Business community leadership reflection

Connecting with other non profits

Veronica Ciarcia

Valeria Navarrete

Paul Oblitas

Jordan Cacho

Jose Miranda

Jerome Bethune

Gabriela Solis

Yanetsis Echevarria

Joseph Ebneth

Executive Summary

The Judith Squillante Foundation was created by Jason and Mark Squillante in dedication to their mother, Judith Squillante, who in her lifetime did a lot in the charitable work with community children. The Foundation’s aim is to help underprivileged children succeed academically, while also preparing them for life. Our group of 9 was chosen to assist the Judith Squillante Foundation with connecting to other non-profit organizations. With that objective, our group’s mission for this project is to gather information on how similar non-profits work their operations and also gather some information on their struggles in order to lower the learning curve for Jason and Mark. An ultimate goal of our group is to help Jason Squillante find partnerships with organizations that are in line with his foundation’s strategic priorities and mission statement. Establishing partnerships with other non-profits will ensure a sharing of resources, goods and services, and joint funding.

The main issue we encountered while completing this project was getting in touch with other non-profits. We conducted research and found several non-profits that had mission statements and values similar to that of the Judith Squillante Foundation. A lot of the foundations we found targeted underprivileged children and their education. We began contacting them through email and phone in hopes of collaborating with them. As time went by our emails and calls were not returned, we began to realize that the process was going to be a lot harder than we thought.

We did get in touch with representatives of three foundations: The Education Effect, the Posse Foundation and the Miami Children’s Initiative. We were able to ask them questions regarding their foundation and how it works and the steps they took to find partnerships in the past. Through some failed attempts to contact non-profits we already had an idea that it was not easy, that notion was only confirmed when we did speak to some organizations. Further we were able to gain insight as to how difficult the process of establishing a non-profit is. Although we did not get to finalize any partnerships for the Judith Squillante Foundation we were able to uncover some details that will hopefully facilitate Jason Squillante’s search for partnerships.

A solution that we believe will alleviate the process is using social media to network and make connections. Social media is undoubtedly the most popular method of communication in today’s day. We believe the Judith Squillante Foundation should establish a stronger social media presence, whether it be through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or all. By expanding their social media presence the Judith Squillante Foundation will become more publicly known as well as more appealing for future partnerships.

Another solution that we believe will help Jason Squillante establish a partnership is attending events held by non-profits in order to network with them. Non-profits hold a lot of events such as galas or dinners to advertise their foundation, to celebrate a particular milestone, to collect donations or to simply network with other foundations. For example Take Stock in Children, a non-profit that offers underprivileged students scholarships to further their education, will be holding their 20th anniversary celebration in March of 2015. This event would be a great networking opportunity for the Judith Squillante Foundation.

Our mission was to find non-profits for the Judith Squillante Foundation to partner with. We found the process to be very challenging and difficult. It is definitely a process that requires a lot of time and effort. However, we were able to contact Jason to Donnie Hale of The Education Effect. Donnie was very enthusiastic to meet Jason and learn about ways in which the two organizations could mutually help each other. Further, we were able to get in contact with three foundations and they were able to answer some questions we had. Although we were not able to “finalize” a partnership for Jason, we were able to provide him some leads that he can use in the future. Additionally we were able to provide alternatives, such as using social media, to help the Judith Squillante Foundation set up future partnerships. Although the process of establishes collaboration is difficult it is very rewarding once accomplished.

Statement of Need

Two of The Judith Squillante Foundation needs are to find a potential partnership with another non-profit organization, and if not, to gain as much information from similar non-profits in order to help facilitate The Judith Squillante Foundation in its start-up phase. We as a group found that the former was a very difficult process for a number of reasons. After countless emails of denial to non-profits we as a group had to ask ourselves, “Why are non-profits reluctant to partner with The Judith Squillante Foundation”?

Donnie Hale, Director of the Education Effect at Booker T. Washington gave us some insight on why this might be. “When a start-up foundation tries to partner with one that has been around, then they can get arrogant, think they know it all, and may not listen to what the other will have to bring to the table,” said Hale.

