Pop-Up Learning Labs ("PULL")

In accordance with a 2015 OECD work series on Better Policies, economically disadvantaged communities tend to obtain low-skilled labour jobs (in primary and secondary economic sectors) due to (among others) limited access to affordable and good-quality skill training programs to provide them with the right tools to perform a higher-skilled job in the tertiary/service sector. 

PULL provides affordable (in some cases: free) learning programs of a set of global skills; including English language, computer skills and ad-hoc vocational training, to “PULL” economically disadvantaged youths from unskilled labour jobs in low-paid industries to higher-skilled services, and giving them good chances to succeed in the labour market or further education.

PULL’s envisions the delivery of onsite training programs under a “pop-up” model using portable devices (laptops/tablets) with offline training applications (to reduce connectivity issues), providing an easy-to-deploy, mobile, standardized, and affordable solution that will be supported via formal and informal educators.

The problematic that PULL is committed to solve is real and supported by the 2015 OECD report on Best Policies prepared for Mexico; which remarks that: 

“Developing the skills of young people and preparing them for lifelong learning must be a priority, particularly in a world where knowledge assets are critical and when young people struggle to gain a foothold in the labour market if they lack work-relevant skills.”
“The skills associated with innovation include specialized knowledge, general problem solving and thinking skills, creativity, and social and behavioural skills, including teamwork.”
“The graduation rate for vocationally oriented upper secondary programmes in Mexico is amongst the lowest in the OECD: just 4% of students finish these programmes compared with an OECD average of 48%. 
“Mexican firms invest little in vocational training, only 1% of tertiary students are enrolled in vocational-oriented programmes, compared to an OECD average of 25%.”
“Mexico requires to balance better the cost of tertiary education between students and the state”, supporting the lack of affordable options for the economically disadvantaged communities. 
The problematic described for Mexico it is likely applicable to Latin American and Caribbean countries given the cultural and economic ties within the region.

PULL will work to support the population of youths in economically disadvantaged and vulnerable communities in Mexico (initially) and the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.  

PULL solution will include a module program to cover standardized skill training for English as second language and fundamental computer skills (including fast typing, MS office, etc.). All programs will be delivered with offline portable technology given the lack of internet connection in vulnerable communities.  

In addition and depending on the region where the PULL program is deployed, we envision to develop “ad-hoc” or specific vocational training programs (i.e. teamwork, soft-skills, problem solving, critical thinking, arts) to better address the specific needs of the underlying youth population. The assessment for this “ad-hoc” training will also leverage from coordination and connection with other non-profits, NGOs, and other relevant community members (such as foreign companies investing in the region) to adequate the vocational programs. For example,  we presume that youth population close to tourist sites may benefit more for vocational training related to hospitality services, while other youth in larger cities may benefit from vocational training related to retail industries or other trades.

PULL provides affordable (in some cases: free) learning programs of a set of global skills; including English language, computer skills and ad-hoc vocational training, to “PULL” economically disadvantaged youths from unskilled labour jobs in low-paid industries (e.g. farms, factories) to higher-skilled services (e.g. hospitality, retail, tourism, call-centres, etc.) and succeed in the labour market providing opportunities for access to a higher salary-per-day or to continue further higher education. 

• PULL’s envisions the delivery of onsite training programs under a “pop-up” service model using owned portable devices (laptops/tablets) with offline training software applications (to reduce connectivity issues), providing an easy-to-deploy, trackable, mobile, standardized, measurable and affordable training program based on progressive modules that will be supported with onsite formal and informal educators.
• PULL’s pop-up offline model provides the ability to reach various communities within a region. It also provides the ability to replicate/scale the labs in different countries.
• Successful candidates of the program will receive a skills set certificate issued by PULL acknowledging completion, which could be validated by a regional employer in the future 
• The content of PULL programs could also be available to private companies under a “Software as a service” to train their current employees or to provide it as a benefit for employee’s children. 
• Similarly, PULL intends to connect with potential local and regional employers to also act as a link to connect newly skilled youth with employment opportunities. Regional employers would also pay a fee to support PULL’s operations in successful placement cases. 
• The content of the training program modules are the key intangible property of PULL. We envision to create the content in collaboration with Academic Institutions. 
• The key tangible assets to deliver PULL’s services are PULL's owned portable devices (laptops, tablets). We will acquire pre-owned equipment with the appropriate technology requirements. We will provide the solution offline and we don’t require the latest portable models, but minimum requirements to run basic applications.    
• The key human resources (besides the management team) are the “community managers”; which are formal and informal instructors in-charge of the delivery of the modules.
• PULL intention is to boost the skills that are not teach in public schools due to the lack of skilled teachers. With the use of the PULL’s model we also cover the lack of skilled teachers as the software acts as the delivery platform and the instructor focuses on tracking and ensuring the program is deliver as intended.

