Here's a brilliant notion: let college students pay back their college loans based on a percentage of their actual income. Lumni has figured out how to do this—while earning a profit for investors who make the loans—relieving students of the stress of making exorbitant loan payments after graduation and giving them some flexibility in how much they must earn.
Watch this Changemakers feature video about how Lumni does it.
ADD-on-GYAN Educational Services Pvt. Ltd is a venture established in order to reduce the many problems present in the Indian Education Sector and bridge the widening gap between theoretical and practical education in India. We began operations as a Start-up Company at Manipal University - Technology Business Incubator on 20th January and registered as a Private Limited company in July, 2011.
Competition Status:
Closed
Competition Milestones
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[...]
Created on 07/13/2009 by Elizabeth
When it comes to genetic food engineering, claims are often made about farmers ability and interest to adapt. And how about vitamin-rich rice? ... Are these realities or misrepresentations? Tell us what you think here
[Also check out our GMO Risk or Rescue competition. Share your idea or initiative to get noticed and to be eligible for various prizes. Submit your entry by October 21, 2009.]
Education is vital to achieving sustainable economic development and a means of reducing poverty and improving the quality of life.The inner idea of teaching is to support the students to learn.Interactive Courseware is an alternative to the traditional approach to instruction.
Created on 05/16/2013 by scuttman
The youth of today are the leaders and changers of tomorrow. If we have a problem today, we can work to change it now but for a sustainable impact, we have to prepare Malawi's farmers and leaders of tomorrow. Education must enable these teenagers to value their world and provide a healthy future.
Organization: The Malawi Learning Partnership
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The Malawi Learning Partnership
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
We have not received awards but gained a reasonable amount of press coverage nationally and internationally during last years Microsoft visit.
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Agriculture & Nutrition: Malawian Youth Prepared for a Brighter Future
Stage
Start-Up (a pilot that has just started operating)
This Entry is about (Issues)
Elevator Pitch
The youth of today are the leaders and changers of tomorrow. If we have a problem today, we can work to change it now but for a sustainable impact, we have to prepare Malawi's farmers and leaders of tomorrow. Education must enable these teenagers to value their world and provide a healthy future.
Problem
Everyone in Malawi grows maize anywhere they can! However, traditional methods do not yield the best crops and the flour only provides limited nutrition for the nation. Change is sniffled due to a lack of education as many teachers have not been upgraded to learn about new farming methods and healthy eating and living is only broached upon in the current curriculum. The climate and seasons are changing and other food sources must be encouraged.
Solution
Our vision is to create a bank of resources mapped to the Malawi Agriculture Syllabus that highlight good farming practices, balance nutrition and healthy lifestyles.Most students are expected to study this subject at secondary school. The resources would be electronic with animations and videos created in-country by a dedicated team of staff over two years. There would be sixty lessons of content supported by lesson plans and activities.
Resources alone are not sufficient to make a difference and therefore we would distribute these on our learning network website and via USB/CD/DVD to schools at professional development sessions for Agricultural Teachers. The teachers would be empowered and resourced to train Malawi's Youth of today.
Example
Jacaranda School for Orphans had a small number of computers until last August. In September 2012, they received 20 laptops donated by Microsoft as part of the MLP Project and their computers were networked and linked our learning intranet. The computers were only used for learning to type before the new connection but now they are able to access a range of resources.
In a recent visit, We gave them access to interactive games to learn English from the British Council and electronic books donated by Polarfish Interactive and the students started using the computers to learn other things than ICT. The MLP platform can now give them access to resources for a range of subjects related to the Malawi curriculum.
Impact
So far, we have been able to create a small network of ten schools which have been connected but we have not yet been able to provide the training and support levels that we want to provide or create the custom learning content that will impact Malawi.
Over 3 years, we aim to employ and train a team of Malawians, one project manager, a network manager and one training/support worker for every twenty schools. This will provide training and quality resources to a minimum of 2000 teachers in 200 schools with over 400,000 students, empowering girls & boys.
We aim to create an electronic curriculum that provides sets of lessons for the full range of MSCE subjects, including Agriculture, Nutrition and Healthy Living. Not only will these resources be available to connected schools but can be distributed on USB, CD and DVD to be used by teachers, students and adults at learning centres.
Marketplace
In Malawi, there are a few charities and organizations who provide computers for schools, including Computers for Malawian Schools and organisations such as Rotary. There are also many ICT firms but very little curriculum development.
MLP is different: Our slogan is Connect > Communicate > Collaborate. With partners, we connect schools, install equipment and develop learning tools. However, we empower teachers and students with training + support visits and develop resources in partnership with teachers to match the curriculum of Malawi. We link ICT classrooms to form a learning network!
Sustainability Plan
MLP is applying for grants to create resources as well as establish the larger project. We aim to become sustainable by expanding our teacher training, ICT support and supply services, web and e-mail services and by developing further resources and solutions with partners that can be sold to the private school sector. By Year 4, we plan to have a 100% Malawian staff with a wide product base aimed at Education.
Founding Story
I have been a teacher for thirteen years and have always been passionate about Africa and education. Although I had been to South Africa a number of times, I had not thought working in Malawi let alone developing a project here! However, I applied for job at Saint Andrew's and Gordon Benbow, the headteacher invited me to come to SAIntS to lead ICT and Community.
In a number of 'Divinely appointed' meetings, a partnership between SAIntS, Access Communications, IT Schools Africa and Microsoft was formed as a pilot in 2011. Teachers want the best for their students but why should each teacher plan alone? Why not work together and create a learning network where we 'Connect > Communicate > Collaborate?' So the next phase of MLP begins!
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhere do you ensure the availability of nutrients?
Nutrient-rich farming, Human wellness and vitality.
If you had greater capacity, which additional sectors would you like your solution to target - either through expansion, partnership, or thought exchange?
Healthy environments, Full nourishment foods.
How specifically would this added capacity help you improve the quality, efficiency, or sustainability of your existing product or service?
With great capacity, we would be able to expand the number of staff involved, create more resources, improve quality by employing more talented individuals and enhance the level of training for teachers that we could offer. The link with the Ministry of Education that we are developing would enable us to work closely with the government in the development of the future curriculum, enhancing the focus on balanced nutrition and engaging adult learners rather than simply focusing on Malawi's future farmers.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow is your product or service connected to vitality for the people and planet?
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People need appropriate nutrients to grow, learn, and fight off disease. How do you measure, track, or make use of information about nutrient levels in your own work?
Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).
Considering the flow of nutrients from ecosystems to soil to farms to food to communities, what are the barriers to achieving vitality for people and the planet?
Other barriers you have identified
In your view, what developments need to happen in order to help overcome those barriers and produce a more nutrient rich and vital public and planet?
Approximately 125 words left (1000 characters).
What do you consider the most promising trends or evidence that indicates that the developments you described are emerging? Please elaborate.
Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).
Created on 05/14/2013 by Dhruv Bansal
Balancers trying to reduce hunger crisis, are developing a food-o-social website cum application which would elaborate the concept of social inclusion. We are availing an opportunity to the people, to be recognized for the efforts they have put with innovative calorie donation cum execution.
Organization: Balancers
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideCountry where this project is creating social impact
n/a
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideStage
Idea (poised to launch)
This Entry is about (Issues)
Elevator Pitch
Balancers trying to reduce hunger crisis, are developing a food-o-social website cum application which would elaborate the concept of social inclusion. We are availing an opportunity to the people, to be recognized for the efforts they have put with innovative calorie donation cum execution.
Problem
The unbalanced state of our society, the deteriorating condition of nourishment, unequal distribution of resources and lack of awareness amongst the masses motivated us, to work for the society, for the sake of people, for the social welfare.The website-cum-application will generate awareness and provide practical solutions to the issues, the ones we face today.Providing practical solutions to deal with the epidemic obese and undernourishment.
Solution
Food|booK focuses on generating, operating and spreading solutions by creating a Global Alliance. This leads to the ultimate goal of uprooting the status-quo and thereby promoting an idea to feed a massive population of 9 billion.
-To make people aware and awaken their consciousness.
-To hand out practical solutions by connecting people.
-Accounting and recognizing people's efforts by Socializing Food Credits.
-To create a balanced calorie distribution system.
-Cartel NGO's for channelizing of funds and promote transparency.
Example
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Impact
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Marketplace
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Sustainability Plan
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Founding Story
As any idea gets its roots from another idea, to us that another idea was the Thought For Food Challenge’13. One pleasant morning, we all were surfing on Google, starting with as simple as Food wastage to as complicated as Sustainable Food Systems, etc; and after going through all the leading websites like fao, wfp, etc and wonderful blogs by different enthusiasts, we came across simple questions-Why do I have to go through various websites working for the same vital issues? Why aren’t some exploding-ly interesting blogs not able to reach out to people they should have? When I am ready to help, why do I have limited resources and options? Then we thought, are we capable enough to club? And the answer came YES, WHY NOT!
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhere do you ensure the availability of nutrients?
Human wellness and vitality.
If you had greater capacity, which additional sectors would you like your solution to target - either through expansion, partnership, or thought exchange?
Healthy environments, Nutrient-rich farming, Full nourishment foods, Human wellness and vitality.
How specifically would this added capacity help you improve the quality, efficiency, or sustainability of your existing product or service?
Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow is your product or service connected to vitality for the people and planet?
Approximately 125 words left (1000 characters).
People need appropriate nutrients to grow, learn, and fight off disease. How do you measure, track, or make use of information about nutrient levels in your own work?
Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).
Considering the flow of nutrients from ecosystems to soil to farms to food to communities, what are the barriers to achieving vitality for people and the planet?
Other barriers you have identified
In your view, what developments need to happen in order to help overcome those barriers and produce a more nutrient rich and vital public and planet?
Approximately 125 words left (1000 characters).
What do you consider the most promising trends or evidence that indicates that the developments you described are emerging? Please elaborate.
Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).
Across the UK, schools are connected via “learning grids”, networks enabling them to share access to a wealth of exciting and engaging educational tools, for pupils and teachers. Why should this just happen in the UK? Why not Africa and why not Malawi?! Quality ICT learning empowering young people!
With a dilapidated educational system in a world that will soon move toward human capital as the basis of the global economy, Liberia faces an uncertain future unless tougher reforms are created and funding is increased in the education sector to empower young people fill its human resource needs.
As a charity, we understand the challenges facing our sector. Donor dependency is rampant, limitations prevent growth, and we are failing to solve problems. The charitable investment proposes a solution; a single investment yielding annual charitable receipts, efficient growth, and sustainability.
Created on 05/1/2013 by Hayu
The world is presently over-dependent on a few plant species. On the other hand, there are more than 7,000 plant species from the wild that could be eaten. This has lead into malnutrition problem that people face around the world. Mantasa works with edible wild plants to fight malnutrition.
Organization: Mantasa
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Indonesia, JI, Jombang, Yogyakarta, Pasuruan
Is your organization a
Hybrid
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
No, the organization hasn't received any awards so far, but in 2010 we got project fund from UNDP for a year term. And within the last 2 years the organization has grown so fast and our events always covered by national media, that somehow is also an honor for us.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName your entry
Eat Wild and Get Nourished
Stage
Growth (the pilot has already launched and is starting to expand)
This Entry is about (Issues)
Elevator Pitch
The world is presently over-dependent on a few plant species. On the other hand, there are more than 7,000 plant species from the wild that could be eaten. This has lead into malnutrition problem that people face around the world. Mantasa works with edible wild plants to fight malnutrition.
Problem
Malnutrition is a complex problem hence need to be tackled in a holistic way. Malnutrition from lacking of vitamins and minerals are still affecting the world today, including Indonesia, and it has long-ranging effects on health, learning ability and productivity. Indonesia still suffer from micronutrient deficiency and this actually can be tackled with an easy and cheap way, using local resources and traditional knowledge.
Solution
Edible wild plants, although sounds very specific, actually covered many issues. Each plant brings its own wisdom and function, yet little consideration have been put into these plants and consider them as useless. Edible wild plants are nutritious and easy to find everywhere and locally and culturally accepted. Eating edible wild plants also helps to conserve biodiversity and traditional knowledge of local people. We will collecting and documenting traditional knowledge related to edible wild plants processing as well as educate people to increase their appreciation on edible wild plants and then willing to use them back in their daily life.
Example
A group of village mother in Galengdowo village has long believe that getting food from market or shop is the only way to get nutritious foods for their family. Although this village is surrounded with forest and mountain, the knowledge about utilizing plants for food is almost gone for many reasons, one of it is prestige. Collecting plants from the wild for food is considered as an activity for the poor. Another reason is they believe that industrial foods offered them so much nutrients they need thanks to media advertisement. Mantasa enter this village and present wild plant's nutrient facts and also encourage the women to experiment with edible wild plants to make them into attractive foods that the children like. And it was successful.
Impact
Impact to date: the sense of pride from local people about their local food, value added to edible wild plants from turning it into attractive food for everyone, media coverage also encourage local people to dig out more their local resources hence this has helped the biodiversity conservation and traditional knowledge are regained.
Future impact (quantitative): 1,000 edible wild plants identified from around Indonesia complete with its information about how local people use it and its nutrition facts. 200 wild food garden are set up as an educational means, information center as well as seed garden. And 5,000 from around Indonesia will be sharing with each other about their wisdom and knowledge about edible wild plants around them.
Future impact (quantitative): Increase awareness about the value of nature and traditional wisdom and also sense of pride of their food culture.
Marketplace
Edible wild plants is not really an issue to look up to address malnutrition, but in the last 5 years some international movement talking about edible wild plants has grown and I've joined all the international meeting about this since I was a university student. What makes us different is because we make a holistic approach, laboratorium research to search for nutritional content, ethnobotany research to dig out traditional knowledge about plants and also education. We also do participatory research to empower people so they have power over their own knowledge and resources.
Sustainability Plan
People participation is always the main thing we want to emphasize in our solution. We give support in the form of information, trainings and workshops. Of course we need another support to organize trainings and workshops and we got it from grants, but we also have a shop where we sell food products made of edible wild plants by village women and also some merchandise, and so far it's been 2 years since we received last grant and we still exist.
Founding Story
In 2002 I was doing my research project for my thesis. I studied Food and Nutrition Technology and I wanted something different to research other than industrial foods. After reading so many journals I found an old book about plants in Indonesia wrote by a Dutch. In that book I was amazed by diversity of plants that local people's use to feed themselves. Each community in each island have their own way to process some plants into food. I decided to research about mangrove based on Papuan traditional knowledge processing mangrove seeds for their staple food. Although I got some rejection from my lecturer and bad mark for that research, my passion had grown to search more about other plants and dig out their potential to combat malnutrition.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhere do you ensure the availability of nutrients?
Healthy environments., Nutrient-rich farming, Full nourishment foods, Human wellness and vitality.
If you had greater capacity, which additional sectors would you like your solution to target - either through expansion, partnership, or thought exchange?
Healthy environments, Human wellness and vitality.
How specifically would this added capacity help you improve the quality, efficiency, or sustainability of your existing product or service?
Ecosystem will grow in its optimum condition only in healthy environment. Healthy environment will provide everything people's need, but only if people have a strong basis on keeping their environment healthy from sustainable use of environment. So these two are interlinked and interconnected.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow is your product or service connected to vitality for the people and planet?
Approximately 125 words left (1000 characters).
People need appropriate nutrients to grow, learn, and fight off disease. How do you measure, track, or make use of information about nutrient levels in your own work?
Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).
Considering the flow of nutrients from ecosystems to soil to farms to food to communities, what are the barriers to achieving vitality for people and the planet?
Other barriers you have identified
In your view, what developments need to happen in order to help overcome those barriers and produce a more nutrient rich and vital public and planet?
Approximately 125 words left (1000 characters).
What do you consider the most promising trends or evidence that indicates that the developments you described are emerging? Please elaborate.
Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).
Created on 04/24/2013 by tdazad
Reinventing the way food is accessed in low-income areas of St. Louis. The St. Louis MetroMarket will create a presence in all 15 St. Louis food deserts within 5 years of launching.
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United States, MO, St. Louis, Saint Louis City
Is your organization a
Not registered
Do you work with any social organizations?
How did you hear about the competition?
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your venture
Idea (you're ready to start)
This Entry is about (Issues)
Summary: What specific issue or problem does your Venture address?
13.5 million Americans reside in areas with low access to fresh, affordable food, known as food deserts. The USDA defines these areas as census tracts where more than 33% of the population lives one mile or more from a major grocery store. In St. Louis, 14,000 children and 52,000 adults live in food deserts. The percentage of our city’s population living in a food desert if 233% higher than the national average. We have identified four central barriers to equitable food access: physical access, education about healthy eating, economic constraints, and inhibited community awareness about this issue.
Misson Statement: What will your venture do?
St. Louis MetroMarket seeks to deploy a city bus modified into a one-aisle grocery store. Primary offerings include fresh, naturally grown fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, and other staple foods. We are not simply aiming to alleviate symptoms of food deserts but rather affect meaningful behavioral change by breaking down the four barriers that perpetuate food insecurity.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
With our mobile farmers' market, we seek to couple significant social impact with innovative financial sustainability. Using city bus modified as a walk-through store, we will sell and distribute locally sourced produce and staple goods to predetermined stops in St. Louis. The majority of our revenue will come not only from product sales, but also from membership sales. We will then reinvest in both subsidies for low-income members and in purchasing an additional 5 vehicles to expand to all 18 food deserts in St. Louis city within 5 years. We will couple increased access with practical lessons about meal planning, food preparation and nutrition.
The Community: Define the community that you work on behalf of. What population is affected? Are there other organizations working in this space?
Our central focus involves serving individuals who live in areas with low access to healthy, affordable food. In St. Louis, individuals living in these areas tend to have lower income and reduced mobility. Often, the nutritional value of their food is of less concern than simply securing food. In St. Louis, the population that we wish to serve is predominantly African American. A number of St. Louis organizations work to support these populations; however, the groups addressing food-related issues are working on hunger relief. We hope to supplement these existing efforts by focusing on access to healthy and affordable food.
Founding Story: What inspired your venture? Why?
Co-founder Tej Azad was discussing the high rates of obesity and diabetes with his father. Unlike his father, Tej believed that macroscopic, structural issues contributed to these rates, in addition to any potential cultural or behavioral influences. That same night, Tej watched a special on “food deserts” on 60 minutes. A unique program, a Chicago-based mobile farmer’s market called Fresh Moves was profiled. From that point on, Tej has explored ways in which to bring a similar model to St. Louis.
Define your Venture in 1-2 short sentences
Reinventing the way food is accessed in low-income areas of St. Louis. The St. Louis MetroMarket will create a presence in all 15 St. Louis food deserts within 5 years of launching.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat do you want to accomplish in your first year?
In the first year, we wish to organize a few pilot programs to test specific assumptions in the model. Specifically, we hope to identify a potential food desert market stop. Even without the bus, we will test whether 1) The community is interested in purchasing our food 2)How effective this specific stop as a distribution point. A second pilot program is to test the corporate memberships aspect of our model.
Set your first goal or milestone for your Venture Team in the next 6 months that will bring you to your vision
Run the first pilot - food desert sales
Task 1
Identify a strong community partner
Task 2
Determine how to most effectively structure the pilot
Task 3
Secure funding necessary to run the pilot
Set a second goal or milestone for your Venture Team in the next 6 months that will bring you to your vision
Run the second pilot - corporate sales
Task 1
Find contacts with local corporations
Task 2
Determine what they require for us to sell to their employees
Set a third goal or milestone for your Venture Team in the next 6 months that will bring you to your vision
Obtain city bus and organize necessary modifications
Task 1
Foster St. Louis government contacts
Task 2
Identify architect/engineers to design the vehicle
Task 3
Obtain bus and have modifications applied
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow will your Venture define success in the short term (1-12 months)?
In the next 12 months, we will define success relative to the efficacy of our pilot programs. Specifically, our ability to design, plan, and carry out the programs.
In the long-term (1-3 years)?
After obtaining the vehicle, we have set out specific goals. At the end of year 1 of operations (2 years from now), we should have completed 52,000 total food desert transactions, served 4,000 food desert residents, implemented a 10% subsidy for EBT users. At the end of year 2 (3 years from now), we should have added a second bus, completed 120,000 total food desert transactions, served 8,000 food desert residents, implemented a 15% subsidy for EBT users.
How will you measure success?
We will measure success in terms of the number of food desert transactions, food desert residents served, and the amount of EBT sales we are able to subsidize. Though corporate sales are part of our model, the true focus of our venture is to improve access to food in these chronic low access areas.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow will you recruit new members for your venture?
We have strong relationship with the undergraduate community at Washington University in St. Louis and the medical student community at St. Louis University. We will recruit members from these populations. Furthermore, we hope to excite community members as well and plan to draw volunteers and members from here as well
How will you appoint new leaders and transfer leadership when the founding members want to leave the team?
While the venture is young, we will draw new leaders from existing volunteers and supporters. This will allow continuity of mission and vision. Due to our affiliation with both St. Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis, we will have a renewing pool of students to recruit to the venture.
As the venture matures, it is likely that the scale will require full time employees with significant management experience. As we approach this stage, we will work closely with our board to determine potential leaders.
How will you continue your project in 6-months time or once you have spent all of its initial capital?
Our blend of corporate memberships, high-income memberships, and low-income memberships will enable the venture to remain financially sustainable following the front end capital. This is demonstrated in our financial projections.
Project Lotus aims to invest in the future of the youth in the developing world. This involves the partnership of our organization with nonprofit schools, and creating sustainable business models for primarily private schools in rural Latin America.
We're creating an ecosystem to connect extraordinary young leaders from the Base of Pyramid to get access to education & opportunity as well as building friendships with young change-makers from middle/top of pyramid. We do this through an annual 10 day event taking place in breath-taking locations.
Created on 04/10/2013 by telshayal
hiVIVA is a smartphone application built on android/ios platform to help patients stay motivated & on top of medication adherence. Along with personalized real-time adherence support & reinforcement users access instant lab results, just-in-time information about HIV. Communication tools are also available providing real time communication between patients and providers.
Organization: East Africa Aid Foundation
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Name
East Africa Aid Foundation
Organization Country
United States, NY, New York, New York County
Organization's Country of Operation
United States, NY, New York
Type of Organization
Non‐profit/NGO
Year of launch of the organization
Years in Operation
Operating 1-5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Entry
HIV Education & Medication Adherence Application
Explain what the "innovation" is about, e.g., is it the idea and/or the model you use to accomplish the idea, or your understanding of the target population, etc.?