After doing some additional research, it became clear that companies in general are partnering at an all-time low. One of the main reasons is that the economy is not doing well as of late. Non-profits do not want to risk partnership with someone and create even more vulnerability in their environment than there already is in a struggling economy. If the partnership does not go as planned it could doom a non-profit financially. A solution to this would be to try to talk to the non-profit and try to form a limited liability partnership so that they would not be held accountable if the partnership did not pan out the way that it was supposed to. Another reason that non-profits are reluctant to do partnerships is the contract involved. If the contract is violated in anyway, a lawsuit can take place and courts can get involved. Partnerships would never want to go through that process as it is time consuming and expensive. All of this aside our group decided that if we could not form a partnership just through email, let’s try to get them to at least sit with us and ask them questions about the tasks and struggles of being a foundation and then perhaps we could form a partnership if they are interested.

The first step as a group is that we have to determine what population we want to target. We want to interview a non-profit organization that helps underprivileged children achieve their academic goals and set them on the right path for success. We would not target organizations such as just normal afterschool programs. We want to partner with a non-profit that helps schools that have a lower grade than a “C”. Nowadays it is really hard for a school to achieve the grade of “F” because if a school continues to receive an “F” grade, then the school will be shut down. Next we have to determine what the term “underprivileged” means. Underprivileged is not a kid who does not want to learn and is not doing well in school due to their own decisions. We want to target kids that want to achieve success but are not given the opportunity due to their situation outside of school. An example of this would be a student who wants to study but cannot because their household is very unstable.

Next we have to research statistics to prove that non-profit organizations that help underprivileged children can be successful. Our program would be considered an extracurricular activity due to it taking place during after school hours. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “participating in extracurricular activities help improve students in a board number of ways. Fifty percent of students never skipped classes that participated in extracurricular activities verses forty two percent for non-participants. Also thirty percent of students have a GPA of 3.0 or higher if they participate in extracurricular activities.” A shocking ten percent only have a GPA of 3.0 or higher if they don’t participate. Another critical statistic is that if a student is involved in extracurricular activity then they have a 68 percent chance of getting a bachelor’s degree or higher verses 48 percent if they do not. This is a huge difference in percentage and can make a significant impact on a kid’s life if they decide to participate in after school activities.

Just these statistics alone shows promise for the stakeholders. If kids see these statistics it can motivate them to buy into the program because of the correlation to increase their chance to be successful. With all the kids buying into the program, the foundation will flourish and stakeholders will be rewarded. Also, the target population of underprivileged children will be rewarded because they are the key component to the entire process. They will enhance their education skill giving them a better opportunity to succeed and even perhaps guarantee an admission to a university. If they do not succeed, then the foundation does not succeed.

Now, we have to find a non-profit organization that sees the same type of views as The Judith Squillante Foundation. We need to receive insight and knowledge from them to learn about the successes and struggles they have gone through in growing as a foundation. After receiving some insight from them, if both parties feel mutual about one another, then they will be asked if they would like to form a partnership with The Judith Squillante Foundation. If they politely decline, then at the least The Judith Squillante Foundation gained knowledge from the struggles they have endured in coming up as a foundation so that Jason does not make the same mistakes as they did.

Project Description

Mission Statement

Our group’s mission is to potentially establish relationships with similar non-profit organizations/foundations in order to gain opportunities to raise funds and to receive goods and services for “The Judith Squillante Foundation”. With another foundation supporting The Judith Squillante Foundation, it will then be able to provide assistance and support to unprivileged kids in Miami Dade County to succeed academically, complete their graduation, and allow them to start their professional and leadership careers.

Objectives

· To receive information from similar non–profits on their operations, strategies, struggles and successes to solidify as a recognized community foundation

· To find opportunities for underprivileged/talented kids to complete their educational goals and graduate.

· To receive scholarship funds for underprivileged children who are pursuing higher education.

· To receive financial support from organizations that will work on behalf the education of unprivileged kids and spread its mission throughout.

· To make mergers and collaborations with different organizations that will help “The Judith Squillante Foundation” in the achievement of its goals.

· To receive collaboration from different leading universities to provide quality educational opportunities to the students of the underprivileged regions of Miami Dade County.

· To sparkle a focus on splendid understudies and support the quest for scholarly greatness at all levels of training.

· To empower expanded backing from associations that wish to support grants for extraordinary educational ability.

