MISSION

The mission of the Maps for All Initiative is to build geographic literacy and create an American environment that reflects the rest of the world through the display of world maps in public places. In doing so, Maps for All strives to promote a greater awareness of global issues and a greater understanding and appreciation of the connections between an individual’s community and world.

Displaying world maps in public places is an important step in bringing the world into focus and building an understanding of our place in it. Our hope is to provide world maps to assist the public to better understand where events in the news are taking place, to model cultural connections to nations across the globe, as well as to develop an overall understanding of the world outside of the United States.

GREATER HARTFORD AND CONNECTICUT

Greater Hartford, and Connecticut, are intertwined with and interdependent on nations throughout the world for commerce. The city, region and state is home to immigrants from across the world. In fact, in Hartford alone, there are scores of various languages spoken, and Connecticut’s diverse population includes individuals, families and communities whose cultural background includes nations from every corner of the globe.

Therefore there is no better place to launch the Maps for All initiative than in Hartford, the Central Connecticut region, and the state as a whole.

STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE MAPS FOR ALL INITIATIVE

The Maps for All Steering Committee has consisted of volunteers from the community, working in collaboration with the World Affairs Council of Connecticut. It has been coordinated and led, from the outset, by Dr. Louise Loomis. Committee members have included: Dan Casper, Bill DeGrazia, Amanda Jolly, Bernard Kavaler, Colleen Kruger, Michelle McFarland, Megan Torrey, and Scott Wilson.

ORIGIN

The Maps for All Initiative began in 2009 to promote the display of World Maps in public places. Dr. Louise Loomis, founder of the ThinkWellCenter LLC, created the Initiative after being dismayed by the general lack of awareness of political geography among people she met as an educator.

Dr. Loomis also realized that our visual environment is predominantly devoted to selling goods and services. There was - and is - an opportunity to include World Maps in that visual environment, which would encourage greater awareness and reflective of globalism while also providing new methods for individual global education.

Maps for All became part of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut (CTWAC) after considerable planning by representatives of both organizations and approval of CTWAC’s Board of Directors. The vision of the Maps for All and CTWAC affiliation is a future for our state in which World Maps and other geographic representations are readily available to all.