HIV is a chronic disease requiring unremitting adherence to medication (antiretroviral therapy or “ART”). As the leading health issue confronting people living with HIV (PLWH), non-adherence costs the healthcare system between $500 and 1,500 per month per patient1, a figure much higher than the cost of non-adherence for other chronic diseases.
Multiple factors contribute to poor adherence in HIV: managing a complex regimen, medication side effects, lack of immediate evident benefit from taking daily medication, and lastly, staying positive and motivated to maintain lifelong adherence. One key challenge to ART adherence is the stigma associated with HIV; this can constrain PLWHs’ support networks and willingness to take medication as directed.
Traditional patient-provider relationships and adherence intervention models rely on face-to-face office visits. Relying on infrequent visits and ‘push education,’ these models neither provide ongoing support for the PLWH nor empower them to take proactive ownership of their adherence goals. Current mobile applications that support ART adherence rely on intrusive push reminders, and do not provide a data feedback loop to the provider.
These apps report struggling effectiveness and low uptake due to PLWH disclosure sensitivity, lack of patient retention in consistent care, and technology-only intervention points. In addition, existing apps have failed to demonstrate sustainable, scalable impact for the provider or patient populations, and linking this impact to tangible benefits within the HIV healthcare industry.
Describe how your innovation model is distinct from any other organization in your field?
Technology alone cannot solve all of the ‘real and human’ problems that often drive non-adherence in HIV. However, if executed effectively, mobile technology presents a unique opportunity to help transform the traditional patient-provider relationship into an ongoing, confidential, and collaborative relationship as a foundation for increasing ART adherence.
Leveraging mobile technology to create dynamic education opportunities and positive feedback loops can establish the necessary patient empowerment to drive the core behavior change to increase and sustain adherence.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
How do you make sure you constantly innovate in light of (potential) external challenges, or your growth plan?
This Entry is about (Issues)
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThe systemic challenge you are trying to overcome (select one)
Health area (target market) where the need is [select only one]
Categories along the health continuum you are covering [select all that apply]
Please describe in more detail: what problem are you trying to solve in the organization's specific context?
Stage that best applies to your solution [select only one]
Core strategies of your business model [select all that apply]
Most relevant tools you are using to implement the strategies outlined above [select only two]
Technology, Education/training.
Please describe your solution in more detail
What are your vision and overall objectives?
What is your value proposition?
What approaches to you use to reach your customers?
What are your primary activities?
Who are your peers and competitors? What problems could these players pose to your success or growth?
What other challenges - individual, organizational, or environmental – are you currently facing or might hinder future success of your business, and how do you plan to overcome those?
Briefly describe your growth strategy going forward
What dimensions for growth are you currently targeting for your innovation [select all that apply]
What makes your business "ready" for growth?
What are your key growth objectives?
What is your timeframe for growth, in the short and mid-term? What are the growth milestones and key activities going forward?
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat has been the impact of your solution to date?
The mobile app has not been out on the market as of yet. The alpha stages promise a delivery of a comprehensive solution for HIV patients.
What methods for quantification of social impact are you applying (if at all)?
Could your solution work in other geographies or regions? If so, where?
The application is actually intended for other geographies and we plan on implementing it in the sub Saharan region particularly in suburban regions of Uganda (Kassanda region) as well as Bagamoyo Town, Tanzania.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
Over the course of the next year we doubt that much impact would be realized because of the developmental stages as well as the enhancements that the product will actually see throughout the course of the year. We are expecting feedback from social groups to help mature the application. Within the course of years 2-3 we expect a high impact socially as well as physically on the patient population utilizing the app.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideElaborate on your current financing strategy
Applying for grants and small business funding opportunities.
Applying for grants by drug companies to serve a specific cause.
Share of revenue generation in total income of organization (in percent)
Direct sales to patients or other beneficiaries (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these sales listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Individuals, Caregivers.
Licensing fees, e.g., for technology/franchise model (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these licensing opportunities listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
NGOs.
Service contract with organizations, e.g., government, NGOs (in percent)
Of the possible sources of the service contracts listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Explain your revenue generation strategy in more detail
Share of philanthropy in total income of organization (in percent)
Philanthrophy strategies you are using
Diversified strategy.
Explain your philanthropic approach in more detail
Expand on your selections; explain how you will sustain funding over the next 1-3 years.
hiVIVA is a smartphone application built on android/ios platform to help patients stay motivated & on top of medication adherence. Along with personalized real-time adherence support & reinforcement users access instant lab results, just-in-time information about HIV. Communication tools available
A Facebook app that crowdsources & sells old composite school photos to raise money, promote legacy and strengthen community for K-12 schools.
Created on 04/5/2013 by Dr.SachinB
Approximately 50 words left (400 characters).
Organization: Divine Solutions
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization's Country of Operation
Type of Organization
For‐profit
Year of launch of the organization
Years in Operation
Idea phase
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
I am always passionate about the public health, used to think about the health system in my country and the way its delivered, one day, I was read an article about the electronic health records (EHR), from that moment, was working to develop this field in my country and want to bring the change in a way health care is delivered in this country by empowering the patient through technology
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideExplain what the "innovation" is about, e.g., is it the idea and/or the model you use to accomplish the idea, or your understanding of the target population, etc.?
Health is low political issue in India, poor health indicators IMR & MMR are still very high, High burden of Infectious diseases, rapidly Increasing chronic diseases and new emerging diseases like resistant TB, unregulated health care provider, high dominance of private (for-profit) healthcare provider, and very poor or negligible public health infrastructure; In India more than 75% of health care expenditure born by out of pocket lead to more than 30 million people below the poverty line every year, no preventive measures very poor immunization coverage and health literacy; It create the sense of urgency to bring some changes in a way healthcare accessed and delivered in India, I think patient education and delivery of care by innovative way is the key solutions for all this problem. empowerment of patient by providing the useful information to the patient and also working as a catalyst to improve the overall health care delivery is the key to change the behavior of population.
Describe how your innovation model is distinct from any other organization in your field?
We think this is very innovative way of tracking health status and taking care of patient by using friendly technologies, actually on front end patient able to see only useful information which is very essential to improve health like tips on diet, information about the trimester,alert for time of medications, doctors visit, diagnostic test due, It's very innovative way of informing people about there health needs and also patient feels somebody is taking care for him
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
MATRUTVA our solution for safe mother and child health it's a application which placed in healthcare organization, information of patient about his/her health status during every visit is recorded using the application. then all this information is stored into our server our back-end team make possible for patient to see the essential information on his mobile or using desktop which has very different front end than the one with healthcare organization, basically our basic aim is to inform patient about what to do or don’t, we introduce patient about the trimesters with very simple and sophisticated manner, we inform her about next visit due, diagnostic test due, about diet, how to take care yourself also we have very interesting module on garbhsanskar, all this mechanism is very simple.
How do you make sure you constantly innovate in light of (potential) external challenges, or your growth plan?
In India I won’t found this type of technology used for the maternal and child health care services there are some but not focusing on patient education, all those are simple public health solutions like in Gujarat E-Mamta which is actually only for tracking of mother and child health for the health care services, In our MATRUTVA we are addressing the basic issue of patient education and awareness, emergency management .etc. this is advantage we have today but as a entity which is interested in the improving the health of population we will ensure the new innovations and thinking in our future course.
This Entry is about (Issues)
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThe systemic challenge you are trying to overcome (select one)
Bring accessible healthcare to communities in emerging markets
Health area (target market) where the need is [select only one]
Primary healthcare services
Categories along the health continuum you are covering [select all that apply]
Prevention.
Please describe in more detail: what problem are you trying to solve in the organization's specific context?
Divine solution is come to existence to address the problem of asymmetry of information among the common people regarding healthcare, improving the preventive care mechanisms for chronic diseases, reduction of health care expenditure, governance & accountablity in health care delivery
Stage that best applies to your solution [select only one]
Idea (poised to launch)
Core strategies of your business model [select all that apply]
Approaches to behavioral change at the individual level, Patient-centered design, Redesign of the public healthcare system for more efficiency (in terms of processes, structure etc.).
Most relevant tools you are using to implement the strategies outlined above [select only two]
Technology, New skills, Consultation, Education/training.
Please describe your solution in more detail
divine solutions is healthcare technology company developing innovative health care solutions to address the specific health issues like maternal and child health, chronic diseases, our solutions are basically web based solutions which has access to patient on web as well on mobile in conjunction with the healthcare organization medical record system, e.g. we have develop one solution for maternal and child health (MATRUTVA) in which we have develop one application which could be used by health care organization which has detailed record of patient which stored as a back-end at our server based on this record our team will send some information about her pregnancy what to do or don't, alerts like next visit due, medicines due, diagnostic due, etc.
What are your vision and overall objectives?
We think this is very innovative way of tracking health status and taking care of patient by using friendly technologies, actually on front end patient able to see only useful information which is very essential to improve health like tips on diet, information about the trimester,alert for time of medications, doctors visit, diagnostic test due, It's very innovative way of informing people about there health needs and also patient feels somebody is taking care for him
What is your value proposition?
We believe that we can create the economic value with values with ethics with high standard of scientific excellence and of commercializing science in a very positive way so that it can benefit mankind, so we believe that our solutions bring the efficiency and efficacy in the system by changing the way healthcare delivered it will work as a friend with every patient and always give the feeling that someone is taking care for us.
Who is your customer(s)?
Our basic target customers are Patient, Physician, Healthcare organization, Industry, Insurance provider, Non governmental organizations,
What approaches to you use to reach your customers?
our basic plan is to target the patient and then influence the other stakeholders.
What are your primary activities?
our basic aim is to inform patient about what to do or don’t, we introduce patient about the trimesters with very simple and sophisticated manner, we inform her about next visit due, diagnostic test due, about diet, how to take care yourself also we have very interesting module on garbhsanskar where we will show some video or audio clips to her on regular basis. this also has emergency number of some emergency services such as ambulance, doctors, anesthetist and so on, this solution could generate immense amount of data which could be used for making policy, this solution is environment friendly, It educated people about his health problem on daily basis it create awareness about access and health condition, we think it will lead to improve in the antenatal and postnatal care.
Who are your peers and competitors? What problems could these players pose to your success or growth?
In India I won’t found this type of technology used for the maternal and child health care services there are some but not focusing on patient education, all those are simple public health solutions like in Gujarat E-Mamta which is actually only for tracking of mother and child health for the health care services, In our MATRUTVA we are addressing the basic issue of patient education and awareness, emergency management .etc.
What other challenges - individual, organizational, or environmental – are you currently facing or might hinder future success of your business, and how do you plan to overcome those?
Divine solutions still in a planning phase but we as a group with mixed health, administration and technological expertise giving our maximum time and support, to develop this Idea further, as we decided immediately after response of piloting we are going to explore some funding options and then try to bring more people in and try to increase our base
Briefly describe your growth strategy going forward
We are expecting the result of our MATRUTVA solution at the starting of 2015 where we are expecting the significant change of patient satisfaction and the health indicators, We have agreed on first five year plan in which first phase to be visibility in the market which could be last for year in which we are targeting at least 500 healthcare organization and 25000 patient,
What dimensions for growth are you currently targeting for your innovation [select all that apply]
New customer group(s).
What makes your business "ready" for growth?
New, Innovative way to address the social problem.
What are your key growth objectives?
We believe we will reach at very sustainable position in 2-3 years of time.
What is your timeframe for growth, in the short and mid-term? What are the growth milestones and key activities going forward?
We are going to find out some funding options in coming future once our piloting phase start we will go for some venture capitalist or may be some bank, then once initial investment done may be in years’ time we will getting some money from our product and I believe that in very short time it would be self-sustainable.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat has been the impact of your solution to date?
Divine solutions still under in the planning phase we are working on the building team, developing the solutions by engaging all stakeholders, patient, doctors, researcher, IT, etc. finding the possible funding sources, we are trying to take care of all documentation related to the ethical permission, licenses, signing MOU, our other team also making the plan for piloting phase and simultaneously the launching plan for MATRUTVA. We have agreed on first five year plan in which first phase to be visible in the market which could be last for year in which we are targeting at least 500 healthcare organizations and 25000 patient then we are planning at least five more solutions related to chronic diseases in next five years.
What methods for quantification of social impact are you applying (if at all)?
Reduction of key Indicators is the main objective for measure the impact of our innovation and also we are integrating the monitoring mechanisms in our solutions to track the change over the baseline.
Could your solution work in other geographies or regions? If so, where?
yes definitely we believe we could introduce our solution all over in India and also to the other countries (basically poor) by some modification in the processes to adopt the local needs and the systems.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
We are expecting the result of our MATRUTVA solution at the starting of 2015 where we are expecting the significant change of patient satisfaction and the health indicators, We have agreed on first five year plan in which first phase to be visibility in the market which could be last for year in which we are targeting at least 500 healthcare organization and 25000 patient, then we are planning at least two more solutions related to chronic diseases in next five years.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideElaborate on your current financing strategy
Currently we are investing as a group in the project
Share of revenue generation in total income of organization (in percent)
100% from the buyers mainly industry, insurance company, and health care provider
Direct sales to patients or other beneficiaries (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these sales listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Patients, Caregivers, Private businesses, Other beneficiaries.
Licensing fees, e.g., for technology/franchise model (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these licensing opportunities listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Private businesses.
Service contract with organizations, e.g., government, NGOs (in percent)
Of the possible sources of the service contracts listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
NGOs, Private businesses, Regional government.
Explain your revenue generation strategy in more detail
We are going to find out some funding options in coming future once our piloting phase start we will go for some venture capitalist or may be some bank, then once initial investment done may be in years’ time we will getting some money from our product and I believe that in very short time it would be self-sustainable.
Share of philanthropy in total income of organization (in percent)
Philanthrophy strategies you are using
Diversified strategy.
Explain your philanthropic approach in more detail
Expand on your selections; explain how you will sustain funding over the next 1-3 years.
We are going to find out some funding options in coming future once our piloting phase start we will go for some venture capitalist or may be some bank, then once initial investment done may be in years’ time we will getting some money from our product and I believe that in very short time it would be self-sustainable.
Created on 04/3/2013 by ummeedcenter@gmail.com
Ummeed Child Development Center helps children with developmental disabilities or at risk of disabilities achieve their maximum potential and be included in society. Ummeed achieves its objectives as follows :
1) Providing clinical services for children with developmental disabilities.
2) Capacity building of other NGOs through in-house training programs built around early childhood development.
Organization: Ummeed Child Development Center
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Name
Ummeed Child Development Center
Organization's Country of Operation
Type of Organization
Non‐profit/NGO
Year of launch of the organization
Years in Operation
Operating for more than 5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
Ummeed is a non-profit organization set up in 2001 with the objective of helping children with developmental disabilities like Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, Learning Disability, Autism, and Attention Deficit Disorder. Ummeed helps children with disabilities, or at high risk for disabilities, reach their maximum potential and be included in society.
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Entry
Early Childhood Development - Scaling Reach
Explain what the "innovation" is about, e.g., is it the idea and/or the model you use to accomplish the idea, or your understanding of the target population, etc.?
At least one in ten children has a developmental disability. Extrapolating from this India has 52 million children with a developmental disability. Ummeed at its Center provides transdisciplinary care for children with developmental disabilities through best practices developed in-house and recognised globally. Each year, Ummeed reaches out to over 1200 children through around 6100 visits through its Center.
The best practices developed by Ummeed also go into development of curricula of training programs which are targeted at building the capacities of community workers of other NGOs and building the capacities of NGOs working with children to address issues around Early Childhood Development and developmental disabilities. Each year, Ummeed serves an additional 25000 children and their families through these training programs imparted to other organisations.
Describe how your innovation model is distinct from any other organization in your field?
Ummeed at its Center develops unique best practices which then form the basis of the curricula developed for the capacity building training programs.
In addition Ummeed develops training modules based on the needs of the organisation as assessed by Ummeed. The training modules are exhaustive in nature and comprise of both theory and practicals at the field level.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
Ummeed at its Center provides transdisciplinary care for children with developmental disabilities through best practices developed in-house and recognised globally.
Ummeed has a team of highly trained and skilled professionals providing care and expertise to Ummeed's activities.
How do you make sure you constantly innovate in light of (potential) external challenges, or your growth plan?
Ummeed's greatest challenge currently is the immaturity of the market and understanding of the need of early childhood development among organisations working with children and organisations working in the area of disabilities. Ummeed is now developing a competent team to create the necessary environment and build the "market" to be able to scale up its reach in the field of early childhood development.
Ummeed has also developed short term training modules to meet the challenges of manpower stretched organisations who may not be in a position to spare their team for the comprehensive training programs.
This Entry is about (Issues)
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThe systemic challenge you are trying to overcome (select one)
Bring accessible healthcare to communities in emerging markets
Health area (target market) where the need is [select only one]
Disability
Categories along the health continuum you are covering [select all that apply]
Prevention, Detection, Intervention, Follow-up, Long-term care, Social integration.
Please describe in more detail: what problem are you trying to solve in the organization's specific context?
Over 52 million children in India have a Developmental Disability or are at risk of acquiring a disability. With little or no awareness and facilities to address the issues around Early Childhood Development, these children and their families will have no recourse to any facility or knowledge on working with their special child or mitigate the incidences of developmental disabilities. Ummeed works at different levels to address this issue through its clinic while building the capacity of community workers and other organizations to address the issues in their communities through its training programs .
Stage that best applies to your solution [select only one]
Scaling (growing impact on a regional or global scale)
Core strategies of your business model [select all that apply]
Approaches to behavioral change at the individual level, Unconventional partnerships (between traditional healthcare players and players outside healthcare), Other.
If other, specify here:
All care provision is family centric and not just child centric
Most relevant tools you are using to implement the strategies outlined above [select only two]
New skills, Consultation, Education/training, Others.
If other, specify here:
Empowering other organisations through our Community training programs developed based on best practices at Ummeed..
Please describe your solution in more detail
Almost 15% of the children in India have or at risk of a Developmental Disability.It is a known fact that early detection and care especially during the age of 0-6 years helps a child attain his/her maximum potential. In India almost 65% of the population lives in the rural areas which would mean that around 35 million children who have or are at risk of a developmental disability, are from these areas and hail from low income families, with little or no access to information and resources on issues around Early childhood Development. Ummeed through its training programs builds the capacity of organizations working in these under-served communities to work in prevention & mitigation for children and families at risk while building resources for the care of children with a disability.
What are your vision and overall objectives?
Ummeed helps children with disabilities or at risk of disabilities attain their full potential and be included in society. Ummeed endeavors to scale up its training programs and using this vehicle be able to reach out and change the lives of 40,000 children each year, by 2018.
What is your value proposition?
Ummeed will reach out to 40,000 children at risk or with developmental disabilities, annually, at half its current cost per beneficiary.
Who is your customer(s)?
1.Community based gov’t organizations ( Anganwadi's, Balwadi's etc)
2.Community based NGOs
3.Orphanages, Remand homes for juveniles
4.Disability organizations
5.Schools
What approaches to you use to reach your customers?
1. Word of mouth - recommendations by other organizations who have undergone the trainings
2. Awareness creation among the target group and enlisting of support telephonically by Ummeed's team
3.Ummeed's network of NGO's and well wishers
4. Going forward will do face to face Awareness creation and assess needs among the target group and enlist support
What are your primary activities?
1. Provision of Clinical services for children and families of children with Developmental Disabilities.
2. Training and capacity building of community workers of other NGO's and of organizations to take forward the work in their communities.
3. Advocacy
4. Research - Currently doing research for developing a tool for monitoring Early Childhood Development sponsored by the National Institute of Health,USA.
Who are your peers and competitors? What problems could these players pose to your success or growth?
There are few organizations In India which offer some of the services Ummeed offers but No organizations offer the trainings programs offered by Ummeed especially in the area of Child Development Aide's.
We do not see any real problem being posed by the organizations, as we have also trained a number of community workers from these organizations to work or add - on, the Early Intervention program in their communities and in their portfolio of services offered. They are our partners in growth.
What other challenges - individual, organizational, or environmental – are you currently facing or might hinder future success of your business, and how do you plan to overcome those?
1. Reaching out to organizations with access to young children
who have or could develop disabilities.
2. Convincing Organizations the need to invest in Early Childhood Development
The way Ummeed proposes to overcome these challenges is by building its organizational capacity by hiring personnel with strong networks and training capabilities to supplement the current team. The manpower requirement has been identified as ;
1. Senior Program Manager - Training ( 1 no)
2. Asst Training Coordinators ( 2 nos)
3. Fund raiser ( 1 no)
Briefly describe your growth strategy going forward
Ummeed proposes to train community workers of NGO's and organizations working with children with a view share our knowledge to build their capacity to address issues around Early Childhood Development in their communities. Ummeed proposes to train a 100 community workers from organizations to reach out to 40,000 children annually by 2018.
What dimensions for growth are you currently targeting for your innovation [select all that apply]
New customer group(s), New regions(s), New market(s)/country(ies).
What makes your business "ready" for growth?
Ummeed has been working in the field of Early Childhood Development for the past 12 years and has developed best practices that are incorporated into the design of the curricula of the training programs. These trainings have been piloted and modified over the last 3 years to give the form and readiness to help achieve Ummeed strategic goals and for taking Ummeed's reach to scale through trainings.
What are your key growth objectives?
1. To reach out to 40,000 children at risk of developmental disabilities,annually by 2018.
2. Reduce the cost per beneficiary by half the current cost.
3. Create necessary awareness among organizations on the need for adoption and implementation early childhood development programs in their communities.
What is your timeframe for growth, in the short and mid-term? What are the growth milestones and key activities going forward?
2013-14 - 11,500 beneficiaries reached @Rs. 440 per beneficiary; 2014-15 - 18,500 beneficiaries reached @ Rs.335 per beneficiary ; 2015-16 - 25,250 beneficiaries reached @ Rs. 295 per beneficiary; 2016-17 - 33,000 beneficiaries reached @ Rs.260 per beneficiary. 2017-2018 - 40,000 beneficiaries reached @ Rs.236 per beneficiary.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat has been the impact of your solution to date?
