Posted 2024-12-26

ASDE’s 2024 Annual Report

2024 Annual Report - Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Prepared by Bria Bloom, Executive Director

Table of Contents: About ASDE, Vision And Mission, Welcome Message, Year in Review - Initiatives: -The ASDE Compendium, -Events, -Substack, -Virtual Communities, -Tipping Points Magazine, -Resource Directory, Year in Review - Finances

About ASDE: The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE) started in 2016 as a way to bring the various groups advocating for and practicing Self-Directed Education together. ASDE supports, elevates, and collaborates with folks involved in SDE from all over the world, to spread awareness, support all involved in SDE, and normalize the practice of SDE. We do this through our virtual communities, collaborative events, writing and publishing through Tipping Points Magazine and Tipping Points Press, extensive resource directory, and more. We have several major initiatives including Tipping Points, our Resource Directory, facilitation of SDE Efforts, and more. For 2024, ASDE was granted money to do more work with and for the SDE Community. To read more about our grant-funded efforts, visit our 2024 VELA Grant Page. The organizing team for the Alliance works behind the scenes to manage the website, support Alliance members, coordinate advocacy projects, and help augment the voices and experiences of those in the Self-Directed Education movement everywhere.

Vision and Mission: Vision = We envision a world where young people's human rights are respected and upheld, which includes the freedom to direct their lives and education; and where Self-Directed Education (SDE) is widely embraced, accepted, and available to all families regardless of their status, race, or income. Mission = The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to increasing accessibility and awareness of Self-Directed Education as a way of living and learning, and connecting the communities and voices of the movement. Values = Young People Are People We believe in the rights of young people including, but not limited to, the right to choose their own education. We recognize adultism as a prevalent form of oppression, and that we must all actively work to dismantle it. Collective Liberation & Anti-Oppression We believe in collective liberation, and that the path towards that is through being actively against oppression. Our rights, liberation, and freedom are intertwined with one another, and we cannot be free while another is oppressed. Community We believe that learning, growth, and support happens in community, and that building community internally within the organization and throughout this movement is a key part of what is necessary for ASDE, and SDE as a way of life, to thrive.

2024 in Review: What a year it has been! In 2024, ASDE got a large grant to make some exciting work happen. One of the biggest things we have been working on this year is the creation of The ASDE Compendium, an extensive resource filled with wisdom, experiences, and support for reflection from diverse folks who have been involved in SDE for years. We have worked with over 50 creators, many of whom are parents, facilitators, self-directed young people, and SDE advocates just like you! We cannot wait to release this beautiful content in 2025. It is truly a reflection of the work so many in the SDE community have done, and our collaborative efforts as an Alliance over the past 8 years. This year we also hosted quarterly support call events; launched Seeds of SDE, an ASDE Substack; continued to publish regularly on Tipping Points Magazine; explored book ideas with authors for Tipping Points Press; filled out more exciting resources in our directory; and acquired two partner virtual community Discord servers, one with a focus on SDE facilitators, and another with a focus on general community support. The connections, partnerships, and collaborations we have continued to build this past year have nourished our spirit and fueled our efforts. New collaboration possibilities have continued to emerge which further energizes our plans for 2025. Thank you all for everything you do for this movement. You are the heart of Self-Directed Education and Youth Rights!

The ASDE Compendium: This year a core focus was creating The ASDE Compendium, and a For Youth By Youth Compendium. These resources are a collection of wisdom from over 50 creators, and an accumulation of many of our partnerships, collaborations, and community building throughout the years. We are so grateful to our many creators and their generosity in sharing their knowledge and experiences. This beautiful collective effort will be released in early 2025! Events: In 2024, ASDE hosted three Community Support Calls. Our topics were Meaningful Mentorship with Youth in SDE, Parenting for Collective Liberation, and Life Without School -- Youth in SDE. These events are a chance for the community to connect around key topics that are pressing to our work in SDE. In 2025 we will continue to host these events more regularly, with an eye on emerging topics and partnerships. Our monthly Local SDE Groups meetings continued, with attendees ranging from folks who have been attending for years, to people coming for the first time. As our needs and conversations have evolved, so have these meetings. We decided to shift focus to include all folks working on SDE Initiatives and advocacy in any capacity, including centers, groups, meetups, and coaching, to name a few. Recognizing the increase in wisdom and experience among the participants, we have renamed

