A Resource for Club Leaders

Club leaders:
How to use this manual:
This is a guide for new leaders of Global Law Brigades Clubs in Universities across the United
States that describes the what-is and how-to of Global Law Brigades (GLB). It is a manual
meant to guide the club leader through on-campus brigade club formation, project execution
abroad, and Global Brigades network expansion. Inside is a collection of GLB’s best practices,
examples, and tips, which ensure a high-quality approach to our mission as a student-led
strategic development organization. Additional resources and templates are also available in
the form of “Manual Supplements,” which can be obtained from the Regional Advisor or Law
Brigades Director, Diane Dunn.

Section I: About Global Brigades and Law Brigades

Section II: How to start a GLB club

Section III: Preparing for the Trip

Section IV: The Brigade week activities, accommodations, food and security

Section V: Passing the project and club leadership on to future brigades

Section VI: Partner Organizations in Panama

Section VII: GLB policies on conduct and payment

Some icons are repeated throughout to catch your attention:

WebSource: Templates Important Deadlines: Read

and information are available Ahead and mark these dates
on the GLB web site on your calendar now!

Online Payment Due: Make your

100% tax deductible payments on
Conference Call: Participate the Brigades Fundraising Site (BFS)
in a free conference call
with regional advisors and
Email: Contact your Regional
country directors
Advisor or Law Brigades Director
with questions and periodic updates
Table of Contents
I. About Global Brigades and Law Brigades
About Legal Empowerment
What is a Law Brigade?
Why Panama?
What can a Brigade do?
II. How to Start a Club
Achieve Official Club Recognition
III. Preparing for the Trip
1. Receive your Project
2. Recruit Club Members
3. Airfare and Payments
4. Prepare the Project
5. Fundraise
6. Health & Legal Requirements
7.Get ready for Take-Off
IV. The Brigade
Sample Itinerary
Accommodations, Food, and Transportation
V. The Next Brigade
Project Assessment
VI. Partner Organizations in Panama
VII. GEB Policies
Conduct
Payment
Project and Leadership Transition
VIII. GB Panama Contact Directory
IX. Your Comments
I. About Global Brigades and Law Brigades
Global Brigades Mission: To empower students and professionals with tools and resources to
dramatically improve the health, economic, and environmental conditions in the world’s most in
need communities.

Accomplishments: Since 2005, more than 4,000 volunteers from 60 university clubs traveled
with GB to implement health and economic development solutions for more than 50,000
beneficiaries in Central America, Ghana, India, and Vietnam. Currently we are focused on
strengthening our multi-disciplinary brigade programs in Honduras and Panama.

Current Focus: In Panama, our Global Development Brigades programs focus on community
development projects within the categories of Law, Business, Architecture, and the Environment.

Program Missions:
Global Law Brigades (GLB) is a secular, international volunteer network of
students and law professionals collaborating with at-risk communities to improve
quality of life by implementing legal empowerment, human rights, environmental
protection, and business law strategies for micro-enterprise development.

Global Business Brigades (GBB) seeks to create sustainable economic development solutions to
improve impoverished communities and their individual inhabitants. We advance this goal by
empowering students to identify, improve and expand micro-enterprises in local communities.

Global Architecture Brigades (GAB) is dedicated to the design and construction of socially
responsible solutions to architectural problems in developing nations. University students utilize
extensive community dialogue and independent research to create efficient, appropriate, and
elegant structures to be embraced and utilized by those for whom they were built.

Global Environmental Brigades (GEB) seeks to mitigate ecological degradation and develop
sustainable environmental practices. The organization empowers university students with an
educational and hands-on experience abroad to develop strategic environmental solutions in
cooperation with local communities and organizations.
About Legal Empowerment
Some of the world´s leading international organizations are working on
legal empowerment to lift communities up out of poverty. Check out
what the World Bank and the UN are saying about legal empowerment…
The World Bank

“In developing and transitional countries around the world legal services organizations (LSOs)
are working with poor people to enable them to gain greater power over their own lives.

As lawyers for the poor, LSOs promote safety, security and access to justice and help poor
people solve problems and overcome administrative barriers. While LSOs' work is about justice
and making the rule of law a reality for the disadvantaged, it equally is about poverty
alleviation and poor people's empowerment. LSOs help improve the material circumstances of
the poor and empower them to improve their circumstances and participation in public life.”

The UN Commission on Legal Empowerment Legal Empowerment includes:

of the Poor (CLEP) •Access to Justice
“One of the staggering facts about poverty is that the
•Property Rights
vast majority of the world´s economy lives their daily
lives in what is often referred to as the informal or •Labor Rights
extralegal sector.”
•Business Rights
“When the majority of the world’s populations live their
lives in the informal sector, and the formal economy is
dwarfed by the informal, the result is lower growth, less
revenue and less room for investment in health,
education and infrastructure.”