Approximately 200 words left (1000 characters).
What methods for quantification of social impact are you applying (if at all)?
Could your solution work in other geographies or regions? If so, where?
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideElaborate on your current financing strategy
Ummeed receives 34% donations from individuals, 32% from Foundations & Trusts, 25% from Clinic Fees, 8% from Corporates/Events, 1% from Others. Ummeed currently has strategised to increase contributions from the corporate sector by capitalising on the new laws passed by the Government of India on CSR. Ummeed also will increase its quantum of unrestricted donations from individuals to increase Ummeed's reach to low income families while ensuring sustainability.
Share of revenue generation in total income of organization (in percent)
34% donations from individuals, 32% Foundations & Trusts, 25% Clinic Fees, 8% Corporates/Events, 1% Others (interest on corpus)
Direct sales to patients or other beneficiaries (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these sales listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Friends and family, Individuals, Patients, Private businesses.
Licensing fees, e.g., for technology/franchise model (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these licensing opportunities listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Service contract with organizations, e.g., government, NGOs (in percent)
Of the possible sources of the service contracts listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Foundations, NGOs, Others.
Explain your revenue generation strategy in more detail
34% Individual donations - sourced through personal networks, parents of beneficiaries and "walk-in" donors.
32% Foundations & Trusts - A large portion is the grant received for the research project for developing a tool to monitor Early Childhood Development by NIH, USA. The balance amount is a combination of funding from Give India & CAF towards provision of subsidy for treatment for beneficiaries of low income families.
25% clinic fees - This is the amount received as fees (Full & Concessional) from beneficiaries for clinical services.
8% Corporates/Events - Fund raising activities such as the marathon, walkathon, IPL, etc.
1% Others - Interest received from corpus investments.
Share of philanthropy in total income of organization (in percent)
75% share of the total income of the organisation is philanthropic in nature.
Philanthrophy strategies you are using
Diversified strategy.
Explain your philanthropic approach in more detail
Each year the carried forward commitments from the unrestricted grants forms around 12% of the targeted requirements. Reserves have been created for programmatic funding to meet the requirement of ongoing programs which forms around 18% of the target. Regular donor commitments meet around 15% of the annual target. The balance of the requirements for the year will be raised through the fund raising efforts of the team being put in place for the purpose from corporates, foundations and trusts.
Expand on your selections; explain how you will sustain funding over the next 1-3 years.
Ummeed has created a corpus of Rs.1 Crore (Rs. 10 Million) the interest on which will go towards meeting funding requirements. In addition to this, clinic fees will help meet a portion of the clinic expenses and the fund raising team would raise the funding required over the next three year period.
Created on 04/2/2013 by danielchristopheryoung
The main goal of this is to allow people in the community to contribute in helping children with Autism, a disorder that affects children all around the world.
Organization: Angels for Autism
more ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Country
United States, FL, Delray Beach, Palm Beach County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, FL, United States, Palm Beach County
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
1‐5 years
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)
This Entry is about (Issues)
Summary: What specific issue or problem does your Venture address?
My Venture addresses the issue of Autism Spectrum Disorder, which disables children all around the world. The way this problem will be addressed is through many different methods, such as fundraisers and volunteering at schools for children with Autism. Raising money towards Autism research helps, and so does helping individual children with autism. A way to help children with Autism, as I have found, is to use music as therapy for these children. I have played my instrument for children at a school, and it allows them to calm down or even to focus. My efforts have gone further than this, and I have donated iPods which are used for music and for audio clips used for learning. In the future, I look forward to gaining more technological devices to donate such as iPads and other devices.
Misson Statement: What will your venture do?
My venture is geared to help children with Autism in any way possible. It will raise money towards Autism Research, the building of schools, and the supplying of school materials. As well as this, my venture stresses an importance on volunteer work, and it is crucial that I gain volunteers that are willing to help a child with Autism. The musical aspect of my venture will also be important, as I will continue to search for others who are musically inclined to volunteer at schools. As well as volunteering at schools, I will make it a goal to host benefit concerts, and to play at charity events for Autism. Although music is an important part of my venture, it is not the only part, and I also see an importance in allowing children with Autism to receive the best education that they can possibly achieve. I will do this through using raised money to buy supplies, help renovate and build schools, and create the opportunity for new technological advances at this school.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
Ways that my venture will make a difference have a larger scale of impact, and a smaller, more concise scale of impact. What I believe to be the larger scale is the raising of money towards Autism research and the raising of money to benefit schools for children with Autism. These two ideas will be important, for once I raise enough money, I will be able to donate this money to more and more locations, therefore spreading my venture. On a smaller scale, volunteer work will also be one of the activities in my venture. Although volunteering at a school for children with Autism will not raise money to find a cure, it will positively affect the life of the child, who needs as much help as he or she can get when it comes to an education. As I have previously addressed, music will also be an important part of my venture. Whether it is through volunteering musicians visiting nearby schools, or benefit concerts, music is a crucial part of my venture. It allows for the raising of money, but also allows children with Autism to experience music while they are being educated. It is said that music is therapeutic to these children, and it allows them to focus, therefore helping them learn.
The Community: Define your community, local or international, that you will work on behalf of. What population is affected? Are there other organizations working in this space?
Initially, my goal will be to work on behalf of the area around me, and let my venture grow from there. The entire population should be aware of Autism, and by raising money for the cause, I will also be able to spread the world to communities around mine. As these communities become more aware, I am hoping that they will spread their knowledge to others. As this knowledge is spread, my venture will also be spread further, until it has reached a nationwide level. This may be wishful thinking, but I believe that with the help of difference makers around the country, I will be able to accomplish this, especially considering that Autism is an important topic that should be known about by anyone.
Founding Story: What inspired your venture? Why?
The way I first heard about Autism was through a video that was sent to my email. This video affected me, and I thought that with my musical ability and willingness to help, I could make an impact somehow in the community. As I began raising money by playing violin at events, I discovered that there were other ways that I could still help the cause. I began donating the money I had raised to a nearby school, and after speaking with the school, they believed that I should go to the school to play for the children there. Going class to class, I would play music for the children, and I could see how it positively affected them. From that point on I have continued to find other methods of benefitting Autism research, and the education of children with Autism
What is your long-term vision for your Venture?
The long term vision of my Venture is to eventually see my venture spread outside of my community to around the nation. This way, people around the nation will raise awareness for Autism, donate money, and volunteer at schools in their areas. As my Venture spreads, I would also like any others to pitch in with their own ideas for ways to help children with Autism. This way, we will be able to find more and more ways to raise money, volunteer, or do any other activities that may benefit the cause.
Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences
The main goal of this is to allow people in the community to contribute in helping children with Autism, a disorder that affects children all around the world.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat do you want to accomplish in your first year?
The goal I wish to accomplish in my first year is to raise awareness in my community and hold many fundraisers to gain money for local schools. Another thing I wish to do is to host benefit concerts for Autism. While spreading the word, I also would like to search the community for others who are willing to volunteer at local schools. I don't wish to spread my venture too wide the first year, and I would rather establish a large amount of success locally before venturing out further.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
My milestone will be to raise over 10,000 dollars in fundraising
Task 1
Improve the supplies, classrooms, and technology of local schools for children with Autism
Task 2
Gain a wide population of volunteers
Task 3
Find other difference makers in the community who are willing to advertise my venture.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Spread my venture outside of my area into other regions of Florida
Task 1
Find major music personalities that are willing to help in a benefit concert
Task 2
Assist in the building of a new school for children with Autism
Task 3
Prepare to spread my venture nationally
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow will your Venture define success in the short term (1-12 months)?
By spreading the word of my venture throughout the State in order to prepare for a longer more difficult phase in which I will expand my venture nationally
In the long-term (1 year?)
By gaining recognition on a national level as an organization that positively effects communities around the nation
How will you measure success?
I will measure success not by the amount of money I raise towards my cause, but by the amount of people which my venture affects. Although it is only aimed towards helping children with Autism, I believe that my venture will allow communities around the nation to come together in order to fight for a common cause.
Why?
I believe that money is important, but should not be the critical point of whether something is successful or not.
Girls with Heart will be group of dedicated girls who are struggling emotionally, phscially, and mentally. We will work together to maintain healthy hearts!
Created on 04/1/2013 by Ahtziri González
Centro de atención para niños con sobrepeso y obesidad tipo 1.
Organization: Fundación Mídete
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Mexico, DIF, Distrito Federal
Organization's Country of Operation
Mexico, MEX, Distrito Federal
Type of Organization
Non‐profit/NGO
Year of launch of the organization
Years in Operation
Operating 1-5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
Fundación Mídete surge en respuesta al gran aumento de los índices de sobrepeso y obesidad que se han registrado en México en los últimos años. Su fundador, Xiuh Tenorio, quien padeció obesidad mórbida, comprometido con la causa crea la Fundación en 2007 ante la necesidad de tener una institución para impulsar cambios a nivel sistema para la promoción de hábitos saludables.
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Campamento Urbano: modelo franquiciable de atención a niños con sobrepeso y obesidad
Explain what the "innovation" is about, e.g., is it the idea and/or the model you use to accomplish the idea, or your understanding of the target population, etc.?
"Campamento Urbano" es un centro integral de tratamiento de sobrepeso y obesidad tipo 1 dirigido a niños de 6 a 12 años. En este espacio se les da atención nutricional, médica y psicológica para que logren bajar de peso, así como educación para que puedan adoptar estilos de vida más saludables y evitar que vuelvan a tener el problema. El tratamiento se lleva a cabo de manera lúdica, haciéndolo más fácil para los niños.
Los programas duran de 6 a 24 meses y requieren que los niños asistan por medio día, tres veces por semana. Se proveen dos comidas diarias y los niños también cuentan con un espacio para hacer sus tareas. Cada centro tiene la capacidad de atender a 50 niños de manera simultánea, con dos turnos.
El modelo es franquiciable, por lo que se garantiza su replicabilidad. Asimismo, combina una fórmula que involucra a sociedad civil, industria privada y gobierno, innovando en el área de alianzas multisectoriales.
Describe how your innovation model is distinct from any other organization in your field?
A nivel de atención, el tratamiento es lúdico y no se percibe como una "clínica", haciéndolo más efectivo para los niños.
En cuanto a modelo de negocios, es franquiciable y se puede contar con la flexibilidad de situarse en zonas de diverso nivel socioeconómico, adaptando las tarifas que tienen que pagar la familias.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
Los centros son operados por especialistas en obesidad infantil. Para la estandarización de procesos, se cuenta con estrictos manuales operativos y clínicos que guían el correcto funcionamiento de los centros, los cuales han sido desarrollados por expertos en sistemas de franquicias sociales, así como médicos especializados en el tratamiento de estos padecimientos. Entre los manuales se encuentran el de recursos humanos, códigos de ética, publicidad y tratamiento clínico.
How do you make sure you constantly innovate in light of (potential) external challenges, or your growth plan?
Invertimos en investigación y damos puntual seguimiento a los cambios en el panorama del sobrepeso y la obesidad, logrando comprender los nuevos desafíos y así haciendo las adaptaciones correspondientes. Buscamos poder tener presencia en las zonas donde los índices son más elevados.
This Entry is about (Issues)
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThe systemic challenge you are trying to overcome (select one)
Bring accessible healthcare to communities in emerging markets
Health area (target market) where the need is [select only one]
Nutrition
Categories along the health continuum you are covering [select all that apply]
Prevention, Intervention, Follow-up.
Please describe in more detail: what problem are you trying to solve in the organization's specific context?
Atención integral a niños de 6 a 12 años que padecen sobrepeso y obesidad tipo 1 en México.
Stage that best applies to your solution [select only one]
Idea (poised to launch)
Core strategies of your business model [select all that apply]
Approaches to behavioral change at the individual level, Patient-centered design.
Most relevant tools you are using to implement the strategies outlined above [select only two]
New skills, Consultation, Education/training.
Please describe your solution in more detail
Se da atención a los niños en un centro lúdico donde reciben apoyo médico, psicológico, de educación y nutricional. Asimismo, en este espacio realizan actividad física y reciben dos comidas al día.
What are your vision and overall objectives?
Basándonos en altos códigos éticos y proveyendo tratamiento clínico de la mejor calidad, buscamos ser la institución líder en el tratamiento de la obesidad infantil.
Nuestros objetivos son:
- Reducir el peso de los niños que atiendan a nuestros centros, teniendo un efecto positivo en su salud.
- Contribuir con la reducción de los índices de sobrepeso y obesidad infantil en México.
What is your value proposition?
Centro accesible, práctico y efectivo para reducir el peso de niños con sobrepeso y obesidad tipo 1.
Who is your customer(s)?
Niños de 6 a 12 años que padecen sobrepeso y obesidad tipo 1.
What approaches to you use to reach your customers?
Usamos un enfoque multisectorial que incluye vinculación con instituciones públicas como Secretaria de Educación Pública y DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia), así como promoción en medios de comunicación, asociaciones de padres de familia y escuelas.
What are your primary activities?
Tratamiento integral contra el sobrepeso y la obesidad tipo 1 que incluye atención nutricional, psicológica y clases de actividad física. Servicio de comedor y cuidado de niños.
Who are your peers and competitors? What problems could these players pose to your success or growth?
No existe ningún otro modelo de negocio o programa similar que atienda de manera integral a este grupo de edad.
What other challenges - individual, organizational, or environmental – are you currently facing or might hinder future success of your business, and how do you plan to overcome those?
El costo de la inversión inicial es alto, por lo que aún tenemos que conseguir al primer inversionista. Sin embargo, estamos diversificando nuestras opciones, buscando alternativas como programas de gobierno.
Asimismo, la estandarización del proceso clínico ha sido un gran reto que estamos resolviendo con consultoría de médicos bariatras especializados en pediatría.
Finalmente, en México existe un ambiente obesigénico que dificulta la promoción de hábitos saludables, por lo que como Fundación también estamos impulsando políticas públicas encaminadas a un cambio cultural más favorable para la salud.
Briefly describe your growth strategy going forward
El primer centro será monitoreado estrictamente como prueba piloto. Después de esto, se podrá comercializar la franquicia.
What dimensions for growth are you currently targeting for your innovation [select all that apply]
New customer group(s).
What makes your business "ready" for growth?
Actualmente existe una alta demanda de servicios de tratamiento de sobrepeso y obesidad infantil. El modelo está listo para empezar la prueba piloto, solamente tenemos que finalizar la parte legal y conseguir el apoyo de inversionistas.
What are your key growth objectives?
Incrementar el número de centros de atención, llegando a atender a 300 niños anualmente.
What is your timeframe for growth, in the short and mid-term? What are the growth milestones and key activities going forward?
A corto plazo, esperamos abrir el primer centro en 2013. Todo 2014 sería tiempo de monitoreo de la prueba piloto. A partir de 2015, buscamos la apertura de 3 centros anualmente, con presencia en diferentes estados de la República.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat has been the impact of your solution to date?
Aunque los centros todavía no están en operación, hemos logrado un impacto en la promoción de cambios a nivel sistema que promueven estilos de vida más saludables, lo cual hará que nuestro modelo tenga mayor éxito.
What methods for quantification of social impact are you applying (if at all)?
A nivel individual, se medirá la reducción de IMC de los niños que sean atendidos. A nivel sistema, se hará un monitoreo general del progreso de todos los niños.
Could your solution work in other geographies or regions? If so, where?
Sí, el modelo puede ser replicado en toda la República.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
Finalizar el tratamiento de al menos 400 niños.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideElaborate on your current financing strategy
Con el fin de atraer inversionistas, se posicionará el modelo a través de una campaña de difusión masiva en medios como: revistas, televisión, radios, prensa escrita, ferias de franquicias, eventos de recaudación, entre otros.
Share of revenue generation in total income of organization (in percent)
Nómina 15%, gastos operativos-admistrativos: 10%, gestión de proyectos: 75%.
Direct sales to patients or other beneficiaries (in percent)
20% pacientes, 80% socios, donaciones y otros similares (varía en cada centro).
Of the possible sources of these sales listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Individuals, Patients, Caregivers, Private businesses, Other beneficiaries.
Licensing fees, e.g., for technology/franchise model (in percent)
No hay tarifas de licencia, sin embargo se contempla una tasa anual de 3.5% por regalías y .5% por publicidad.
Of the possible sources of these licensing opportunities listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Foundations, NGOs, Private businesses, Regional government, National government, Others.
Service contract with organizations, e.g., government, NGOs (in percent)
Of the possible sources of the service contracts listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Foundations, NGOs, Private businesses, Regional government, National government, Others.
Explain your revenue generation strategy in more detail
Las organizaciones franquicitarias deberán pagar una cuota de inscripción y membresía para poder obtener una franquicia de Campamento Urbano, junto con el cobro de una tasa anual del 3.5% y del .5% por difusión. Por otra parte los niños que estarán inscritos en el Campamento urbano deberán pagar la inscripción y mensualidad establecida, además de la continua difusión para el incremento de socios y donadores.
Share of philanthropy in total income of organization (in percent)
Nómina administrativa: 10%. Servicios de consultoría: 20%. Gastos operativos: 10%. Gestión de proyectos: 60%.
Philanthrophy strategies you are using
Diversified strategy.
Explain your philanthropic approach in more detail
El modelo de Campamento Urbano puede permitir las donaciones de dinero o en especie para su operación, por lo tanto, se pueden reducir las cuotas para los pacientes.
Expand on your selections; explain how you will sustain funding over the next 1-3 years.
Manteniendo y fortaleciendo el plan de difusión e incrementando el número de niños que se inscriban en cada Campamento Urbano. Esperamos establecer al menos 5 centros.
Shailah Interactive is dedicated to embracing the latest touch-free mobile technologies and adapt them for inclusive education content.
This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Move This World.
Created on 03/31/2013 by Ouida Maedel
Move This World (MTW) is a global nonprofit using creative movement as a vehicle to transform conflict, violence and bullying in communities. MTW focuses on empowering individuals with skills to identify emotions within themselves, to be empathetic in their interactions with others, and to act as change agents in their communities. Our hallmark program is an evidence-based curriculum engaging students Pre-K-12 in movement-based activities promoting empathy, diversity appreciation, anger management, and conflict transformation.
Organization: Move This World, Inc.
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United States, VA, Alexandria, Fairfax County
Country where this project is creating social impact
n/a
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Move This World (MTW) is a global nonprofit using creative movement as a vehicle to transform conflict, violence and bullying in communities. MTW focuses on empowering individuals with skills to identify emotions within themselves, to be empathetic in their interactions with others, and to act as change agents in their communities. Our hallmark program is an evidence-based curriculum engaging students Pre-K-12 in movement-based activities promoting empathy, diversity appreciation, anger management, and conflict transformation. Using MTW's holistic approach, we engage students, families, educators, administrators, and communities with targeted programs that promote social change through the art of movement. MTW has worked with over 9,000 individuals across 22 cities on four continents.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
In the next year, Move This World's top priority is to hire two full-time leadership positions to help to lead programmatic growth and operational strategy. These full-time positions will provide current staff with the support, resources, and expertise for Move This World to scale and enter new markets. Our second priority is to grow the number of classrooms we have in current program hubs. Thirdly, Move This World would like to pilot its special needs curriculum and identify potential new product lines in the next year.
Need #1
Message & Brand Strategy
Need #2
Peer Benchmarking Analysis
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
In February of 2013 Move This World underwent a re-brand to become the organization it is today. Formerly known as Dance 4 Peace, Move This World leadership decided to pursue a re-branding process to find a name that truly articulated our use of innovative practice using creative movement for empathy education. We also wanted to find a name that embodied our growth potential, vision, and mission more fully. While we feel confident that we have found that name in Move This World, we are working to embody the new brand across the organization and realize our growth potential not only through our current curriculum and training programs, but also through new product lines to distinguish ourselves from peers and become the standard among organizations offering innovative empathy education programs.
1.
Move This World prioritizes flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of partners, customizing programs and arrangements.
2.
Move This World prioritizes open communication between partners and MTW staff, ensuring we are available to partners.
3.
Move This World prioritizes cultural awareness, ensuring our programs are appropriate for diverse contexts.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Support from American Express will be focused on Move This World as an organization overall in order to maximize the impact of the support. In order to work on our strategic positioning as an organization, we must pursue processes that foster cohesive branding and messaging strategies, and help us situate ourselves in the civil society space in relationship to peer organizations.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
Move This World has worked with outside consultants before, including with consultants who advised us throughout the re-brand process. We have also worked with consultants to evaluate the efficacy and growth potential of Move This World's programs in certain markets. While individual staff members have dedicate some time to considering branding and messaging and a part-time Communications and Strategy Specialist is a crucial member of our team, outside facilitation will prioritize branding and messaging for all staff to ensure consistency and confidence.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
To empower all Move This World staff to speak and write confidently and consistently about the new Move This World brand.
2.
To be internationally recognized as the standard provider of empathy education programs.
3.
To identify and strategize about potential distinct product lines for development under the Move This World umbrella.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
The MTW curriculum transcends countries, socioeconomic differences, languages and cultures; it is being adapted and implemented in diverse communities worldwide. In the fall of 2011, aggregate data MTW collected indicated an 80% increase in student positive empathetic reactions to seeing an isolated peer after exposure to a semester of our programming. When given a situation involving bullying, there was a 48% decrease in violent responses. Survey questions to MTW students testing for appreciation of diversity showed a 15% increase in listening to others, 30% increase in liking group work, and 25% increase in likelihood to try new things. Suspension data in one school declined from 53 incidents to 16, after one semester of Move This World programming in several classrooms.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Based upon our strategic scaling model and business plan, Move This World will have an annual budget of $1.7 million in five years and will have worked with 55,000 youth and educators. Move This World has already shown success at scaling from one classroom in Bogota, Colombia to serving over 9,000 individuals in 22 cities on four continents. Support from American Express will enable Move This World to take the next step in becoming the standard bearer in innovative empathy education practice. Our programs are already sought after by a diversity of partners, and undergoing a peer benchmarking analysis will empower us to identify growth areas and customize product lines based upon the market need and feedback from partners.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/31/2013 by Exeko
In conjunction with existing resources, Exeko relies on cultural and intellectual mediation as motors of social change and vectors of citizen participation, prevention of crime, employability, identity reinforcement, school perseverance, social diversity. Its programs promote creativity as a measure of consciousness-raising and mediation but also as a strategy amongst dysfunctional youth.