Nowadays, users can access language, computer and vocational training courses online using platforms such as Youtube. However, there are different challenges for economically disadvantaged people to access these options, including: 

• Low quality of the content (if free); 
• Limited training in Spanish (quality training is in English);
• Broad training not focused on particular problematic of underlying population; 
• Limited access to internet connection; 
• Limited access to a proper device and materials to have full comprehension of content; 
• Lack of proper time structure and management to ensure all the training is completed and practiced to achieve proficiency; 
• Limited monetary resources; and 
• Lack of skill certificate.

PULL program will offer onsite and offline quality skill training programs delivered via portable devices (laptops, tablets) and with fundamental content developed with the assistance of professors from Academic Institutions such as Tec de Mty and Universidad de los Andes. 
PULL programs are planned to create economies of scale, making the fees affordable to low-income population. Successful candidates will receive a “skill set” certificate, which can be verified by regional employers. 
The learning modules and software applications to deliver PULL programs are developed once and lightly updated on annual basis or as needed, but once developed they are very easy to scale by using additional portable devices and load the application, or moving the pop-up lab’s resources to other regions and countries. Even within a region the pop-up lab can be set up in one site during the morning and another site during the afternoons, extending the reach.

Based on the 2015 OECD work related to “Better Policies Series for Mexico – Policy priorities to upgrade the skills and knowledge of Mexicans for grater opportunity and innovation” - “Fully unleashing the country's potential and lifting productivity also in the sectors that are lagging behind requires a comprehensive programme to improve the skills of all Mexicans, both at school and in the labour market.”

“The education system also needs to become more equitable to guarantee that all Mexicans have the same opportunities to succeed. In addition, it is crucial to avoid a further deterioration of the skills of low-skilled workers employed in precarious jobs that don't provide any training opportunities. This requires a commitment not only by the authorities, but also by businesses that need to invest in their workers and by society at large. This is important to improve the growth and well-being perspectives but also to face the demands of the information economy and the profound changes in the global economy.“

PULL’s theory of change –> We believe that providing affordable/free access to essential skills and vocational training resources will result in better chances for youths to continue higher education studies or find a better job in a higher economic sector, outside of unskilled labour. These skills and vocational training may result in an increase in the possibility to access a better paid job, provide the chance to youth to participate in the formal economy, higher well-being, and increase the regional productivity in an increasingly connected world.

1. Not applicable as PULL is currently not deployed.

2. Number of successfully trained participants/users -> Year one goal: 300

3. Number of successfully trained participants/users -> Year five goal: 15,000 to 20,000

Due to our pop-up model, our labs can be deployed and "ready-to-function" in a matter of minutes. We set up the portable equipment in a "class-room" type environment and the application runs the training modules under standardized basis. This give us the ability to scale our coverage for vulnerable youth populations and gain momentum over years. 

PULL’s main goals for the next year are: 

1. To transition from prototype to reality, performed the “proof of concept” test; readjust the model, and be fully operating in Mexico. 
2. To secure reliable and sustainable monetary and non-monetary resources aligned with our budget and deployment plan;
3. To secure the relevant sponsorship and alliances with private companies and other private supporters to obtain monetary resources and also develop employment opportunities for trained candidates of PULL’s program; 
4. To secure the relevant partnerships with Academic Institutions such as Tec de Monterrey and Universidad de los Andes; 
5. To secure the relevant partnerships with other non-profits, NGOs, and other organizations to leverage from their knowledge in operating in economic disadvantages areas of Mexico; and
6. To make a real and measurable impact in the relevant / key stakeholders of our projects, which are the youths in economic disadvantaged communities and regions. 