Methods

As mentioned before, our main objective was to connect with other foundations. Foundations working together give unprivileged children more options to study and help for a better future. We aimed to obtain a partnership for The Judith Squillante Foundation, to work together in agreement to achieve the same purpose and benefits. Our primary method of this was through email communication. We began with researching south Florida non-profits with similar purposes. Once, finding viable organizations to work with, we sent emails introducing purpose, our goals, and ourselves. This method was not too successful.

After some communication and guidance from Jason about this topic, he recommended that we not be so forward and specific in our emails. Jason mentioned that the first thing we want is a response from the other organizations, and once we get a response we can begin to mention our objectives and purpose. Through this advice we emailed other organizations with more vague emails, and with this method we indeed had more success. It was through this method that we were finally able to communicate with Donnie Hale Jr., Director of The Education Effect at Booker T. Washington High School. He and Jason are now in communications with a mutual interest in a potential partnership.

Another successful method that the group had was communication with personal acquaintances that had a part with similar south Florida non-profits. One member of the group has an acquaintance from his high school days that is now the Chief Executive Assistant at The Miami Children’s Initiative and a Posse Scholarship scholar. Scarlett Montenegro is her name and through the method of face-to-face interview with her we were able to gather valuable information to help Jason Squillante with the facets of attracting children, motivating children, tutoring and potential scholarships for the children of The Judith Squillante Foundation. With the gathered information about the Posse Scholarship we decided to research more scholarship programs that offer similar opportunities.

Scholarships

Scholarships are grant or payment made to support a student's education, awarded on the basis of academic or other achievement. Scholarships are extremely beneficial to students graduating from high school and entering college especially students who need financial support. The Judith Squillante Foundation, a non-profit established to help underprivileged students succeed academically, would greatly benefit from knowing the different scholarships that are available. There are multiple types of scholarships for Florida students some of which include need based scholarships, merit based scholarships, scholarships for outstanding leadership or involvement in extracurricular activities, and scholarships that target a specific field of study. Below is a list of several different scholarships that the students from the Judith Squillante Foundation could apply for.

1. Salute to Education Scholarship: Salute to Education, Inc., established in 1994, is a non-profit organization funded through dealership contributions and corporate support from Ford Motor Company. This scholarship is based on merit and high school involvement and students must have a 3.0 GPA or higher in order to be considered. Factors such as financial need, community involvement, demonstrated leadership, and quality of character will also be taken into consideration. The scholarship is open to all Florida high school students.

2. Florida First Generation Matching Grant: It is a need-based grant program available to degree-seeking, resident, undergraduate students who demonstrate substantial financial need, are enrolled in eligible participating post-secondary institutions, and whose parents have not earned baccalaureate or higher degrees. This scholarship is need based and is awarded to first generation students.

3. William Boyd Florida Residents Access Grant: Program provides tuition assistance to Florida undergraduate students attending an eligible private, non-profit Florida college or university. This scholarship is need based and can be renewed yearly as long as the student maintains their GPA between 2.0 – 4.0.

4. Jose Marti Scholarship Challenge Grant Fund: This scholarship is available to Hispanic students enrolled in their senior year of high school. Applicants must be a Florida resident, as determined by their postsecondary institution, cannot be in default of any other loans or grants, be of Spanish culture, have earned a 3.0 un-weighted cumulative grade point average by the end of their seventh semester in high school, and enroll as a degree-seeking student at an eligible Florida postsecondary institution. This scholarship is merit and heritage based.

5. Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program: This program, which is federally funded and state-administered, is designed to recognize exceptionally able high school seniors who show promise of continued excellence in postsecondary education. The Department awards funds to state education agencies (SEAs), which make scholarship awards to eligible applicants. Students receive scholarships for college expenses. Scholarships are merit and leadership/involvement based.

6. Florida Fund for Minority Teachers: This scholarship is a collaborative performance-based scholarship program for African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, and Native American students. The participants in the program include Florida’s Florida College System institutions and its public and private universities that have teacher education programs. This scholarship is merit based and is also awarded to high school students who want to pursue a career in education.