Organization: Exeko
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Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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Exeko: Inclusion through innovation in culture and education
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
In conjunction with existing resources, Exeko relies on cultural and intellectual mediation as motors of social change and vectors of citizen participation, prevention of crime, employability, identity reinforcement, school perseverance, social diversity. Its programs promote creativity as a measure of consciousness-raising and mediation but also as a strategy amongst dysfunctional youth.
Its projects attract, surprise and mobilize social outcasts thanks to their unique and humane approach, transmitting fundamental knowledge in an accessible manner that is designed to awaken individual potential through empowerment.
We work with the homeless, in prison environment, in intellectual disability, in aboriginal communities.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
Increase awareness and funding opportunities
Ensuring the expansion of programs and projects in Quebec and Canada and the measurement of their impacts.
Ensure the development of team skills and working tools.
Need #1
Message & Brand Strategy
Need #2
Opportunity Analysis
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
Exeko is now entering a new and major stage of its development. It is confronted with marketing challenges due to the diversity of its clients, fields of interest and aspiration towards Pan-Canadian deployment (begun). Its networks of sponsors has multiplied tremendously over the last few years and its capacity to communicate a clear message is essential to set up its various development plans (implantation strategies, financing, greater public awareness, positioning on the Market)
Its needs revolve mainly around revising the Exeko brand and signature while maintaining a clear message for all its different target groups.
Exeko’s development has led it to meet partners from all fields. It is seeking to update its image while preserving its dynamic and legitimate work ethics.
Exeko is presently developing a larger audience. Its message must be perfectly clear both to the public as to their participants (4500 people in need )and actors in the field.
Very few organizations such as ours have made it on the market. We intend to continue innovating and creative branding and development tools according to their contemporary image in the spheres of creative and market economy.
1.
Non-biased and complimentary dialogue respecting individual skills
2.
Creativity and Communication
3.
Humane exchange above all, according to Exeko value
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
Yes, however Exeko has not called upon consultants to this effect. Exeko’s branding has been established internally by its team, stemming from the Arts, Engineering, Marketing and Commerce until now.
On the other hand, Exeko is presently working with consultants as to the creation of SWOT, Pan-Canadian Development Strategy, IT, economic, social, cognitive and inclusive impact evaluation of its different projects and is therefore very familiar with the former.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Clarify our message to the widest possible audience
2.
Update our branding tools
3.
Ensure a strong image for the expansion of programs in Quebec and Canada
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Up to now, Exeko has touched over 4500 social outcasts via its projects and programs essentially in Quebec. 1500 of them are dysfunctional youth, over 1 000 homeless Aboriginal youth, over 600 First Nations children and families on reserves and over 200 professional and emerging Artists. An additional 3200 visitors have attended Exeko’s last 3 exhibitions.
Exeko has also trained a dozen First Nations mediators on reserves, lent its programs to its partners, trained a dozen mediators who share their strategies with its field partners (over 100 since the creation of Exeko), offered its first professional steps to Intellectually Challenged Artists, allowed for employment and lodging thanks to its programs.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
New branding means reinforcing Exeko’s power of« seduction » amongst an entire stretch of field partners, both private public. It also means developing even larger potential amongst its network of greater public donors. In this manner, Exeko shall be perfectly equipped to meet the markets of Quebec and Canada with confidence and leadership, and take a leading stand in addressing the needs of thousands of social outcasts each year.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/31/2013 by Magical Voice
Most people’s lives are limited by their thinking.
The Magic of Think™ helps children overcome self-limiting thoughts by teaching and reinforcing the core values of inner strength before bad habits become entrenched. Strong children create strong adults.
The world of “Think” incorporates award-winning songs, fun stories, animated characters, games, lessons and activities dealing with some of life’s most difficult problems.
Activity & Audio Books with Music CDs in a 7 book series based on social and emotional learning. Progressing to multiple platforms.
Organization: The Magic of Think
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Is your organization a
Hybrid
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The Magic of Think: Everything begins with a thought. We help children improve their thinking.
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Most people’s lives are limited by their thinking.
The Magic of Think™ helps children overcome self-limiting thoughts by teaching and reinforcing the core values of inner strength before bad habits become entrenched. Strong children create strong adults.
The world of “Think” incorporates award-winning songs, fun stories, animated characters, games, lessons and activities dealing with some of life’s most difficult problems.
Activity & Audio Books with Music CDs in a 7 book series based on social and emotional learning. Progressing to multiple platforms.
Creates meaningful discussions between a mentor (teacher, parent, grandparent, guardian, friend) and child benefiting both.
Like a nursery rhyme, our messages are remembered for a lifetime becoming a positive anchor in times of need.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1. Help children worldwide
2. Find a partner or sponsor to help expand the program to reach more children
3. Generate sales to continue our work
Need #1
Message & Brand Strategy
Need #2
Consumer/Audience Acquisition
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
We need your help in increasing brand awareness and generating sales.
1.
A passionate and sincere long-term desire to help children worldwide
2.
A partner that is comfortable being instrumental in bringing change to the way children learn
3.
A partner that sees the power of brands like Harry Potter, Club Penguin, Hello Kitty, etc. and uses that platform to educate
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Support from American Express will be focused on our organization overall. We need help progressing to the next stage.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
The University of BC liked the project and helped with the curriculum. We also received help from an outside contractor with our Facebook page.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Identify the strongest segment of my market and brand
2.
Establish a long-term partnership
3.
Increase sales and distribution
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We won Best Song at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, received a fantastic review from Billboard Discoveries, and were chosen to be in the Grammy and Oscar gifts to the nominees. The University of BC Education Department helped us develop lessons and activities for our series of books (K to Grade 3.) We test marketed The Magic of Think™ with teachers, homeschooling mothers, and grandparents. The testimonials have been phenomenal. The children in both public and private schools have been captivated by the stories performed “in character.” The children love the music and listen to it day and night. We have also been receiving enthusiastic reviews from parents with Special Needs and Gifted children. Children open up on issues that have not been discussed before. Eg. being bullied.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Receiving support from American Express would greatly assist us in achieving our goal of reaching and helping every child in the world. Rich or poor, regardless of color or nationality. Long term, stronger children become stronger adults, who will be more equipped to make the world a better place.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/30/2013 by Juan Miguel Guerra Dávila
Every year in the UK, over 250,000 accepted applicants miss out on higher education due to lack of funding. This results in social immobility, hinders innovation and economic growth and yields a body of professionals and leaders that represents but a small fraction of the UK's population.
Students use StudentFunder.com to raise loans and donations from their networks and StudentFunder's partners to cover the cost of their education while building invaluable networks and skills.
Organization: StudentFunder
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United Kingdom, LND, London
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Hybrid
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Every year in the UK, over 250,000 accepted applicants miss out on higher education due to lack of funding. This results in social immobility, hinders innovation and economic growth and yields a body of professionals and leaders that represents but a small fraction of the UK's population.
Students use StudentFunder.com to raise loans and donations from their networks and StudentFunder's partners to cover the cost of their education while building invaluable networks and skills.
This blends financial, technological and social innovation to level the social playfield. StudentFunder provides crowdfunding services for students improving access to education, employment and enterprise.
This benefits students, their funders, universities, recruiters and society, engaging thousands.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
Successfully complete our pilot (funding at least 30 future leaders in 2013) and build volumes (150 by 2014... 5,000 in 2017)
Secure funding to capitalise the venture and build a loan portfolio
Build the infrastructure required to deliver our full functionality
Need #1
Message & Brand Strategy
Need #2
Customer Relationships
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
It would be of great value to us to receive help from high-calibre consultants and executives so that we may better articulate what we can do for our target groups and to relate to our stakeholders more effectively.
We have different stakeholders groups: we attract students directly but also through partnerships with universities (which help us provide students with additional support). We must rally partner organisations that have an interest in funding students and help students attract funders.
For instance, we make it possible for students to borrow from their own friends and family, university alumni, etc. to cover the cost of their education. This should not be described as an investment, but as a worthy allocation of "play money", as there is always a risk of default. We need to articulate that clearly, but also, compellingly.
We also help universities optimise and leverage scholarship funds. Through us, universities can turn scholarships into unsecured loans that can be repaid when and if the student is able, which recycles their funding so that it may benefit a student forever, turning one-off hand-outs into sustainable funding that builds up over time.
3.
Allocation of resources to deliver results
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Support from American Express could help us tailor our general communication but also design specific communication for our services: crowdfunding for students, "recyclable" scholarships and recruitment solutions.
It would also help us design a CRM approach to manage our relationships with institutions (universities, charities, businesses) and individuals (students, prospects, StudentFunder alumni).
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
StudentFunder has not received support from professional consultants as such.
However, as part of Oxford's Skoll Centre's Emerge Venture Lab and the Startup Leadership Programme, StudentFunder has received plenty of advice, support and mentorship. Business in the Community (BITC), YPO and Hogan Lovells have generously provided support as well.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Define messages and communication approaches for our stakeholder groups
2.
Design and implement stakeholder management/CRM strategies
3.
Benefit from a brand splash-effect that will help get at least 30 leaders funded in 2013
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Quantitative:
Since October 2012, StudentFunder has helped two students fund their studies, two more are in the process and we will process 100 applications over the course of April for our first partner university and help 9 more students at a second partner university.
Each postgraduate student generates £5,900 per year in the economy (net, averge, according to the LSE).
Qualitative:
Our first student was fell into hard times. Abandoning his studies would have dragged his family into poverty; but we turned that around.
Two of the students supported by StudentFunder are peaceworkers Kivu, DR of Congo, helping end a conflict that has claimed over 6 million lives.
Another one of our students is creating a student-funding initiative to fight brain drain in Puerto Rico.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Support from American Express would help us strengthen our communication and relationships with customers and partners to evolve into a growth venture that can market beyond a closed pilot, serving hundreds of students by year two.
That vintage of students alone could add around £350k to the UK economy each year! (not to mention the impact that our students would have through their careers).
StudentFunder would then grow to serve thousands!
This Entry is about (Issues)
Dan dari gambar tersebut bisa di lihat, ada Kipas Angin , Lalu Velg Motor dan masih ada yang lain yang belum memenuhi Standar Nasional indonesia . Miris kalau misalnya kita tahu dan kita hanya diam saja . dan bila belum memenuhi standar indonesia, Tentunya kita semakin waspada dan ingin belajar men
Created on 03/29/2013 by qlovi
Qlovi is committed to boosting the low levels of student reading proficiency in the US. 75% of US students lack full literacy proficiency—low income and student of color communities are disproportionately affected. Literacy instruction presents challenges and opportunities unmet by existing instruction and education technology. As literacy lags, achievement and competitiveness suffer.Qlovi is a literacy-instruction platform that fosters literacy achievement using interactive features, eReading, and fun assessments.
Organization: Qlovi
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United States, MI, Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, MI, Detroit, Wayne County
Is your organization a
Hybrid
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Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Qlovi is committed to boosting the low levels of student reading proficiency in the US. 75% of US students lack full literacy proficiency—low income and student of color communities are disproportionately affected. Literacy instruction presents challenges and opportunities unmet by existing instruction and education technology. As literacy lags, achievement and competitiveness suffer.Qlovi is a literacy-instruction platform that fosters literacy achievement using interactive features, eReading, and fun assessments.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1) To create a digital marketing campaign to reach parents and educators concerned with literacy achievement. We wish to develop a targeted campaign that convert impressions into subscriptions for our platform.
2) To expand to school districts nationally
3) To expand our content offering and become a known digital distribution channel for self published or traditionally published titles for kids, YA, and educational communities.
Need #1
Digital Marketing Strategy
Need #2
Consumer/Audience Acquisition
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
We want to start a digital marketing campaign in order to solicit online reading materials from authors. We think that this would be a great way to obtain more engaging content for students but at the same time allow us to reach more authors instead of going through publishing companies.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
We anticipate that support from American Express will be for two focused objectives. Our first objective is parent/teacher customer acquisition. Our second objective is hinged on developing a web/brand identity related to trust and digital distribution. We are looking to expand our operations nationally so that school districts and parents can more easily foster literacy in classrooms or homes.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
We have not since we are wrapping up product development and a study of our initial pilot. We have not worked with outside consultants before.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Develop and craft sustainable digital marketing strategy (channels, acquisition cost, pricing by source, etc)
2.
Hone and sharpen targeted messaging related to marketing campaign objectives
3.
Imbue American Express skills into our team DNA. Successfully carry out a dedicated partnership.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Our first wave of impact is already underway. 8000 students across the 15 lowest performing schools in Detroit use Qlovi to foster literacy and meet daily reading goals. Students login to Qlovi for an average of 20 minutes per session. And weekly average users are totally at least 2000. The schools we are working with have experienced academic growth larger than existed before Qlovi was in place. A closer dissection of usage and academic achievement is under way.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
With the help of American Express, our team will seamlessly incorporate digital marketing skills across our organization. We admire the dedicated example and digital track record of American Express and think of no better partner for this very focused exercise. Reaching more parents/students with good marketing will directly translate into higher literacy outcomes across high-need and targeted communities. We are ready for the challenge and partnership to begin.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/29/2013 by azinicus
We're committed to making learning fun by applying deep concepts of play into our educational applications. We want children to have fun while learning key concepts and be challenged to grow their understanding. We feel that this can be done effectively using the principles of play and using the concept of flow that has been so prevalent in the gaming world, but applied to learning.
Organization: Bright Bot, Inc.
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Founder and Lead Brainiac
Organization Country
United States, DC, Washington
Country where this project is creating social impact
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Hybrid
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Awesome Education Apps with Highly Engaging Gaming Principles
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
We're committed to making learning fun by applying deep concepts of play into our educational applications. We want children to have fun while learning key concepts and be challenged to grow their understanding. We feel that this can be done effectively using the principles of play and using the concept of flow that has been so prevalent in the gaming world, but applied to learning.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1. Increase our existing application's revenues to sustain continued development of both the company's growth and that of our app concepts.
2. Raise any additional funding to help support development of 2 new core learning apps that have gaming as a fundamental method behind learning.
3. Work with both educators and gaming experts to build the a standards based body of knowledge for a broader community of app developers and educators to use to gain greater impact with these concepts.
Need #1
Staffing Capabilities
Need #2
Consumer/Audience Acquisition
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
First we need key skill sets filled in the areas of mobile development, design and game/education theory. I see a staff of 4 being fully capable of building the initial 2013 apps that will prove these strong concepts with real and profitable products. With a small core team of awesome designers and developers, we will have all the tools necessary to build and iterate on some really amazing apps that will inspire young minds. We already have a great team of designer, developer and founder/executive, now we need a gaming and learning thinker and funding to support the staff full time to really kick things off.
Our first play + learning concept, Secret Agent Alpha, is a game that is oriented toward building strong penmanship, alphabet and word learning skills, as well as potentially foreign language learning eventually as we expand the concept. We hope the principles of competition and rich gaming based character shorelines will help children learn key skills while having a blast doing it.
2.
High standards and expectations on delivery
3.
A deep belief in play/gaming as a vehicle for learning
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Organization overall. We would need infrastructure support, marketing support, and all the relationships that a startup needs to fully succeed. We have a very agressive and serious goal, and we don't want to do this lightly or timidly, so we need exposure to the best people in the areas of gaming, learning and mobile design/development.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
We have not worked with outside consultants yet, but we're very interested in collaborating with forward thinking organizations like the Institute of Play, Disney, PBS, and others who are currently trying to bring their traditional publishing models and rich assets into the modern digital world.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
2 Profitable play based learning applications by end of year 2013
2.
A highly connected network of changemakers who have a passion for education and gaming that will support our initiatives
3.
The foundation of some really key principles of play and learning that we can share with others and push the field forward
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We have had 92,000 paid downloads for our existing app My Story which is a rich story telling app that allows children in K-8 to tell their stories using rich drawings, pictures and audio and publish their books as assignments or to share with their family and friends. This app is very well received in classrooms, and we hope to build on those relationships as we move further into the concepts of play + learning. My Story also makes us profitable, which is a great place to be compared to other startups who have to raise seed or angel level funding first.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
We feel that with support from American Express, we will be able to fund the design and development of our first of two play based learning apps for 2013. It will not provide all of the funding needed, but the exposure and networking support will actually give us a lot to work with that we would otherwise have to build manually. The funds will also help pay for some expert consulting on the concepts of play within gaming so we can put a solid foundation behind what we're going to develop and put on the App Store.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/29/2013 by davidalevine
We are at a crisis point in education today. Many teachers and children are feeling disconnected, stressed out and unmotivated. The pressures brought on by the new mandated instructional practices from both Federal and State Departments of Education are felt by all members of the school community. There is a decrease in pro-social skills and an increase in anti-social behaviors. Most answers to this problem focus on programming. My approach focuses on building a new consciousness within the school community.
Organization: Teaching Empathy Inc.
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United States, NY, Accord, Ulster County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, NY, New York, New York County
Is your organization a
Hybrid
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The School of Belonging Learning Institute
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
We are at a crisis point in education today. Many teachers and children are feeling disconnected, stressed out and unmotivated. The pressures brought on by the new mandated instructional practices from both Federal and State Departments of Education are felt by all members of the school community. There is a decrease in pro-social skills and an increase in anti-social behaviors. Most answers to this problem focus on programming. My approach focuses on building a new consciousness within the school community. This consciousness is based on creating an authentic learning environment through open and often vulnerable communication that emphasizes compassion, empathy, collaboration and problem solving. My work focuses on facilitating emotional safety for all members of the school community.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1. Complete, publish and market The School of Belonging Learning Institute's newest resource: The School of Belonging: Empathy in Practice (in process).
2. Implement The School of Belonging Learning Institute with three unique learning communities: New Directions Alternative Secondary School in the Bronx, NY, Hunter College Magnet School (grades k-12), in Manhattan, NY, and with Beacon Secondary School (grades 6-12), in Beacon, NY.
3. Run four School of Belonging Learning Institute training sessions at the Fellowship for Reconciliation training site in Nyack, NY. Schools from New York City and the New York metropolitan area will be invited to take part. This will be followed up with a 5 day School of Belonging Certification Program in the summer, 2014 at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY.
Need #1
Message & Brand Strategy
Need #2
Peer Benchmarking Analysis
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
The School of Belonging Learning Institute (SBLI), has evolved over the past 30 years into a unique and innovative culture building process. Institute creator David A. Levine has created authentic learning experiences which facilitate self-reflection and behavior change through his music, cutting edge books, meaningful dialogue, applied skills, and classroom demonstrations. The SBLI process has consistently created systemic transformational learning which has proven to be life changing for many teachers, leaders, children and parents. David wants SBLI to be a robust process that will make significant social change in our schools and communities. In the past year, he has established relationships with several foundations who are devoted to social and emotional learning and he is currently negotiating with school districts from a variety of socio-economic realms. As creator of SBLI, David needs help in branding his vision and marketing his work in such a way that schools from all over the world, who are in need of creating caring and empathic learning communities, will want to implement The School of Belonging Learning Institute for their teachers and students .
1.
Open commuication through dialogue and non-judgment.
2.
A belief in the creative potential of synergizing ideas.
3.
Regular check-ins, celebration and authentic feedback.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
I would like support in my organization overall. I have been working on my own since 1992. After meeting several colleagues through Ashoka, I realized that I needed to scale up my work to make a greater difference in the world. Creativity, passion and belief do not always equal a sound business plan and that is what I need assistance with. In the past few weeks, I have been approached by three different school districts looking to establish a long-range working relationship with The SBLI process, and I now see the need to refine my focus on marketing, capacity building. and service delivery.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
I have always worked on my own, often thriving with minimal marketing or a strategic plan. Whenever I thought of scaling up, I wasn't sure how to do it as my work was so uniquely connected to my personality and expression. Last October while speaking with the Novo Foundation about social and emotional learning, I was told me how much in alignment they were with me but that I needed to move my work from being "boutiquey" to being "robust". This wasn't exactly a business consultation but it did help change my thinking in terms of what was needed to scale up The School of Belonging process.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
To create an educational framework devoted to enhancing the uniqueness of student expression to the world.
2.
To equip young people to be socially conscious as they make their professional mark on the world.
3.
To establish on-going community of practice teams for educators around the globe focused on authentic SEL initiatives.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Since 1992, David A. Levine has developed and implemented School of Belonging concepts in app. 400 schools, impacting 10,000 teachers and 52,000 youth. He has worked with students, teachers, principals, parents and central administrators, running workshops and teaching classes on building classroom communities, creating emotionally safe schools, ,and working effectively in teams. The greatest successes have been demonstrated by teachers taking David's ideas, modifying them to match their own teaching styles and the unique needs of their students, and integrating School of Belonging practices into their classrooms. David's work has influenced teachers, leaders and policy makers across the United States, in Guam, New Zealand, India, and Canada. Many pre-service programs use David's books.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
The School of Belonging Learning Institute will become a known entity in the United States and beyond, establishing a further reaching voice, influence and impact in creating schools that truly meet the social and emotional learning needs of their students. The changes that will come about from infusing School of Belonging principles into a school's cultural practices, will have a profound effect on the future well-being and life success of our most critical sustainable resource: our children. Over the next three years, in addition to the US, SBLI will have a presence in New Zealand, England, Canada and Australia, helping to make schools places where children learn the life skills of empathy, compassion, problem solving, collaboration, self-reflection, and leadership.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/29/2013 by Nicholas Carlisle
Student bullying is epidemic across industrialized nations worldwide, involving approximately 30% of students. It causes its targets physical, cognitive and emotional distress, marginalizes diverse youth and leads its targets to commit suicide and school shootings. Unless schools intervene promptly and effectively, the result is student disengagement and long-term mental health challenges, which impact school performance and impede students from ever reaching their lifetime potential.
Organization: No Bully
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United States, CA, San Francisco
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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Scaling solutions to bullying
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Student bullying is epidemic across industrialized nations worldwide, involving approximately 30% of students. It causes its targets physical, cognitive and emotional distress, marginalizes diverse youth and leads its targets to commit suicide and school shootings. Unless schools intervene promptly and effectively, the result is student disengagement and long-term mental health challenges, which impact school performance and impede students from ever reaching their lifetime potential. Students who habitually bully tend to engage in delinquency, alcohol abuse, anti-social behaviours and crimes in to their adult lives. Unchecked, bullying creates unsafe school environments and leads to greater violence in our communities.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
I. Deliver the No Bully System to schools most at need across the United States. We will create a team of No Bully trainers available to train school districts how to implement the No Bully System starting in the Western US States.
