SWS Program

We believe, by increasing marginalized women’s contribution in economy, both gender inequalities (as it arises from low economic contribution in family) and miserable condition can be overcame. While overcoming, opportunities of using technology, high literacy and digital literacy rate will be tried to be ensured by us. These are the problems among marginalized family now- miserable condition, gender inequalities and related social problems, their low literacy rate, technological solution’s failure for technology’s less availability, digital illiteracy etc.

Globally it would change the condition of marginalized women and people if applied. It will create scope of distance learning for all, will reduce social illness and gender inequalities in an indirect but efficient way, will increase literacy and high literacy rate, will increase economic prosperity of marginalized people without changing the value of money, making the flow continuous for future by increasing literacy and so on.

Problems we considered to be dealt are

• Marginalized people live on a loop of poverty. They earn hardly enough to somehow live and don’t have enough capital remain to invest in their work (farming, fishing, barbering etc.) to earn more.

• Women’s lack of skills, to produce products or services with high economic value, and less economic contribution in family and society. It also runs in loop as girls are not being educated due to inequality which will again be the reason of not educating their female children in future and continue inequality.

• Failure of all types of technological solutions due to people’s unavailability of technology, illiteracy and digital illiteracy.

• Lack of capital and entrepreneurial skills to create jobs with high economic value using their current skills. In brief, lack of financial knowledge to take upper-hand of their situation.

The main problem creating factors are their lack of knowledge, capital, skill and technology on which we will work on.

We believe, by increasing marginalized women’s contribution in economy, both gender inequalities (as it arises from low economic contribution in family) and miserable condition of their family can be overcame. It will create good jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. It can be done by

        • Arranging workshops for providing skill and knowledge for free. Knowledge includes basic primary education, financial, business, entrepreneurial knowledge. Skills include works doable from home like sewing, crafting and so on.

        • Asking them to model their plan after the workshops and selected models will be provided with what they need (skill or help) initially- like computers, sewing machines, craft materials, venture capitals and so more.

Our chosen executives from that region will know the condition and thinking processes of his region’s people and accordingly people will be persuaded to come and join. Foods and other arrangements will be made if necessary. Though main targets are marginalized women, men can participate separately.

Modified Distance Learning process will be used in initial and second step’s skill learning where technological materials will be provided by us. Materials won’t be given for free, rather those can be used for free in our local centers. 

          Our targeted population consists mainly marginalized women, but we will help men too if help is required.

          After building the solution’s concept, some of our members started visiting and living in rural area to better understand their condition and need, and some of us are living in quarantine period too. We are and will be collecting executives from various regions who knows the condition and the thinking process of their region’s people. Accordingly, we are and will be building strategical and persuasive plans for different region to make people interested. And thus in some village, work has already started and we have created some freelancers who are currently working from home.

          After some visiting, we have realized there are lack of women’s skills to earn more, capitals to invest, lack of technology, high illiteracy rate etc. And also found they have high adaptability, some has lots of financial knowledge but lacks ability to make complete model which can provide high economic value. Our solution uses their high adaptability, fills up their knowledge and tries to fill out their lack of skills accordingly. We believe, this will change their lives if time and labor can be given. 

Marginalized women does not directly contribute economically in family or society. If they start so, there will be huge increment in economy. Also as we fund as venture capitalists in their planned models after the workshops, train them with skills and create scope for using technologies, new small businesses will start in those economically weak societies. Initially, they alone will run it. Afterward, others will join and start joint businesses and get economic sustainability.

It also provides literacy and digital literacy depending on their needs and provides venture capitals and skills to recover from economic shocks.

Reasons for being innovative-

•         There are few organizations who train skills. But they are not creating new jobs, they are rather increasing competition in the present job market, where people will suffer again. We are focusing on creating new jobs by themselves.
•         There are a lots of organizations working on distance learning platform, but this actually don’t reach the marginalized people. We are trying to provide interested marginalized people these opportunities and also taking steps to making them interested.
•         There are a lots of organizations who are providing materials to them for free. Materials include sewing machine, IT devices etc. But the value of money is higher than these skills for them and so they sell it for getting money. We are not providing them for free rather we are creating opportunities to use it for free.
•         After learning skills, they don’t find customers in this competitive market. We will take orders, reach the consumer and give them most of the profit which will be higher than the industrial workers having this skills.
•         As a hybrid of profit and non profit organization, we don’t rely completely on donations. We will get money from those small businesses, freelancers, digital marketing etc. to continue our work and get financial sustainability. We need donation in initial stage.
•         Very few organizations consider marginalized people’s high adaptability and use it for adult learners. By learning entrepreneurial skills, they can take upper hand of their situations in this volatile market.  

        Our program includes use of internet, audiovisual media for modified distance learning, crowd sourced materials for learning and for using learned skills, and any other technology-based help depending on their model’s need.