7. Lucille E. Snaith Memorial Scholarship Endowment: This scholarship open to eligible Honors College students at Florida International University; however, priority consideration will be given to incoming freshmen. To be eligible, students must be either an entering or current Honors College student in good standing (minimum 3.3 cumulative GPA) and have financial need as determined by the Financial Aid Office. Students must have a history of outstanding academic performance, and provide evidence of motivation, character, and potential. The student must also be a resident of Miami-Dade or Broward County and have U.S. citizenship. Scholarships are renewed each year provided that the recipient remains a full-time Honors College student in good standing, makes satisfactory progress towards a bachelor’s degree, maintains a 3.3 cumulative GPA at FIU, and that funds are available in the Endowment.

8. Florida Incentive Scholarship: This scholarship is merit based and it is awarded to high school students entering any college or university in Florida. This scholarship can be renewed yearly as long as the student receiving the award again maintains their GPA higher than 3.0.

9. Bright Futures Scholarship: This scholarship is perhaps the most well-known scholarship available for Florida students. This scholarship is merit and need based and it is awarded to high school students entering any college or university in Florida. There are two variations of the scholarship, one which covers 75% of your college credits and another that covers 100%. Factors such as SAT/ACT scores, GPA, financial need, etc are taken into consideration when awarding students.

10. Talented Twenty Program: This scholarship is awarded to high school students who ranked in the top 20% of their class after their seventh semester. This scholarship is purely merit based and students must submit their ACT/SAT score in order to be considered.

a. If so:

i. what are they? The only reason would be violent behavior at program and program leaders decides to remove child.

ii. What is the “warning” policy? We give child and parent a verbal warning

iii. Once removed, can a child be allowed in? Yes

1. If so, how? Noticing change in behavior

b. If not, why does the program not have requirements the children have to meet to stay in the program?

8) If they are working with children at remote locations, I would try to understand how they manage the logistics of it.

Does MCI operate like a YMCA, but more hands on?

I am not sure how the YMCA operates but I do not think so because we don't provide the after school programs we connect with programs that already exist and bring them to the block. We also work very hands on with all the families in our block not just the children. In general we link our community members to services in the community.

How do the kids get to the Community Space?

The kids walk to the community space. The community space is a unit in the public housing so they all live around us. Our community space is within the four blocks we target. It's on the map I sent you. I can resend it if the community space isn't marked on the map.

Do any MCI representatives interact with teachers from the kids’ schools? How often? If so, what are the expectations?

Each MCI staff is an advocate for a family. Each advocate is responsible for making sure that parents attend a teacher parent conference and we encourage our staff to also attend. MCI also works closely with Charles R Drew and Brownsville Middle we work closely with the Principal at both schools and some of the teachers and staff. We interact with the Principal at Charles R Drew in a weekly basis.

What proactive involvement does the MCI program have with their education? How in depth is it?

MCI gets a report card consent form from each child on the block signed by the parents. Then we make sure to get the report cards of all the kids on the block. We make sure that students who are failing are placed in tutoring. We also make sure that each advocate is making sure that each child in their family is academically successful.

In addition to staying out of trouble, are there any academic requirements for a child to maintain in order to stay in the program? Will MCI continue to support a consistent low academic performing student?

We will always support all of our children. We never give up on them. MCI believes in doing whatever it takes to make sure that each child is successful. We do a lot of incentives in order to make sure that our children are doing well in school and not missing class. We are currently promising students a Disney trip for summer 2015 but in return we need letter grade improvement in two classes and perfect attendance from now until the end of the year. If they're in middle school or high school we are also asking for community service hours and for parents we also have a list of requirements.

How many children are in the program at any one time on average? MCI serves about 200 Children.

Each after school program has a different amount of students. It varies on the age and grade.

What is the % of children in MCI that go on to college?

Our goal is 100% but MCI is relatively new and understand that we are currently far away from that goal. Our current main focus are the younger children.

Lastly, can you give me a more robust understanding of how MCI's operations and how it works in relation to the tutoring or teaching side of it?

With tutoring we are partnered with Reserve Tutoring that hires retired professionals. We pay the, for their service. Each tutor tutors about 5 children. In total we currently have 40 children in tutoring. We determined those students by their grades.

Questions for Posse

1) Is there a representative of the actual Posse foundation she can connect you with?