A Ganar Alliance
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Changing Lives Through Football competition.
A Ganar uses the power of football to help at-risk youth in Latin America and the Caribbean develop and transform skills and lessons from the field of play into life skills and marketable job and entrepreneurship skills.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Paul
Last Name
Teeple
Website
Organization
Partners of the Americas
Country
United States, DC, Washington
Section 2: About Your Organization
Organization Name
Partners of the Americas
Organization Website
Organization Phone
(202) 628-3300
Organization Address
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
Your idea
Name Your Project
A Ganar Alliance
Country your work focuses on
Describe Your Idea
A Ganar uses the power of football to help at-risk youth in Latin America and the Caribbean develop and transform skills and lessons from the field of play into life skills and marketable job and entrepreneurship skills.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
A Ganar means “to win” and “to earn” in Spanish. The program helps youth in Latin America and the Caribbean succeed in both. The core of the A Ganar program is not a focus on sports training, but rather the application of football lessons to personal skill development essential to employment training.
To win on the football field, one needs to understand, practice, and promote the core values of respect, teamwork, discipline, communication, focus on results, and continued self-improvement. These six skills form the foundation of the A Ganar methodology, not just as “life skills” but as “employability skills” that are learned on the field and in the classroom. This sport based training is followed by targeted vocational training and internship placement, with continuous support from mentorships. At the end of the 8-month program, 70% of the graduates find employment, return to school, or start their own business in addition to becoming community leaders and positively engaged citizens.
A Ganar is unique because it not only offers basic self development through football, but uses sports examples, language, and skills as a launching point to teach highly sought, technical, market-driven abilities that will help youth attain employment and contribute to the development of their communities. A Ganar has developed a global alliance between the private sector, public sector, and the NGO community that is driven by a universal love of football and a desperate need for economic and youth development.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
A Ganar has trained over 3,500 youth in Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, and Colombia. As the Alliance expands, we will reach over 5,600 additional youth in 11 LAC counties. More than 70% who start training complete all phases and the majority obtain formal employment, return to school, or start a business. All participants complete service learning projects, using their new skills to give back in local communities. Sport-based programming is not just for boys; over 60% of our participants are girls. Through Nike Foundation support, we developed a girl-focused curriculum called Vencedoras to train over 1,400 Brazilian girls (included in numbers above).
Employers, impressed by the quality of work of A Ganar graduates, often ask to hire more graduates. Participants often obtain contracts in the same company for which they interned, and many continue their service learning projects long after the program has officially ended. A Ganar’s greatest successes are in re-integrating marginalized youth and helping them to become positive and contributing members of their communities.
The impact of the program is best explained through the words of participants: “I discovered my inner leadership abilities that developed throughout the program and realized that I am a unique, special, and valuable person. The program gave me great happiness and changed my way of thinking by teaching me to value each opportunity that life presents and to fight for those opportunities. A Ganar allowed me to accomplish my dream of being a winner.”
Problem
The “youth bulge” in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with poor educational and vocational preparation, stigma against youth, saturated markets, and high gang prevalence, all incentivize crime and criminal behavior, which results in further marginalization. Many of the countries experience a high dropout rate in high school because governments provide inadequate preparation for the school-to-work transition. These youth then “fall through the cracks” especially in barrios, favelas, and rural areas with little access to quality education or opportunities, and turn to “quick fixes” such as gangs, drugs, prostitution, and crime for income or social support A Ganar uses its sport-based methodology to provide positive alternatives for income generation and offer youth a sense of “belonging.” The program helps youth break the chain of marginalization and crime through the development of skills and confidence required to succeed in the workplace and in life.
Actions
We created an alliance between IDB, USAID and the Nike Foundation. It focuses investments geographically per donor while sharing lessons and benefits learned throughout the network. We have moved from a “heavy footprint” approach of establishing offices in each country to working via existing organizations. We established a training model using expertise from our original countries to train our new countries.
The key is the local facilitator. We seek to increase facilitator training opportunities, supervision and support. Their success enables youth and program success. Not being able to train and support facilitators would prevent that.