Substack: This year we launched our Substack, Seeds of SDE. It is composed of our most well-loved articles from Tipping Points Magazine. New audiences and familiar friends are finding inspiration and sharing this Substack widely. Substack supports audio and video file formats, expanding our options and adding another level of accessibly to our catalog of materials supporting the SDE movement. In 2025, we plan on expanding to include exclusive content such as an ASDE podcast, more audio content, and featured articles. Virtual Communities: The ASDE Community Discord Server was acquired via a Board member's personal initiative with a committed set of volunteers that onboarded with ASDE. This server hosts a bi-weekly Anti-Racism group, Weekly Roblox Meetups, Weekly Body Doubling Creative hour and Monthly Coffee Chats for support and low key hangouts. An unaffiliated Discord server supporting SDE facilitators was brought in under the auspices of ASDE and renamed ASDE Facilitators Community. The server admins were onboarded as ASDE volunteers. The community hosts two weekly open topic meetings, and has opportunities for forum discussions centered around best practices, SDE resources, and outreach.

Tipping Points Magazine: This year in Tipping Points Magazine we continued to work with authors on a variety of themes relevant to SDE, such as SDE facilitation and Self-Directed Learners considering collage. We also focused on SDE-related issues facing other countries, including Slovenia and Sweden. In September, we welcomed a new Editor-in-Chief, an amazing volunteer committed to this role who has already published numerous intriguing articles. Some important conversations were started on how we can use Tipping Points as a window into someone's SDE experiece, a mirror reflecting our own experiences, as well as a tool to build bridges and strengthen partnerships within the SDE world. Resource Directory: Throughout 2024, the Resource Directory (RD) was proud to incorporate more resources, including Unschooling Teen travel initiatives, unschooling conferences and events, and resources focused on collage and higher ed options for SDE youth. The resource directory continued to focus on a consistently updated list of SDE-related events, as well as job opportunities. The RD team also talked about visioning for improvement and the future of the RD, including building out the directory's scope and functionality (a focus in 2025), honoring the practice of evaluating what is relevant for entry in the RD with a focus on SDE-alignment, and exploring an RD working group to inform and support decision making.

2024 Review: 550+ Virtual Community Members, 100+ Event Attendees, 32,000+ Resource Pageviews, 85 New Resources Submitted, 27 Articles Published, 18,000+ Article Pageviews, 835 Books Sold, 850+ Substack Subscribers

Revenue & Expenses: Revenue Our revenue comes primarily from monthly donors, which is why they are so important to our sustainability as an organization. We also bring in some funds through book sales, events, one-time donations, and fiscal sponsorship. This year, we also received a large grant which is a big part of our 2024 funding. Grant = 77.5%, Donations (monthly) = 14%, Fiscal Sponsorship = 5%, Donations (one time) = 2.5%, Book Sales = 1% Expenses Most of our budget went to paying our staff, which is a core group of folks who are making ASDE projects and initiatives happen, handling daily operations, and holding strategic visioning and planning. Our core staff was working to maintain operations as well as create the Compendium, extend outreach, and build new partnerships, all of which are parts of our grant work. About 60% of our staff budget was paid for by the grant. This year, we also paid creators for content for the Compendium and speakers for our quarterly support calls. A small percentage of our budget goes to operating expenses. Staff - Grant Work = 46%, Staff = 30%, Contractors (content and speakers) = 22%, Operating Expenses = 2%

Thank you: This movement is all of us. There is no way we can do any of the work we do without your support. Here's to continued advocacy, collaboration, partnership, and support work in 2025. Together, we can make Self-Directed Education and Youth Liberation possible.

Contact Us: Email = info@self-directed.org, Website = www.self-directed.org, Instagram = @alliance4sde, LinkedIn = Alliance for Self-Directed Education

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Tipping Points Magazine amplifies the diverse voices within the Self-Directed Education movement. The views expressed in our content belong solely to the author(s). The Alliance for Self-Directed Education disclaims responsibility for any interpretation or application of the information provided. Engage in dialogue by reaching out to the author(s) directly.

 
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