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>View discussions about this entry Country: Namibia
Organization: Mondesa Youth Opportunities
Sport: Tennis
Year the initative began (yyyy) 2003
Project URL: http://www.mondesayouth.org
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? Unprecedented financial efficiency and exceptional quality delivery of a broad spectrum of youth development services--we simply have re-engineered what a charitable organization should be.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? Using the 40 internal and external assets of healthy youth development as a guideline, we have established a broad-based suite of services designed to bridge the gap between those assets required for positive development and those assets that are non-existent or marginalized in an impoverished environment. We deliver these services with exceptional focus in an organizational model that is unprecedented in financial efficiency. At the risk of sounding arrogant, we simply do not feel there is an organization in Namibia that is positioned to affect positive behavior change in youth the way that MYO is.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change? Our organizational model is very financial efficient, but not without some limitations. We use volunteer labor for all back-office and infrastructure functions, which sometimes means we need additional technical, operational or logistical support. We have no professional fundraisers or grantwriters. We need to get more exposure to make more people aware of our presence. Also, because we are so small, larger foundations do not consider us for funding.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? We use a combination of foreign volunteer teachers and local staff to deliver our suite of services. However, our board and operational oversight is heavily weighted with experienced business and education professionals, rather than younger volunteers. We leverage technology to manage a global, virtual project team to provide quality management and functional support at an exceptional financial value. It may sound trite, but we have a fanatical focus on quality of delivery. I have visited many other organizations and am yet to find anyone with our quality program.
How do you plan to grow your innovation? MYO is designed to support, for lack of a better word, a "franchise" model. The concept is simple. Create a fully functioning, quality-minded, academic, sport and arts-based suite of youth development services, and then replicate across the developing world. Financial support would come from individuals, foundations, NGO's and governments. Technical support, consulting, and technical infrastructure from corporations.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. We will significantly reduce the negative impacts of poverty, and even poverty itself, in our community, within 2 generations.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries? We have 10 kids in the top 10 in the country of Namibia in the sport of tennis. We have doubled the number of indigenous children playing tennis in the country of Namibia. We have the country's #2 under-12 girls tennis player--and she learned every stroke from us. We have an award winning youth music program and aggressive and growing chess program. Academically, our children consistently place in the top 10% of students in their schools.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation? Each year, MYO children receive a disproportionate number of academic awards at their schools. We currently have the premier youth tennis program in the country with 10 kids in the top 10 of their age groups--this in spite of inferior funding and no facilities. Next year we will implement an independent objective measurement and evaluation system designed by Harvard Graduate students specifically for MYO.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact? We need more financial support and in-kind donations and shipping. We also need more larger organizations to have an open mind about what constitutes effective development work and what is merely going through motions.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? We are supported soley by individual donations, and a single foundation. To date we have received no support from an NGO, government, church or corporations.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization. We have an annual budget in 2007 of $78,000USD or $760 per year per child. Each child receives over 400 hours of structured, facilitated professional instruction, including books sports equipment and a hot lunch every day.
What is the potential demand for your innovation? There is no limit in the foreseeable future for the need of our services.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? We need 1 more primary sponsor and perhaps a technical in-kind sponsor to become financially viable for the long-term.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. I quit a corporate position with a technology company in 2002 to become a volunteer teacher in Namibia. At the end of the year, it was apparent to me that my background, skills and training had well prepared me for starting a new, different and more effective type of youth development charity. Since that time, everything I have done is to refine and perpetuate Mondesa Youth Opportunities. I wrote a book in 2006 called 'Silicon Valley To Southern Africa' that details my experiences in Southern Africa as well as explaining the basis for the need for a new way of thinking in the world of charitable organizations.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. PERSONAL BIO
Rob Myres was a business manager for many years, most recently based in Sydney serving as Director of Education for PeopleSoft in Asia-Pacific theatre. He also worked for Siebel Systems, Saba, and Oracle, managing business units in Sydney, Chicago, London, San Francisco and Cincinnati. In October of 2002, Rob quit his job with Siebel Systems and spent a year as a volunteer resource teacher in a small village in Central Namibia. In December of 2003, Rob formed Mondesa Youth Opportunities (MYO). MYO is an after-school, education based youth development program. Rob now manages all MYO operations and board functions, working on a volunteer basis. He has also convinced a small group of professionals from around the world to donate their professional services to maintain administrative and back office infrastructure such that donated funds are not required for those services. 100% of funds donated to MYO are dedicated to those good and services required to implement MYO’s comprehensive programs which directly impact the children of Mondesa. Rob divides his time between Idaho and Namibia. ABOUT MONDESA YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES MYO is an after-school program currently serving 140 students every school day and Saturday. Each student receives a minimum of 3.5 hours of academic-tutoring and facilitated study time each week, a minimum of 3.5 hours of tennis instruction from a qualified coach each week and an additional 3 hours of structured time in life-skills mentoring sessions or music instruction. In addition MYO offers field trips, chess club, computer training classes and supervised activity time in late afternoons to offer an alternative to idle time on the streets. MYO was founded on the ideal that NGO’s can be managed with the same efficiency and measurable results demanded in a competitive business environment. 100% of our donations are spent in Namibia and used for goods or services that directly impact our children. The board-management and back-office functions are performed on a purely volunteer basis and we do not reimburse administrative or travel expenses for operations or board management activities. Donated funds are never used for administrative costs, back-office functions or travel related expenses of support staff. We are extremely focused on excellence in all that we do and will not be distracted from our core mission of breaking the cycle of poverty in Southern Africa. Our programs are based on a 3-tiered approach to youth development. We offer an academic and facilitated study component, a sport component, and a life-skills component. Our programs are loosely based on research conducted and published by the Search Institute® and we strive to offer those assets which are necessary for healthy, positive youth development but which are marginalized or non-existent in an impoverished environment. Youth who are selected for our program join MYO in grade 4 and remain until they complete secondary school after grade 12. Long term strategy for MYO includes scaling to offer our programs to 250 learners in grades 4-12. We plan to build our own facility in 2007 and are in the process of negotiating with the Municipality of Swakopmund to secure appropriate land in the center of Mondesa. Expected costs for the complete facility and sport venue is approximately $300,000. In summary, we believe MYO is unique in that we have defined scaling goals and do not diminish efficiency by hiring professional management or commissioned fundraisers. Leveraging a network of experienced professionals on a volunteer basis allows us to offer superior development services and social ROI in a model that ensures efficiency and maximizes resource concentration on the youth of our program. We ensure operations quality through appropriate use of technology and intelligent oversight and generally manage the organization with an efficiency and effectiveness that is uncommon in charitable organizations. This is not a judgment of other organizations, but a testimony to our resolve to use our resources to Contact Information:
Rob Myres
Director Mondesa Youth Opportunities (Non-governmental Organization) rob@mondesayouth.org 894 N. Marilyn Drive Pocatello, ID 83204 USA Namibia Tel: 208-705-6998 Fax: 208-478-2032 Website: http://www.mondesayouth.org Discussions about this entry |
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