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YouthAssets - Connecting the World's Most Vulnerable Youth
Voting Summary (Elevator Pitch):
YouthAssets will develop a web-based knowledge management tool that utilizes the latest mapping technologies and collaboration tools to enable youth and their supporters to share critical information about and for HIV/AIDS orphans in Southern Africa.
URL:
www.youthassets.org
City:
Brooklyn
State/Region:
NY
Country:
USA, Swaziland, Southern Africa
Give and Take: Describe your project's top three needs
Type of expertise needed:
Technical Expertise We are requesting assistance with software design and coding. Components of YouthAssets include a collaborative website, database, mapping tools, and mobile device applications.
Type of expertise needed:
Other
We are in need of a not-for-profit fiscal sponsor so that we can begin accepting donations. We also would appreciate other not-for-profit startup support including 501c3 application, branding, and seed funding.
Type of expertise needed:
Management Expertise We would appreciate strategic planning assistance including refining our business strategy, financial model, and marketing plan.
Project Vision Statement & Potential Social Impact:
YouthAssets will develop and support the use of a computer-based, interactive knowledge management tool that enables youth and their supporters to access and share critical information about and for HIV/AIDS orphans. HIV/AIDS orphans would use this tool to get information on critical resources as well as share their needs. This database of information would allow funders to target certain areas and coordinate services with other providers. This project would be piloted in Swaziland, a country with the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world.
The recently released 2006 UNAIDS document declares that “national governments, international partners and communities are failing to provide adequate care and support for the 15 million children orphaned by AIDS, and for millions of other children made vulnerable by the epidemic.” An entire generation of youth in Sub-Saharan Africa is in crisis. In Swaziland alone, a country smaller than New Jersey and with a total population of one million people, there are already 95,000 orphans. By 2010, UNICEF estimates 120,000 orphaned children – representing 22% of all children in Swaziland. While global financial support for these children is increasing, the existing minimal funding is uncoordinated among providers. Even the most recent report from UNICEF states that little information is known about what is happening to resources, especially at the local level. It states “the multisectoral nature of HIV response makes tracking difficult at the country level, so it is not known what percentage of this money is specifically helping children.
YouthAssets would create a tool for service providers to aggregate their data and use the latest mapping technologies to display resources. A youth-focused interface would allow orphans and other vulnerable children to access this information and also contribute their own knowledge and resources. Resources will be optimally allocated and youth can be active in their own care.
Sustainability (financial) model:
YouthAssets will operate as a not-for-profit, receiving funding from donors. However, some revenue is anticipated from service providers paying to access more detailed, aggregated data.
Technology Vision:
Current technical components of YouthAssets are: (1) Collaborative website that will include user profiles and shared spaces (Drupal or other) (2) Collaborative database that will integrate existing data as well create an interface to add new data on youth in Africa and resources available (SQL server or Oracle, ESRI, etc.) (3) Maps of aggregated data into visual format (Google Earth or other) (4) Use of software to be used on mobile devices
Potential obstacles:
The largest obstacle for this project is limited hardware and communication infrastructure within Swaziland, our pilot country.
However, residents of developing countries are just recently considered an emerging market for technology innovations including laptops (Classmate PC, www.laptop.org) and high functioning handhelds and cell phones. It is critical that while new hardware is being developed, relevant content is being developed in tandem. YouthAssets would provide one useful tool.
Resource Needs:
Input for concept development
Advisory council members, particularly technical and software development background
Fiscal sponsor
Contacts for relevant partners
Key Milestones:
June 2007 - Report on needs assessment and field survey to advisory board
July 2007 - Concept and spec development, trip to Swaziland to perform focus group with orphans, identify needs of local service providers, and develop partnerships
August 2007 - Present full concept, results from Swaziland visit, year long plan and budget, incorporation plans to advisory board
September 2007 - Begin incorporation, select board members, and implement plan of action
Project Summary:
YouthAssets will develop a web-based knowledge management tool that utilizes the latest mapping technologies and collaboration tools to enable youth and their supporters to share critical information about and for HIV/AIDS orphans in Southern Africa.
Comments
Thank you very much!
I wanted to thank everyone who supported and voted for our project. We are very appreciative of the opportunity given to us by all of you and have been working hard in preparation for this conference. I just started up a blog to share with you our preparations and we are very open to comments, suggestions, and ideas as we refine our conceptual design. Email us or visit my new blog (my first blog ever!) at http://www.netsquared.org/blog/jensly !