Mentorship

In Nigeria of today, the proportion of households in which the woman is the breadwinner is on the increase. The economy which has been prostrate for some years has left many men in their various productive capacities jobless. In several situations where the husband, supposedly defined by the society as the bread winner, loses his job or unemployed, the burden of providing for the family rests on the shoulders of the woman even when it is obvious that she lacks the capacity to take up the responsibility. She just has to find a way to especially feed her children hanging on the popular axiom that “God will provide” as the Nigerian government at all levels does not provide any safety net such as social security for the unemployed and the needy. The toil such as street hawking, petty trading and subsistence farming that ensues in order to fend for the family is typical of the daily lives of most Nigerian women. For these women, their children come first and they undergo untold hardship in putting food on the table and sending them to school. Without doubt, these women have demonstrated incredible amount of commitment, drive and resilience to ensure the survival of their families and directly contributed to the grassroots economy most often ignored. Optimism is being expressed that if opportunity is created for these women to have access to skills acquisition (in fish farming) and funds to grow their own businesses, a way will be paved out of drudgery and poverty to a better life.

Patient satisfaction, as measured by a Press-Ganey satisfaction tool, increased from 83.5 (mean score on a scale of 0 to 100) in fiscal year 2001 (July 2000 to June 2001) to 88.7 in fiscal year 2009—a statistically significant increase. Although not all of the increase in patient satisfaction can be directly attributable to Patient Family Centered Care, hospital leadership and program leaders believe these improvements are due significantly to the program. In fact, patient satisfaction has increased significantly in several units following implementation of the program, suggesting a direct relationship between use of the unit-based patient advisors, implementation of advisor-suggested improvements, and satisfaction increases on the unit; for example, scores in one unit rose from the 10th percentile before implementation to the 95th percentile 1 year later.
Program leaders believe the program has contributed to improvements in other measures of overall performance, including scores on Joint Commission inspections, costs per adjusted admission, mortality rates, and days in accounts receivable. Although other smaller initiatives played a role in these improvements as well, the patient advisor program represents the only widespread, major initiative adopted throughout the hospital, and hence is considered to be largely responsible for this success.
The Family Faculty program has made a significant impact on medical students and residents, with our patient advisors scoring higher than medical school faculty on course evaluations.
Outside our health system, MCGHealth has been recognized nationally as a model of Patient Family Centered Care and has assisted numerous other health systems throughout the U.S. in improving care through partnerships with patients and families.

Our innovation will catalyze significant socio-economic outcomes for the entrepreneur beneficiaries, their families, and the societies in which they operate.

Entrepreneurial opportunity
Our solution will enable the creation of 1,725 youth-led SMEs in the four pilot countries that our analysis shows would not have secured support elsewhere. The young entrepreneurs will gain economic independence, business expertise, and for many their first formal connection to the banking sector.

Job creation
An estimated 12,075 jobs will be created as a result of the new youth-led start ups, significant in a period of rising unemployment, notably among youth (see http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_elm/---trends/d...). On average across the YBI Network over 70% of businesses are still operational after 3 years.

Economic growth
New business growth is a powerful driver of economic development, boosting demand and supply, productivity and choice. Employment through entrepreneurship also eases welfare costs.

Social mobility
Running a successful enterprise brings higher living standards and better life chances, with more reliable access to healthcare and education for themselves and their dependents.

Social cohesion
Many beneficiaries of our solution would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. Productive youth are less susceptible to engagement in social unrest and conflict. The new networks and relationships created through our model, notably the mentoring support - provided voluntarily by the local business community - strengthen ties and build social capital in the beneficiary communities.

Youth development
The unique combination of support provided through our solution (financial from the bank; developmental from the YBI Network member) not only fosters business success but also empowers young people, building their confidence and capabilities – financial, commercial and personal.

The stories of young entrepreneurs supported by the YBI Network capture key aspects of this social impact, which would be significantly scaled under our proposed innovation. See our attachments and
http://www.youthbusiness.org/entrepreneur-of-the-year.aspx for these stories, and www.youttube.com/youthbusiness for video footage.

Pilot project: Xhariep Honey Project = 127 new businesses, 420 new jobs, 4000 people lifted out of poverty.

