Dalia Association is a community foundation that realizes our rights as Palestinians to control our resources for our own durable development for generations to come. Our mission is to mobilize and properly utilize resources necessary to empower a vibrant, independent, and accountable civil society, through community-controlled grant-making. Our community development approach focuses on the ecological, local economy, social and cultural dimensions. Establishment of Dalia Association: A retreat with the original working group members was held in Jericho, West Bank on September 28-29, 2006 with funding from Birzeit University Center for Continuing Education. The decision to hold it in Jericho was made to ensure that the majority of working group members could attend, given the logistical obstacles relating to the Israeli permit system that is imposed on Palestinians which makes the movement extremely difficult and sometimes impossible. A second retreat was held in Ramallah on October 6, 2006 to complete the participatory process, which began in Jericho. The cumulative achievements of these meetings were: the Founding Board of Directors was identified; Dalia mission statement was created; Dalia vision and future strategies were decided; Dalia's organizational name was chosen, and a governance structure was established with committees formed. Dalia means “grapevine” in Arabic. Nearly every Palestinian house has a Dalia plant, and we all know that if you take care of it, a grapevine will feed you, shelter you, and provide beauty for generations. This is exactly what Dalia does for us. It is a mechanism for us to become our own donors, investors, and decision-makers.” Dalia was later formally registered as a legal entity on January 3, 2007.