II. Create strategic partnerships to deliver the No Bully System at low or zero cost to schools. In order to scale our program rapidly, No Bully will secure corporate sponsorships and foundation funding for No Bully trainers to work with schools at low or zero cost.
III. Establish the No Bully System as the best practice in how to respond to student bullying. In the age of evidence-based programs, we will demonstrate the success of the No Bully System through gathering and publishing quantitative evidence of its effectiveness.
Need #1
Staffing Capabilities
Need #2
Performance Management
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
No Bully is poised for growth. Six months ago we had just one employee - the ED - and operated our trainings through independent contractors. Now we have three employees, having brought on a development director and trainer. Our goal over the next twelve months is to increase our staff to eight.
In order to create a high level and effective team, our project need is to create a detailed staffing plan that defines how we will advertise, recruit, interview and create job descriptions for new and existing hires.
If the coaching process can extend to two needs/goals, we would highly value American Express guidance on performance management as we move from a virtual office to a physical office in San Francisco.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
This project will review all our staffing needs and in that sense will cover the whole organization. Here is our staffing plan - the full team that we are aiming to create over the next twelve months.
Executive Director
Office Manager
Development director East Coast
Development director West Coast
Grant writer
Program Director
Lead Trainer
Lead Trainer
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
We have worked with our board of directors and advisory board to create job postings and interview existing hires but have never worked with outside consultants in this area.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Detailed staffing plan that links to our strategic goals
2.
Job descriptions for every member of our team
3.
Performance management strategies for all staff
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Over the past thee years we have trained educators at nearly two hundred California schools in the No Bully System and so helped support bully-free campuses for an estimated 60,000 students. Two independent studies have shown that educators trained by us are solving incidents of student bullying in at least 80% of cases, and this held true three months later, making No Bully one of the most effective strategies available for ending student bullying.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Support from American Express will enable us to scale up our impact to reach more schools. Our goal is to partner in depth with a hundred schools over the next school year and train them how to implement and sustain the No Bully System long-term. Our three year goal is to expand our work from California to the East Coast, hire more trainers and increase our impact to two hundred schools a year. The project impact is preventing the lives lost or forever changed by student peer bullying.
This Entry is about (Issues)
This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: GestyMe.
Created on 03/29/2013 by ebar
Shailah Interactive is dedicated to embracing the latest touch-free mobile technologies and adapt them for inclusive education content.
A growing number of children and young adults facing autism and other developmental with Complex Communication Needs [ CCN ] (many of them non-verbal and motor-skills impaired) who depend on special tools and personal assistance to communicate with their surroundings - over 2.5+ million early-learners in the US alone.
Advance is measured in Levels of Learning instead of the traditional “Grade” structure.
Organization: Shailah Interactive
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Is your organization a
Hybrid
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Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Shailah Interactive is dedicated to embracing the latest touch-free mobile technologies and adapt them for inclusive education content.
A growing number of children and young adults facing autism and other developmental with Complex Communication Needs [ CCN ] (many of them non-verbal and motor-skills impaired) who depend on special tools and personal assistance to communicate with their surroundings - over 2.5+ million early-learners in the US alone.
Advance is measured in Levels of Learning instead of the traditional “Grade” structure.
GestyMe offers new tools for developmentally challenged children to explore, learn, connect, express themselves, and socialize with minimal caregiver assistance.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1) Monitor our first product in the market - the world-first touch-free educational mobile app controlled by hand gestures
2) Launch simultaneously on a multi-platform mobile devices and the Leap
3) Move forward fast with developing other apps and edugames quickly
Need #1
Peer Benchmarking Analysis
Need #2
Digital Marketing Strategy
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
Outreach & Validation. We are launching a whole new concept and approach for inclusive-education involving communication and developmentally challenges early-learners. Experts in this growing filed of mobile learning
1.
Giving early-learners with Complex Communication Needs [ CCN ] a better chance than ever before
2.
to increase their odds of success and improve their social interactivity, by becoming better self-directed,
3.
better self-expressed, and therefore more independent, and a more active and contributing part of society.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Absolutely. It will give us extra support and tools in a sensitive time - while we are launching our debut product and need the outmost outreach amongst an extremely needy population of very special kids, most of them non-verbal, and that are facing an immense challenge touching or fine-pointing - therefore allowing them, many of them for the first time, the ability to use tablets and smartphones for increased communication, learning, exploring, self-expression, and beter self-direction - leading to a more independent life.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
We are in research and development phase for the past three years. We are the first to use full, real, image-based, touch-free control of the tablet and smart mobile phones.
We consulting with Dr. Howard Shane of Harvard Children’s Hospital, Boston, who works tirelessly researching and developing new ways to assist kids with communication, speech, and language disorders.
We are also consulting with Prof. Kimberly Kerns, of the University of Victoria, an expert in developmental and pediatric clinical neuropsychology who uses video games with kids facing severe developmental challenges.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We are just about launching out first product next month in strong collaboration with Autism Speaks and other prominent organizations supporting children with severe autism, cognitive, developmental, or physical challenges.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Absolutely. It will give us extra support and tools in a sensitive time - while we are launching our debut product and need the outmost outreach amongst an extremely needy population of very special kids, most of them non-verbal, and that are facing an immense challenge touching or fine-pointing - therefore allowing them, many of them for the first time, the ability to use tablets and smartphones for increased communication, learning, exploring, self-expression, and beter self-direction - leading to a more independent life.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/29/2013 by Linda Katz
Unlike children from more affluent communities, children who live in low-income neighborhoods don't have much access or exposure to a wide variety of professionals. Therefore, they have a limited vision of the careers towards which they can strive. This career day program seeks to change that by helping such children, at an early age, identify what they love to do and explore careers that reflect their passions. Students have an individual interview yearly, during which they tap into their interests, learn about 40-50 careers, and then choose two careers to learn about for Career Day.
Organization: Light My Way ~ Career Day
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Light My Way ~ Career Day
Organization Country
United States, NY, New York City, New York County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, NY, Bronx, New York, Bronx County
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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Light My Way ~ Career Day
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Unlike children from more affluent communities, children who live in low-income neighborhoods don't have much access or exposure to a wide variety of professionals. Therefore, they have a limited vision of the careers towards which they can strive. This career day program seeks to change that by helping such children, at an early age, identify what they love to do and explore careers that reflect their passions. Students have an individual interview yearly, during which they tap into their interests, learn about 40-50 careers, and then choose two careers to learn about for Career Day. By 5th grade, each student has had 7 interviews and met 14 of these role models, experiences which will be invaluable to them as they make choices in their adult lives.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
Business Plan
Creation of Accountability and Evaluation tools
Replication of the program in other schools.
Need #1
Peer Benchmarking Analysis
Need #2
Customer Relationships
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
Need #1. I need to develop tools to evaluate the effectiveness of the program short-term and longitudinally. My research on the web cannot find a single child-centered program geared to the individual elementary school student. Consequently, I have no standard, accepted tools of measurement for comparison. I need to build measurement standards, not just for accountability to funders, but because the feedback will help me to build in a continuous process of improved effectiveness. #2. I have chosen to serve a NYC public school in the poorest Congressional district in the country. The children's education is compromised, as school staff, students and their families feel pressure to test well in order to give the school a good performance grade to avoid being shut down. The pressure to meet immediate testing needs deters administrators from investing their limited time on extra non-academic programs such as mine, that focus on long-term career goals.We need a strategy to become more effective in working within this stressed educational system and in getting administrators and teachers to “buy in” to the notion that our program can be complementary to their mission.
3.
Empowering individuals through the finding and recognition of their strengths.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
I will need overall help in the following areas but can choose just one to focus on during the internship. I would like help with any one of the following areas: the creation of a business plan, create accountability measures, the replication of our program to another school and with fund raising.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
I have not worked on any of the above areas (except for creating accountability measures) with an objective outside consultant. I met with a researcher for a year the first year we were up and running in 2009, but was not convinced that he had a clear understanding of the programs objectives.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Students will have access to community role models who discuss the discovery of and educational path towards their career.
2.
Students will use the skills they learned from the program to make informed and meaningful career choices as adults.
3.
Replication of the program in other schools to create a national program.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
1.) A large number of students report in post career day interviews that they can see themselves having the career they learned about on Career Day. Students are overwhelmingly enthusiastic about attending career day and love being interviewed. The Principal said it is their favorite day of the school year. 2.) Children often come to the interview with preconceived notions about the careers they would like to learn about but once they have tapped into their talents and passions and learn about a wide variety of careers, their choices often change. We have not seen the long term effects of the interview process but would like to create a longitudinal measure of the effectiveness of our intervention/interview. 3.) I have not begun working on a solution as of yet.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
I am hoping that the consultations will help me to see if the post career day interview is a good measure of the effectiveness of the program. I am hoping that I can secure an effective strategy to work with very stressed clients, (the NYC public schools) to facilitate a greater collaboration in my present school and in future schools.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/28/2013 by Heidi Echternacht
Kinderchat is dedicated to fostering a global dialogue among the Early Childhood community. Educators are often stressed and isolated both from each other and the larger educational community. Kinderchat creates a joyful global community space for those working with Young Children.
Organization: #Kinderchat
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Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Kinderchat is dedicated to fostering a global dialogue among the Early Childhood community. Educators are often stressed and isolated both from each other and the larger educational community. Kinderchat creates a joyful global community space for those working with Young Children.
Open, constructive and engaging dialogue is a simple and yet continually overlooked strategy for improving education, schools and the teaching practices of those working with Young Children. Through Kinderchat, Early Childhood educators have the opportunity to connect with other innovative and creative educators, researchers, parents, companies and policy makers, keeping our vibrant community at the cutting edge of innovative educational practices and Professional Development.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1. Formalize operations, grow and develop more positions and responsibilities within the community, seek financial support and advice to insure stable future of the community.
2. Expand, deepen and strengthen connection to more in the Early Childhood community, including policy makers, organizations and the public.
3. Continue to develop and support our teachers. Professional Development credits for participants, develop teacher leaders and localized chapters, continue to connect classrooms through high and low tech, increase overall reach and impact.
Need #1
Peer Benchmarking Analysis
Need #2
Digital Marketing Strategy
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
We need help understanding the reach of our organization and the challenges we face as we move forward. We need help to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our community and where we can improve and further scale the project. We need help creating specific roles that adress the needs of the community and a set of outside eyes to help us think about where we realistically want to be in five or ten years both financially and structurally.
1.
Positive working relationships, solid ethics, knowledge base and experience
2.
Honesty, humility, hard work and good communication skills
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Support from American Express would be focused on the overall organization of Kinderchat. Working with a company like American Express would be more than we could ever have dreamed of for this labor of love we call Kinderchat!
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
While we have been operating for three years, have stayed true to our goals and continue to grow at exponential rates, we haven't received any formal advice or structural help from any organization or company. Our mentors and friends include iEARNUSA and various individual researchers and educators. We work to continuously craft the community under the "form follows function" mantra. Kinderchat is a grass roots, flexible, creative, dynamic and continually evolving community, firmly committed to the structure and function of an organic network.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Know where to begin to seek funding
2.
Know where we need to strengthen and improve our methods and reach
3.
Increase focus and targeted approach to further develop and strengthen the community
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Increased job satisfaction among Early Childhood Educators, a deep sense of community leading to global classroom exchanges among classrooms of Young Children. We've developed teacher leaders and community moderators who give passionate testimony that the community has revitalized their teaching, saying they couldn't imagine us not being there. In three years, we have become a key hub for those in the Early Childhood community, creating global databases of Early Childhood blog directories and an accessible library of resources for the public.
We've hosted Raffi and Ellen Galinsky, been mentioned in Forbes magazine, academic publications, research papers and community directories. Kinderchat is considered an outstanding example of an educational online community.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Streamline "work flow" and know what jobs are of high priority and how and where to focus efforts moving into the future. It's hard to choose only two of the supports as there is a little of each that would be incredibly helpful! I am just grateful to have the chance to apply to work with American Express and to dream of the possibilities of making this labor of love something that will live into the future for teachers, classrooms, young children and the public.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/28/2013 by GlobalGrassroots
Young people have great potential to become life-long change agents after a single successful experience. Yet many lack the training and tools to get their first idea off the ground. Further, university students, often inspired from travel abroad, long to create meaningful impact in the world around the issues they are most passionate about. So called "Do-It-Yourself" philanthropy is often impulsive, conducted without alignment with a local community's needs or participation, and thus unsustainable.
Organization: Global Grassroots
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United States, NH, Hanover, Grafton County
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Entry
uAcademy for Conscious Change
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Young people have great potential to become life-long change agents after a single successful experience. Yet many lack the training and tools to get their first idea off the ground. Further, university students, often inspired from travel abroad, long to create meaningful impact in the world around the issues they are most passionate about. So called "Do-It-Yourself" philanthropy is often impulsive, conducted without alignment with a local community's needs or participation, and thus unsustainable. Global Grassroots' uAcademy for Conscious Change integrates mindfulness and conscious leadership practices with social entrepreneurship skills in a 40-hr social venture incubator. The uAcademy catalyzes compassionate and sustainable ventures designed and led by students here or abroad.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
We have piloted our first uAcademy program for 22 students at Dartmouth College in 2012 and will begin a second program at the University of Virginia in May. Our top priority is to scale our uAcademy program as an earned-income strategy for our organization by: (1) building a client-base of 3-5 new schools across the US university market, (2) better packaging, pricing and positioning the uAcademy for greater economies of scale as we establish the infrastructure to support the program long-term, and (3) building visibility and branding around the program and its impact on youth's capacities as empathetic and conscious change agents.
Need #1
Consumer/Audience Acquisition
Need #2
Message & Brand Strategy
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
We need assistance building a client base of university or institutional clients that are willing to partner with us to bring the uAcademy to their campuses. The ideal partnership would (a) deliver revenue for our general operations on a fee-for-service basis, (b) enable us to offer a permanent program annually, such as a 1-2 week social venture incubator over each January term or spring break, (c) collaborate in conducting monitoring and evaluation or academic research on the individual and societal impact of the student ventures and test our metrics for social-emotional learning + conscious change leadership, and (d) raise visibility for and validate our efforts to advance a more conscious approach to international development and social entrepreneurship.
1.
Alignment of or shared missions to guide the collaboration.
2.
Willingness to experiment with and then thoroughly evaluate and learn from innovative approaches.
3.
Authentic communication and desire to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Support from American Express would be focused on the uAcademy, one of several Global Grassroots programs that support grassroots change agents globally. The uAcademy is our primary US-based program, which adapts our proven curriculum that we have been using in Africa for 7 years with undereducated women survivors of war. The uAcdemy was designed to support young people in developing themselves as conscious agents of change, while earning income for our developing country work and bringing greater academic research, visibility and validation of all our programs.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
We have worked in a limited capacity with consultants to help us develop a general fundraising strategy and to identify strategic partnerships. We have also worked with graduate students from MBA programs and PR programs who have offered pro-bono consulting over an academic term. However, due to budgetary limitations, we have never had the opportunity to work with a professional consulting team or firm to help us fully develop these interest areas. Given the uAcademy is a brand new endeavor, we have not yet had the opportunity to pursue a client acquisition, branding or scale strategy.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
3-5 new university or institutional partners for the uAcademy
2.
program packaging and positioning that will allow us to replicate sustainably
3.
branding strategy that will generate traditional and new media visibility
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Our Academy for Conscious Change in Africa (Rwanda, Uganda and Liberia) has trained over 400 change agents, who are operating or in the process of developing 47 social ventures. Those 25 that are operational serve over 25,000 women and girls every year. Our first uAcademy program at Dartmouth College supported 22 students in designing 12 organizations, including an educational program for the children of migrant workers in Beijing, a venture using theater to fight teen suicide among Inuit youth in Alaska, and a campaign to ensure pregnant students can continue their education. We then took 6 students to Liberia to design a future exchange program in collaboration with our Liberian change agents. We will repeat our program at Dartmouth this fall and pilot a new program at UVA in May.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
If we are able to establish 3-5 new university partnerships, each offering the program to 25 students annually, we would serve a potential 175 students each year. Among these student participants, we would target the launch of 25-50 new social ventures each year that would be designed through our uAcademy incubator. Most of our African ventures go on to benefit 500 - 2500 people annually, so when students follow through on their implementation, their work could potentially reach 12,500 - 125,000 others.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/27/2013 by vtorassa
In Argentina, many rural communities are faced with the problems of inequality, resignation, apathy and isolation. Azul Solidario fosters social innovation through public-private partnership methodology and since 2005 has coordinated a rural development project (ProMeCER) that focuses on improving education, health, women’s empowerment and youth involvement. This integrated approach strengthens rural identity, promotes more sustainable rural development and helps prevent rural exodus to major cities.
Organization: Asociación Civil Azul Solidario
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Asociación Civil Azul Solidario
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Entry
Developing and Empowering Rural Communities in Argentina
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
In Argentina, many rural communities are faced with the problems of inequality, resignation, apathy and isolation. Azul Solidario fosters social innovation through public-private partnership methodology and since 2005 has coordinated a rural development project (ProMeCER) that focuses on improving education, health, women’s empowerment and youth involvement. This integrated approach strengthens rural identity, promotes more sustainable rural development and helps prevent rural exodus to major cities.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1. Strengthen current management structure with paid staff.
2. Reinforce current inter-institutional bonds and involve new peers from both private and public sectors.
3. Expand our donor network and improve our accountability and communication with them (fundraising strategy).
Need #1
Peer Benchmarking Analysis
Need #2
Consumer/Audience Acquisition
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
In the last 8 years, Azul Solidario has worked to learn how to build a stronger organization and design sustainable fundraising campaigns. We are currently searching for advice on strategies to draw interest from a broader group of citizens, companies and government sector employees in order to improve our support network and sustainability.
2.
Outreach (community involvement)
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
We would like to utilize support from American Express in order to address the 3 previously stated priorities.
1. Strengthen current management structure with paid staff.
2. Reinforce current inter-institutional bonds and involve new peers from both private and public sectors.
3. Expand our donor network and improve our accountability and communication with them (fundraising strategy).
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
No. We have already formed a strategic plan but we are still seeking strategies to overcome our organizational scaling and its financial sustainability.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Local new partners (100 citizens and 10 companies)
2.
Regional & National partners (3 NGOs/ Foundations and 10 companies)
3.
Devise an efficient communication program
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
22 rural primary schools and 9 rural kindergartens have developed the personal, familiar and community links to become Changemakers in the areas of education, health, female empowerment, and environmental care.
1. Education. Children are receiving a well-rounded education with an enriched curriculum including arts, music, sports, computing and English.
2. Health. Approximately 500 children are involved in annual vaccination schemes and annual pediatric and odontopediatric rounds. In addition, health and nutrition education is provided through two exemplary organic orchards.
3. Female Empowerment. 32 rural women from 8 regions are involved in our sheep wool spinning and knitting project
4. Environmental Care. 4 sanitary wells have been built in farms to prevent hydatidosis.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
We would like to utilize support from American Express in order to address the 3 previously stated priorities.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/27/2013 by kara@worldwideworkshop.org
Our mission is transforming education for underserved youth, making it accessible, engaging, and relevant. The World Wide Workshop uses technology to create innovative learning opportunities to equally empower all youth--girls and boys, rural and urban, economically and academically struggling--to be inventors and leaders in the global knowledge economy. Our flagship program, Globaloria, gives students with limited access to technology the tools and opportunity to create their own media, not just consume it.
Organization: World Wide Workshop
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United States, NY, New York, New York County
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Our mission is transforming education for underserved youth, making it accessible, engaging, and relevant. The World Wide Workshop uses technology to create innovative learning opportunities to equally empower all youth--girls and boys, rural and urban, economically and academically struggling--to be inventors and leaders in the global knowledge economy. Our flagship program, Globaloria, gives students with limited access to technology the tools and opportunity to create their own media, not just consume it. Our project-based approach to the classroom engages students in personalized learning, community engagement, and better education, equipping all to excel academically and go on to become the next generation of innovators in fields they had no prior hope of joining, let alone leading.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
Because we are projected to grow not only in our number of consumers, but also in our product and service offerings, our top priorities in the coming year are:
1. To understand our organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, impact, and challenges based on the industry/environment in which we operate.
2. To improve management’s ability to recruit and retain staff based on overall organizational goals, and to be able to succeed in our fast-paced growth and scaling partnerships and impact as we aim to become a leader in impacting our field.
3. To empower management with strategies that increase productivity, joy, and staff engagement as well as to improve our internal quarterly and annual performance reviews.
Need #1
Staffing Capabilities
Need #2
Opportunity Analysis
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
We are at a critical moment of expansion, at which additional employees are needed to serve a growing consumer base and product line. We seek engaged and innovative employees to support our fast-paced growth, in service of our goal to reach even more youth with the positive impact of education innovation. We have identified three areas of improvement needed to achieve this: staff recruitment, orientation, and retention. Our management would benefit from assessment by American Express of our approach to these staffing practices, as well as assistance in developing creative strategies for attracting and retaining entrepreneurial, socially minded employees. As a small non-profit organization, we have established limited staffing procedures, but as we continue to grow it will be necessary to implement formal orientation and appraisal protocols to more comfortably integrate new employees and improve existing performance review procedures. Specifically we aim to motivate employees, set individual goals, recognize top performers, and reduce employee turnover. Addressing these needs would ensure that our work expands under the management of an invested and knowledgable team.
3.
Collaborative & mutually enhancing
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
American Express support will be focused on our organization overall.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Improve organizational weaknesses & capitalize on strengths & opportunities, to reach thousands more youth in underserved areas.
2.
Recruitment & retainment protocol to add staff who support and grow our goals & help us become leaders of impact in our field.
3.
