Call Info (if we are not using skype):

Conference Call:

Private notes: http://my.pad.p2pu.org/council


































Pro Bono Form

Thank you for contacting the Community Organization Representation Project (CORP) regarding your organization.  Each year, CORP assists many groups with obtaining 501(c)(3) status.  Groups may qualify for assistance if they serve low-income individuals or communities.  Please refer to the questions below to see if CORP volunteer attorneys can help you.


1. Will the organization specifically serve low-income people?

YES (see details below)


2. Have you prepared a three year budget?

YES


3. Has a board of directors been selected?

P2PU is not incorporated and wishes to incorporate as a 501c3 company with non-profit status in California.

The five co founders will be directors in the new company.

(I don't think we need to provide a draft outline of expectations and responsibilities in this application)


4. Does the organization have a name?

YES


5. Has fiscal sponsorship already been considered and determined unbeneficial to the organization?

We have investigated options for fiscal sponsorship, but were unable to identify a suitable fiscal sponsor whose mission was aligned with P2PU and whose structure was designed to support a global online education project like P2PU.


6. Have you prepared a three year fundraising plan?

TODO: Provide input to the draft strategy plan / sustainability section [Joel, Neeru, Delia, Stian]

If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may be eligible for free legal assistance from one of our volunteer attorneys.  To continue with the process, please provide us with the additional following information:

a. Name of the organization
 
Peer 2 Peer University P2PU
 
b. Name, title, address, and contact information

Is this something the lawyers would also do? Check if we can use Aspiration's street address [Philipp to ask Gunner] 

c. Mission statement

The  Peer 2 Peer University is a grassroots open education project that  organizes learning outside of institutional walls and gives learners  recognition for their achievements. P2PU creates a model for lifelong  learning alongside traditional formal higher education. Leveraging the  internet and educational materials openly available online, P2PU enables  learning for everyone, by everyone about almost anything.

The  following values and principles are the foundation of P2PU: openness,  community, peer learning. We are articulating these values in order to  guide our actions, but P2P has always been about doing, and our actions  will in turn help us probe and refine these values.

P2PU  is open: Open sharing and collaboration enable participation,  innovation, and accountability. Our community is open so that everyone  can participate. Our content is open so that everyone can use it. Our  model and technology are open to enable experimentation and ongoing  improvement. And our processes are open so that we are accountable to  our community.

P2PU  is a community: P2PU is a community-centric project and our governance  model reflects that. P2PU is driven by volunteers, who are involved in  all aspects of the project. As members of this community, we speak and  act with civility, tolerance, and respect for other opinions, people,  and perspectives. We strive for quality as a community driven process of  review, feedback and revision.

P2PU  is passionate about peer learning: P2PU is teaching and learning by  peers for peers. Everyone has something to contribute and everyone has  something to learn. We are all teachers and we are all learners. We take  responsibility for our own and each others learning.
 
d. Description of how the organization directly serves the low income community

P2PU  serves low-income people in several ways. First, by curating open  courses, which only link to resources that are freely available on the  internet, we enable anyone with an internet connection to easily find  materials for self-study in a wide variety of subjects. 

Second,  by running these free courses with facilitators and a cohort, we  provide a social structure, feedback, deadlines and a network of mentors  to support learners at all levels excel in their chosen areas. 

Thirdly,  by experimenting with accreditation, we enable learners to access both  further education at a lower cost, and gain employment. This happens  through two different pathways, one is creating pathways to gaining  credit from the existing systems, through for example recognition of  prior learning, challenge exams or innovative partnerships with  extension schools at recognized universities. 

We  are also experimenting with brand new ways of demonstrating learning  directly to employers, using digital portfolios, community reputation  and badges. Our current focus is the School of Webcraft, in  collaboration with the Mozilla Foundation, to provide training leading  to employment for open web developers. We are hoping to expand this to  other domains in the future. 

Finally,  our goal is not only a P2PU which can serve low-income people in these  ways, but an ecosystem of resources, services and communities that make  education and accreditation available to everyone. To achieve this, we  promote experimentation and knowledge sharing among different projects,  and bring people together around research and development in the open learning field.
 
e. Annual operating budget

TODO: Use combination of Finances spreadsheet (in dropbox) and three year budget [Philipp to prepare once three year budget finalised with input]
 
f. Legal need(s) – Describe in detail

Incorporation as 501 company - drafting and finalising articles and by laws etc 
Act as company agent
Review and redraft as necessary P2PU terms of use, privacy policy and copyright notice
Draft collaboration agreements with other organizations
Apply for appropriate trade marks for P2PU

DB These are our immediate needs. I can't think of anything else.
 
g. Organization’s website – If available
 
http://p2pu.org/



Incorporation


Strategy / Budget


School of Webcraft

Assessment / Ahrash  Update on project