Institute provides scholarships to attend the Project Management Institute Sacramento Valley Chapter (PMI-SVC) one-day training sessions.

Violence Against Women

• Workshops were delivered in Lagos and Enugu in Nigeria to NGOs on the topics of HIV, reproductive health, sexually transmitted infections and violence against women.
• Several mini-grants were awarded to a Yemeni non-profit organizations to advocate against female genital mutilation.
• An NGO in India was funded to advocate against trafficking in women.
• SHARE regularly participates in advocacy presentations and community activities such as vigils commemorating victims of domestic violence and conferences on violence against women.
• SHARE sponsored a workshop in Vietnam on domestic violence issues and trafficking against women.

Advocacy and Research on Female Genital Mutilation

• A special qualitative research study on the impact of female genital mutilation (FGM) was conducted in Yemen.
• SHARE's principals give public speaking events on womens health issues to educate the public about FGM.

Leadership Development Program
Each year, twenty students and young adults explore innovative models of leadership in collaboration with experienced mentors in an ongoing leadership program. The participants gain knowledge about the intricacies of the work of non-profit organizations while learning about and becoming involved in local and global issues.

Micro-Credit Agriculture Projects

• SHARE has funded three micro-credit projects in Nigeria and Yemen.
• The SHARE Institute provided funds for establishing a small seed bank in a rural village in Uganda.

The SHARE Institute funded the following Empowerment and Education Projects:

• The SHARE Institute funded Home-based literacy classes in Afghanistan. Over nine-hundred women graduated with a third grade education through 2007.
• SHARE funded sewing, bead work, hair dressing classes, and English language classes for women in Afghanistan.
• Classes for women in El Salvador to learn methods of making and bottling natural medicines.
• Computer training for women in Egypt.
• Classes for women in Nicaragua to learn sewing.
• Sixteen girls' tuitions were paid to attend secondary school in Zimbabwe.
• Two boys were sponsored to attend public school in Nicaragua.
• Scholarships to anthropology students at American River College in Sacramento, California.

Project Management Training

The SHARE Institute sponsors project management training workshops with a focus upon the application of basic project management skills. The Institute offers custom-tailored courses.

A popular course is the one-day training course facilitated by Mr. Leonard Stolba, PMP. This workshop includes a review of the basics (scope, schedule, budget, quality, human resources, communication, procurement and risk) plus the preparation of an implementation plan (either individually or in teams) for a "real" project. The SHARE Institute offers scholarships to pay the tuition of the one-day trainings.

Participants are provided with the manual entitled "The Project Managers Primer" authored by Mr. Stolba; the trainers check-list of project management topics; and a project plan workbook. This workshop is for new, aspiring or experienced project managers who are interested in assessing and improving their skills.

This workshop has been conducted successfully in the U.S. and abroad and in dual languages (English and Arabic). Case studies are available for those participants who do not have their own project to plan. Attendance is limited to twenty-four per workshop, with one project development facilitator for every eight attendees.

Fees are negotiated based upon the number of attendees, the training location, and the cost of the workshop. You will leave this workshop with the knowledge of project management basics and be able to prepare a project implementation plan.

Copies of the Project Managers Basics Package including the "Project Managers Primer", the trainers check-list, and the workbook are available from The SHARE Institute for $30.00 U.S. plus $5 U.S. for shipping and handling. Multiple copies and overseas shipping will be priced on an individual basis.

For further information, please contact Leonard Stolba, PMP via lstolba@aol.com or sstolba@aol.com.