One-line solution summary:
Support for students with special needs to get an education and have better opportunities in the future
Pitch your solution.
1)We are committed to helping students who are struggling due to bullying, special educational needs or menthal health issues complete their education
2)Create a platform to educate and raise social awareness about these issues, provide with free educational resources for teachers and lecturers ,mentorship programs for students and families and financial aid for those who cannot afford therapies
3)Giving many students the opportunity to complete their education and get the help they need to overcome their difficulties
What specific problem are you solving?
The inequality within the educational system and the lack of adecquate training from teachers and lecturers to thelp their students,the lack of resources for students with special needs and the bullying and discrimination which often take place in our classrooms
What is your solution?
A platform to raise awareness about bullying, learning disabilities, and mental health, so teachers and professors know how to help their students struggling with any of these. We created a website where we would upload educational videos, educational courses and resources to use in classrooms, helpful app suggestions, inspirational stories to increase student confidence and make them feel less alone, tutoring programs to build support. net between people who are struggling or have struggled for the same thing, and crowdfunding and scholarships to ensure that everyone has access to the therapeutic help they may need, regardless of their financial situation
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution can improve the mental health of many students by making classrooms healthier and helping to end bullying. You will increase the self-confidence of struggling students by helping them find people with whom they can share their concerns and ask for guidance, and by educating teachers and professors on these topics and providing free educational materials. It increases the chances that students will complete their education, so they will have better opportunities in the future. In addition, we will give people with the least financial resources the opportunity to receive the therapies and treatments they may need, even if they cannot afford them.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Ensure the physical safety and mental health of learners—for example, through tools for crisis support, reporting violence, and mitigating cyberbullying.Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.
Many people do not finish their studies due to learning disabilities or mental health problems. There are also young people who commit suicide because harassment. Our solution would give students struggling with these problems a greater opportunity to access higher education together with their peers who do not have to face these problems, making the education system more accessible to them and helping our classrooms become in much healthier environments where everyone is. given a real opportunity to learn without experiencing discrimination or violence
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Madrid, EspañaWhat is your solution’s stage of development?
Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model.Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.
We have created a Facebook page so that we can start creating social awareness and provide both MIT Solve and the organizations we intend to work with an idea of our idea.
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Begoña de Frutos Martinez
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new business model or process that relies on technology to be successfulWhat makes your solution innovative?
its potential to become a global support network, which you could use from anywhere in the world, for free, and the ability to help people find mentors and friends to ask for support and guidance from anywhere in the world. In addition, organizations from different countries could work together and learn about the laws, protocols, aids and educational systems of other countries.
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
Select the key characteristics of your target population.
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
In which countries do you currently operate?
In which countries will you be operating within the next year?
How many people does your solution currently serve? How many will it serve in one year? In five years?
As it is a platform whose form of dissemination is, mainly, social networks, the people whom it can reach depends greatly on the resources we secure for it. In our team we have a community manager to manage it properly. In any case we are not able, at this point, to provide specific numbers.
How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?
The number of participants and professionals working with us, plus statistics of our reach in social media.
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
How many people work on your solution team?
3 people:
Cristina Paredero Morato: journalism student, member of the Plena Inclusión management team and activist
Laura Bermúdez Garrido: Biology Bachelor student with experience in leadership and entrepreneurship. Interested in connecting STEM science with social entrepreneurship and real solutions.
Begoña de Frutos Martínez: Biology Bachelor student. Experience in leadership. I also speak four languages, which could be useful for an international project.
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
Cristina is involved in many organizations that help people with disabilities and belongs to the management team of Plena Inclusión. He has appeared in the Spanish media, talking about the struggles and reality of people with disabilities, has given talks and courses, has organized leisure groups and plans for people with Asperger's, has delivered speeches in the Spanish Senate for defender of the rights of people with disabilities and has received awards for his work. She also has experience and training in promoting gender equality.
Laura is a Biology Bachelor's student with experience in entrepreneurship. Interested in connecting science with social entrepreneurship. She has participated in the Global Leadership Experience, organized by Common Purpose, where she developed an idea to prevent suicide among students. He has participated in the Hackathon, a Start-up mentorship and training organized by the Complutense University of Madrid. Also, she participates in developing a social entrepreneurship project with the mentorship of the Entrepreneurship Incubator at the faculty. She has also volunteered with people with mental health issues from "Madrid Salud".
Begoña leads a social entrepreneurship project with Laura at the Entrepreneurship Incubator. She worked as a volunteer in the non-profit organization “Desarrollo y Asistencia” for four years, helping organizing leisure plans for children with intellectual disabilities. She has also been a volunteer as a special contributor to the Asperger Madrid radio program "And what do you think?" She has written several articles on the reality of students with special needs and mental health. She attended the course "Interaction and communication with people with functional diversity" and began to write a book to teach children about functional diversity.
What is your approach to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership team?
We firmly believe that diversity is a crucial asset coming with innovation because working with different people who offer different perspectives is an enriching experience and ends in developing innovative and creative solutions.
Laura and Begoña have both participated in the Global Leadership Experience. It was organized by Common Purpose. It is an organization committed to people developing their cultural intelligence and inclusive leadership skills. We had to work in incredibly diverse groups with people from all over the world and with different cultural baggage and mindset. Therefore, we are deeply committed to diversity equity, and inclusion.
