Thank you for participating in this collaborative competition. We value the time and effort you’ve put forth and we would like to offer you feedback and some thought provoking questions from our Evaluation Team.
cityWILD’s model is innovative in the way it empowers youth of color to break social barriers in outdoor education while simultaneously acting as role models that do not exist elsewhere in their communities. The initiative’s impact to date has been significant, and the multi-year commitment to youth involved in the program is central to maximizing cityWILD’s influence. Finally, cityWILD’s sources of funding are diverse, which will contribute to sustainability in the long term.
Please use this input as both potential insights into your innovations, as well as constructive ideas for how to improve or grow your organization.
This is one of the strong projects of all the entries, it uses sport in the right way. It is very interesting to hear different ideas like htis one which may insipre us personally or other organisations to do better. And this project can be used everywhere in the world.
Great Work!! I think the work you are doing is highly replicable, not only in the U.S. but across the globe. The model that you have established is solid and you could advise other organizations that are trying to do what you are doing in other parts of the world. Take a look at http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/2460 - they are based in Turkey and I see great potential for collaboration.
Also, your program is a great fit for our current Young Men at Risk competition, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is offering additional funding aside from the competition and it would be great for you to present your project to them!
Because our model is school based, the target population we serve depends on the demographics of the school and neighborhood. We do serve white youth, and don't discriminate. If a young person wants to show up and participate, they are eligible and included.
With that in mind, our intention is to reach out to non-traditional students. This means making our program available to youth in the targeted communities. If we can grow our program to scale, we would like to serve youth from all backgrounds. We provide limited services to youth from all over Colorado, including rural communities that are at-risk and predominantly white.
In the outdoor leadership field, there is no shortage of programs that serve any and all at-risk youth. What's missing are programs that effectively serve youth of color who are at-risk, providing them with long-term leadership development, and hiring them on as staff and role models. This is where cityWILD differs dramatically. We have a track record of success that is growing and generating continuing cycles of leaders. This will change the culture and face of the field, drawing in new students who saw this field as something they couldn't access. It may take many years, but cityWILD youth will be the Changemakers in this field, and beyond, because of what they learn as students of leadership at cityWILD.
You have a decade of experience to demonstrate your success, Read, and given your base in Denver, it's no wonder that you've focused on outdoor activities as a mechanism for teaching leadership, the transcending of social barriers, and respect for the environment. Everyone should have the opportunity to get outdoors and into a more natural environment, especially those who may be limited to inner-city experiences otherwise. In addition, I'm impressed by the transparency of your budgetary process. You know precisely how much money you have coming in, its sources, and how much you require for self-sustainability.
All of this is extremely admirable, and the only question I have is whether there might still be white youth with impoverished backgrounds in Denver who also could benefit from what you're doing so well and who might not have the chance to do so because they're not of color. Further, they may be at the same level of risk as those whom you do serve. I wonder whether the eligibility requirement for participation in cityWILD might better be determined solely on the basis of socio-economic status?
Steve Byars
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California
Dear Read:
Thank you for participating in this collaborative competition. We value the time and effort you’ve put forth and we would like to offer you feedback and some thought provoking questions from our Evaluation Team.
cityWILD’s model is innovative in the way it empowers youth of color to break social barriers in outdoor education while simultaneously acting as role models that do not exist elsewhere in their communities. The initiative’s impact to date has been significant, and the multi-year commitment to youth involved in the program is central to maximizing cityWILD’s influence. Finally, cityWILD’s sources of funding are diverse, which will contribute to sustainability in the long term.
Please use this input as both potential insights into your innovations, as well as constructive ideas for how to improve or grow your organization.
Warm regards,
The Changemakers Evaluation Team
This is one of the strong projects of all the entries, it uses sport in the right way. It is very interesting to hear different ideas like htis one which may insipre us personally or other organisations to do better. And this project can be used everywhere in the world.
Keep going,
Hi Read,
Great Work!! I think the work you are doing is highly replicable, not only in the U.S. but across the globe. The model that you have established is solid and you could advise other organizations that are trying to do what you are doing in other parts of the world. Take a look at http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/2460 - they are based in Turkey and I see great potential for collaboration.
Also, your program is a great fit for our current Young Men at Risk competition, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is offering additional funding aside from the competition and it would be great for you to present your project to them!
Best,
Tyler Ahn
Changemakers
Steve,
Because our model is school based, the target population we serve depends on the demographics of the school and neighborhood. We do serve white youth, and don't discriminate. If a young person wants to show up and participate, they are eligible and included.
With that in mind, our intention is to reach out to non-traditional students. This means making our program available to youth in the targeted communities. If we can grow our program to scale, we would like to serve youth from all backgrounds. We provide limited services to youth from all over Colorado, including rural communities that are at-risk and predominantly white.
In the outdoor leadership field, there is no shortage of programs that serve any and all at-risk youth. What's missing are programs that effectively serve youth of color who are at-risk, providing them with long-term leadership development, and hiring them on as staff and role models. This is where cityWILD differs dramatically. We have a track record of success that is growing and generating continuing cycles of leaders. This will change the culture and face of the field, drawing in new students who saw this field as something they couldn't access. It may take many years, but cityWILD youth will be the Changemakers in this field, and beyond, because of what they learn as students of leadership at cityWILD.
Read McCulloch
Executive Director
You have a decade of experience to demonstrate your success, Read, and given your base in Denver, it's no wonder that you've focused on outdoor activities as a mechanism for teaching leadership, the transcending of social barriers, and respect for the environment. Everyone should have the opportunity to get outdoors and into a more natural environment, especially those who may be limited to inner-city experiences otherwise. In addition, I'm impressed by the transparency of your budgetary process. You know precisely how much money you have coming in, its sources, and how much you require for self-sustainability.
All of this is extremely admirable, and the only question I have is whether there might still be white youth with impoverished backgrounds in Denver who also could benefit from what you're doing so well and who might not have the chance to do so because they're not of color. Further, they may be at the same level of risk as those whom you do serve. I wonder whether the eligibility requirement for participation in cityWILD might better be determined solely on the basis of socio-economic status?
Steve Byars
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California