Naresh C. Singh, Executive Director, UN Commission on Legal

Empowerment of the Poor, Making the Law Work for Everyone, p.
iii.

The CLEP´s full report is available free online in English, French,

Spanish, and Arabic at: www.undp.org/legalempowerment/ Law Brigades builds partnerships with
LSOs in Panama, and uses the UN CLEP
report as a program guide!
What is a Law Brigade?
A Law Brigade consists of pre-law and law students who collaborate
with legal professionals to work with disadvantaged communities to
develop and implement legal empowerment strategies. Law Brigades
are one-week experiences abroad that include hands-on work
alongside community members to promote legal empowerment. Law
Brigades currently operate in Panama with projects that complement
Business, Environmental, and Architecture Brigades to alleviate
poverty, foster human rights, and promote community development.

Law Brigades programs create first-hand opportunities for youth and

civil society to understand domestic and international legal issues in
developing regions including international humanitarian law; migration
and refugee issues; business licensing and organic and fair trade
certification procedures; micro-enterprise laws; and, environmental
and human rights concerns. We empower college students and law
students to build relationships with established local and international
legal, humanitarian, environmental, and development organizations.
Law Brigades creates opportunities for volunteers to work together
with communities served by these organizations.

Our Values Include:

• Fostering human rights

• Respecting local culture
• Preserving the environment
• Promoting legal empowerment
Why Panama?
Disparity and Needs:
Financial incentives attract foreign investment in Panama. Unfortunately,
the locals are often left out. Therefore the income gap is widening: while
Panama City is currently building 200 new skyscrapers, the rural areas
remain impoverished and underdeveloped
•Highest inequality level, 5% of population share 60% of income

• Average per capita income: US$4,400

• Population living below US$1.50 a day: 16.6%

• Poverty in rural areas: 63%

• Poverty among indigenous communities: 98%

Resources:
Excellent networking resources with Ciudad del Saber (City of
Knowledge). “The City of Knowledge is an international complex
for education, research, and innovation. It has been developed to
promote and facilitate synergy between universities, scientific
research centers, businesses, and international organizations. The
City of Knowledge is governed by a private, non-profit
organization, The City of Knowledge Foundation, which was
created in 1995.”

Accessibility, Infrastructure, and Safety:

•Many of the disadvantaged communities in Panama are easily
accessibly with less than one day travel time

•National infrastructure is conducive to Global Brigade´s projects,

and is one of the safest locations in the Latin American region for
this type of work.
What can a Brigade do?
Examples of Projects Include:
•Access to Justice and Rule of Law: Collaborating with women´s organizations
like Mujeres Unidas en Salud y Desarrollo (MUSADE) Law Brigades can help
create pocket size Legal Resource Directories that will increase awareness of
and access to free and low cost legal services for women in need.

•Legal Discovery Process to Assess Community Needs: Consulting with local

communities and legal experts to assess legal issues Law Brigades can help
communities to develop and implement legal strategies to address those issues.

•Land Use and Stewardship/Property Rights: Developing proposals and

securing local legal experts Law Brigades can help communities negotiate
agreements and contracts for sustainable land use, increasing options for
livelihood and improving quality of life for indigenous and small farming
communities.

•International Refugee Law and Human Rights: Working with disaster relief
organizations to learn about the rights of displaced persons Law Brigades can
help raise international awareness and provide information about services
available for these communities.

•Business Rights: Providing local legal expertise for micro-enterprises including

establishing legal personality or business licensing for organizations Law
Brigades can help communities to navigate legal administrative procedures, and
establish risk management and ethical guidelines for small businesses.

•Labor Rights: Establishing and documenting good labor practices and business
processes for micro-enterprises Law Brigades can help communities to prepare
and submit applictions for organic, fair trade, eco-tourism, and other
certifications.
II. How to Start a Club
Join an expanding network of university chapters by starting Law Brigades Club
at your university! Take a leadership role in this exciting student-led
international community development movement by becoming a club president
or club officer.

The first step is to contact the Law Brigades Director, Diane Dunn, at Diane@globalbrigades.org
to request a Regional Advisor for your geographic region.

Regional Advisors are past club leaders or previous in-country directors/coordinators who have
volunteered to help you every step of the way to prepare for your brigade trip. Your Regional
Advisor is your source for sample materials, fundraising and recruitment strategies, trouble-
shooting, and expertise on all club matters. Once you are assigned a Regional Advisor, they will
continue to follow up with you, via phone and email, to remind you of upcoming deadlines and
provide any additional information you may need along the way.