New strategies to support and increase team productivity, joy, and engagement.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Since its launch in 2006, Globaloria has reached 7000 students and teachers with education transformation. Research shows Globaloria has helped students to build critical thinking skills and adopt self-directed and collaborative learning practices--leading to improved academic performance among low-income students. Moreover, Globaloria has also been proven to increase interest in technology education and careers among students—particularly girls—and narrow the digital divide by eliminating computer usage gaps among students especially affected by it: poor and minority youth. With nearly 4 million science, technology, engineering, and math jobs going unfilled each year, Globaloria is preparing underserved students with the skills they need to be sought-after and highly-paid professionals.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
We will remain committed to enhancing learning, innovation, entrepreneurship, and global awareness in economically disadvantaged and technologically underserved communities by empowering youth to be self-motivated learners and innovators in the global knowledge economy. Given the capabilities to hire and retain committed, creative employees to support our expansion, we will be able to impact thousands more youth with Globaloria and come closer to our goal of transforming education for millions of youth worldwide. Furthermore, understanding our SWOT will enable us to emerge as leaders in our field and thus inspire other organizations towards similar impacts, together achieving education transformation for underserved youth on a global scale.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/27/2013 by jallesch
AniMedical and teamworx media management created "AniMedes", a digital app-based plattform on mobile devices that can fully replace current paper-based solutions for patient education prior to surgery. Using modern media technologies and beautiful 3D-animated movies, AniMedes represents a secure, innovative and effective way to explain complex treatments to sick and frightened people.
Organization: AniMedical - medizinische Animationen KG
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AniMedical - medizinische Animationen KG
Organization's Country of Operation
Type of Organization
For‐profit
Year of launch of the organization
Years in Operation
Operating 1-5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
Salzburg Economy Business Award 2010: 1st place, Best Businessplan.
i2b Businessplan Award 2010: 2nd place (nationwide contest)
We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
In 2006, Johannes Allesch and his girlfriend came back from an informed consent explanation for a complicated, major surgery. Although the doctor took his time and explained the surgery in great detail, the given explanation was just not informative enough. Right after this incident, Johannes decided to dedicate his education as a 3D-artist to medical explanation procedures. AniMedical was born.
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideExplain what the "innovation" is about, e.g., is it the idea and/or the model you use to accomplish the idea, or your understanding of the target population, etc.?
The AniMedes-App for mobile devices replaces outdated paper based informed consent methods by using short 3D-Animation movies. Our movies explain interventional procedures in a schematic and easily understandable way, but they are medically correct and detailed. The movies and the corresponding app are available in different languages, thus giving doctors the security that their patients really understand the procedure, even if they speak another language.
The additional utilization of a short animated film can facilitate informed consent explanations, save time and induce a clearer understanding of medical procedures with health care amateurs. This is key to patients coping with their sickness and their compliance with their chosen treatment options. The utilization of digital informed consent software can and facilitate talks between doctors and patients the overall administrative process and provide additional legal security for all participants.
Our app can completely replace the paper based informed consent in hospitals, while providing more security and information, saving time and resources. This is why AniMedes also features questionnaires about possible risks and the patient's own questions. However, the app was neither designed to replace the direct conversation between doctors and patients, nor is this a desirable effect anytime in the future. The integrated, digital approach of AniMedes uses the latest trends from tablet technologies and informational media to ensure an innovative, unprecedented product for healthcare purposes.
Describe how your innovation model is distinct from any other organization in your field?
The specialty of AniMedes is the focus we put on 3D-animations as an information source. AniMedical is an animation studio that focuses on medical content. While others also have that focus, the majority of patient education media is produced by conservative print publishers. Animation studios mostly work as subcontractors, with focus on doctor-centered solutions, or they don’t specialize in medicine at all. Looking at existing patient education software, most solutions are digital versions of the paper based forms that allow for no innovative, user-friendly interaction. The possibilities of modern touchpad technologies are simply omitted and ignored. AniMedes is the first app to combine validated 3D-movies with interactive questionnaires on tablet computers for both, doctors and patients.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
AniMedical and teamworx media management run the AniMedes project together, each providing their unique networks and skills of marketing, media, animation and software development. Our combination of designers, programmers, marketing specialists, and a large advisory group of doctors form a highly flexible network of skillful employees and external specialists. This allows us to develop the app fast and highly adapted to respective workloads. We keep close contact with universities to recruit well trained specialists early on. All media is created with doctors and major hospital care providers. AniMedes is getting certified, tested and cleared for hospital use, so doctors can rely on security and legal validation of any information that the app delivers to their patients.
How do you make sure you constantly innovate in light of (potential) external challenges, or your growth plan?
Since AniMedes is an app on digital devices, it is subject to constant change. This means that it is of the utmost importance to always keep the product up to date and fresh, not least because the medical data needs to be accurate at all times. AniMedes is updated continually in constant collaboration with leading medical experts and according to medical guidelines.
Furthermore, the included movies and 3D-animations as well as text contents of the app are being varied to customary standards and legal requirements of each clinic or country the app is sold to. To keep the product at the cutting edge of innovation, the company will be present with branch offices at innovation/university hotspots in Austria and Germany.
This Entry is about (Issues)
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThe systemic challenge you are trying to overcome (select one)
Realign the incentives in the public healthcare system in mature markets, or
Health area (target market) where the need is [select only one]
Primary healthcare services
Categories along the health continuum you are covering [select all that apply]
Intervention, Social integration.
Please describe in more detail: what problem are you trying to solve in the organization's specific context?
Medical patient education has come to a deadlock through the extensive use of standardized methods. Officially, verbal informed consent explanations between physicians and patients are the fundament of patient information. Educational pamphlets add information with texts and pictures. In practice, these pamphlets consist of way more information on risks and side effects than on the actual treatment, therefore also being called "waivers".
Complex medical content cannot be conveyed comprehensibly by using outdated methods. Medical texts are hard to read, while increasing numbers of illiterate people will pose a big problem to doctors in the future. At the same time, doctors increasingly less time per patient. Additionally, lawsuits are increasingly expensive for primary care providers.
Stage that best applies to your solution [select only one]
Piloting (a pilot that has just begun operating)
Core strategies of your business model [select all that apply]
Patient-centered design, Redesign of the public healthcare system for more efficiency (in terms of processes, structure etc.), New/redefined roles for healthcare service provision, Unconventional partnerships (between traditional healthcare players and players outside healthcare).
Most relevant tools you are using to implement the strategies outlined above [select only two]
Technology, Others.
If other, specify here:
Multimedia and 3D-animation technologies
Please describe your solution in more detail
AniMedes is a completely digital system that is able to handle the complete process of informing patients prior to their surgery, including the informed consent signature. It presents information using short movies and 3D-animations. It features questionnaires with the patient's most commonly asked questions and can admin a patient's anamnesis. It displays everything the patient saw and submitted for the doctor, providing a coherent frame of issues or dangers that concern the patient, hence providing a good outline for their personal talk. The app logs and stores all the information typed in automatically, everything can be easily commented on by the attending doctor. This saves valuable time in the conversation that would normally be needed for excessive handwritten documentation.
What are your vision and overall objectives?
The ultimate goal for AniMedes is to completely substitute all standardized paper pamphlets that are being used by almost all hospitals around the world. Every patient education procedure can be improved by using modern tools. Our approach is designed to be scalable, so that in the future, most surgeries and major treatments will have an according movie to explain them to patients in multiple languages. This is a systematic improvement to the quality of the informed consent explanations, a large step towards improved legal security for both medical personnel and patients. It is a role model application for realigning an outdated system and adapting it for the digital future of medicine.
What is your value proposition?
Using animated movies and software on mobile touchpads to explain complex medical issues to patients offers multiple benefits.
A lot of time can be saved due to the automatic documentation of every information that goes out to, or comes back from the patients. Doctors would normally need this time to manually document their discussions with their patients. It improves the legal security of the whole patient education process. Saving the finished documentation digitally saves space and resources. The app delivers audiovisual information in any language, so every patient has a chance to understand their treatment and to actively contribute to a better outcome. Digital patient education also offers a constant data source for improvement of quality, effectivity and a minimization of mistakes.
Who is your customer(s)?
Relevant customers are mainly hospitals and private clinics, respectively hospital operators as well as general practitioners and specialists. In countries with healthcare systems that are largely funded by state or regional governments, these political bodies have a high influence on the decision making process within hospitals and need to be addressed as possible clients as well. Private clinics and smaller hospital groups often have a special interest in being very technologically advanced and have more compact decision-making structures. This makes them a more ideal and easier approachable customer for the product, while large hospital operators, have a demand for much higher quantities and therefore provide more scalable sales possibilities.
What approaches to you use to reach your customers?
Regarding clients such as hospitals, hospital operators, private clinics, general practitioners and specialists, AniMedes will be sold using a direct marketing approach. Hospitals can be covered easiest by signing long-term service contracts with their operating companies and the regional governments that fund them. Other doctors as well as the private sector will be covered by attending medical conventions and by addressing medical associations. Reaching customers for AniMedes is not as hard as convincing them to change a system that has widely been accepted as a standard over the last few decades. This is why every movie pack sold within AniMedes will be cleared by leading physicians and in the best case scenario be approved by nationwide medical associations and the health ministry.
What are your primary activities?
AniMedicals primary activities as inventor of the app are to represent the product in front of customers and connect with key decision makers.
Other activities: development of the product, programming and design, text and media creation. This includes producing 3D-animations and legal texts, as well as translations and sound recording in various languages. Also, AniMedical creates and maintains the overall product design with website, logos, advertisements, folders and flyers. The responsibilities of teamworx media management are to promote the app via public relations, find and cultivate new customers and stake holders and to sell and distribute the product, which is a task they are well fit to accomplish due to their vast network within hospital organizations and medical officials.
Who are your peers and competitors? What problems could these players pose to your success or growth?
In Europe, the Thieme corporation, a medical publisher, is the main competitor.
Thieme currently produces almost all informed consent forms on paper, used by doctors in our target countries, therefore being the current "gold standard". However, their digital product line is lacking larger amounts of provided informational movies and 3D-animations.
Thieme already has all the customer relationships that AniMedes needs to start up. It is a larger competitor and can react to almost any competitors by simply outbuying/underbidding them.
Once AniMedes is on the open market, the app could be imitated or competitors could denounce the app for technical reasons. This is the reason why AniMedes needs to be spotless regarding legal conformity, data security, certification and standardization.
What other challenges - individual, organizational, or environmental – are you currently facing or might hinder future success of your business, and how do you plan to overcome those?
AniMedical and teamworx media management combined are not very large companies. Financing and developing the app is a task that needs to be backed up by other sources of revenue from both companies. The smaller the company, the harder it also is to develop a notable market presence that is sustainable. Additionally, many decision makers in healthcare did not grow up with mobile applications and therefore have a natural tendency to distrust digital products. This challenge pairs well with the general precarious situation of computer programs that deal with patient data, as many examples of computerization in healthcare have shown lately. Most of these challenges can be overcome by strategically growing the business without overstretching it, and by responsible product development.
Briefly describe your growth strategy going forward
1: Market entry with big hospital operators and opinion leaders in Austria and Germany.
2: Cooperation with big technology companies (Microsoft) to ensure hardware/software stability.
3: Continuous development of 3D-content in cooperation with medical associations and hospital operators.
4: Internationalization of the product via franchise corporations.
5: Strategy check every quarter year.
What dimensions for growth are you currently targeting for your innovation [select all that apply]
New customer group(s), New market(s)/country(ies).
What makes your business "ready" for growth?
Once the prototype is ready to be sold, there are no outside limitations to the possible growth of the business. AniMedes can be translated in every language, the movies can be adjusted to fit any clinic or country. The software will work in every hardware infrastructure. AniMedes will be sold via a licence model, allowing us to retain any rights to selling our content to any other customers.
What are your key growth objectives?
- Founding of a GmbH (LLC) company
- Cooperation with hardware companies and medical associations
- Migration of the app to other operating systems
- Service agreements with main hospital operators
- Certification and approval of medical standardization
- Connectivity of the app with major clinical management IT-systems
- Company growth with 10+ employees over the next two years at best case
What is your timeframe for growth, in the short and mid-term? What are the growth milestones and key activities going forward?
- Service agreements with German and Austrian hospital operators: continuously
- Production of more movie packages: continuously
- Completion of the clinical trial: Q3/2013
- Final examination of the app, including licenses and certification: Q4/2013
- Migration of the app to Windows8: Q4/2013
- Market rollout in Austria: Q1/2014
- Founding of a GmbH (LLC) to distribute and run the app: Q1/2014
- Connecting with clinical IT-management systems: Q1/2014
- Translating the app into 10 languages: Q1/2014
- Entry German market: Q2/2014
- Entry of other markets: long-term, about Q1/2015
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat has been the impact of your solution to date?
What started as a little project to bring some new form of media into patient education became increasingly bigger over the last two years. At one point, just adding an additional tool to the doctors portfolio in form of providing them with a movie, was not enough. The movies alone could not substitute any existing part of the informed consent explanations. With creating the AniMedes-app, AniMedical has taken a huge step towards professionalization and the creation of a well-rounded product that really makes things easier in every day clinical life.
Over the last few months, we have started a larger scale discussion among our partnering hospitals, the Austrian government, the Austrian patient advocacy and most of the major government supported hospital operators, about the current state of patient education. This discussion was very successful and will undoubtedly lead to a series of innovation projects and hopefully to an improvement of the situation of patients in hospitals in the long run. Some of our movies have already been tested in clinical situations in a private clinic as well as a general hospital in Salzburg. Both test runs have shown that patients accepted the new media very well and actually enjoyed this part of their hospitalization. Although AniMedes needs to be thoroughly tested, the outcome of those early tests and the response by the medical community in general was overwhelmingly positive.
What methods for quantification of social impact are you applying (if at all)?
AniMedes is subject of a randomized prospective patient study at the department for urology at Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg. This study is conducted by OR Dr. S. Hruby and the Chief of Medicine, Univ.-Prof. Dr. G. Janetschek. In the study, AniMedes is used to explain two surgical procedures of varying complexity to test any influence on patient education. The primary focus is the patient's knowledge and comprehension of the upcoming surgery, secondary points of interest are the patient's fear and satisfaction with the system, as well as secondary effects for the hospital, like time and effort needed to run the app in a clinic. The study will start in May and run for six months. First results are expected as soon as August, due to the frequency of the less complex surgery.
Could your solution work in other geographies or regions? If so, where?
AniMedes is principally adaptable for any language, country, medical and legal demands. 2D-movies can depict any surgery or treatment that people can visualize in their own thoughts, so there is basically no limit to what can be shown or explained using an 3D-animation. The app can be implemented a lot easier in countries where the medical standards are high on average, because it massively benefits from existing infrastructure such as wireless networks, internet and docking stations or tablet computers that are already being used. The technical requirements make it logical, that the most important markets for AniMedes are Europe, the Middle East (especially the UAE), North America, Japan and Australia, followed by China, Russia, Southern America and African countries.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
Since AniMedes is a fairly new product that has not proven itself in the "real world", it is hard to project the possible impact it will make on the market. First tests have shown great potential in the concept and our extensive test runs of the app in 2013 will deliver the data needed to create a great product. Over the last few months, we have dedicated a lot of our time to finding clinics in Austria and Germany that eagerly accepted our offer to test the app in 2013. Our best case estimate of a possible market coverage projects a possible home market share (Austria and Germany) of up to 30% after 5 years, given the proper resources. This means 100 clinics in Austria and 1.000 in Germany alone. This can roughly be replicated in any similarly developed country.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideElaborate on your current financing strategy
AniMedical has received substantial financial aid from 2010 to the end of 2011, by a state-funded accademic incubator and a small national funding project, to finance a very early-stage prototape of the app. Since then, all of the money spent on the app has come from the company's own financial reserves. Since 2012, the companies teamworx media management and AniMedical share costs and income on the AniMedes project. Currently, the companies are financing the development of the app through their regular income. For AniMedical, this means commissioned work from pharmaceutical companies or medical institutions. The teamworx media managment GmbH generates their revenue from selling medically relevant videos to online newspapers and medical publishers. The normal cash flow dedicated to the AniMedes project is reflected in the current annual budget and currently reaches about USD 50.000,- per year.
AniMedes will also be submitted to various forms of external beneficiary financing, especially nationwide funding initiatives by the Austrian government as well as local (state) economy funds.
Additionally, AniMedes was submitted to various partnership programs by leading hardware/software companies. Those companies offer financial support and partnering strategies that will leviate the costs of product development for AniMedical enormously. Currently, there is an ongoing enquiry for AniMedes at Microsoft Austria and Western Europe, to fully fund the migration of AniMedes to Windows8 software and hardware combinations.
Share of revenue generation in total income of organization (in percent)
100% (At this time. AniMedical received a startup sponsorship in 2010/2011. See the introduction for more details)
Direct sales to patients or other beneficiaries (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these sales listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Individuals, Caregivers, Other beneficiaries.
Licensing fees, e.g., for technology/franchise model (in percent)
0%, but planning to expand when selling to foreign markets.
Of the possible sources of these licensing opportunities listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Private businesses.
Service contract with organizations, e.g., government, NGOs (in percent)
Of the possible sources of the service contracts listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Private businesses, Regional government, National government.
Explain your revenue generation strategy in more detail
AniMedes is sold as a service that includes initial installing, updates and maintenance. Customers will pay for the service and the provided movies in yearly licenses, prices increase by the number of licensed movies and tablet-PCs. The movies will only be available in packages of at least 5 movies, those packages are created according to medical specialties. Apps can be updated over the internet, which ensures that customers always have the latest version and AniMedes can provide location-independent maintenance and update service. Due to the license-based system and the language-independency, the business model is extremely scalable and easily transferable to new markets.The licenses will add up and enable AniMedical to develop the product using a steady and predictable cash flow.
Share of philanthropy in total income of organization (in percent)
Philanthrophy strategies you are using
Diversified strategy.
Explain your philanthropic approach in more detail
Austria and Germany offer many ways to bring in funds from philantropic sources, as well as state or nationwide competitions and government fundings.
We will submit AniMedes to various funding programs by initiatives such as the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (Austrian Economy Service) and the Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft (Association for Research Funding). In addition to programs that support the development of the product itself, there are some initiatives that support the export of products to different markets, such as the ITG (Innovation and Technology Transfer Association Salzburg).
Depending on the success of our appeals, the estimated income from such sources ranges from EUR 10.000,- to EUR 70.000,-.
Expand on your selections; explain how you will sustain funding over the next 1-3 years.
Since AniMedes will be sold using a licencing fee model, no clinic will have to pay for the full production costs of the 3D-animations or the app and AniMedical can sell to any number of clients. The current system of paper pamphlets works just the same way: Clinics pay an annual fee to gain rights to use and print the paper pamphlets used in patient education. Our strategy works just the same. The current projected cost of a fully functional product with 2 tablets, about 7 movies that represent the majority of the concerning medical speciality, and technical support is about USD 7.000,- per year. These costs can be varied according to clinic and order size. These fees add up, while the steady cash flow enables AniMedical to update and perpetually improve the software.
Until the point is reached where this steady income exceeds expenses and product development costs, the current strategy consists of the aforementioned funding strategies: Own cash flow from commissioned work outside of the AniMedes project, cooperations with and funding by external partners and government funds, which mostly run for durations of over a year in any case.
Another strategy involves the cooperation with pharmaceutical partners that could have a strong interest in the app as a showcase tool for marketing purposes or sales staff. The app therefore also acts as a use-case for pharmaceutical marketing, which can create further revenue for AniMedical in the future.
Created on 03/27/2013 by markhoroszowski
A Global Experteering Network: Inspiring and enabling professionals to donate their expertise to social enterprises around the world.
Think of it like a match.com meets the Peace Corps, where people can get connected directly to social enterprises overseas where then can travel to and donate their expertise (go Experteering) without having to pay.
Organization: MovingWorlds
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Country
United States, WA, Seattle, King County
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Hybrid
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Entry
A Global Experteering Network
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
A Global Experteering Network: Inspiring and enabling professionals to donate their expertise to social enterprises around the world.
Think of it like a match.com meets the Peace Corps, where people can get connected directly to social enterprises overseas where then can travel to and donate their expertise (go Experteering) without having to pay.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1. Develop the Experteering brand to motivate skilled professionals to volunteer their expertise (go Experteering) locally and abroad.
2. Find thousands more quality organizations that will benefit from donated expertise
3. Further improve a scalable way to connect Experteers to organizations (we have a web platform in alpha).
Need #1
Consumer/Audience Acquisition
Need #2
Digital Marketing Strategy
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
As we are building a marketplace, sourcing skilled professionals and social enterprises around the world is essential so we can hit critical mass.
We need to further refine our professional market (i.e. graduate students, sabbatical ready, etc.), and then improve messaging and sales cycle to best capture this audience. We must do the same for international social enterprises.
1.
Commitment for the mission - accelerating the impact of social enterprises by connecting them to expertise
3.
Commitment to the project - finish what is started, with a focus on long-term sustainability.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
The work will be focused on the organization as a whole, working directly with the co-founders.
In addition, some of the work will trickle down directly to support messaging and launch of the core product.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
Only at a high-level. Basic marketing messaging exists, however it is general and does not target specific sub-groups.
We have not worked with any other consultants.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Increase brand strength which starts an Experteering movement
2.
Has a measurable impact on filling the marketplace Experteers and social enterprises
3.
Matches are made throughout the engagement with measurable impact to social enterprises
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We've currently matched 10 people around the world to volunteer their expertise since 2012. These projects have helped an eco-research facility build new facilities in Panama, provided financial education to small business owners in Ghana, and support startups in Chile.
Our platform, launching soon, will create connections like this at scale, with more quantitative outcomes.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
This has the opportunity to be a major accelerator for MovingWorlds. In addition to press from the opportunity which will help boost uptake at launch, improved branding, and focused on product-market fit to increase customer acquisition and help get more talent donating their expertise sooner.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/25/2013 by mwolfe2016
The Careers is a website inspiring youth to take an interest in academics through sharing information about industry, careers, and successful professionals.
Organization: The Careers
more ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Country
United States, FL, Deerfield Beach, Broward County
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Not registered
How long has your organization been operating?
Less than a year
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Idea (you're poised to launch)
This Entry is about (Issues)
Summary: What specific issue or problem does your Venture address?