Making the Rules has been facilitated by youth leaders in classes, in alternate programs, in after school programs, and in our community learning centre. The projects that have emerged have been as varied as the young people who have engaged! These projects have all made incredible contributions to our community in and of themselves by creating local assets & events and affecting local policy. Some projects have included:
-An anti-idling campaign- In this project a group of youth petitioned the school bus drivers in town to stop idling outside their school. They also decided to present their idea for an anti-idling bylaw to the municipal council in Hazelton.
-A cultural regeneration campaign. In this project young Aboriginal youth interviewed elders about some of the local cultural food practices. They decided to share what they had learned other youth by organizing an outdoor workshop out on the land and prepared booklet for distribution.
- Creating a 'baby room' for young moms at the alternate school. A group of young moms decide to create a welcoming, useful space for young moms at their school to encourage them to continue their education. The group found and painted a room at their school, secured donated items, had a grand opening to invite students to use the space.
Besides the projects themselves, youth who have participated in Making the Rules have built personal skills & leadership skills. As they reflected and tracked their learning, they also said that it raised their consciousness of what it takes to be a change maker and an active citizen. Many said it was the first time they felt valued by and connected to their community. Many of the adults around these youth were also inspired to see young adults taking risks, stepping up and voicing their opinions.

Young Leaders in Philanthropy's community service portfolio to date includes: a collection of over 2000 toiletries and baby for area shelters; tax preparation assistance for low-income families; and participation in United Way's annual Day of Action in which YLPs rolled up their sleeves, braved the heat, and helped landscape the campus of a reduced-cost medical facility, painted schools, and helped with the construction of a new home for a needy family. This year YLPs volunteered at a domestic violence shelter by organizing donations. Our signature community project is Imagination Library, a partnership with the Dollywood Foundation in support of early-childhood literacy. Approximately $40K has been raised to support 2,000 eligible children in the tri-county area.

The community gardens initiative has impacted the community through the remediation of blighted vacant land, garden implementation, and educational classes. Two gardens are currently growing on what was once blighted vacant lands, in addition to several other vacant properties currently in the planning stages. Urban agriculture

SUCCESSES
One of these gardens is a youth garden with neighborhood children ranging from ages 5-16, who show up weekly to help tend to vegetable patches and sunflower stalks. In partnership with one of the neighborhood churches, another community garden was built by over 30 community members: a raised planter bed, a benefit to the elderly gardeners, an herb spiral, a sunflower patch, and a handful of fruit trees around the perimeter. Classes have been taught on Organic Gardening 101. One community leader is enrolled in the Master Gardener program, thanks to a small scholarship by CPEX; this leader has already purchased a plot of land to build another community garden for the neighborhood.

PLANNING STAGE (0-6 months)
Several other gardens are in the planning stages for fall and spring gardens. One of these gardens will pair 25 Louisiana State University students with children from OSBR. The student-children groups will meet regularly to garden and learn from one another. Another community garden is being planned at a local community center, and this garden would offer a youth development program involving gardening and allow for cross-generational elderly-youth programming. Lastly, a schoolyard garden is being investigated at one of the local community schools. To follow-up on the Organic Gardening 101 class, a series of Fall gardening courses are planned by the end of November.

My class participants became reporters about conflict and violence. Children from the group interviewed their family, friends and neighbors about their thoughts concerning violence in Detroit. The children were given the suggested questions and the answers were submitted as articles written by the children explaining what they learned. Parents wrote letters stating the positive changes they recognized in their child's behavior. Mr. Cuffie wrote in his article of the newsletter: Dr. Jones met with our students over a period of approximately 6 months, preparing and teaching them conflict resolution. This was the beginning point of us orchestrating a peace march demonstration in Downtown Detroit against Violence. The march went well, and somehow sparked an opposing viewpoint from another school, almost causing a riot. Our Students stood strong and continued to rally in the midst of a volatile situation, displaying true commitment to fighting for peace.

The Railroad Playhouse is a new non-profit arts organization, set to open in September 2010. "Speak It Out" will be a new initiative implemented this year as part of the "Young Engineers" series. We expect "Speak It Out" to have an impact in many areas. First, we anticipate that the program will impact local youth in their decisions of how to spend their time after school. If students have a safe place to be creative, and they feel are using hip hop to contribute to the improvement of Newburgh, we believe that "Speak It Out" will be an attractive alternative to gang activities. Second, "Speak It Out" will impact community organizations. By introducing local organizations to the program participants, we create a community connection. Students become aware of other support networks and activities, and local organizations become invested in keeping the students off the streets. We expect to celebrate the end of the program with a party and performance showcase, inviting all of the program participants and all of the participating community partners. Lastly, we hope to have an impact on the local government. As a non-profit arts organization and venue in Newburgh, we feel a responsibility towards improving Newburgh through the arts. "Speak It Out" is one of many initiatives that we plan to implement in order to generate community and economic development in Newburgh. There are many other Newburgh arts organizations who are working to improve Newburgh through their own initiatives. The financial support from the local government for arts organizations is virtually non-existent. The local arts & cultural commission was dissolved a few years ago. We hope that our initiatives will help affect public policy in favor of supporting Newburgh arts organizations who are implementing programs to promote economic and community development.