One A Ganar facilitator, who works in a youth correctional institution, explained, “We have one shot with these youth. They are shocked that someone cares enough about them to invite them into the program, and they succeed if we stay with them. But if we give up on them, we will lose them forever.”
Results
Proper funding and support for facilitator training, monitoring, and education will ensure not only the success of the participants, but also the ability for organizations to create sustainable programs. Our new goal is a participant graduation rate of 70%, but in certain countries especially in the Caribbean, dropout rates are very high in schools and government or NGO programs. We expect that investing more in teacher training and quality control of implementation will result in higher retention rates as well as strengthened capacity for local implementing organizations. High quantitative results will also open more doors in terms of alliance-building opportunities with the private sector, sports organizations, educational institutions, and the public sector. We believe that investing in those who work with the youth in day-to-day program activities will result in stronger, more sustainable programs and most importantly successful youth who continue the positive momentum created by their teachers.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Year 1 (2010): This year, we have added seven new countries (Argentina, Dominican Republic , Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, St. Kitts and Nevis , and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) in addition to the existing countries of Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, and Colombia. We are in the process of training local organizations in each country to be certified as A Ganar implementers and adapting curriculum materials to fit local cultures and languages. Training is crucial to the success of A Ganar, as it involves properly imparting the coordinators, facilitators, volunteers, mentors, and collaborators with the spirit of A Ganar while also preparing them with the skills needed to complete program goals. This year will provide the foundation for this expansion to new countries.
Year 2 (2011): The second year will focus on the training of youth and the building of community relations to ensure successful and sustainable programs. The program goal is that 70% of the graduates will start a business, return to school, or obtain formal employment. Additionally, it is expected that at the end of the two-year grants, each implementing organizations will be in a position to sustainably continue the A Ganar program without the direct support of Partners of the Americas. To accomplish this, local organizations must dedicate a considerable amount of time to not only training youth, but also building relationships with business and local governments to guarantee support after the initial funding ends.
Year 3 (2012): By the third year, the current grant cycles will have ended and the implementing organizations should be executing A Ganar as an integrated methodology in their own programs. At this point, the implementing organizations will have received the support and training necessary to take on the responsibility of autonomously sustaining program success.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Our most prominent concern at the moment is the guidance and preparation of implementing organizations. This training is a critical element to program success, acting as a catalyst in igniting the passion and imparting necessary skills and knowledge to successfully implement the program. These organizations are responsible for building the trust of youth and projecting a professional image that garners the respect of local communities.
Program dropout among our target at-risk population is a major concern and we cannot achieve our main goals without a staff that continuously motivates and supports youth participants for the entire duration of the program. Local coordinators and the international staff must work together to convince the community and local stakeholders of the value of the A Ganar program. Without local support, the program cannot be sustainable and cannot create the community alliance that is necessary to achieve its objectives.
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001‐10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
In what country?
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Partners of the Americas
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
Private businesses: guide our choice of technical skills based on demand and provide youth with needed internship and employment opportunities. They serve as advisors, volunteer mentors and guest speakers, and help us build connections in communities. They force us to ensure that the program is “market-driven,” critical to improving youth employment.
Local implementing organization: in each country such have received funding for training in exchange for their important work increasing local credibility with youth and families, recruiting and training youth, training facilitators, building business networks and enhancing program quality through constant contact with our staff and seeking out new funding to expand our efforts.
Governments: to ease our local understanding and offer community support, we engage with governments in each of our implementing countries, at municipal, regional and national levels, as well as engaging U.S. Embassies. These partnerships increase our credibility and access to valuable knowledge and contacts.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
Increase Capacity Building: Most of our program funds go directly to the youth in the form of materials, snacks, stipends, facilities, and equipment. We have found, however, that in order to expand the program successfully, we need to invest more in capacity building. The difference between a good program and an excellent program is not how much money we spend on materials and equipment, but the passion of the facilitators and coordinators who drive the programs. In the recent expansion of the A Ganar Alliance, our funds have been extremely limited in regards to curriculum development and facilitator training, and we feel that by investing more money in these aspects, we can build a much stronger, more sustainable, and greater reaching program.
