Girl Rising Reflection

On Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Allowance for Good began its newest program, Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: A Student Seminar Series. Chicago-area youth are invited to participate in a weekly seminar to learn more about the global philanthropic sector and how they have the power to be philanthropists and agents for change.

Sari reflects on our seventh session. On this day, we invited friends, family, and neighbors to join us for a screening of the film Girl Rising at the Village Crossing Theatre in Skokie, IL.

I normally listen to music whenever I drive in the car, but last Wednesday was different. On my drive home from AfG’s screening of Girl Rising I found myself silencing my radio so I could better tune into my own thoughts. I first became involved with Allowance for Good during the first annual Global Philanthropy Summit in June 2012, and for the last seven weeks I have participated in the new program Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy. With these experiences, I have gained a comprehensive understanding of how important it is to invest in a girl’s education. I know the facts, so what was it about the movie Girl Rising that moved me to drive home with only the sound of my thoughts?

For starters, seeing and hearing the girls' stories put real, raw emotion into the statistics I had been educated with. I try hard to sympathize, but learning that 14 million girls under the age of 18 will be married this year, is a fact that is very difficult for me to comprehend. One of the reasons why Girl Rising made such an impression on me was because it educated us about the issues of girls' rights in the developing world by focusing on one girl at a time. It is a lot easier to understand the severity of one girl’s forced marriage rather than 14 million.

(c) www.thecultureist.com

Another reason why Girl Rising moved me was because it showed how education can bring girls out of a plethora of different hardships. We heard stories from girls who were victims of environmental disaster, slavery, sexual abuse, forced marriage, poverty, and more. Allowance for Good taught me about the ripple effect, and in Girl Rising I saw it come to life.

One of the most inspiring things about AfG’s event was the presence of the audience. The theater was packed with people of all ages. Knowing that we were all becoming educated on this topic gave me confidence that we can help girls like these truly rise.

For more information on this amazing film, and to learn how you can host your own screening or find one scheduled near you, visit www.girlrising.com.

Global Education and International Development Reflection

On Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Allowance for Good began its newest program, Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: A Student Seminar Series. Chicago-area youth are invited to participate in a weekly seminar to learn more about the global philanthropic sector and how they have the power to be philanthropists and agents for change.

Fiona reflects on our fifth session, focused on Global Education and International Development.

“Don’t be afraid to fail, because you will.” This quote was introduced last week and really stood out to me because it explains that if you really LOVE what you do and have a burning passion for it, you shouldn’t be afraid to try new things to bring your passion to life. That is one huge lesion that I learned last week and during this whole week, I have been trying new things in my life because I told myself that I would never know until I tried. I’m really passionate about making change and peace and when I get older, I would love to incorporate philanthropy in helping to make the change I wish to see.

During our lesson, my cousin Karin Scott came in and talked to us about the Global Engagement Summit. The Global Engagement Summit is a three-day program ran by 60 undergrad Northwestern students who meet during the year together and plan the capacity of the next generation of global change makers. It was extremely interesting for me.  Not only is Karin one of my role models in my life, but she inspired me to travel out of the country and help kids in poverty-stricken communities in need. We learned about goals last week. There were three parts to it, learn, connect and act. Learn: engaging in critical discussions in thinking how to do well. Connect: networking with other passionate individuals from around the world and innovate through leaders, and lastly, Act: building capacity and skills on how to carry these things out. Karin left us with some questions that really stuck with my throughout the week. What are you passionate about? In what ways have you volunteered around your community and outside the country? What kind of problems have you seen in these communities? Last summer, I traveled to Haiti on a ten-day service trip. I saw so many things that still stay in my mind to this very day, but one thing I will never forget is that even though Haiti is extremely poor, they are rich in spirit. I’m going back in two years and I hope that the service work we did there last summer really made an impact on their lives and showed them that you don’t know until you try. I know that I was scared that we were going to fail and we didn’t, and I’m blessed that we finished our work there because now kids have a place to learn. So this week, I encourage you all to try something new and don’t be afraid of failure. Trust me, you will feel empowered.

Corporate and Venture Philanthropy Reflection

On Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Allowance for Good began its newest program, Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: A Student Seminar Series. Chicago-area youth are invited to participate in a weekly seminar to learn more about the global philanthropic sector and how they have the power to be philanthropists and agents for change.

Nina, reflects on our fourth session, focused on Corporate and Venture Philanthropy.

This week, we focused on Corporate and Venture Philanthropy. We learned that venture philanthropy is characterized by the willingness to experiment and try new approaches, focusing on measurable results, giving financial, intellectual, and human capital, and funding on a multi-year basis.

We explored these concepts by having a guest speaker named Sejal Shah-Myers come in and talk to us about her work at the Springboard Foundation. Founded in 1997 by 10 teenage boys with $50,000 and some support from the Chicago Community Trust, the Springboard Foundation invests in grassroots organizations by building their capacity to strengthen after-school programs, which benefit children in high-need neighborhoods. Sejal game us a quick overview of the Springboard Foundation, told us some stories about different grantees, and then talked a bit more about venture philanthropy in relation to the Springboard Foundation.

After she had left, we briefly went over our homework, which was to interview someone we knew whose company had a giving arm. In order to further understand venture philanthropy, we were divided into two groups of three to create our own venture philanthropy fund. There were a few things we had to take into account, such as the name, the mission or area of focus, the reason, how many people should be a part of this, the minimum financial investment, and if that financial investment should increase their vote. We finished this session with a video about Warby Parker, a company that distributes a pair of glasses for every pair sold. As a continuation of this session, we were asked to write a letter on the behalf of an organization of our own creation asking for a grant from the venture philanthropy funds we had created.