As a Club Leader, you act as a representative of the Global Law Brigades program on your
campus. You are also your university’s ambassador to the national network of Global Brigades
clubs. In addition, you will represent GLB and your university internationally with developing
communities and partner organizations during your trip abroad. Your responsibility is to lead
your team throughout the process of setting up the club, preparing for the trip and
implementing the project. You will also help with project and leadership transition at the end of
the brigade. Remember, you’re not on your own, Global Brigades’ mission is to empower
students to form brigades and make a difference, and it is our responsibility to give you the tools
you need.

Resources available to you include:

· GLB Regional Advisor
· Previous club leaders at your university
· GB country directors
· GB national advisors
· GB founders Note that on the GB management pyramid
· GLB website: www.lawbrigades.org above, we have Club Leaders at the base.
· This manual and manual supplements Global Brigades is student-led!
You are our best resource!
Achieve Club Recognition
A Global Law Brigades Club is official on two levels: it is recognized by your
university and by Global Brigades as an official chapter. The benefit of being
official on both levels is that you can take advantage of resources provided by
each institution to gain support and retain structure on your campus.
1. Achieve official club recognition on your university campus.
• Recruit a leadership team of friends and fellow students to join your club.
• Find a faculty advisor and customize a club constitution
• Submit an application to your school's Association of Students or other
governing body that approves club affiliation. Universities have different
requirements for club registration, check in advance!

2. Choose a week for your brigade

• Contact the GLB Director, Diane Dunn, and request a week for your brigade
• Select a Sunday-Sunday week and coordinate this week with your academic
calendar (i.e. during Winter, Spring or Fall break)

3. Register your club on the GLB website and Global Brigades Fundraising Site (BFS). Email
your Regional Advisor to:
• Get Listed on the GLB club page
• Add your institution to the Brigades Fundraising Site (BFS)
• Get a globalbrigades.org email address (yourname@globalbrigades.org )
• Receive an Info Session Powerpoint Presentation
• Secure your brigade dates
• Go over important policies and deadlines
• Ask questions and get answers!
• Remember, you only have to achieve club recognition from Global Brigades
once, but check your university’s policy on club continuation.

TIP: Forming the leadership team

When choosing 3-4 dedicated students to join your leadership team, it is helpful to choose
students from a variety of majors so that your club is multi-disciplinary in constituency and
perspective, and so that you have more access to student volunteers and contacts outside
your field of study. You may want to consider assigning roles according the tasks listed below.
•Treasury (manages funds)
•Travel Lead (collects deposits & books tickets)
•Fundraising (internal & external)
•Membership (Recruits new members and legal professionals for your brigade)
III. Preparing for the Trip
By now you have started a Law Brigades Club on your university campus and
secured a week for your brigade, and you’re ready to start preparing for the
brigade trip! You’ll need to start preparing about 2-3 months in advance, in order
to complete the seven pre-brigade tasks described on the next few pages.

There are basically seven pre-brigade tasks:

1. Receive your project

2. Recruit club members
3. Book Tickets (NOTE: you may need to apply for visas for non-US citizens!)
4. Prepare the project
5. Fundraise
6. Take care of health & legal requirements
7. Get ready for take off!

Time management is important, so you should create a timeline and set due dates to stay on
top of specific tasks. There are a few specific deadlines regarding booking tickets, making
payments, and getting vaccines which are set counting back from your departure date. It’s a
good idea to read ahead in this manual, look for deadline icons, and mark them on your
timeline.

There are three main conference calls you should plan to participate in. You will receive
invitations from your regional advisor with an appointment, a call-in number and a code for a
free conference call. Sometimes your advisor will also attach an agenda with action items. It’s
important to attend these calls, as it gives everyone a chance to check-in, address issues, and
answer questions as they arise.

1.Project Description 2. Project Check-in 3. Brigade Overview

1. Receive Your Project
Each brigade is assigned a legal empowerment project to implement in
collaboration with a local partner organization and/or community. The
project can be implemented with some preliminary preparation during the
brigade week. Your project assignment is based on Global Brigades criterion
for sustainability, community needs, skills of your team, as well as the
interests of your team.

Your regional advisor will set up a conference call with you

and the GLB Director. You can share the conference call
invitation with your leadership team, your faculty advisor,
and any one else you would like to participate. During this
call, you will determine your project assignment. The GLB
Director will be able to tell you about the legal needs and
issues you will address, the cultural context, the partner
organization and other relevant background information.

