Melton Foundation

The Melton Foundation was established in 1991 to build a world-wide community of talented people from diverse cultures capable of addressing global issues based on principles of open communication and mutual respect. To accomplish this, the Melton Foundation sponsors a diverse array of ongoing events, activities, and interactions –both online and face-to-face– in order to deliver cross-cultural training and to build strong social and professional ties among its fellows.

The core activities of the Melton Foundation are made possible through an endowment provided by William Melton and Patricia Smith Melton in partnership with five host universities located in Chile, China, Germany, India, and the United States. The Foundation is registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.^[1]

Background

When asked how it all started, the Foundation's founder William Melton recalls... “I remember a trip to Berlin, in 1989; shortly after the Wall came down, Patricia and I wondered what the result of mixing talented people, with a right set of tools and a healthy environment would create.” Therein lies the genesis of an initiative to attract especially talented individuals who have grown up in especially economically and politically dynamic environments and, using innovative approaches to combining online and traditional means of people-to-people exchange, build a network for mutual support and social impact. ^[2]

The Melton Foundation's “Guiding Principle,” developed through a participatory process involving all parts of the Melton community and approved during the 2000 annual symposium is:

“The Melton Foundation is committed to bringing positive change in the world through a network of people from diverse cultures empowered by lasting bonds of friendship, open communication and mutual respect.”'^[3]

Founders

William (Bill) Melton is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Global Internet Ventures,^[4] an Internet Holding Company. For more than 20 years, Melton has been an entrepreneur bringing technology to the financial industry. He was the original founder of VeriFone Inc, the transaction automation company that has made credit authorization terminals ubiquitous on retail counters throughout the world. He was also an early investor in America Online and served on its Board of Directors for several years. He currently serves on the BOD for several private early stage technology companies. He holds a master’s degree in Asian Studies and Chinese Philosophy.^[5]

Patricia Smith Melton, The Melton Foundation co-founder,^[6] is actively involved in global forums in the area of conflict resolution. Patricia is a playwright with productions throughout the U.S., a photographer who has taught at the Smithsonian Institution, a poet, and an entrepreneur. She is founder of, and currently focused on directing, the PeaceXPeace Global Network.^[7] This organization uses the internet to connect women-based groups in the U.S. in one-to-one relationships with women-based groups working in their home nations outside the U.S. The aim is to foster the conditions necessary to achieve and maintain peace.^[8]

Activities

• Annual Symposium. Every year, the foundation gathers all of its fellows for a week long symposium. A different partner university hosts every year, which allows the partners to experience many different cultures.^[9]

• New Fellows Orientation Each new group of fellows participates in an orientation which provides them with skills necessary to proceed in the program.

• Photo Exhibition For the last 2 years, Fellows across various campuses have attempted to share a perspective of the country where the previous Symposium was hosted through a Photo Exhibition, where photographs are drawn from Fellows that visited the country. ^[10]

• Campus Activities Each campus of the organization independently runs campus activities that are tied to the mission. Recent campus activities include Social Service Projects and Movie Festivals. ^[11]

• TEDxMFZU In September 2010, Fellows of the Melton Foundation in Zhejiang University organized TEDxMFZU - an event attended by many members of the Melton Foundation. TEDx is an independently organized event, created in the spirit of TED's mission of "Ideas Worth Spreading".^[12] The theme of this TEDx was Ideas • Impact • China ^[13]

• Workgroups Throughout the year, fellows work in small groups to study a problem of interest. The latest set of workgroups are discussing various facets of 'Identity', which is the topic for the 2011 Symposium of the Melton Foundation.

Fellowship

The Melton Fellowship is envisioned as a "lifelong fellowship." Fellows are selected as talented undergraduates and, while still students, undergo training and activities designed to forge the relationships and shared skills that become the basis of a global network for positive change in the world which sustains them, and is sustained by them, for a lifetime.^[14] Following university graduation, fellows continue to interact among their peers, mentor younger fellows, and become active in the governance of the network and its deployment for positive social impact.^[15]

Fellows pass through two broad categories based on age and status: Junior Fellows and Senior Fellows . Each of these two stages is further subdivided by life-cycle stages, geographic location, and personal and professional interests in order to pinpoint relevant programming for fellows.

Partner Universities

• FSU Friedrich Schiller Universität joined the program in 1991 as one of the founding institutions. FSU, located in the city of Jena,  Germany was founded in 1558 and has more than 20,000 students.

• BMS Established in 1946, B. M. Sreenivasaiah College of Engineering has been part of the Melton network since 1992. BMS is located in Bangalore,  India the Garden City and Silicon Valley of India. Its sister institution, B.M.S. Institute of Technology, established in 2002, is also now a part of the Foundation.

• ZU Zhejiang University located in Hangzhou,  China has been part of the network since 1992. With more than 41,000 students, ZU is considered one of the top 3 graduate schools in China.

• UFRO Universidad de La Frontera located in Temuco,  Chile. UFRO has been part of the program since 1994.

• DU Dillard University ,  United States is currently the partner University in the United States. DU situated in New Orleans joined the network in 1995 as a private historically black faith based liberal arts institution.

• Westmar University (1890-1997) Westmar University in Le Mars, Iowa,  United States was the first partner university. Westmar was Bill and Patricia Smith Melton's alma mater.

2011 Symposium

This year, the Melton Foundation's annual Symposium will be hosted by Universidad de la Frontera (Temuco, Chile) from 26 September to 2 October, 2011. The event will convene approximately 120 Melton Fellows and members of their extended global academic community. The 2011 Symposium will be held in the environs of the Universidad de la Frontera in Temuco, Chile. The theme of this year's Symposium is 'Identity'.^[16]

The theme will be developed as a common learning platform for all Melton Fellows, university faculty, and members of the Foundation to develop an in-depth understanding of Identity, and the various facets and areas that define it, in collaboration with experts from around the world.

Since March 2011, Junior Fellows have been researching and discussing several sub-topics of 'Identity' in order to gain a more detailed perspective. The specific sub-topics being discussed this year are Identity in Education, Identity and Heritage, Sexual/Gender Identity, Identity in Art, Media and Internet Identity, and Identity and Sub-cultures.^[17] They will present their findings and opinions at the Symposium, while also gaining insight into these topics through expert talks and activities centered around this theme.

The Symposium will also include inter-cultural communications and global leadership development activities for the Fellows related to their responsibilities in the governance of the global network sponsored by the Melton Foundation and in delivering positive social change to their communities and societies.

External links

• Melton Foundation official site
• 2011 Symposium Official Site
• Melton Foundation BMS official site
• Melton Foundation UFRO official site (in Spanish)
• Melton Foundation FSU official site (in German)
• B. M. Sreenivasaiah College of Engineering
• Dillard University
• Friedrich-Schiller-Universität
• Universidad de la Frontera
• Zhejiang University

References

1. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/about-us
2. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/about-us/history
3. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/about-us
4. ^ http://www.givventurepartners.com/team/#bmelton
5. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/about-us/founders
6. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/about-us/founders
7. ^ http://www.peacexpeace.org/about/pxpbod/
8. ^ http://www.peacexpeace.org/
9. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/events-and-activities/annual-symposium
10. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/events-and-activities/photo-exhibition
11. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/events-and-activities/campus-activities
12. ^ http://www.ted.com/tedx
13. ^ http://www.tedxmfzu.com/about-us/
14. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/fellowship
15. ^ http://www.meltonfoundation.org/main/fellowship/senior-fellows
16. ^ http://chile2011.meltonfoundation.org/?page_id=12
17. ^ http://chile2011.meltonfoundation.org/?page_id=14