Cristina has made the struggle for inclusion her life purpose. She has been working in different organizations that work for the rights of people with disabilities and educating people about functional diversity. Some of these are CERMI, Plena Inclusión España and Asperger Madrid.
The three of us also are working on establishing alliances connecting with other women that have experiences founding organizations or are a member of other initiatives because we are committed with the equal of gender and believe that woman empowerment is one of the most critical challenges for the betterment of humankind. Also, collaborative and synergic initiatives with different mindset and baggage in a diverse and intercultural atmosphere is the key of finding find solutions without frontiers.
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?
Individual consumers or stakeholders (B2C)Why are you applying to Solve?
It is our firm belief that education is the skeleton key to a better society and a people's future quality of life. The way how students with special needs and mental health issues are often left behind can be discriminatory and unfair. And it is a huge social problem. We focus on human dignity to approach this issue. In addition, schools should be safe spaces where no student is mistreated or lives in fear. These are human rights.
Solve is a global device for connecting people all over the world for taking on this kind of transversal problem. We want to be part of Solve because we would be glad to be a part of the change to do good for the world. This idealistic idea comes with a very specific problem-solving mindset but especially to serve society. We know we cannot achieve these goals alone. That is why we apply to Solve, to find some support in a few areas.
Laura and Begoña are students of Biology, which is STEM science, Cristina is studying journalism. We all have experience in this topic of diversity because we think that connection, is the most important value. Both people and ideas. It is how we can contribute. But also is what we are mainly looking for in Solve.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Please explain in more detail here.
1. For the creation of the online platform, we will need the assistance of a software engineer to design, program, and operate the platform.
2. We will also need professional help from people of the social sector dedicated to different areas, such as social workers, educators, sociologists.
3. An accounting, and legal affairs. Financial support
In our current team, we have an expert in leadership, with management, business, and communications notions, as well as experience working with different institutions, non-profits, and government administrations, so that front would be covered.
What organizations would you like to partner with, and how would you like to partner with them?
Plena Inclusión España, CEPAMA Autistic Women, Common Porpuse, Fundación Senara, TANV España, Undersknown.org.
They can offer us resources, statistics, visibility, help us organize virtual and face-to-face events
Our objective is to work together with social and disability organizations at the national and international level, establishing ties with government administrations through collaboration agreements, the conditions of which would be negotiated and previously discussed by all the parties involved.
Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The ASA Prize for Equitable Education? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
Yes, I wish to apply for this prize
Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The ASA Prize for Equitable Education to advance your solution?
We believe this project will make education more equitable, helping students who are struggling to complete their education, improving the qualification and ability of teachers and professors to help diverse students, and making classrooms healthier and safer spaces all over the world.
With this award, we could give workshops and courses in schools and other educational institutions, and we could help schools improve their facilities and resources to be more inclusive, as well as help students who need therapy to get the help they need even if their families can't afford it
Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
Yes, I wish to apply for this prize
Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion to advance your solution?
We believe that our project would help refugees to be accepted and respected by their peers thanks to our fight against bullying.
Also, they might find mentors to adjust to their new learning environments and get help if they struggle with mental health issues because of everything they've been through.
We would use this award to give workshops and courses against harassment and racism, and to promote activities that can help refugees to integrate and learn about culture and language, as well as help them in their process of adapting to the educational system of their new country.
Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The GM Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
Yes, I wish to apply for this prize
Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The GM Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion to advance your solution?
By providing help and support to students with special needs, we will help them not get bogged down in STEM subjects by helping teachers teach them, allowing them to pursue STEM careers if they wish.
We could use this award to organize activities that foster interest in STEM, especially, we would make sure that these activities are adapted so that students with special needs or mental health problems can participate, providing them with accommodation.
These activities could include workshops, visits to museums, walks, talks by people who work in scientific fields...
Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for the Innovation for Women Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
Yes, I wish to apply for this prize
Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use the Innovation for Women Prize to advance your solution?
Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. The puberty years are especially hard and dangerous in this regard, due to the physical and hormonal changes that occur in their bodies.
Furthermore, 59% of girls in Spain have suffered cyberbullying. Also, some learning disabilities, such as Asperger's, are supposedly underdiagnosed in women, because it tends to be a bit different for women.
We could use this award to offer courses and promote campaigns against cyberbullying, educate on how some learning disabilities and special educational needs affect girls differently from boys and teach adolescent girls about the changes taking place in their lives. Their bodies, how to care for them and manage period pain -for example- and to promote their self-confidence
Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The AI for Humanity Prize to advance your solution?
No, I do not wish to be considered for this prize, even if the prize funder is specifically interested in my solution
Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The GSR Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.
Yes, I wish to apply for this prize
Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The GSR Prize Prize to advance your solution?
Spain is one of the countries in Europe with one of the highest rates of School abandonment. This project could help students complete their education, and have better opportunities in the future due to it, reducing the unemployment rate.
Besides, it would help turn our classrooms into safer and healthier spaces where students can focus on their studies and increase their motivation to learn.
We would use this prize to educate teachers, students on bullying, mental health, special learning needs, and neuroscience to improve the way they teach and promote innovation.
Solution Team
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LB
Laura Bermúdez Garrido Complutense University of Madrid -
BD
Begoña de Frutos Martínez Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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CP
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Solution Name:
Diversity Support Platform