PULL’s main goals for the next five years year are:     

1. Our long term goal is to obtain sufficient funding to offer our programs for free with measurable impact.
2. To operate in at least five (5) countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with a tracked record of successful trained users with at least 3,000 users per country; 
3. To be recognized as the pre-eminent social enterprise providing skill training programs in Mexico and the other countries of operation; 
4. To have successfully trained and positively impacted the lives of at least 15,000 youth in economic disadvantaged communities and regions.  

1. Operational barrier – PULL is dependant on the ability to successfully developed or have access to quality skill training content, software applications, portable devices, and other resources to deliver its training programs under its operational model (strategy risk).  
2. Financial barrier – PULL is dependant on obtaining the relevant source of funding at initial stage. As mentioned during the application, PULLs intention is to charge a small fee to participants to fund the variable cost of operation (financial risk).  
3. Access to relevant participants barriers – PULL is dependant to identify the right youth population and regions to deploy the pop-up labs (Market risk).  

1. Operational barrier – PULL is dependant on the ability to successfully developed or have access to quality skill training content, software applications, portable devices, and other resources to deliver its training programs under its operational model (strategy risk). We plan to overcome this barrier by securing the different relevant partnerships with Academic Institutions, private enterprises, and other organizations to have access to all the resources needed to operate.   
2. Financial barrier – PULL is dependant on obtaining the relevant source of funding at initial stage. As mentioned during the application, PULLs intention is to charge a small fee to participants to fund the variable cost of operation (financial risk).  The initial investment required is intended to be obtained via grants, donations, sponsorships, partnerships, etc. Please refer to financial model for more details.  
3. Access to relevant participants barriers – PULL is dependant to identify the right youth population and regions to deploy the pop-up labs (Market risk). We will conduct specific research to clearly identify the relevant regions for the pop-up labs and also leverage from our network of other non-profits and NGOs running other programs with youths. 

Not applicable. 

We believe that the market opportunity for PULL services is tremendous in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean taking into account OECD commentary on the similarity in problematic within the economic disadvantaged communities of unskilled youths with low access to affordable training programs. 

The essential language and computer proficiency skills intended to be provided by PULL are meant to be standardized with high potential to be scalable and easy to deploy and replicate in various countries. 

As mentioned in the application, PULL also envisions to create ad-hoc vocational programs for specific communities and that is where we think we can also bring high impact to other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to also tackle their specific needs under customized programs for specific lack of particular skill training.

Not applicable

PULL management team comprises of: 

• Founder and Managing Director (currently part-time, transitioning to full time in the first year);
• Operations Manager (full time); 
• Business Development, Marketing and Social Media Manager (part time);
• Independent Board with one member from Academic Institutions, one member from private enterprise; one member from other non-profit/NGO; and
• Instructors (mainly informal but trained) - One per each community that we will serve. Key function is to manage the delivery and implementation of the training modules. 

PULL’s founder is Tizoc Alvaro Flores, a Mexican National who during his childhood and youth ages had access to 1) learn English as second language, 2) learn computer skills, and 3) vocational training that later in his life proved to be essential to support his further studies into university (Tecnologico de Monterrey) and his professional career, in comparison to other of his childhood friends and classmates with limited economic resources that ended up with less opportunities in unskilled labour jobs in factories in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Tizoc has worked in multinational, multicultural and multidisciplinary teams in three different countries, namely: Mexico, Canada, and Viet Nam.
Tizoc has a unique set of professional consulting experiences in developed and developing countries that enable him to pursuit the goals and objectives of PULL with a personal passion and motivation to see success in the younger generations in vulnerable populations in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
PULL envisions to also replicate its unique model in the region, after creating solid beginning in Mexico with an operationally scalable, financially sustainable, adaptive and measurable model.

