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Harvard Grads Rewarded for Taking Nonprofit Jobs

Harvard Grads Rewarded for Taking Nonprofit Jobs
This week, as some of the best and brightest students in the country graduated from Harvard, a select few received an additional bonus: $50,000 to use their degree to make the world a better place.

The 19 graduates who received the bonus have been part of the Harvard Business Leadership Fellow Program, which sets students up with one-year fellowships in nonprofit and public-sector organizations. Harvard subsidizes the fellowships, with each student receiving $50,000 in addition to the $45,000 paid by the organizations.

Since its inception in 2001, 106 students have been recipients of the grant and, after successful completion of the one-year programs, 90% of the students have been asked to stay on. According to the university, one-third of these students still work at the organization that hired them, and one-third have moved to a different job within the same sector.

This year, graduates will work at a variety of organizations including Oxfam America and Endeavor Global, a non-profit that helps emerging countries through its High-Impact Entrepreneurs program.

Since 1993, the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative has worked with students to create sustainable, high-impact social change. Thanks to Harvard Business School, these graduates will have the financial stability to work in the nonprofit industry, a sector that on average pays 30% less than for-profit organizations. “This program is a great opportunity for our graduating students to work in the nonprofit and public sectors,” said Harvard Business School professor Allen Grossman. “The program continues to grow as our students continue to give overwhelmingly positive feedback about working with partner organizations.”

– Chloe Isacke

Source: Impact,Harvard Business School
Photo: Bloomberg

Global Communities Are Partners For Good

Global Communities Are Partners For Good
Global Communities is an international non-profit that works to bring about sustainable changes to the lives of vulnerable people. They work with community members to determine the needs to the community. They utilize a multi-faceted approach by mobilizing the communities, governments, the private sector and NGOs to work together. They bring together complementary strengths and shared responsibilities of given organizations to work toward a common goal.

Global Communities was previously named CHF International. Founded in 1952, they currently work in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe & the Caucasus, Latin America & the Caribbean and the Middle East. Their mission is “to be a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low- and moderate-income communities around the world helping them to improve their social, economic, and environmental conditions.” They strive to be genuine, committed, connected and purposeful in every project they pursue.

Their funding comes from governments, foundations, local groups and the private sector in order to maximize impact and effectiveness. They try to create self-sustaining organizations that can withstand crises and work well and efficiently on their own.

Global Communities implements innovative housing techniques to help the most vulnerable of populations. They work to make living conditions more stable and desirable in the developing world. One such population is the Nairobi community in Kenya. The slums there feature some of the most-at-risk populations in Kenya with high unemployment, cramped living spaces, and marginalization from mainstream society. There are also ethnic, religious, and political tensions present.

Global Communities’ project in Nairobi is funded through USAID and is called the Kenya Tuna Uwezo program. This program aims to reduce politically motivated conflict in the area. Global Communities is strengthening social networks of community members and civil society groups. They are working with PeaceNet and Kituo Cha Sheria, partner organizations, to engage young people with the goal of reducing resistance within and between identity groups. They are also fostering communication between ethnic lines while also ensuring technical and organizational capacity of partners to ensure the program can be sustained.

Global Communities has projects all over the world focusing on a range of topics including economic development, micro, SME and Housing Finance, infrastructure and construction, governance and urban development, civil society and municipal development, global health, and emergency response. Global Communities is an important ally in providing development assistance to countries in need, and one that can provide an important link between USAID funding and actual on the ground development and progress.

– Caitlin Zusy 
Source: Global Communities

The Akaa Project: Grassroots Done Right

the-akaa-project
The Akaa Project was started by then college student Lauren Grimanis in 2008. She took the idea of affecting change in rural Africa and created a campus-wide movement. The movement then spread to a full-fledged and funded non-profit organization.

The Project works within the Akaa region of eastern Ghana, working directly with poverty-stricken families in Ghana to alleviate poverty and promote self-reliance. The Project team works to improve the health, education and financial well-being of the village families. Their on-the-ground efforts create concrete change in the community’s day-to-day life.

Major projects have included building a school, enabling access to healthcare, and enhancing the community’s access to finance through micro-loans and small business initiatives. The Akaa Project involves the community in all decisions, projects, and initiatives, and works to ensure the community is involved and empowered through the organization.

Akaa’s founder Lauren Grimanis graduated from The College of Wooster in 2012. She majored in Global Development and Management. She was able to travel to South Asia to learn from social entrepreneurs and NGOs to best understand the most practical practices for rural development.

During her time at Wooster, Lauren and a group of dedicated students developed a strategy to engage the small liberal arts community at the college. They sold handmade village jewelry in the bookstore, organized dodge ball tournaments and dances, and made customized sunglasses to help fundraise. Several College of Wooster students were also able to travel to Ghana to volunteer in the community. They were able to not only spread the word about their organization throughout the college, but also spread knowledge of global poverty and development needs in Ghana and the developing world as a whole.

Lauren’s efforts translated into a school with six classrooms, six teachers, and an educational advisor. Seventy-five children are able to attend on a daily basis. The organization has plans for future expansion. Lauren was also able to install two borehole water wells, placing women at the center of the decision making process. Additionally, the Akaa Project sponsors child and infant nutrition awareness clinics, sexual health education, and condom distribution, among other services. The Akaa Project has also been able to provide eleven micro-loans to women in Akaa, helping to empower women in the community.

For an organization of their size, the Akaa Project is taking substantial leaps forward in providing real development to a marginalized and vulnerable community. They are looking to expand their future operations to bordering communities to help as many people as they can.

– Caitlin Zusy 
Source: The Akaa Project

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Room to Read: Helping Educate Children

Room-to-Read
Room to Read is a non-profit organization started by John J. Wood in 1999. He got the idea for the organization when he visited a school in Nepal one year during a vacation. There were 450 students at the school, yet there were no children’s books. The library only a had a few books that were inaccessible to the students. The following year, Wood quit his job at Microsoft and returned to Nepal with 3,000 books to build a functioning library for the children. This was how Room to Read began.

Wood believes that simply coming into a country, building a library or school, and then leaving does not completely fix the problem. Instead, he says that prolonged community involvement is key. Finding local librarians and teachers to encourage students to read and learn will create a ripple effect. It creates jobs for native citizens and gives kids an education. Everyone is more invested in the outcome that way because they are actively involved in the solution, and results will last longer than if they simply received a gift from someone in a foreign country.

He also encourages more affluent students and families to participate in raising money for Room to Read through ‘sponsored silence’ programs and Read-a-thons. So far, Room to Read is established in 10 countries and will have helped 10 million kids by 2015. Other accomplishments include building 15,000 libraries and 1,600 schools, publishing 850 original children’s books, and enrolling 20,000 girls in a special girl’s education program.

– Katie Brockman
Source New York Times
Photo: Room to Read