VIP.fund: Empowering Youth Through eLearning & eMentoring

Why VIP.fund? Our goal is youth empowerment and employment. Low-income and displaced youth are at risk because of limited access to guidance, education, job opportunities, access to technology, and stable social environments.

We look for intervention solutions to help youth thrive by: 

• Fostering opportunities for lifetime learning.

• Providing employment and internship opportunities.

• Employing technology to scale learning experiences.

• Building social connections with a global community.

We built edSeed to crowdfund for refugee higher education. In 2016, MIT Solve thought it was cool and we're a Solver. Our campaigns for youth are fully funded. We hope to  replicate our work, expanding to other conflict and economically disadvantaged regions.

Funding from MIT Solve will expand our project to provide online train-the-trainer programs for educators in conflict zones. We’ve successfully implemented our program in the Middle East, now we will leverage our strengths to further empower more youth under a wider umbrella.  

Causes of forced displacement in Latin America include criminal gangs, social and political unrest, and climate change, resulting in lack of educational options. Sadly, although the student population in universities there has nearly doubled in the past decade, only half graduate on time, and rankings are not in Latin America’s favor. Among the 500 best institutions of higher education, just 10 are in the region. On average, half of enrolled students aged 25-29 had not completed their studies, because they dropped out or were still studying. Of those who dropped out, half were in their first year. Degree programs are long and tedious; students require 36% more time to complete their degrees compared with the rest of the world, meaning they are students for longer. Consequently, during their years of study, they earn the wages of secondary-school graduates. (World Bank 2017)

Education relevant to opportunities in the job market is of paramount importance and results in building a new generation, contributing to lasting peace at home and avoiding social disenfranchisement that can breed further violence. Development actors such as the VIP.fund help design education solutions adapted for such students, with a focus on building portable skills.    

The VIP.fund serves over 2,000 students across innovative platforms. Our TPrize proposal will expand our project to address new beneficiary groups in Latin America, supporting at least 35 students in the pilot, expanding as we grow exponentially. Once established, the program will serve 500 in the first year, and we hope the VIP.fund platforms will serve 6,000 students seeking education by year three. 

We’ve been successful in reaching and retaining donors and student beneficiaries using social and traditional media channels as well as partnerships with field organizations. We will employ the same approach as we reach out to our donor community from Latin America: The Young Presidents Organization, individual philanthropists, and humanitarian organizations working in the field, serving Venezuelan refugees and other vulnerable communities. 

Donors will provide funding for:

• Outreach to Spanish-speaking communities, mobilizing volunteers, donors, mentors.

• Creation of alliances with existing organizations to scale our efforts.

• Translation of existing content.

Our train-the-trainer fundraising campaigns will be advertised on our social media network, our partners' social media accounts, and our 30,000-strong donor base. 

We offer holistic, innovative solutions that foster real-time online learning engagements and are supported by technology. These include: 

• Webinars & eLearning Platform: Finding job-focused online education using webinars and micro needs. This is suitable for seekers of alternative education, including those looking for short-term certificates.

• Crowdfunding Platform: Helping students create online crowdfunding campaigns by extending digital tools to grow and scale our virtual community to displaced students and educators in newer conflict zones.

• Peer 2 Peer Mentorship Platform: Exponentially building virtual online communities emphasizing mentorship. Automating the mentor/mentee relationship will include scheduling appointments, rating mentors for accountability, and providing digital certification for mentors.

• Piloting the Use of Virtual Reality: Creating more engaging and impactful crowdfunding campaign experiences for donors.

We are evaluating moving our platform to blockchain infrastructure to further empower its features to scale our capacity and donor reach, and by leveraging cryptocurrencies to accelerate funding.

• Doubling the student population crowdfunded on the edSeed platform.

• Scale the Peer 2 Peer mentoring through added features to the platform.

• Relaunch the eLearning platform with our courses and partner courses.

• Expand our educator funding programs from the initial focus on Syrian, Palestinian youth to others areas in the Middle East and other locations for marginalized youth.

• Growing our existing technology platforms’ features and functions.

• Expand our eLearning programs to remain current with job market needs.

The unique needs of displaced scholars include learning the language of academic communication; understanding of the education system of in the host country, and financing their education. 