Currently none. Though and as described in this application, we consider that partnerships with various stakeholders, supporters, and sponsors will be crucial for the success of PULL. 

We plan to partner with the following levels of organizations:

1. Academic Institutions such as Tecnologico de Monterrey and Universidad de los Andes to help with the content creation for the program modules and the offline delivery application; 
2. Private enterprises with social responsibility initiatives such as CEMEX, FEMSA, Big Four Accounting Firms, etc. for funding and donations (with proper tax receipts); 
3. Private enterprises that could act as employers for successfully trained participants such as hospitality groups, hotel chains, restaurant chains, human resources agencies such as Manpower Group; and
4. Other non-profits, organizations and NGOs to gain access to best practices and focused on relevant issues to address with respect to training in the communities we will work. 

Key business model resources and fundamental aspects: 

• Asset: Skill training programs and offline platform to deliver and keep track of individual user progress. PULL will partner with Academic Institutions to develop content for the training program and for the development of the pre-loaded software application. One time cost, fixed cost. Potentially significant or it can be partially contributed under license free arrangement.  
• Asset: Portable devices, laptops/tablets. PULL will partner with private companies to obtain cash, non-cash gifts or in-kind donations for portable devices. We will register to meet requirements to issue tax receipts. One time cost, fixed cost. Not-significant.
• Expense: Community managers/Instructors. We plan to hire instructors under contract basis to deliver the programs onsite. We will incur variable fees for compensation.  
• Revenue: Sponsorships from potential employers of successfully trained users with monetary contributions. 
• Revenue: In addition to cash donations and cash from sponsorships, we also plan to charge an affordable fee to participants/users to obtain revenues and cover variable costs. 
• Revenue: Additional revenues under SaaS model licensed to regional employers.
• We will offer free-of-charge programs for those users with a proven track of grades performance in their respective elementary or post-elementary education programs.
• Our goal is to obtain sufficient funding to offer our programs for free.
• Academic Institutions and Private Enterprises are key partners and stakeholders. 
• We will also measure impact with future hiring rate, increase in tertiary sector jobs, and other metrics per users. 
• As non-profit, surplus will be reinvested to expand.

As outlined in our business model, we plan to obtain financial sustainability with the help of key partners and stakeholders. 

We will also consider to charge a fee to participants/users and also obtain SaaS revenue from private companies leveraging on our skill and vocational training programs to make them available to current workers or as a benefit for employees' children. 

Much of our costs to operate are fixed and one-time initial investment costs, but once the initial PULL training programs are developed and refined the variable cost to scale the delivery of the programs is low.

In addition, we will be a fully registered to meet all requirements to issue tax receipts to motivate private enterprises to contribute. 

We selected TPrize Challenge because it provides a great mix of opportunities to connect and network with key partners (Academic institutions) and key stakeholders (social responsible Private Enterprises and other organizations) to make our social enterprise a fully operational reality in the coming year, and to transition from concept to a workable project to make a real impact for the youth in Latin America and the Caribbean, and potentially other global regions in the long term such as Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, etc.

The value we can obtain from receiving an award from TPrize Challenge can strategically position PULL to a higher reach and great potential to obtain significant resources and funding.

In addition, we believe that the team of judges in TPrize Challenge will act as great coaches and mentors to provide relevant and high-value-added feedback for us to identify improvements on our current business model and have the right tools to succeed in social entrepreneurship.

Finally, we also believe that we can leverage from TPrize Challenge to find nominations for members for our Independent Board.        

Not applicable. 

As outlined in the application, our model consider a holistic business model  to partner with crucial stakeholders, donors, sponsors such as: 

• Tecnologico de Monterrey and Universidad de los Andes --> for program content, best pedagogic practices and application development; 

• Private Enterprises --> for sponsorships and partnerships, such as Manpower Group, SUMA, Kinedu, etc;
• Other non-profit social enterprises with a successful track delivering services to economically disadvantaged communities.