Mission Statement


Our goal is to stop the aggressive behavior that can lead to the violence in our schools, by empowering today’s young people with the tools they need to make an immediate moral response whenever they see a fellow student being harassed, humiliated, bullied or picked-on. These tools are firmly grounded in the principals of character development and focus on respect, tolerance, and acceptance of others. Further, the Foundation has, as it’s educational goal, programs that will help adults identify those troubled youth that are unable to control their aggressiveness or are victims of harassment of any kind.

Believing that respect for others along with a return of ethics are essential for harmony and the future development of our youth, the foundation will provide students, parents, teachers and administrators with the educational materials and follow-up activities needed to establish a Power of One program at their school. Through participation in a Power of One Student Program, students will learn how to identify the various forms of peer-to-peer harassment and will be prepared to take non-violent action when they see it happening. By introducing these concepts early, the Foundation hopes to see an end to the harassment and other forms of violence that has now become so common in our schools.


History
Why We Started the Foundation

The Power of One Foundation, Inc. was begun in January 1999, after the death of our daughter. She had been a victim of severe peer harassment that started when she was in junior high and continued on into high school. As the parents of a student who was the victim of peer harassment, we found that there were few resources available to us. We could not find any formalized programs that were in place within our daughter's school, or most schools for that matter, which addressed the issue of bullying. The pain that our daughter, and all those that are bullied must live with everyday is devastating. Our daughter's fondest wish was to feel safe at school and to be treated with respect and dignity.

She had to leave high school in her junior year. She did well in the new environment. But, she was killed a year later in a car accident. It soon became apparent to us that her death affected many people, especially friends and classmates who realized that they had lost the chance to "make things right" with Tina. They could not explain why they bullied and harassed her, nor could they explain why they didn't do anything to stop it.

The pain and frustration of not having the resources we needed, and seeing the pain of Tina's classmates and their unfinished business, inspired us to form the Power of One Foundation, Inc. We organized a board of professionals that also included three of Tina's closest friends. The Power of One Foundation, Inc. was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Minnesota on January 29, 1999, and received 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service on June 7, 1999.