Existing crowdfunding platforms aren’t focused on the needs of the target population. Our findings, with the support of the Columbia School of Journalism Capstone 2018 project team, highlighted the following user needs that aren’t met by existing solutions: 

• Individual donors want a simple way to find students and are skeptical of large donor organizations. 

• Individual donors are incentivized through corporate matching grants. 

• 86% of students surveyed were either unaware of crowdfunding as an option, felt a social stigma in asking for money, or didn’t know how to campaign effectively. edSeed offers orientation and training on how students can present themselves and campaign effectively.

• A global donor profile of 25-50 young professionals prefer a crowdfunding application connecting them directly with students, enabling them to filter students by geographic region or academic profile, see updates, getting to know the student’s personality, then funding a credible educational institution directly (guaranteeing financial compliance). They also look for engaging ways to donate—campaigns that are compelling and attention-grabbing—that stand out in cluttered social media channels.

• Scholarship foundations and universities surveyed expressed a desire for complementary fundraising sources, and those who did use crowdfunding did not engage students directly in the campaigning process. 

• Volunteers who know students may not be in a position to fund, but are eager to support through social media platforms.  

    We’ve all seen the tragic effect war has on youth in the Middle East. Young men are recruited by corrupt organizations and trained for a lifetime of violence. These young men would opt for an opportunity to receive an education and secure an income if it was available to them.

Youth across the economic spectrum are at risk of alienation and disconnection. Low income and displaced youth are particularly at risk because of limited access to guidance, education, job opportunities, access to technology and stable social and familial environments.

    Less than 1% of refugees have access to higher education funding. Few solve the growing problem for university students funding, a segment able to support entire families upon graduation and break the poverty cycle. By deciding to act in support of our programs, we offer them a choice of peace and to become thriving members of a global community.

    We believe that each of us can transform a young person’s life: protecting the future by guiding our youth.

The VIP.fund serves over 2,000 students across innovative platforms. Our TPrize proposal will expand our project to address new beneficiary groups in Latin America, supporting at least 35 students in the pilot, expanding as we grow exponentially. Once established, the program will serve 500 in the first year, and we hope the VIP.fund platforms will serve 6,000 students seeking education by year three.

The VIP.fund network connects students with donors and mentors who support their higher education and journey to economic independence. We hope to do even more this year including:

• Growing our donor base from 13,000 to 60,000

• Launching 6,000 new students within the next 3 years

• Raising up to $1,000,000 in tuition funding through our donor network

With more than 3 million displaced Syrians under the age of 30, the lack of access to educational opportunity constitutes a critical problem for the region and the world. Syria has suffered from a massive drain of human capital since 2011; these displaced scholars have not had the opportunity to develop the skills and abilities they will need to support themselves and rebuild their country. In their places of refuge, they are frequently excluded from educational, economic, social, and political opportunities. This crisis of human capital, education, and exclusion will—in the long term—pose a serious risk for Syria, the Middle East, and the world, potentially contributing to political instability and further conflict. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that just 1 percent of post-secondary aged refugees attend university, as compared to 34 percent of all higher-education-aged youth globally. World economic crises and reduced funding, along with more students needing to connect through online venues but with the lack of resources to do so, produce more educational and econmic disparity and decreased ability for us to reach this population. This increasing global issues presents a challenge for all educational entrepreneurial efforts. 

As the Syrian conflict threatens to tear society apart, the digital space offers the prospect of bringing Syrians together. The VIP.fund's projects: edSeed and Syria Digital Lab aims to explore this space—its opportunities, risks and potential—to create an effective digital ecosystem that identifies, connects, incubates, accelerates and sustains Syrian-led digital initiatives. The VIP.fund brings together talented tech developers and entrepreneurs from around the world and links them with donors, civil society organisations and the private sector in a collaborative effort that help solve some of the world's most pressing challenges. There are many similarities between the Middle East and Latin American conflict zones. With the increase in eLearning and onine learning and mentorship, our project can help connect these marginalized communities. Support from grantors extends to us the possibility to scale up further and do more good.