In addition to the jobs created in Kukula Capital the fund will have strong benefits for each SME that it finances.
One example from the Kukula Fund I pipeline, a sawmill looking at expanding to value added wood production, will create the following social benefits:

• Creating at least 17 additional jobs and developing new skills and competences locally
• Enhancing environmental awareness by taking concrete measures towards a replanting program, to avoid deforestation.
• The company supports an orphanage which will be able to expand once the expansion of the sawmill provides a positive cash flow.

We've been working with the parish for over a year on the recycling issue as volunteers. Since our involvement began, we have started a monthly drop off event in the local Walmart parking lot. Before, the only recycling drop off location was at the parish's Public Works office building. This location is out of the way and not well-known in the community.

At each drop off event we've worked to recruit new volunteers and potential board members. We speak to each and every person who drives up and remind them to write to their councilmen and to help spread the word. Even with very little advertising, our event attracts approximately 100-150 cars each month. We now have a very loyal group of recyclers who will be our initial source for finding volunteers and supporters of our Ascension Recycles! project.

The Founder of Ascension Forward was also invited by parish officials to attend a "Solid Waste Summit" in order to help parish officials craft an RFP for a parish-wide waste disposal and recycling program. Currently, the parish does not handle our garbage pick-up. We can select any company we wish. The result is that we may have as many as 3 or 4 garbage trucks going up and down our streets each week. Once the parish selects a single company to handle our garbage pick-up, we will then be able to add a curbside recycling program.

In order to keep the momentum moving, we need to get the support of the citizens behind this initiative. As all statistics show, participation in recycling increases dramatically when you have a curbside program as opposed to a drop off location or event.

Additionally, as a result of all our hard work and volunteerism, we have an excellent reputation with our current administration and work closely with the Parish President on many sustainability issues. We are making progress – but more needs to be done.

The Youth Dreamers have a very big impact on the community and the youth. When we first moved into our house, which is located on a block with many elderly people, they did not want us in their community. They thought we were going to bring chaos to their neighborhood, based on what they watched on the local news about teenagers always getting into trouble. Now they see that we don’t want to bring anything but a positive feel to their neighborhood. It took a lot for the neighbors to believe in us. We had block parties to engage the young people and make community art. We made every resident a mosaic house number and recyclable grocery bags. Each year, we make a wreath for each resident at Christmas and deliver them in Santa hats. Last Spring, we worked with the neighbors to build horseshoe pits that they requested. Our programs have an impact on the youth. This summer we had four high school teens teach 20 kids in our summer arts program. The attendance was excellent and they were really engaged in the projects. Our Homework Club, Health Club and Community Arts programs always get positive evaluations from the participants. Our Dream House provides space for people of any age to come to be safe, have fun and learn from their peers, ultimately keeping youth off the streets and in trouble. (Keyani Kenny, 11th grade)

The forerunner of this project, the Indian Valley Summer Camp, has positively impacted Trinity County youth for the past 9 years. By bringing in the area's natural resource professionals to contribute to camp activities, the camp has exposed 90 students each summer to career paths and caring individuals. These activities have provided two-fold benefits of teaching the students as well as inspiring them in occupational interests. The Student-Citizen Connection works to expand this model into the school year in order to reach a wider population of students. Furthermore, the project addresses career paths beyond the natural resource fields.

The following information describes our test model at Locke High School in South Central, Los Angeles, CA (Watts.)

Data points of project:
• Funds raised: $12K; 65 different donors participated
• 200 students given the opportunity to participate; 30 essays submitted
• 15 students in final rounds; 7 students selected
• Minimum cost of program: $700; maximum cost of program: $2200
• Examples of programs: UCLA Stem Cell Science Program, UCLA Mock Trial Institute, USC Trojan Football Camp, Redondo School of Music, New York Film Academy, Hawthorne Drum and Bugle Corps

The Results- Highlights:
• 100% of participants claimed that the experience exposed them to a new, diverse community within Los Angeles
• 100% of participants claimed that the experience created confidence in applying to college or in applying for a position in a professional work environment
• 100% of participants claimed that the experience forced them to think about their future goals and how to best pursue them
• 5 out of 7 of students wrote their college application essays on their experience
• 2 students participating in a collegiate program were later accepted to the college, creating meaningful relationships with mentors on campus
• Project remodeled the direct student-donor connection, sparking further generosity and causing some donors to track the progress of students
• Program experience led to a 100% high school retention rate and graduation rate
• Program experience led to a 100% collegiate or professional matriculation rate