Expand Learning Network Based on Best Practices. As the A Ganar Alliance grows, it is important that we include comprehensive knowledge sharing between our many implementers, improving toolkits and conducting a knowledge sharing. This would allow Alliance members opportunities for learning the best strategies for working with youth and connecting with business and private sector partners. Such linkages have been invaluable to the program and are the key to youth success.
Expand Our Reach and Engage More Businesses. As we expand in Latin America, and hopefully worldwide, we want and need more business involvement, support, and assistance to remain on the cutting edge. We believe that Sport for Development interventions are effective because they utilize multi-sectoral partnerships. The need for job training for marginalized youth is a global one. Increased funding and support would strengthen our relationship of mutual support between individuals, sports organizations, political leaders, and companies.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
In 2000, soccer legend Pelé urged senior officials of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to use the power of soccer to affect youth development in Latin America. Pelé reasoned that if soccer can motivate millions of fans, it can be used to develop the lives of youth. In looking at the situation of youth unemployment and the great potential that can be unleashed by increasing employment, the IDB turned to Partners of the Americas to create and implement an innovative program that brings youth into the formal job market. A Ganar/Vencer was born.
In 2005, Partners brought together business, youth, sports, and community leaders in Rio de Janeiro to identify its six core sport/employment skills: teamwork, communication, discipline, respect; a focus on results and constant self-improvement. Partners then hired a team of education and sports consultants to develop and test its initial program curriculum. The curriculum was then translated from Portuguese to Spanish and adapted for use by groups in Ecuador and Uruguay.
In Uruguay, we have trained lower-division soccer players. Few will ever earn decent wages in soccer so A Ganar provides them with an alternative. In Ecuador we adapted the curriculum to work with developmentally disabled children. Business leaders are now seeking A Ganar as a way to train their current employees. In Brazil, we adapted our curriculum for an all girls program that addresses gender disparities in youth skills training. We continuously adapt and find new ways to use our program.
Youth face seemingly insurmountable economic, political, and social challenges that severely diminish their opportunities, yet they desperately seek ways to feel engaged, have an identity, learn more and hope for a better life. Youth want and need economic opportunities, leadership and life skills, a supportive network, and, in order to gain access to better economic opportunities, they also need to improve their technical, literacy and numeric skills. We can help youth take the lessons they learn every day participating in formal and informal sports activities and help them transfer those skills into productive areas. By using sport as the tool for this development, we have the power to tap into the interest and passion of youth, and help them realize their full potential. By bringing youth together into an alliance of similar youth, program alumni and committed mentors, we can exponentially expand the power to reach and positively impact youth across the Americas.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
The A Ganar Alliance innovative programming cannot be accredited to any one person. We have a dedicated team that works together across countries, cultures, and languages.
Perhaps a person who best represents social innovation within the program is Santiago Andrade, the current the A Ganar Executive Director in Ecuador. He is a Kellogg Fellow, an Ashoka Fellow, and has extensive experience working with youth, sports, and community organizing. He founded the National Agreement on Youth to negotiate spaces for youth participation in NGOs and the national government, to propose national policies for youth development, and develop a national Law on Youth. Santiago embodies the innovative spirit of the A Ganar program. He is an imaginative and committed leader, constantly looking for creative ways to improve the program and offer new opportunities for the youth he serves, including sending a delegation of participants to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Santiago is also an ally builder, as he now acts as a trainer of trainers supporting our newer program countries as A Ganar expands.
The program’s success in reaching needy youth, offering a dynamic and engaging curriculum, and addressing youth unemployment through the use of sport is a collaborative product. The program has grown from simple ideas, learning lessons throughout the past 6 years, and continuously adapting the curriculum to keep it fresh, relevant, and locally appropriate for all locations. A Ganar has succeeded through the dedication, perseverance, and creativity of its DC and international staff, volunteers, and network of private sector experts, local leaders and our generous donors.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Friend or family member
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
50 words or fewer
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