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Refugee youth are the gateway to peace in their communities. Education is all they need to prosper. Our VIP.fund beneficiaries are agents of circularity. We seed their dreams and complete the cycle of generosity as they give back to their peers, their families, their nations, and the global community. There is a huge gap for educational philanthropy to fill, and the agency and social remittances these future leaders represent are a net benefit to the region in an increasingly globalized world and will shape their communities in the years to come. We will employ this approach as we reach out to our donor community from Latin America: The Young Presidents Organization, individual philanthropists, and humanitarian organizations working in the field, serving Venezuelan refugees and other vulnerable communities. 

We hope you share our sense of optimism in the force multiplying power of our young scholars and that you will help us empower them. 

“Yes, certain actions might be drops in a bucket,” said Nicholas Kristoff, New York Times columnist, “but that’s how we fill buckets.” With our project already in place, we hope to help fill the bucket and effect positive change in the lives of these  young agents of change and renewal. There is still time, and we can provide the action.

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We have five senior board members, three junior board members (all volunteers), and two operational member who receive small stipends.

Rama Chakaki, co-founder of the VIP.fund, is an advocate of Arab youth and women and a founding member of Arab Women in Computing, the first regional Women Angel investment Network (WAIN). She has served on the board of multiple companies including, TechWadi, PCRF, PACES, The Impact HUB – UAE , Challenge to Change, and Nakhweh. Rama applies 

23 years of technical and communications experience to her passion: investing in social enterprises, using technology for social development, and nurturing future social entrepreneurs. She created Baraka Ventures in 2006 to invest in social and tech businesses, and she established BarakaBits, the only media venture delivering exclusively good news, changing the narrative in the media to an intelligent, optimistic and empowering one. 

The VIP.fund operates out of Los Angeles and partners with organizations in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. edSeed delivers education programs including a database of refugees students in Jordan’s Za’atari camp, the largest refugee camp worldwide. edSeed has an existing partnership with several universities and institutions such as Zarqa University, BirZeit University, Arab American University of Jenin, AlQuds University, and Islamic University of Gaza. edSeed has a wide network of outreach partners to leverage support for students such as Jusoor and SIBA - Syrian International Business Association. Other partners include AJ+, MBC Arabia, Raseef22, PeaceNews, BarakaBits, LaunchGood, BuildPalestine, and ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid).

The VIP fund is a youth-focused venture philanthropy fund, established in 2015 as a USA 501c(3) non-profit organization. Our mission is to empower youth impacted by conflict through education and employment. To serve these displaced scholars, we run e-learning programs, crowdfund for their higher education, and partner with mentors and institutions who further our beneficiaries' employment prospects. In addition, we build or invest in technologies that serve our cause.

OUR MODEL TO SUPPORT YOUTH AFFECTED BY CONFLICT:

Provide online personalized mentorship, education, and career counseling

A digital platform to journal their journeys as students and entrepreneurs

Build a virtual network of supporters around each individual student or entrepreneur

Lobby on behalf of youth refugees with educational institutions and global policy makers  

Our path to financial sustainability is primarily focused upon cultivating recurring donations from an ever-increasing, committed donor base while seeking grants from like-minded organizations whose missions align with our goals. Our strategy is to:

• Increase engagement of our current donor based by providing progress reports (e.g. Your Donations at Work).
• Increase the donor base through social media to identify prospects that have an interest in our mission.
• Seek out and engage local community groups and demographics that would have a propensity to support our organization’s goals.
• Identify foundations and other larger sources of funding whose goals align with our own and earn their support and financial support.

Per program, our sustainability can be achieved as follows:

1. For edSeed [crowdfunding for refugee higher education], we estimate breaking even at 6000 student campaigns; after then, our transaction fees, plus a 30% donation rate from graduating scholars will cover the ongoing operational costs to continue and grow the operation.

2. For the peer-to-peer mentorship, the costs are as low as one program manager and ongoing IT development costs. Through a subsidy of about $50k per year and an existing software/hardware vendor, we can sustain and grow the program.

3. eLearning can be subsidized leveraging subscriptions from field organizations, sponsor, and educational institutions who partner with the programs.

Please see our response in "Barriers" - thank you!

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We're looking to partner with universities, online certificate programs, humanitarian organizations, counselors, professors, philanthropists, business leaders, and on-the-ground organizations looking for make a difference. 

Our co-founder, Rama Chakaki: "I need an army of volunteers, creatives, business leaders, people willing to learn about the amazing scholars we support and how, together, donors and students can change the world. As Mr. Mandela said, 'Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.' So I am building an education army."