During or soon after the call, the GLB Director will email you a PowerPoint
presentation which will include your Project Description. The slides will
contain background information, a project title, partner organization contact
information and a breakdown of basic project goals, objectives, needs,
resources, proposed method and potential for sustainability. During the call,
you’ll want to be able to tell your advisor and GLB Director the following:
TIP:
•Status of your brigade club
As the GLB Director will be
•Status on securing a faculty advisor calling from Panama via Skype,
•Status of club leadership you could easily set up a laptop
•Special skills/interests of your brigade in a classroom and use the call
•Anticipated brigade size: 10, 15, 20 or 30 to conduct an information
participants? session for potential new
members, get new members
•Expected brigade dates: Winter, Spring,
involved in project preparation
Summer, Fall? from the start, or give sponsors
a good idea of the work your
club will be doing in Panama
2. Recruit Club Members
Using the project description, info session PowerPoint presentation, recruitment toolkit,
website content, and any other resources you wish to draw on, build your brigade team.
The minimum number of members for a brigade is 10 and the maximum is 20. The ideal
number is 15 members. If you have 30 members it may be possible to arrange two
brigades in neighboring communities during the same week.

9 Key Recruiting Strategies:

1. Promote and publicize club events and brigade opportunities throughout the year using email
listservs, recruiting tables, posters, Facebook, class announcements, chalkboard/whiteboard
announcements, etc.
2. Participate in campus events including organization fairs, club days, freshmen orientation, and
similar events. Take advantage of departmental listservs to create visibility among large sections of
the campus population and specific interest groups. Target a diverse student population, and make
sure announcements are titled with key words (Legal Empowerment, Human Rights, Indigenous
Rights, Women´s Rights, Land Rights) rather than simply Global Law Brigades.
3. Hold several information sessions. Use PowerPoint presentations and supplementary materials
in the recruitment toolkit supplement. Tailor materials to your audience and try to convey the
importance and value of participating in a Law Brigade.
4. Provide clear next steps for potential members on how they can get involved. At end of every
recruiting event provide:
•General club meeting times and locations
•Trip payment deadlines and processes (see travel policy supplement)
•Contact information to receive more information about the club and upcoming brigade trip
5. Follow up with possible new members. Get full names, emails, and numbers of all interested
parties. Create a recruiting email listserv (Google groups tools are great for this!) to convey
information to interested parties.
6. Team effort! Make sure every current club member is responsible for actively seeking out future
club and project members.
7. Contact Information! Bulletin boards, flyers, posters, listserv announcements and all other
forms of publicity must have meeting times, locations, contact phone numbers and emails available
year-round. Plan early to secure consistent meeting locations and contact information.
8. Diversity! Make sure your recruitment is directed toward a diverse audience, including freshmen
and sophomores, Spanish speakers, and students with diverse fields of study. A diverse mix of club
members will ensure successful brigades and a sustainable club.
9. Be creative and have fun!
Once you have 10-15 club
members, email your
regional advisor, and go
on to booking tickets!
3. Airfare and Payments
The Global Brigades partner travel agency will help your brigade secure tickets as a group.
Payments for both the tickets and in-country costs are made through the online Brigades
Fundraising Site (BFS) according to the following procedure. Payment policy details can be found
in the Travel Supplement.
1. Reconfirm the brigade dates with your members and GLB Regional Advisor.

2. Email GB contact at STA Travel to request available flights and approximate prices to relay to group:

STA Contact: Brenda Dang

Agents: Georgia Michlig or Abby Hartman
Office: 972-538-8854 Fax: 972-315-9568 Email: bdang@statravel.com

* For questions over the weekend, please contact your Regional Advisor.

3. STA Travel Agent researches optimal group flight and relays a quote to the Travel Lead.

4. ONE WEEK after initial info session club leadership must submit a $200 deposit on BFS.
TWO WEEKS after initial info session all GLB participants must submit a
$200 deposit online using the BFS. The Travel Lead is responsible for
ensuring that all club members understand deposit due dates, payment
timelines and policies upfront.

5. When ALL $200 deposits are collected on the BFS, email APF Travel to relay the following information:

•Travel Dates and Preferred Times (we recommend Sunday-Sunday)

•Departure City (airport) and Destination City (airport)
•Number of Passengers
•Names of Passengers

7. The APF Travel Agent will email a travel contract to the Travel Lead and CC your Regional Advisor to
officially reserve flights for participants. Your Regional Advisor will update your university’s BFS page to
reflect the remaining payment due.

8. FOUR WEEKS before departure: Final payment for airfare is due!

The Travel Lead is responsible for reminding all participating club

members to submit online payments and/or checks made out to Global
Brigades to cover outstanding balance for airfare.

9. TWO WEEKS (14 business days) prior to departure: Total $850 payment for in-country costs due!

APF Travel will email a reminder travel itinerary to all confirmed passengers,
the Regional Advisor, and the GLB Director. Make sure each club member
prints a copy!