The Story So Far

Here's how Notes for Peace came to be, and what we have accomplished so far: 

In fall 2006, after traveling to Israel the summer before, I approached some people at NYU with the idea of creating a non-profit that would host a music related peace-camp in the Middle East, which was met with support, but the timing just did not seem right. I let the idea sit a for a while,  and a year later, after spending summer 2007 living in Haifa, Israel, I started decided to go ahead with the project. A friend of mine, Alex Lehrer, helped me come up with the name Notes for Peace. 

First, I reached out to organizations on NYU's campus in order to recruit students to form the Board of Directors. A few good friends and I sat in a cafe for days, interviewing people who would become the core of Notes for Peace. Finally, about two weeks later, we had our initial Board, and were able to start our meetings. 

In our first couple of weeks in existence, we managed to accomplish a lot. We met with members of the music industry at the College Music Journal Festival and Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York, and even managed to drum up a bit of press--even getting a feature on NBC News. It seemed like everyone we talked to supported the idea--the problem was, however, that we weren't actually a legal non-profit yet. 

I'll spare the details of how things came to be, but by the end of January 2008, we had incorporated as non-profit in New York State, received fiscal sponsorship via Fractured Atlas (so we could take tax-deductible donations), and began our application for 501 c tax exemption.

In January, I flew out to Israel, where I'm now living in Haifa as I study at the University here. It's great to be here because it is letting me do ground research as the Board continues to meet back home, led by our Vice President Farva Jafri. Farva and I speak often to discuss our progress. Currently, the Board is working on two major projects: a Jewish-Muslim-Christian Passover Seder and a benefit concert with World Faith, a faith-based non-profit. 

I'll be updating the blog from now on with what happens as Notes for Peace develops further.