Rebuilding Respect for Women
A hybrid social enterprise cultivating the next generation. Through social-education classes and healthy grocery stores in food desserts around the nation.
About You
About You
First Name
Wheatonia
Last Name
Malekebu
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Rebuilding Respect for Women
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, NJ, Essex County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States
Is your organization a
Other
Your role in Education
After-School Provider, Other.
The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with
Other
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..
Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Idea (you're poised to launch)
How long has your solution been in operation?
Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Rebuilding Respect for Women (RRFW) hopes to advocate and educate communities on the importance of empowering women to become confident and self-valued in order to move society from a viewpoint of disrespect to that of respect for women. We also have a brother program that seeks to help young men develop respect for themselves which we hope will transform into respect for others and help tackle violence against one another especially in low income and minority neighborhoods.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
We aim to work with school-age thru high school children. We have chosen this age group as we believe it will help us work with youth who are open to new experiences and need the most intervention. With growth, we hope to expand the age range from nine until 21 years of age. We will first approach charter schools and receptive public schools to initiate the programs as voluntary after-school activities. With growth, RRFW hopes to become a bigger program that can influence the policies of local Departments of Education and create more programs from which more children can benefit. We hope to create an elective course in middle and high schools around the US for youth to choose to take, and obtain an office or classroom in each school where we will be specifically designated.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
An example of our solution can be seen in one of our programs called I want to be in love with me. RRFW believes that young women who love themselves and are confident are better able to thrive and have a lasting impact on the communities around them. Young women who feel good about who they are and are able to express their truths are less likely to fall between the cracks in society and are more resilient in creating positive futures for them to enjoy. By learning how to love themselves, young women are better able to make good decisions and command respect from others. Likewise, women who are more comfortable with themselves and less affected by negative influences are also better able to respect the people around them and make positive change in those they meet and touch as they grow. Participants will engage with topics like body image which will empower young women to understand their bodies and become proud and comfortable in their own skin. Participants will support each other to better understand their perceptions of their bodies, and why they feel the way they do about their body image. We also teach programs on anti-bullying as we believe bullying is the act of disrespect of others. RRFW believes that girls and young women that participate in bullying do so because they themselves harbor deep insecurities within themselves and are afraid of the confidence and differences exuded by others. Also, bullying can be present when they have not learned how to respect others or themselves.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Our competitors would be other organizations that are focused on young girls like GirlInc. What differentiates us from them would be that we have a boys component to our programs, as we believe that we can empower girls all we want, but until their counterparts are also empowered to make change that true empowerment of a community will not be sustainable as there will be an imbalance. We also offer a rehabilitation program because though our programs we are able to intervene in the lives of those that we can change or have a great impact on but we also want to find a way to bring those back on track that have lost their way and getting to the core of issues that led them astray initially. Lastly we are set up as a hybrid enterprise so we aren't solely dependent on donations.
Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.
Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]
We are a hybrid enterprise seeking to bring life skills to youth in low income communities and tackle food desserts.
Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]
Our solution is innovation because it tackles several social problems while bringing together communities.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
At this time we are creating awareness in the communities that we seek to work in that a change needs to be made, and it can only be done if the community as a whole believes that a change needs to be made.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
Over the next few years we hope to be in schools implementing our programs, as well as have our for profit enterprise up and running so that we will not only be educating the next generation but also giving them jobs within their communities so they can be active change makers.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Consistancy is the key to breakthrough
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Present strategy to four schools a month (24 schools total in 6 months)
Task 2
Finalize website for public
Task 3
Complete our primary data study to begin our monitor and evaluaiton process
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Committed to cultivating the next generation
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Operating in 3 - 5 schools
Task 2
Recieve our first substantial funding
Task 3
Ongoing proper monitior and evaluaiton plan to document our impact
Founding Story: 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 [125 words]
My moment was when I went to my old community and not much had changed. So I embarked on a quest to figure out why they were stuck. A lot of it started with not receiving proper nutrition in the early stages of life, as studies show the first 1000 days is crucial to development. This particular item in many cases is the beginning of a downward spiral, which can lead to lack of education followed by poverty. Respect was the item that stood out for me because I believe having self respect and worth for one self can catapult a person to achieve their wildest dreams, and not trying in life is the biggest way I believe a person can disrespect themselves. So I decided to focus on cultivating the next generation with what I call social-education to teach them skills that will go alongside the foundational skills they are being taught in schools. That will enable them to think outside their current situation and think about the many possibilities they have in life and to be change agents.
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
At this time we do not have any formal partnerships but we have been in talks with several multilateral and organic food distributors to help us with the project.
What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]
Currently I have a VP for Development, VP for Programs, CFO, COO, an Monitor and Evaluation Officer, 3 Grant Writers, Media Associate, and a small Board of Directors, so I am off to a pretty good start, but I will also need dedicated fundraisers, Country Directors, VP for Advocacy, VP for Marketing, and people that are truly dedicated to cultivating the next generation.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
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 | 72 weeks ago Wheatonia Malekebu updated this Competition Entry. |
| 72 weeks ago Wheatonia Malekebu updated this Competition Entry. |
| 73 weeks ago Wheatonia Malekebu updated this Competition Entry. |
| 73 weeks ago Wheatonia Malekebu updated this Competition Entry. |
| 73 weeks ago Wheatonia Malekebu updated this Competition Entry. |
| 73 weeks ago Wheatonia Malekebu submitted this idea. |
