The Bra(a)tz Foundation

We will not distribute fish, nor only teach to fish,
but mostly organize the fishing party

The Project

The objective of the Foundation is to undertake programs to raise the standard of education, of health (physical and emotional) and living standards of its target group.

Motivation

We believe that with the right pull and push and an organized helping hand, many lives can be significantly improved, particularly if given early in life. We understand that the key to start a life of hope and joy lies in the family. Here much can be done to motivate, to give educational and psychological support to parents and to show the importance of inculcating in children the realization motive (this last aspect is not obvious in predominantly Latin countries, where dependence on relations and fatalistic views are predominant).
From an experience of receiving family support (in fact from Braun, Fredrich, Koch, Handel, Blauth, Hexsel, Isolan, Isatto, Amaral, Fracasso and Heuser families) to get education and job opportunities, comes the motivation to consider a family group as a target for such a project. Theories of personal development, which can better be tested in a well-defined group, also motivate the choice.

Beneficiaries

The target groups of the BF are the needy children up to young adults in educational age of the Bra(a)tz families and of those genetically related who have ancestors of the same family worldwide, making no distinction of religion, color, gender or political affiliation. Indirectly, the experience, methodologies, working materials and knowledge gained will be shared with other families. The choice of such a narrow target group from a small worldwide "family" deserves an explanation. Since resources will always be limited, a choice has to be made. It could have been the poor of a neighborhood, the victims of a certain disease or deficiency or any other criteria. Because of the bad experiences many people have with relatives, the idea may be rejected right away, but being bearers of the same surname does not mean, when we think about the members worldwide, that we are effectively relatives. The Bra(a)tz family is a family of survivors who escaped the decimation of 70% of the population of Pomerania, particularly in the 30 Years War and many others wars later in history, besides the potato hunger crisis which motivated the immigration to North and South America in the XIX century. We believe the family has no more than 10 thousand souls worldwide.

Priorities

1. Children education (directly and through mothers)
   
2. Teenage education (directly and through parents)
   
3. College education 
   
4. Post-graduate education 
   
5. International student exchange programs hosted at families of our target group
   
6. Clearing internet site for demands and offers of volunteer assistance work (not limited to the target group)
   
7. Research on genetics and health

Policies

• Develop the realization motive in children through their mothers
  
• Increase self-esteem in members of our target group
  
• Raise the emotional maturity of members in our target group
  
• Create a climate of support (psychological, emotional, financial) in members of our target group
  
• Increase the educational level of members in our target group
  
• Indirectly increase the well being of members in our target group
  
• Create a network of mutual support among members of our target group
  

Programs

• Improvement of the realization motive in children
  
• Personal growth and development
  
• Distribution of scholarships and research grants
  
• Ongoing evaluation of teaching support and counseling needs, particularly in math, sciences and languages
  
• Support to learn foreign languages
  
• Exchange programs with families of the target group in other countries for teenagers (15 to 18 years old)
  
• Internships for college and graduate students of the target group to acquire professional experience
  
• Organize volunteer assistance work though a site containing demands and offers
  
• Bibliography research to generate reading materials related to the objectives of the BF
  
• Census of our target group with yearly up dates
  
• DNA research to characterize our target group (on volunteer and unconditional basis)
  
• Health research with focus on the genetic characteristics of the target group, particularly to identify and treat hereditary diseases, if existent
  
• Diffusion of knowledge and research results to families outside the target group
  

 

Methodologies


• Workshops
  
• Seminars
  
• Distribution of reading materials (books, articles, papers, auto-didactic texts, f.ex.)
  
• Internet site containing texts and links leading to useful sources of educational material
  
• Private teaching support and counseling, particularly in languages and math
  
• Scholarships
  
• Internships
  
• Research grants
  

  Resources
  

  The Bra(a)tz will operate with funds derived from royalties on the use of the family name as trademark or trade name or from donations by the firms using the Bratz trade name. The firms involved were allready notified and to pursue our interests an attorney firm with branches in several parts of the world has been retained.

   

  Administration
  

  A Council composed of 3, 5, 7 or 9 members (the number growing in pace with the amount of assets of the Foundation) and 1 to 3 Directors will administer the BF.
  These offices will be held on an honorary basis (no salaries or honoraries paid).
  The main decisions, concerning the budget, the assets, the concession of benefits, the priorities, the policies, hiring and firing of Directors, will be taken by the Council. Council members would meet through conference calls and make most of the decisions by exchange of electronic messages.
  The Director (s) will execute the policies established by the Council and administer the hired staff.
  Three volunteer members of the target group will also be selected to act as Auditors, verifying the propriety of expenditures.
  The Council members, Directors and Auditors will have Internet access to every item of expenditure and investment accounts.