LINGOs Selects OutStart Employee as Volunteer of the Year

Helping its employees who work in challenging disaster situations has always been a priority for the global poverty-fighting agency known as CARE. After the 2005 Pakistan Earthquake, war in Sudan’s Darfur region and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the need for and urgency of helping workers deal with the trauma that comes from assisting people in crises grew even greater. So CARE turned to two organizations for help: the Headington Institute – a provider of mental and spiritual support for relief workers – and LINGOs, which assists non-governmental organizations around the globe with learning and training. “Our mission is to promote the sharing of learning, technology and training,” said Eric Berg, Seattle-based executive director for LINGOs. “And this year’s Volunteer of the Year has, in a remarkable way, helped to train not only the staff of our member agencies but also millions of relief workers around the globe.” More than 750 million people will be touched by programs from LINGOs members like CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Heifer International, Save the Children and Habitat for Humanity International. According to Berg, the 2008 Volunteer of the Year worked with LINGOs and the Headington Institute to put the Institute’s trauma-coping courses online. Berg noted, “This year’s Volunteer of the Year made critical instruction accessible to any relief worker, anywhere in the world.” CARE learned that the Headington Institute had instruction that would help relief workers address the trauma that can affect them during a disaster. But, Headington did not have the technology and expertise to make its instruction widely available to relief workers around the world. So Headington turned to LINGOs. “One of the challenges that relief workers have is protecting their mental health. When someone is working in a disaster area up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, they’re at risk,” said Berg. “Relief workers rarely focus on what they need, mentally, to keep going.” LINGOs is supported by a number of member companies that donate not only their products but also make it possible for employees to lend their expertise, for free. Among these partners is eKnowledge software provider OutStart. “Along with putting a trauma-coping course online, our 2008 Volunteer of the Year also worked tirelessly to support our members by teaching them how to use the product OutStart donated for developing online courses,” said Berg. “This volunteer even put together a web site with tips and tricks on how to create compelling e-learning content.” Berg and LINGOs will announce the name of the LINGOs 2008 Volunteer of the Year on April 14 during the eLearning Guild’s Annual Gathering at the Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. LINGOs’ executive director will present the award to this year’s recipient at the start of the general session of the Guild’s annual event. About OutStart
OutStart software powers formal and on-demand learning, knowledge sharing and community/expert collaboration solutions that enable knowledge workers – employees, partners, and customers – to perform their roles far more efficiently and effectively. AgustaWestland, Autodesk, British Telecom, CVS Caremark, the US Navy, Verizon Wireless and others rely on OutStart to increase individual and organizational performance, improve knowledge transfer and lower operating costs. Located in Boston, Mass., OutStart has offices throughout the U.S. and Europe and can be found on the web at www.outstart.com About LINGOs
LINGOs, a consortium of humanitarian relief and development organizations, works to improve the performance, lower the cost, and increase the effectiveness of non-governmental organizations. Member (international humanitarian relief and development agencies) and partner (companies and associations working in the field of technology assisted learning) organizations provide help and support aimed at alleviating poverty and effectively responding to emergencies. For more information, visit www.lingos.org.