Byeong Sam and Michelle are wonderful examples of how the Medici Circle program can transform a student's professional direction.

I am pretty sure I sent you the link to our story about the Iraqi girl that worked as a translator for the OR National Guard:

www.deconstructionfilms.com/iraqi.html

We are looking for seed money to produce a documentary on her's and other translators' experiences working for the US in Iraq. We are looking for a supporting donor to come up with the $60K to get us to a point where we can travel over there to collect additional stories and do a backstory on our girl's Mom who is still there and in need of a lifesaving surgery she can't get. Any ideas? We have a 503-B non profit status to administer the funds to us and could use the support to go after additional grants.

For example, another story we are planning on integrating involves Saheed. He fled Iraq after loosing his translator job to a Jordanian, mostly because the non-Iraqi translators can easily leave and not have to worry about being killed. Saheed went to Jordan, how ironic, and was there the maximum allowed time without a visa, then to Egypt, where he waited on his application for his US translator visa. When time ran out there, he went to the only embassy that would grant him a visa, Cuba, and jumped on a plane to Havana where he stayed for two months, no Spanish, limited cash and a hope he could return to Cairo to get his US visa, which did finally come through. He is now here in Portland.

Any direction you could give on lining up funding would be most appreciated.

You were the inspiration for this, my entry into the world of Internet broadcasting: www.dialoguesonsocialenterprise.com.

I started out trying to copy what you have been doing with angel and VC investors, but I couldn't find a way to do it at a reasonable price. The YouTube-based approach I ended up with seems to work well for my purpose of getting the word out about "social enterprise," that is, ventures that both solve a social problem and produce a competitive risk-appropriate financial return. Plus, I have been able to everything on my on, which is probably the most remarkable feat of all!

Because of the key role you played in making it happen, I would love for you accept an invitation to appear as a guest on Dialogues On Social Enterprise at your earliest convenience.

I hope this podcast helps motivate people to give back. Thanks for doing it. Giving back whether time, talent or treasure gives back to the giver as well. Keep up the good work. Rich

My commute to LA last week was sufficiently long. I got to hear the entire philanthropy podcast.

Other than that one cowboy early on who mumbled something about a scholarship at a school in Ohio, I thought it was a great podcast. You did a terrific job -- as usual -- with the questions you asked and I really enjoyed listening to the responses. I particularly enjoyed Nohema Fernandez; I thought she did a terrific job.

I continue to listen to your podcast weekly and find the Philanthropy series to be a topic that needs more exposure in the angel community and appreciate your raising it up. I'll see you in San Diego.

Best regards,
Hall T. Martin
Director, Central Texas Angel Network