We are receiving an out-pouring of messages from our partners around the world, telling us that our votes did matter to them—from Costa Rica, Nigeria, Kenya, Denmark, Syria, Italy... Of course, there are going to be tremendous pressures on the Obama administration to continue our aggressive military policies and work with Wall Street elites to contain the financial crisis. We need to be the counterweight allowing this new administration to take positions that are healthy for the planet and our communities.

2008 witnessed the financial meltdown of the "casino economy" we long predicted would happen. Over-consumption, addiction to oil, a foreign policy built on fear and corporate greed—we've worked for years to expose how the economics of quantity ensures the elite reap the profits while working people and the planet are left to pay the price. Yet as we celebrate 20 years of Global Exchange's education-for-action, we gain no pleasure from "I told you so."

As we witness the suffering of our friends in Iraq and Afghanistan, the escalating loss of homes by working folks in the U.S., and our planet getting sicker and sicker, we become more determined to build a new paradigm from the ashes of the old. Our two-pronged approach entails resistance and renewal. We must transform the global economy from profit centered to people centered, from currency to community.

As we write this, our partners at Code Pink just created a stir at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual meeting where they took the stage to "arrest" Karl Rove and demand a moratorium on foreclosures. Code Pink and our peace campaign continue their daring protests, never compromising our deeply held vision of a world where security is in education, housing and international understanding.

We had a huge party this fall to celebrate our 20th anniversary. As we review our work over the years and all the profound connections we've made around the world, we rededicate ourselves to the idea that people-to-people ties are the foundation for a true citizen's diplomacy. Our Reality Tours continue to take mainstream folks to less understood destinations like North Korea and Iran, and also to Latin America to celebrate the new grassroots uprisings. Why don't you join us on a tour this coming year?

Bringing the voices from Iraq, from sweatshops in Saipan, and migrants at the Mexico border to U.S. audiences has been another way we have nurtured connections. Our Better Neighbors tour provided an important tri-national debate across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico about how current trade agreements destroy local economies and force mass migration from Mexico to the U.S. Our report, The Right to Stay at Home, refocuses our national priorities away from the militarization inherent in "securing our border" to more constructive policies for economic development.

The Green Festivals, started seven years ago in collaboration with Co-op America, have expanded from San Francisco to Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle and Denver. Our latest book, edited by Kevin Danaher and Alisa Gravitz, The Green Festival Reader, presents the best of the Green Festival speakers. We're offering an autographed copy as a year-end gift to anyone who makes a donation of $50 or more by the end of the year.

Over a quarter-of-a-million households received Fair Trade chocolate this Halloween as our Reverse Trick or Treat program reached out to kids to help spread the message that child slavery is unacceptable in our sweet treats. The program has expanded to include children's activities for all the holidays and a curriculum for teachers to use teaching geography, math, economic and, yes: activism.

Our fastest growing program, the Green Alternatives, has launched a number of initiatives aimed at expanding Green Career opportunities for inner city residents. We have a contract with City College of San Francisco to expand their sustainability offerings, and with San Francisco high schools to develop an Environmental Service Learning Initiative to prepare teens for the green careers of the future. And we played a central role in creating the new Youth Unity Coalition for Action Now (YUCAN).

For communities battling corporate abuses, we offer Democracy Schools that teach a positive Rights-Based approach to organizing. This year, we are also working directly with communities in Nevada City, Santa Cruz and Monterey, CA (and beyond) to assert the rights of residents to be the decision makers where they live—not corporations siting dangerous and unwanted projects. These communities are also boldly recognizing the rights of nature while rejecting claimed "corporate rights."

We've held rallies at the Auto Shows in Detroit and Los Angeles, held actions at the Chevron refineries in California and national teach-ins and Climate Convergences in the Mid- and Northwest. Our student organizers are part of Power Vote, an ambitious project to register 250,000 students to sign a pledge demanding solutions to global warming, creating a clean energy economy and green jobs for all.

Our Fair Trade stores online and in San Francisco, Berkeley, Portland, and now in Washington DC, continue to provide a steady source of income to small producers in over 40 countries, while educating North Americans about Fair Trade. We encourage you to shop with Global Exchange for beautiful gifts that feel good.

Thank you to our amazing members for all that you do in your communities, for your brave resistance, your brilliant ideas and your enthusiasm to begin to build anew the world we want to see.

We now have a new opening on the political level. Let's seize it!