The Careers addresses the issue of unsatisfactory educational performance, especially in students grades 5-10. It targets the students' side of the issue often called "accountability" through emphasizing inspiration and instilling a sense of purpose in youth. Accountability is the idea of giving schools, districts, and educators the responsibility for student achievement, and my venture aims to improve student accountability through raised awareness and motivation of the relevance of education (hopefully inspiring them along the way). Struggling students often lack a sense of purpose at school, feeling stupid and discouraged which only makes improving even more difficult than doing well in the first place. The Careers targets these students and aims to give them a brighter perspective toward scholastic achievement and a sense of purpose as to why they should put effort into education.
Misson Statement: What will your venture do?
The Careers will provide information about industries and careers, explaining the importance of education in each, with the intention of inspiring students to choose and pursue a goal, thus giving them a personal reason to put more effort into their academic performance. In terms of accountability, schools are responsible for building a solid curriculum, districts deal managing schools and setting standards, teachers are charged with educating, and students with learning. Students are the only branch not receiving an income for the fulfillment of their responsibility, and often lack an explanation to the teacher-hated question "why do I need to know this?" Students receive no universal or standard incentive to even try in school; each is driven by some combination of parent influence, fear of authority, fear of failure, personal goals, or has no drive at all. My venture will offer "proof" as to the relevance of education in relation to careers, and motivation to succeed in school.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
Alex is a freshman at a public high school is South Florida. She has three C's, a D in English and Science, and an F in her low-level math class. Her younger brother also has poor grades and her parents do not push her or punish her. She is uninvolved in activities and spends her time at the mall with friends. Alex doesn't do homework or worry about her bad grades, crediting them to the fact that she is "bad at school, and school is stupid anyway." She loves fashion magazines and idolizes the design team behind Proenza Schouler and the editor in chief of Teen Vogue Amy Astley. While on stumbleupon.com, Alex comes across TheCareers.com and browses around, looking at pictures and reading about jobs that look exciting. She finds the fashion industry page of the site and reads about the job descriptions of designers, magazine editors, stylists, and writers, among others. Interested that many professionals in the industry have gone to universities and design schools, she discovers that Amy Astley has a degree in English Literature and designers behind Proenza Schouler have degrees from Parsons. Alex reads about many other industry successes and finds that they praise the value of knowledge of many disciplines, including art history and fashion history, social sciences and anthropology, and foreign languages. This experience ignites wishes and hope inside Alex, and she begins to take more of an interest in school. She sees that the people she admires, and people like them she didn't even know about, are well educated and have proven the value of knowledge.
The Community: Define your community, local or international, that you will work on behalf of. What population is affected? Are there other organizations working in this space?
Because my Venture, at least the central project, is a website, my community is essentially global, although I can target my efforts in my local community. Access to the website will be free to users, and the user needs only access to the internet. The youth population is mainly affected as I am targeting students in grades 5-10. As with all ventures, my audience will be small and centered around my community upon the initial website launch. By hosting career days or presenting at schools in the three South Florida counties (Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach county), I will be able to spread the word and promote The Careers in my community. Miami-Dade county is the 4th largest district in the country and Broward is the 7th (roughly 350,000 and 260,000 students, respectively), so targeting these areas to work on behalf of will enable me to make a large impact with my voice and venture. There are many career books, a few websites dedicated to describing careers, and organizations targeting youth in terms of education improvement, but there are not organizations trying to improve academic performance through means of "career awareness."
Founding Story: What inspired your venture? Why?
It all started with my best friend. Eden is kind, generous, and a great friend, but I have always been worried about her because she has never seem academic success nor liked school at all. She went to a speech therapist for phonation issues as a child and has gone through three years of tutoring, but her low grades have never improved because she has no drive to put forth effort. In my own school, my friends are frustrated with the amount of work we do, without anyone telling us "why." I have often wondered what sets my good grades and willing attitude apart from Eden's poor academic performance and my friends' skepticism toward the value of our education. I realized that it is the influence of inspiration- I see the connection between knowledge now and acceptance to my "first choice" university and the opportunity to have a "cool" job as an adult. I came up with the idea for this website as a means of enlightening teenagers about cool jobs that exist and how education plays a role.
What is your long-term vision for your Venture?
My long-term vision is that middle and high school students will visit the website based on word-of-mouth, a teacher recommendation, or coming across it on a discovery engine. I intend to create a website that students will find inspiring and entertaining, which will be enhanced in certain communities with career day presentations at schools and community centers. I aspire to explain and convince youth that putting effort into their education is worthwhile while helping them establish a sense of purpose. Eventually spread the message of The Careers through other means of media, possibly as a software application, social media pages, or a television commercial.
Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences
The Careers is a website inspiring youth to take an interest in academics through sharing information about industry, careers, and successful professionals.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat do you want to accomplish in your first year?
In the BIG PICTURE of the first year, I see four categories of key activities to develop. 1) There is the creation of the website itself which means want to write and organize all of the content for the initial launch of the website, and produce and launch the website itself. 2) There is the promotion of the website- I want to market my venture and figure out how to get the website in the loop of discovery engines like StumbleUpon (over 25 million registered users), SpinSnap, and Pinterest (48.7 million users). Through this accomplishment, I plan to find other means of popularizing the website. 3) Within the first year I would like to look into supplementary website activities- such as blog posts, feature articles, establishing a scholarship program, or creating competitions, among other ideas- and accomplish selected ideas for the website. The boldest and most effective supplementary activity would be running small-scale career days in schools (starting with public middle schools in my area). There is no better way to teach and persuade than in person, with spoken words and live presentations. While the website is more of a passive approach to the issue, career fairs are an aggressive method of ensuring that my message is heard, not to mention gives me and my team a better opportunity to evaluate the influence of our ideas and discuss the status of academic performance in the schools. 4) Funding: I want to find sponsors to contribute to the project.
* The 6 month milestone will not allow me to type more than a line.
My six month milestone is:
Create, launch and promote the website and establish related projects, especially the career days in schools across Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach counties. The careers days are an optimal time to track growth- presenters can have discussions with groups of students and administrators to evaluate the impact of The Careers. The Careers, first and foremost, is meant to serve struggling students; and so we should mainly focus on the percentage of students who moved from below to at or above standard proficiency levels. Academic improvement of students with learning deficiencies should be taken into account, along with students of ethnic minorities, children learning English as a second language, and economically disadvantaged students.
In twelve months, I would have like to accomplished the following:
The website should be completely created structurally, with new pages being added easily each month. Additionally, we should have an established list of schools for which we plan and host annual career days. By the twelve-month mark, I would like to have shifted some focus to activities beside the careers days (such as the idea of offering scholarships or having online competitions of sorts).
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Create, launch and promote the website & establish related projects, especially the career days in schools in my 3 counties.
Task 1
Research careers and Interview professionals.
Task 2
Establish website layout and design. Write entries and Edit videos (and post them).
Task 3
Talk to professionals (asking for volunteer speakers), talk to schools (asking to host a career day), and create a presentation.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Designated promotion tactics, established schedule of career day presentations (2-3 weekly), new understanding on status of edu.
Task 1
Get noticed and used by discovery engines.
Task 2
Establish scholarships, competitions, and other website activities to attract readers.
Task 3
Use academic statistics& federal and state laws (like NCLB act) to redefine academic success to better inspire & educate readers
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow will your Venture define success in the short term (1-12 months)?
In the short term, the first priority is creating the content, which involves research, conducting, interviews, writing, and organizing media on the website. Thus, my Venture defines success as completing this within seven months.
In the long-term (1 year?)
The definition of long term success for this Venture is acquiring readers, inspiring them with goals of fascinating careers, and proving that education has merit and is vital to having one of these dream-inducing careers. Success will also come in the form of keeping certain elements of the website current, possibly including keeping up with a weekly or monthly featured career, posting questions for readers, adding new industries and career entries to the website. Success is being in a state of constant improvement.
How will you measure success?
Initially our success will be whether or not we have a website to launch. Long-term success is mostly a function of how many readers we acquire, how much we influence them, and how much they like the website and its features. I can measure the "how many" with a website hit counter and the subjective measurements will be made by user comments, questions, and concerns from the "Contact Us" page. Additionally, I can post surveys and evaluation questions on the website specifically asking users how (if at all) the website has motivated them to improve their grades and if it has given them previously inaccessible information they wanted. Our goal is to improve proficiency rates through providing students with a source of inspiration and a sense of purpose- evaluating annual proficiency rates based on standardized testing or looking at academic improvement of specific groups of struggling students (students with mental/physical disabilities, ESOL students, economically challenged students, etc.) can potentially measure our impact on our target students.
Why?
Reading individual testimonies, analyzing trends in academic performance & status of meeting standards will enable us to improve
Created on 03/24/2013 by megkidsbridge
Kidsbridge created the Kidsbridge Tolerance Museum located on the campus of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing, NJ. It is the only 'evidence-based' youth tolerance museum in the U.S., and we would like to replicate our successful 'learning lab' model on other college campuses.
Organization: Kidsbridge, Inc.
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Country
United States, NJ, Trenton, Mercer County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, NJ, Trenton, Mercer County
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Entry
Replicating Evidence-Based Programs that Promote Empathy/Empowerment for Youth and College Students
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Kidsbridge created the Kidsbridge Tolerance Museum located on the campus of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing, NJ. It is the only 'evidence-based' youth tolerance museum in the U.S., and we would like to replicate our successful 'learning lab' model on other college campuses. Not only do we have statistically significant attitude improvements for visiting youth and college student docents, but this program improves teaching and motivation in the areas of character education, diversity appreciation, victim empowerment and UPstander behavior for teachers, counselors, anti-bullying specialists and principals as well. Most innovative about our approach is the committed partnership among Kidsbridge, TCNJ's Education & Psychology departments, and the college students themselves.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1) Pilot our youth tolerance museum model on other college/university campuses.
2) Create a mobile youth tolerance museum -- a.k.a., an outreach program on wheels that travels to schools and organizations unable to visit our tolerance museum.
3) Expand our reach to educate more kids, youth, college students, parents and educators (teachers, counselors and principals).
Need #1
Opportunity Analysis
Need #2
Message & Brand Strategy
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
Kidsbridge needs assistance in creating a business and communications plan that will strategically assess our resources, capabilities and challenges to export our successful museum model to other college campuses, tolerance centers or children's museums. Our 'evidence-based' model does not exist anywhere else, and we believe the time is right to replicate this program that teaches strategies and promotes discussion about: anti-bullying; diversity appreciation; respect for all persons; empathy & victim empowerment; UPstander behavior; peaceful conflict resolution; youth activism and aspiration to college. A successful collaboration includes: involved Education and Psychology departments of the college/university, college students trained to be volunteer docents and retired educators who also volunteer their time. It is the foundation on which this successful 'learning lab" format is based, as such can be easily replicated given a commitment to youth education, empathy and tolerance. Expert consulting will strengthen our analysis and guide us in the next strategic steps. More than 160,000 kids avoid school each year in the US because they fear being bullied. We can't wait any longer.
1.
Honesty and no hidden agendas.
3.
Working with empathetic persons who want to make the world a better place.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
In addition to business acumen, a business plan and strategic thinking, financial support would be used to work with a museum design company to: 1) Accurately assess the cost to replicate the museum to other venues, 2) Brand the Kidsbridge name and tolerance museum for other venues and 3) Create a marketing/communications plan to pilot a replication of the tolerance museum – including the critical steps of recruiting committed partners and choosing the right setting. The museum program is the jewel in the Kidsbridge crown. Other Kidsbridge programs could be reviewed for replication as well.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
Kidsbridge has not had the resources to replicate our 'evidence-based' museum program. We believe the time is right to clone this model. Our museum program is strong; since opening in 2006 we've educated more than 15,000 youth and 300 educators (2500/year). With the focus on bullying and cyberbulling’s daily threats to kids, educators are looking for more effective answers. Our museum program provides them.
Kidsbridge has worked with many consultants before including; special event planning companies and those focusing on strategic planning, branding, social media and database management.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Business plan to replicate tolerance museum pilot program complete with costs and schedule.
2.
Marketing/communications plan for tolerance museum pilot program to include social media.
3.
Promotional/marketing kit to send to prospective colleges/universities.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Assessing since 2007, our 'evidence-based' program has created statistically significant improvements in youth outcomes for: 1) empathy, 2) stereotype knowledge, 3) aspiration to college, 4) religious diversity, 5) moral reasoning and 6) empowerment. Each year 300 college students are trained and volunteer as museum docents to lead small group discussions with visiting youth.
This is significant for two major reasons: Empathy is precipitously dropping for our youth and bullying/cyberbullying are on the rise. Educators indicate they have noticed recent changes in the core values and ethics of young students. This new generation is driven by materialism and an increasing addiction to technology – leading to declines in interpersonal skills and lack of empathy for their fellow classmates.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Our ‘evidence-based’ program will be effective in creating empathy, empowerment and other positive attitude characteristics – yielding more youth, college students and adults who are practiced and empowered to stop bullies, intervene safely in potentially dangerous situations and stand up to make their schools and communities safer, better places to thrive.
Creating a learning lab on a college campus will allow that university to nurture a culture of empathy and empowerment for students, professors and administrators. For example, Penn State would be perfect for a tolerance museum. Sources state that this University has not moved forward in an impactful way to change its “football first” culture. A new safe place on campus could serve as a culture changer for those who need it most.
This Entry is about (Issues)
To make a better world –to make our life blessed –to fulfill oneself, –to make free our society from inhuman activities, –to make conscious about oneself and about our aim of life, we have an excellent – incomparable system of essential education for true & universal development of human beings. All these educations –teachings –knowledge and methods is present in ‘MahaVad’.
Created on 03/22/2013 by tlee98688
Communicate. Create. Captivate. Play On! has stopped the pause button with our three Cs. Come join us on our journey!
Organization: Play On!
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Country
United States, CT, Ridgefield, Fairfield County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, CT, Ridgefield, Fairfield County
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
Less than a year
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Idea (you're poised to launch)
This Entry is about (Issues)
Summary: What specific issue or problem does your Venture address?
Our Venture addresses the lack of interest/availability music education in schools. According to DoSomething, a 2009 report done by New York City reports that only 33% of students take music classes. Out of 160 middle schools in Brooklyn, 26% of schools don't even offer music education! According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, school budget crunches have been a trend over the past couple years and span the entire nation. The main reason why arts programs are being cut is because of the budget deficit. Thus, there'll be more and more students in need of music encouragement.
Misson Statement: What will your venture do?
We will stop clicking incessantly on the pause button, and press play! Through our program, we will open the eyes and senses with vivid music, and illustrate the various connections, which will be directed towards a segmented market.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
Imagine this: You have just come home from school, and you plop your backpack in front of the computer. You boot up your computer, log into your account, and click on the first link in your bookmarks. The page starts to load - a jumble of interesting, vibrantly presented links. There are stacks of interesting music and cooking articles to the right. There are discussions to join in, and your teammate has just asked you, "What's up?" Play On! will be mainly constructing a networking model. We want our costumers to feel good! Thus, we will arrange a network of support in a time where music recognition is falling. Play On! could also incorporate a social networking spin to it. Moreover, Play On! will help members discover how the world is interwoven. Cooking and music are two topics that are not often linked together. will explore this angle to make the subject of music sound more lively. We will introduce apps, articles, and discussion questions. Our primary activities are networking and nurturing a love for music. We would also love to engage in many conversations. This is a place where everyone can share ideas and experiences. Play On! is a family, and everyone is welcome.
The Community: Define your community, local or international, that you will work on behalf of. What population is affected? Are there other organizations working in this space?
Our group will be working in our local community. In the community today, there are many select ensembles - orchestras, bands and choirs. However, they all appeal to the experienced music student. Take, for example, the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra. It has an audition process, and promotes music by having everyone play pieces. However, what happens to the person who is interested in music, and wants to go further? They could get a private tutor, but there is no organization. This is where Play On! comes in. Also, we recruit students with culinary experience who are interested in music.
Founding Story: What inspired your venture? Why?
When the local music programs were about to be cut from my school, I was irritated. The news was first announced by my Orchestra teacher. Emotion sang in his arguments, and I found myself getting more and more annoyed. Our school had already cut out one year of Orchestra - and now it was going to limit it further? I pitied the fourth graders who were robbed of a chance. My brother had been eagerly anticipating fourth-grade Orchestra, and playing. Now, his dream would be cut short. I remember it was in fourth grade that I truly fell in love with orchestra. Fourth grade was one of the happiest in my grade school career, because I was learning with people who really loved music and orchestra; I wanted my little brother to experience the same.
What is your long-term vision for your Venture?
My long term vision for my Venture is a forum with discussion questions and assignments - the teams will share experiences and draw conclusions on these two topics. The forum will also have various articles and videos for people to reflect on. A website will be constructed with a list of products.
Do you own an Apple device? I bet you do! In a 2012 NBC article, it was shown that half of America's households own at least one Apple device. The market for apps is huge; Play On! will design games with music and cooking in them. We will sell these for $4.99, and promote using periodic discounts.
Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences
Communicate. Create. Captivate. Play On! has stopped the pause button with our three Cs. Come join us on our journey!
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat do you want to accomplish in your first year?
We would like to recruit members and establish 10 teams of two. Also, we would like to have people in my town to be familiar with this concept. This can be accomplished with advertising. We would like to have the district's music teachers know of this project, and at the very least, promote it. They can even as far as to be a member. Money would not be as big of an issue, as this was supposed to be a nonprofit organization. However, by the end of the first year, we want to have a way to secure revenue funds. This might be in the form of an e-book collaboration, or a real book. But, we will definitely make a series of apps, for $4.99, that will have music and cooking in one game. Our goal is to have the first batch out for the group to try.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Play On! has started with a group of around 20 people
Task 1
Raise enough funds to cover the first year
Task 2
Promote Play On! by flyers and social networking sites
Task 3
Make the forum and website for Play On!
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Play On! has managed to hold the interest of all 20 people through its awesome activities
Task 1
Gather some cool articles, videos, and discussion questions
Task 2
Have teams do fun projects that combine music and cooking, with different prompts (e.x. "Red")
Task 3
Make an app game that fuses cooking and music and then give a discounted/free batch to the first group for feedback
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideHow will your Venture define success in the short term (1-12 months)?
Play On! will define success by the number of people who have joined and have posted at least once a week, which would determine interest in the idea. We will also define success based upon our participant's feedback. We can give out monthly surveys to evaluate our business model. The questions will range from the team, to the discussions, to the materials and assignments. Our aim is to create a community, and we want to make sure that happens.
In the long-term (1 year?)
Play On! will start to define success by the amount of new members we get, as well as how much revenue we generate. The more new members we get, the faster word is spreading. It tells us that idea is out there! Moreover, we hope to have some source of revenue drafted by the end of the first year, so we can start to benefit from those sales. The profits from these sales can go towards paying guest speakers and hosting bigger, splashier music events.
How will you measure success?
We will measure success by how many positive reviews we get. Play On! is all about costumer satisfaction. If the music student doesn't like this program, then they're not going to benefit it. This, in turn, will detract from our mission, which is to nurture the love of music in the participants. Every month, Play On! will release a survey. Another format we could stream the surveys in is to send out SurveyMonkeys. They will be short answer or multiple choice questions, and will not remain anonymous. That way, our Venture can get a truthful assessment of our plans. We can collect each participant's e-mail address as part of the sign-up process, and then send them monthly newsletters that will garner more publicity to the site. Moreover, we will measure success by how much new, interesting material we can get. For example, if we can secure the help of a prominent musician, either to be part of the Venture or just be a guest speaker, then our Venture will be doing very well. This support means that we are doing something right; people actually have heard of it, and know what it's about. Furthermore, they are interested in it, and like the idea enough to volunteer some time to contribute to it. This stamp of approval will also boost advertising - like how famous athletes and celebrities often endorse products. However, this other way of measuring success will no doubt come later, as we have to build up our Venture first.
Why?
Our Venture is all about community and piquing people's interest in music!
This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: WINGS Soars!.
Created on 03/22/2013 by adampom
WINGS is working to solve poor long-term outcomes of low-income students with our innovative social and emotional education program. WINGS teaches kids how to behave well, make good decisions, and build healthy relationships by delivering a social and emotional learning curriculum into a fresh and fun after school program. We serve at-risk, low-income kids 3-hours per day, 5-days per week, for the entire school year – more than 500 hours annually.
Organization: WINGS for kids
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Country
United States, SC, Charleston, Charleston County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, SC, Charleston, Charleston County
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
WINGS is working to solve poor long-term outcomes of low-income students with our innovative social and emotional education program. WINGS teaches kids how to behave well, make good decisions, and build healthy relationships by delivering a social and emotional learning curriculum into a fresh and fun after school program. We serve at-risk, low-income kids 3-hours per day, 5-days per week, for the entire school year – more than 500 hours annually.
Research shows social and emotional education delivered in the after school setting increases academic achievement, school attendance, and student behavior. Evaluations of our program show WINGS kids make better grades, score higher on standardizes tests, attend school more often, and have better behavior than non-WINGS students.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
1) Develop a long-term strategic plan – we are working to identify strategic opportunities for the long-term growth and sustainability of WINGS.
2) Continue with our evaluation efforts – we will be entering the second year of a randomized control trial study on our program effectiveness, the gold standard in program evaluation.
3) Increase the number of students we serve – we are currently in four Charleston, South Carolina schools and two Atlanta, Georgia schools. We are working to increase enrollment in our current schools by more than 25% and add a new school in rural South Carolina.
Need #1
Opportunity Analysis
Need #2
Staffing Capabilities
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
We need to develop and refine our long-term strategic plan through opportunity analysis in order to maximize our impact and to achieve systemic change. Currently we are in an expansion phase, adding new programs each year. We are also in the midst of a randomized control trial study, which we anticipate will definitively document the positive outcomes of WINGS. When we receive our positive evaluation results we need to be prepared for widespread demand.
Our current direct service model is very good at achieving impact, but it is labor intensive and we are only working with a handful of schools. If we were to double our number of schools each year, it would take 14 years for us to reach the nearly 100,000 public elementary schools in the US. Given our current model, that type of growth is unrealistic. In order to achieve real systemic change we need to evaluate the best delivery mechanism of WINGS. Now is the time for us to evaluate the overall marketplace and to identify opportunities where we can achieve the greatest impact, whether it is through our direct service model or another avenue.
1.
Partners who challenge us in our conventional thinking.
2.
People are who willing to make a real commitment to working with us, just as we are willing to make when working with them.
3.
