One World Youth Project
One World Youth Project links schools around the world to build mutual respect and understanding among students.
About You
About You
First Name
Jess
Last Name
Rimington
Twitter URL
@JessRimington
Facebook URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
One World Youth Project
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, DC, Washington, Washington
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
Non‐profit / NGO / Citizen sector organization
Your role in Education
Other.
The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with
Public (tuition-free)
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
How long has your solution been in operation?
Operating for more than 5 years
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
The world has changed. The global economy is flattening, there is unprecedented migration and we are experiencing a digital revolution and yet schools around the globe are not adequately preparing youth for their interconnected world. Those prepared to operate within this reality will see this interconnection as an opportunity. Those not prepared will see this changing landscape as a threat. 99% of school principals believe a global mindset is important for students’ futures. Educators and employers alike agree that immersion abroad is an effective way for students to develop global competence. But sending students abroad is costly. Schools around the globe are searching for a low-cost way to provide the social-emotional learning that takes place when students are exposed to the world.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
One World Youth Project simulates the experience of travel by linking classrooms around the globe and empowering students to teach one another about our changing world. We partner with a university/college to develop a service-learning program on their campus where we train their students over the course of a semester to become experts in the OWYP "global mindset" curriculum. These students then facilitate a weekly connection between a local middle or high school classroom in their community with a classroom abroad through the match OWYP has made in partnership with a middle or high school in their community and in the region abroad. OWYP links all participating campuses in a global network, allowing student facilitators to work together across borders as advocates for their local middle/high school classrooms. This system provides middle and high schools with a free-of-cost way to expose their students to the world while still meeting standards.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
OWYP works with Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the D.C. Public School system. Georgetown students sign up for the program through their community service center. They receive internship credit and some get paid for taking on additional leadership. After the OWYP training, they enter into a middle school social studies classroom once-a-week for a year to lead lessons that connect their mentee students with students in Prishtina, Kosovo. To do this effectively, the Georgetown students are in touch weekly with their counter-part facilitators: students at the University of Prishtina. OWYP empowers the university student facilitators on both sides of the exchange with video cameras, still cameras, mobile tech and most importantly, a flexible curriculum that inspires young people to teach one another, across borders, about our rapidly changing world while developing the ability to connect across difference.
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?
There are great orgs that do complementary work to integrate global competency into schools. Our partner, World Savvy, is one of the best examples. Also, peer organization Primary Source is a good curricular example. We call orgs like this the "global ed" sector. There is another sector we call "exchange 2.0" (cross-cultural connections via tech rather than travel). This includes partner orgs like iEARN and longtime peers Global Nomads Group and the Soliya Project. OWYP works with all of these orgs to create a greater awareness about the skills (e.g. applied empathy) and values (e.g. desire to be a change-maker) associated with a global mindset. They're not competitors because OWYP is unique in that it can scale exponentially without philanthropy or a focus on a certain region.
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]
One World Youth Project links schools around the world to build mutual respect and understanding among students.
Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]
OWYP simulates the experience of travel by linking classrooms through tech, empowering students to teach one another about our world.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We have served 4 campuses and local school communities during our pilot --impacting over 150 university and middle/high school students. Post-pilot we dug in deeper in Washington, DC and Prishtina, Kosovo this academic year to better understand the impact of the inclusion of weekly, facilitated global education within the public school environment. Last month we made our first planned expansion to Guyana, Turkey, Pakistan and another US site: Boston.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
OWYP will scale to serve 45 campuses by 2015, engaging over 7,000 university and middle/high school students in 17 countries. This means 7,000 students will have developed greater global competency, have a greater chance of receiving and succeeding in higher education, have greater employment opportunities in a global economy and most importantly be discerning, empathetic and empowered global citizens poised to build a more sustainable and just world.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Launch the 2012/2013 OWYP program in Turkey, Pakistan, Kosovo, Guyana and the USA (DC & Boston) this fall.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Improve upon the OWYP curriculum.
Task 2
Launch the spring 2012 Online Training Course (for the university students)
Task 3
Hold the 2012 Summer Training Conference for participant student managers from all over the globe (in Kosovo)
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Expand to 9 near universities/communities, bring the total number of sites to 15
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Recruit an additional 9 universities
Task 2
Develop a more comprehensive method of tracking impact over time (e.g. better understanding student behavioral change w/ OWYP))
Task 3
Fundraise the rest of the philanthropy needed until OWYP is 'cash positive' due to economies of scale
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]
I founded in OWYP in 2004 at 18 years-old as a link between my high school in Massachusetts, USA and a school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The project grew quickly as educators around the world began emailing asking for their classroom to be linked with a partner abroad. Within a year, OWYP became a not-for-profit run by a volunteer team of university students in seventeen countries. From 2004 to 2009, we connected 67 schools in 26 countries using email, Skype and Facebook to coordinate efforts. To meet the rising demand for wired global learning opportunities, OWYP began to engage universities as partners in connecting the secondary schools in their community with classrooms abroad. With these new partners, OWYP began to train university students as the facilitators of cultural exchange in local classrooms. OWYP scaled to a full-time staff and from 2009 to 2011 ran a two-year pilot with university partners in the United States, Kosovo, and Qatar. We have since expanded to 3 new sites.
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
University of Prishtina, Georgetown University, University of Guyana, National University of Science & Technology, Boston University and Istanbul Bilgi Universitesi
What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]
OWYP is managed by a young, social-entrepreneurial team with experience in education, community & international development, sales, communications and media-production. We are guided by a hands-on Board of Directors with experience in scaling companies, sales, international economics and education. We currently have 7 full time staff members
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
We need help with fundraising, messaging our impact clearly and with metrics/assessment.
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