ELP: Explorers Highlights

By: Mary

Mary participated in Allowance for Good's winter 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers program.

My favorite part about ELP was the speakers and learning from them. We got to see what exactly these philanthropists are doing to make the World a better place. Speakers like Sharmila, Bruce, and Charles showed us how their foundation(s) are making the world a better place. Before ELP, I was confused on how foundations obtained their funds. I thought that small foundations only ran on individual donors, and that puzzled me. I was informed that foundations get funds from large family and corporate foundations. I had many questions for Sharmila on how a family corporation is run and what the difficulties are while being on the board of a family foundation. With Bruce, I learned about how the smallest things can affect a developing community. I liked to see his personal pictures of The Adonai Child Development Centre. I was delighted to see how he was making a difference in that community and making an effort to do the most good. Finally, I was fascinated by Charles' foundation. I would never have thought that having a bicycle would make such a big difference to children in developing countries. It made me think more about how to help people in non-conventional ways. 

I will continue to be a young catalyst and philanthropist through travel. It's one of my passions. My ultimate goal as a philanthropist is to see others getting better. I want to go where I've already sent help through money or goods. I want to see an improvement and settle difficulties in an area. I want to talk to the people that I helped. In the future, I want to learn more about micro-loans and organizations like Kiva. I think its very conventional and a gift that can be re-used and sent to many people who need the money. I want to become a donor in the future and watch my money go to people who will profit the most from it. 

Mary, right, listens intently as Charles Coustan presents about his organization, World Bicycle Relief.

If I Had a Family Foundation...

By: Genevieve

Genevieve is participating in Allowance for Good's winter 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy program.

If I was the head of a family foundation, I would support education and housing for those in need. I would support these causes because I believe that they are the two most important things one needs in order to have a successful life. There are so many people without shelter. Homelessness exists throughout the world, from San Francisco to Italy. Once you are homeless, it is very hard to get back to a normal life without a group of people who want to help. My foundation would not just provide a shelter for people who need a place to stay for a little while and then go back out onto the streets. During the day, all school age children would go to a public school so that they can be educated. Their guardians would be learning about how to get their life back on track, continuing their education and getting some job training. When the kids come home from school, they would be able to do their homework and then have a good, healthy dinner. I would want these families to feel safe without worrying about where they are going to sleep the next night. I believe this stability is the core to having a successful life. If the kids are staying in school and getting an education while their guardians are improving their lives, these families will have a higher chance of success out in the real world. 

I think that education is very important, because if one is not educated, then they will not be able to get a stable job and support their families. I have noticed at the shelter that I volunteer at, that when a family has been staying there for several weeks, the older kids end up taking care of their younger siblings. This is a big responsibility for the older siblings and I wonder how much time they have left over to do their own homework. It seems to me that the kids have just as hard of a time being homeless as the their guardian does. I volunteer on Wednesdays at a women’s homeless shelter and I help the children with their homework. As a reward, we play games after they are done. I try to encourage the kids to work hard so that they can develop good study habits and enjoy going to school. 

Genevieve, right, listens to guest speaker Sharmila Rao Thakker of The Siragusa Foundation during the Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy seminar.

Quality Education for All

By: Lauren

Lauren is participating in Allowance for Good's winter 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy program.

I am passionate about making quality educational opportunities available to all children and parents, regardless of their income and their environment.

I came from a poor household where my birth parents were uneducated and uninformed about what opportunities might be available to improve our family’s life. I had no exposure to reading or writing and attended an inner city school thru the first half of second grade. There were 38 children in my first grade class with only one teacher and no assistant. I could not get the help I needed because I didn’t know how to ask for it and my Mom and Dad didn’t know how to advocate for me. My life changed dramatically when my Mom allowed me to live with my godmother. She is a college graduate with a double degree. Suddenly I was immersed in learning, attending a quality district school in the suburbs and gradually coming out of my shell.

My godmother then enrolled me in Baker Demonstration School for middle school. My Mom and Dad would never have been able to do that because of the cost, even with financial aid. By 7th grade I realized how much I had been missing by not attending a quality school. I got all the help I needed and began to achieve academic success in all my subjects.

As a result of my experiences at Baker, I became committed to making the 2014 8th grade graduating class gift something of significance to provide an opportunity for a child like me to attend a high quality school. I am proud of myself because I led this charge. We decided on a scholarship for tuition costs and have been raising money throughout this school year to fund the scholarship through multiple means—bake sales, hot dog lunches, babysitting services, and various partnerships with local businesses.

I am hoping that the Class of 2015 will follow in our footsteps and make a second scholarship available. My classmates and I have worked hard to impress the 7th graders about the importance of this issue.

I will be attending Regina Dominican High School where there is a great emphasis on women’s leadership. I have already attended one of their conferences and learned a great deal about consensus-forming and incorporating diverse opinions into one goal and project. I am determined to continue to work on providing all children with the opportunity to escape a life of poverty through education. My dream is that those of us who get this opportunity will grow in number and commit to continuing the efforts to reach more and more children and their families.

Lauren tells us why she is a Catalyst for Good during our ELP: Explorers class. It reads, "I  am a Catalyst for Good because I am determined to give the choice of education to any child around the world!"