We share common goals of what we want to achieve.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
The only service we currently provide is our direct service after school program, so support will be focused on our overall organization. As a result of the consulting support it may be determined we should pursue an alternative service delivery option, such as a training and curriculum service in order to increase our impact. We are anxious to for the insight the consultants will provide as we go through this evaluation process.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Better understand the marketplace in which we operate
2.
Explore alternative service delivery options to maximize impact
3.
Initiate the framework to develop a more detailed strategic plan
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
In 2010-11 we partnered with UVA researchers for a preliminary outcome study. The results found executive function skills improved by 21 percentile points and applied problem solving skills improved by 8 percentile points. Increases in these areas are predictors for positive long-term outcomes: improved high school graduation rates, higher income potential, and reduced rates of criminal behavior.
Due to these results, the researchers wrote and received a $2.8 million grant from the US Department of Education for a randomized control trial study on WINGS, the gold standard of program evaluation. Previous evaluations by Yale University demonstrated WINGS kids attained higher math and reading scores and better grades and school attendance than non-WINGS kids.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
We are currently serving 650 kids each day in six low-income elementary schools, and we anticipate expanding our services to more than 900 kids next year. While this is a significant year over year growth rate, we are still falling short of achieving systemic change – we are only hitting a small percentage of all at-risk students. By working with the professionals with American Express we hope to identify a way for us to greatly increase our scale. We realize we will not be able to serve all students in the next year, but we believe this will help us lay the framework for widespread scaling and systemic change.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/21/2013 by SDCN
Too many people have lost the capacity or will to listen thoughtfully, talk respectfully, and relate constructively. Nowhere is this clearer than in the K-12 system: students often experience exclusion, poor achievement and depression that follows them into adulthood. 85% of LGBTQ youth reporting harassment at school. Too often, teachers are poorly equipped to battle these issues. The good news: Over 1,000 alumni of the International Institute of Sustained Dialogue (IISD) alumni graduate each year with unique abilities to solve problems, make decisions, resolve conflict, and listen actively.
Organization: International Institute for Sustained Dialogue
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Name
International Institute for Sustained Dialogue
Organization Country
United States, DC, NW, Washington
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Please select
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideSelect the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
Too many people have lost the capacity or will to listen thoughtfully, talk respectfully, and relate constructively. Nowhere is this clearer than in the K-12 system: students often experience exclusion, poor achievement and depression that follows them into adulthood. 85% of LGBTQ youth reporting harassment at school. Too often, teachers are poorly equipped to battle these issues. The good news: Over 1,000 alumni of the International Institute of Sustained Dialogue (IISD) alumni graduate each year with unique abilities to solve problems, make decisions, resolve conflict, and listen actively. We want support our alumni who teach in K-12 classrooms as they use Sustained Dialogue and inclusive leadership to transform relationships and create change in their classrooms and communities.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
Our Strategic Plan outlines our top three priorities for the coming year:
1. Increase impact through our current work on campuses by deepening, enhancing, and evaluating program offerings and services.
2. Mobilize a network of alumni to broaden impact. Our alumni are critical to our mission. To catalyze alumni impact, IISD will focus on strengthening its alumni database, providing training for alumni to bring SD skills to communities and workplaces (especially those in education settings), and developing workplace recruiting pipelines to position alumni with inclusion and dialogue skills in every sector. SD will begin a pilot program of training and supporting alumni teachers in their efforts to bring SD to their K-12 classrooms.
3. Build organizational infrastructure to enhance effectiveness and financial sustainability.
Need #1
Opportunity Analysis
Need #2
Message & Brand Strategy
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue. As we celebrate this milestone, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. Over the past ten years, our program has grown in ways that cause us to reconsider several questions: How do we best position and leverage the work that we do to deepen and maximize impact? How do we reach K-12 students so that they become inclusive, empathetic leaders before stepping foot on a college campus? How do we create a cadre of alumni who use SD to harness empathy in their classrooms? Given the endless need and opportunity for SD, how do we choose where to focus our time and resources? While we have hypotheses, the support of American Express in developing a SWOT analysis will ground and direct our strategy so that the next ten year are as even more successful than the last.
1.
Committed and passionate about working towards our mission
2.
Committed to joint learning
3.
Organized and invested in progress and improvement
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
Support from American Express will be specifically focused on the services we provide to alumni who are in the education sector. We hope to use the support to achieve the following goals: (1) develop an in-depth understanding of the context of K-12 and how to best enter this arena, and (2) develop specific strategies for reaching our target alumni and enabling them to create change through Sustained Dialogue. We will pilot the determined strategies for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
Three years ago, IISD completed at strategic plan in which we conducted our first SWOT analysis. We led this analysis internally and focused on the Campus Network arm of the International Institute. Since then, we’ve gathered new data from our constituents, supporters, and other broad audiences that suggest we reassess the way we create change in campuses, workplaces, and communities. We have recently begun working with Spark to create a new website that better reflects our work (people often confuse us for an environmental organization). IISD is primed and ready for American Express support!
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
Teachers who are able to create inclusive classrooms through Sustained Dialogue
2.
K-12 students who practice inclusive leadership and dialogue
3.
Schools where dialogue becomes a norm for communication
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
From pilot programs, we know this service will have high impact for our alumni, their students, and communities. We know that participation in SD increases empathy and has long-lasting effects. While, nationally, students’ empathy scores are decreasing, 91% of SD students report thinking critically to improve experiences of others and working to change group norms. An SD alumna and teacher writes: “I truly believe that my success thus far is a direct consequence of learning how to really listen, foster communication, and build relationships through SD.” Another integrated SD methods as a catalyst for dialogue in her lessons with great success. Given the power of SD in versatile contexts, and the impact we already see with alumni, we expect high impact through our solution.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
We will directly train and support 150 SD alumni teachers in the next 3 years, reaching an estimated 15,000 youth, and youth-advocates. Each year, we will work with 50 teachers to infuse a unique culture and skill-set of empathy: Given that inclusion leads to better performance and speaking up and talking to someone are the best ways to end bullying, creating a norm for building trust, finding voice, and taking action will positively impact academic and civic lives. SD provides the much-needed outlet and skills needed to walk a mile in someone else’s skin.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Created on 03/21/2013 by rosierunciman
The Sound Doctor is an audio-visual health information website designed to help people get the most out of life with a long term condition. It is focused on achieving effective self-management and includes practical tips and advice from a wide range of leading UK health care professionals as well as patients.
Organization: The Sound Doctor Ltd
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Country
United Kingdom, GLS, Poulton
Organization's Country of Operation
United Kingdom, GLS, Poulton
Type of Organization
For‐profit
Year of launch of the organization
Years in Operation
Operating 1-5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
I watched a patient roll up the information his doctor had just given him and throw it in bin. He hadn't read it and when I quizzed him, he said he hated getting yards of reading material and he thought it was all rubbish. He liked information from his doctor whenever he wanted it. This gave birth to the idea of filming top doctors and nurses to give the very best health information 24/7
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideExplain what the "innovation" is about, e.g., is it the idea and/or the model you use to accomplish the idea, or your understanding of the target population, etc.?
As the number of people across the world with long term conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease explodes, the need to self-manage becomes more acute. No health system in the world can sustain looking after such huge numbers of poeple unless they successfully manage their own conditions to some degree. They cannot do this without proper information. We knew, because of our senior journalist backgrounds at the BBC, that we could produce the very best audio and visual information and make it available for patients anywhere to benefit from. We have interviewed the country's leading doctors, nurses, podiatrists, dietitians and other health professionals. We have also interviewed patients who give their top tips for getting the best out of life. There are sixty films for both Diabetes and COPD with other condtions to follow. They are broken up in 2 to 5 minute chapters with several interviewees in each chapter. These films take the viewer on a journey through all aspects of their condition. There is goal setting, also quizzes and action points to promote behavioural change. The chat room encourages like minded people to form communities and also to enable health authorities to have dialogue with their own patients.The films are web based but available on tablet and mobile. There is also an audio app for those who prefer radio, only have access to mobile phones or like the portability this offers. We feel much of value of The Sound Doctor is in the quality of the interviewing and editing of the films and, of course, the calibre of those taking part.
Describe how your innovation model is distinct from any other organization in your field?
There are films available on a variety of conditions, and there are numerous patient stories online but no one except The Sound Doctor has created a really comprehensive library of films on each condition which represents a proper systematic resource for patients. Nor are there films of the same quality. There is no equivalent of the audio app at all.
The Sound Doctor is a structured and inclusive journey that offers practical help for people at all stages whether they are newly diagnosed or have had their condition for several years. The library of films can be dipped into at any time while an introductory series of films provides a unique structured learning programme which includes motivational questions designed to encourage people to think about their own personal goals.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
We are passionate about, and totally committed to, The Sound Doctor. Our priority is to maintain the highest editorial and production standards. Our aim is to help people get the best out of life with effective self-care. We are very experienced in tailoring information to people's needs. We are also small and therefore agile and flexible in our approach. We have gained high level support in the UK for our innovation since inception owing to the quality of our product and, I believe, our sincerity and enthusiasm about improving the quality of life for patients with long term conditions.
We have long experience of television and radio broadcasting at the highest national level in the UK and use this experience to create programmes that tell stories effectively and accessibly.
How do you make sure you constantly innovate in light of (potential) external challenges, or your growth plan?
We are able to innovate because we are small and flexible, continue to learn from others and because we can see the benefits of responding to changing situations, research and opportuities. In the UK the market and the challenges faced by health care professionals are in constant flux. We are able to adapt to these changes by anticipating them and tailoring our products to meet new demands and maximise their usefulness. We are keen to diversify in order to reach new markets and meet patients' expectations. We are, for example, translating some of our core films to make them more widely accessible both in the UK and worldwide. In a fast-changing market we feel it's important to stay ahead of the competition by predicting change rather than waiting for it to happen.
This Entry is about (Issues)
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThe systemic challenge you are trying to overcome (select one)
Bring accessible healthcare to communities in emerging markets
Health area (target market) where the need is [select only one]
Chronic care
Categories along the health continuum you are covering [select all that apply]
Prevention, Long-term care.
Please describe in more detail: what problem are you trying to solve in the organization's specific context?
A patient with a long term condition or conditions needs to self-manage to a far greater extent now than ever before. Unless they have effective information about how to do this, their task is extremely difficult. But it's clear that self-management is the absolute key to the long-term needs of the UK health system and could be adapted to fit other models of care worldwide. We aim to do this by giving patients the most helpful, relevant and practical information, tips and goal setting from the very best doctors, nurses and other health professionals. The intention is to improve the quality of a patient's life, improve their experience of their healthcare and, specifically, to reduce the number of avoidable hospital admissions and the number of GP consultations.
Stage that best applies to your solution [select only one]
Start-up and growth (pilot is successful and starting to expand)
Core strategies of your business model [select all that apply]
Approaches to behavioral change at the individual level, Patient-centered design.
Most relevant tools you are using to implement the strategies outlined above [select only two]
Technology, Education/training, Others.
If other, specify here:
Journalistic skills acquired through many years working at a senior level at the BBC. It's about telling a story effectively.
Please describe your solution in more detail
GPs, Practice Nurses and other health professionals give patients a Sound Doctor wallet which contains information about the product and a laminated card with an activation number on it. The patient logs in using that unique code to access The Sound Doctor site appropriate to their condition.
They watch nine core films which are interspersed with action points, goal setting questions and further information. After this a library of 60 further films is available for them to browse whenever they like. The films are 3-5 minutes long, clearly set out and categorised, and can be watched at people's own pace. Patients' stories are included to provide invaluable peer support. There is also a chat room so patients and health professionals can build up local and national communities.
What are your vision and overall objectives?
Our vision is to create a library of audio-visual information to help patients get the best out of life with whatever their condition. The objective is to make the information the best available anywhere - accessible, understandable, relevant, practical and helpful. We intend this to be a unique and structured library of films covering a wide range of chronic and other conditions. Longer term we hope to follow on from our initial audio app to create other apps on health giving far flung places access to the best health information in the world. We see this as being potentially transformational in raising awareness of particular health issues and self-managing them.
What is your value proposition?
If we prevent one avoidable hospital admission for a COPD exacerbation, we have saved the NHS over £2000. Prevent one heart attack and we save up to £5,000. The cost of The Sound Doctor to the NHS offers the potential for significant direct savings. We also expect to demonstrate that The Sound Doctor, by creating better-informed and better-motivated patients, will free up GP and practice time, allowing healthcare professionals to concentrate on other needs - for example strategic planning and personal development.
The films are licensed to client organisations on an annual basis with 2-3 year packages preferred.
Who is your customer(s)?
Our customers are the National Commissioning Board, Clinical Commissioning Groups, and through them, GPs and practice nurses. We also have a market in Public Health through local authorities. Potentially, customers could include large retailers working on innovative initiatives with the Government to improve the nation's health.
What approaches to you use to reach your customers?
We have face to face meetings with National Commissioning Board members, CCG long term conditions leads and public health officials. We also attend conferences either to host a stand or as speakers. We network widely.
What are your primary activities?
As The Sound Doctor is a small company, we are involved in every aspect. We create the strategy and vision. We design and develop the Sound Doctor learning programmes, we research, film, edit and publish all material; we meet potential customers; we meet strategic and visionary thinkers in the health sphere, and we sell. Following sales, we also try to ensure a significant take up amongst patients in each region and we work with healthcare professionals in each area to achieve the best possible outcomes.
We aim to hold a bigger 'conversation' with all those using The Sound Doctor and to communicate with them regularly with updates and other reasons to keep going back to The Sound Doctor site.
Who are your peers and competitors? What problems could these players pose to your success or growth?
There are films on health, of course, but none offer the patient journey with the range and quality of films and editing, with the calibre of experts which we offer. NHS Choices is a large and heavily used site with millions of unique users a month. There is film content but it is incoherent and doesn't lead the patient anywhere except to the end of the film they are watching. There is no structured audio-visual content.
Some US insurers and healthcare providers have created sites like Web MD but in scope and quality these are not at all similar. Our challenge is to be first and best at what we do. Through exceptionally high quality and standards, we will continue to work with the NHS on joint projects (the audio app for example) and build on our reputaiton.
What other challenges - individual, organizational, or environmental – are you currently facing or might hinder future success of your business, and how do you plan to overcome those?
Our challenge is primarily dealing with a 'new look' NHS with newly created CCGs and uncertainty within those new structures. These changes will take time to work through. We work with key strategists at a high level within the NHS to make sure we are addressing the right issues at the right time.
We also need to make sure the Sound Doctor is cost-effective in order that CCGs renew their subscriptions to the films for patients annually. We will achieve this by working closely with all clients and patients to ensure that the site achieves its aims and exceeds expectations.
Briefly describe your growth strategy going forward
Our growth strategy is to continue to create new audio and visual information packages on a wide range of conditions and sell those and existing packages to CCGs and to the Commissioning Board in the UK and to adapt these to sell abroad. We are already partnering with a company in India which provides innovations in primary health and wants to use The Sound Doctor to help their pioneering work.
What dimensions for growth are you currently targeting for your innovation [select all that apply]
New customer group(s), New regions(s), New market(s)/country(ies).
What makes your business "ready" for growth?
We have developed and refined our product and we have proved the concept through sales. We know that patients like it and we know that health professionals like it. As it is web and app based it can grow easily and quickly. There are no extra manufacturing costs to be factored in and distribution costs are minimal. We have an archive of material and revenue from this will fund further development.
What are your key growth objectives?
We aim to increase our portfolio of health information products to cover a wide range of conditions affecting the majority of the population. We intend to build a substantial library of material and offer packages of information that will benefit people with co-morbidities. We intend to reach a wider audience by translating material for those for whom English is not the first language.
What is your timeframe for growth, in the short and mid-term? What are the growth milestones and key activities going forward?
Within six months we will have created an audio-visual package of information on all aspects of cardiovascular disease including heart disease, stroke, hypertension and cholesterol. Within twelve months we will add extensive coverage of three further conditions. Discussions with key third sector organisations and health care professionals have begun with a view to planning and then filming, editing and posting information on all these conditions by April 2014. Within three years we expect to have a library of up to 500 films giving advice on a full range of long term conditions.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat has been the impact of your solution to date?
The Sound Doctor is being used in around 100 GP practices. More will come on stream this month. It is too early to be able to give absolute savings. All we can say at this stage is that patient satisfaction, as recorded on the online satisfaction surveys, is high for both conditions which exist currently (COPD and diabetes)
Anecdotal and focus group evidence is also good. The Sound Doctor allows patients permanent access to information they forget to remember or forget to ask in the heat of the GP consultation.
What methods for quantification of social impact are you applying (if at all)?
As mentioned above, we are using the patient satisfaction surveys. We are also using analytical tools to look at the number of people using the site and the amount of time they use it for.
I have email contact with some patients and ask them for feedback and suggestions which has been very helpful.
We have had expert patients looking at the site and we are working on two separate research projects at the moment - one in the North of England with 200 patients with COPD and one in Wiltshire which hasn't started yet, with a practice nurse research project on self management for patients and effective interventions.
Could your solution work in other geographies or regions? If so, where?
It can work anywhere. We are translating some of our core material into Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali at the moment for use in the UK but we can film anywhere and distribute anywhere using our existing framework.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
We hope that the majority of patients in the UK with long term conditions will have access to The Sound Doctor in the next three years.
All material gathered so far is ready for distribution and can be scaled-up easily and quickly. Future products will work to the templates already developed and, once completed, will easily scaleable.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideElaborate on your current financing strategy
Shareholders and sales. We aim to make £400,000 in sales this financial year.
We have money in our account for development and expansion from shareholders and from previous sales made last year.
Share of revenue generation in total income of organization (in percent)
Direct sales to patients or other beneficiaries (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these sales listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Licensing fees, e.g., for technology/franchise model (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these licensing opportunities listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Private businesses, Regional government, National government, Others.
Service contract with organizations, e.g., government, NGOs (in percent)
Of the possible sources of the service contracts listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy
Explain your revenue generation strategy in more detail
Licensing The Sound Doctor products to CCGs, Public Health authorities and the Commissioning Board on an annual fee basis. We retain the rights to all our material and they have access renewed annually. Each new condition will be sold in addition to existing conditions. Apps will also be paid for on this basis so that all products are free to the patient.
Share of philanthropy in total income of organization (in percent)
Philanthrophy strategies you are using
Explain your philanthropic approach in more detail
Expand on your selections; explain how you will sustain funding over the next 1-3 years.
Our business plan has allowed for expansion and growth to cover the library of long term conditions mentioned above. We are hoping to raise enough money to achieve this through new and existing private investors.
We are also generating income and aim to increase sales to £400,00 this financial year and increase that figure again next year. As the number of conditions increases, sales and revenue should increase in line. Revenue in this period will be directed back into development, evaluation and marketing.
Created on 03/20/2013 by gbeyrne
In Buenos Aires we have a public and free University with a six common subjects first year to almost all the careers, called "Ciclo Basico Comun" (C.B.C.) which have 65.000 new students each year and almost a half of them can't make it in one year. S.O.S. Estudiante is a virtual studying center, where students coming from High school can take online courses of the hardest subjects from the first university year. During a Skype call, the professor lectures from a Google docs the topics of the subject the student has chosen and solves doubts and questions.
Organization: S.O.S. Estudiante
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideTitle
S.O.S. Estudiante: Shrinking the gap between High school and University in Buenos Aires
Organization Country
Argentina, C, Buenos Aires
Country where this project is creating social impact
Argentina, C, Buenos Aires
Is your organization a
Hybrid
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S.O.S. Estudiante: Shrinking the gap between High school and University in Buenos Aires
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
What problem is your organization committed to solving? In particular, share what is innovative about your approach.
In Buenos Aires we have a public and free University with a six common subjects first year to almost all the careers, called "Ciclo Basico Comun" (C.B.C.) which have 65.000 new students each year and almost a half of them can't make it in one year. S.O.S. Estudiante is a virtual studying center, where students coming from High school can take online courses of the hardest subjects from the first university year. During a Skype call, the professor lectures from a Google docs the topics of the subject the student has chosen and solves doubts and questions. After the class has been finished, the student will be part of a Facebook group with all the rest of the students where they will find common exercises to solve it in a collaborative way.
What are your organization's top three priorities in the next year?
Our top three priorities in the next year are:
- To get visibility in the students audience and the university environment.
- To increase the number of involved students
- To build an education community
Need #1
Digital Marketing Strategy
Need #2
Consumer/Audience Acquisition
Based on your first choice of the eight technical categories you selected above, what is your specific project need? Please be specific!
We need some help about how to introduce our project in the university world and the students audience. Specially in the first year of University, where students usually need more help. We know that Social media is the key to enter, but we don't know how we should start it. At this time we would like to increase "likers" in our Fan page on Facebook, we think that's a good option to introduce the project, but we don't know how to motivate the students to be in touch with us or how to find potential interested people about us.
At the same time, the positioning of our project on the web (outside social networks) it's a priority, but we would like to do it showing what's different in our idea and what kind of benefits could the students get.
Will support from American Express be focused on your organization overall or a specific product/service? Please describe.
As a start up project, we need an overall support from American Express.
Have you focused on the above area previously? If so, please explain, including whether you have worked with outside consultants before.
At this moment, we are working hard to develop our idea the best way we can.
Are you able to commit 3-5 hours/wk over 10-12 weeks?
Yes
Are you able to meet virtually or at a convenient in-person location?
Yes
Are you able to meet in the city where your organization is based?
Yes
1.
More students completing the first year of university in one year.
2.
A big students community, studying through Facebook in a collaborative way.
3.
Fewer students giving up.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Students who have tried S.O.S. Estudiante have acquired a new vision of Skype or Facebook. They have realized that they can use these online tools not just for entertainment or communication, but as a learning tool.
While is too soon to talk about impacts, around 90% of the students who take lessons with S.O.S. Estudiante approve their exam. We believe that without any help, these students could never have completed C.B.C.
What is your project future impact after receiving professional support from American Express?
Almost half of the total number of C.B.C. can't finish it in one year, and an important part of it, will give up in the next year. We think that S.O.S. Estudiante could help this critical students portion to complete this first year and keep studying.
We hope to build a community where students could share their doubts and members answer from different points of view. Also they could share their exam results to let the other members know about the final score. Thanks to this community, students would feel they are accompanied with others students during the whole learning process.
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