        Distance learning is an existing idea and technology- but it is not possible now in the rural areas for lack of scope to use technology, when it is needed most. We will be creating scope to use internet and computer technologies for free to learn skills to those who are interested. Videos will be shown with multimedia projectors in the initial workshops by executives. Locally, we will build centers of SWS where marginalized women will get scope to use for free. Interested men can use too, but separately for security issues in these marginalized societies. Video contents will be created by recording our classes in first workshop.

        The materials that they will use to learn skills and earn money for themselves are mainly crowd sourced materials, they will use them in different shifts. After a time period, they will have money to move on to their bought materials.

        After initial workshop, they will come up with their models which may require use of other technologies. We will try to connect them to those and make them skilled to use those technologies. We believe, if we can use these technologies among marginalized women and people, their problems will be met. 

        Our program includes use of internet, audiovisual media for modified distance learning, crowd sourced materials for learning and for using learned skills, and any other technology-based help depending on their model’s need which are widely used and accepted technologies. 

        Distance learning is a quite familiar program now. It is created so that students can participate in classes without actually attending the class. They can learn from their home using internet. A lots of websites even provide free distance learning classes- like KhanAcademy, Engineer4Free, Expii etc. There are also some websites who provide aided learning modules for financially marginalized people. But the main problem for developing countries' low incoming people are: they don't have the chance to use internet. Distance learning is myth for them. We are just trying to create a way so that they can also participate. This will help them to use the audio visual media to enhance their skills in their field. 

        We apply the idea of crowd sourced materials in our daily life. Storage, electricity, internet and so many things use the idea of crowd sourced materials. 

        Basically, we are not creating technology. Rather, we are creating the path to use technology with is not present right now and we believe that it is more important than creating technology. 

          Our main purpose is to make marginalized people economically sustainable and for that we want to affect marginalized poor, low income or middle income women from rural or peri-urban area and their family. For achieving that goal, we are taking several strategies and tactics to overcome the current problems. 

          By applying our solution, local economic impulse can be happened. Beside this, economic sustainability of marginalized people can be achieved as they are being skilled making money for their own. High literacy and digital literacy rate can be gotten with the help of technology. Increased workspace, quality education through distance learning, developed lifestyle, loop of exponential development and other such outcomes can also be gained within a short amount of time. 

          If the SWS program continues for a long time and continues to change the live of people, some additional long term outcomes can be gained. As women's low income indirectly causes gender inequality and related social problems, it can not eradicated till now. But as soon as they will start to contribute in their family, gender inequality will slowly vanish. As they can get more money without lessening the value of money, they won't live below poverty line and can get food for themselves too. A lots of organizations are coming up with technological solutions, but they don't work out that much because of the lack of technology. In future, this problem will be solved as they will be able to access to internet and change them. When marginalized people can also live with comfort without hampering the economically sustainable people, there will be an economical balance all over the world. And we believe, thus the world would be a better place to live on. 

Presently, we are serving only 4 women. 

In one year, if we get initial funding, we can arrange around 100 programs, get in touch of 8,000 family or 40,000 people approximately.

Within 5 years, we can arrange around 800 programs, get in touch of 90,000 family or 500,000 people approximately.

We will be mainly spreading our programs during the next five years. Spreading will automatically change the lives with the touch of technology and bring on economical and technological revolutions. We will try to establish the solution in our country and then to go beyond the country and apply it globally.

It will change the lives of them- whom our solution serves as well as of them- who serve the solution. And our program will get impulse in an exponential factor- the more our solution serve, the more we will be economically sustainable and again we can serve solution to people more than previous, which will go in a loop and give and exponential increment.

This exponential graph will reach its equilibrium automatically when marginalized people will no longer be marginalized. It's not necessarily because they will have more money, rather it is because they can compete with others, they are skilled as others. There will be a balance among people and it is our vision. 

We will be working along the next few years to fulfill this vision, to get what to aim, to reach our goal and to help marginalized people to reach their goal themselves. And this can make the world a better place.

There are several barriers for succeeding the program. Some of them are- 

•         Lack of Initial Impulse with Fund: We are progressing with our solution but it will take a huge amount of time without external funding as we are trying to provide access to use technology for free. Without fund, we have to start with own small capital in a local community and then after getting revenue from it, we can move on towards providing service in another area. Having an initial fund will help us to spread quickly and broadly which will work as a huge impulse. 
•         Lack of Reach: Huge international reach can bring on a lots of helping hands which is required to apply the program in their country and also to get help from them initially. For such program which needs initial funding, this reach helps a lot and we lack of outreach which is a current barrier for us. Outreach will not only help us financially but also will help us to get acceptance.
•         Lack of Workspace and Consumer: We now lack consumer who will buy the product as a final consumer or a secondary consumer. Otherwise, training skills will just increase competition in the present market. So, we want to create new working scope for them and for that we want to deal with international secondary clients for a fixed revenue. But currently we lack connections with them as an effect of lack in outreach.

Our main barriers are lack of initial impulse with fund, reach, workspace and consumer- which can be solved by help of Solve community.

• Through Solve's prize funding and partnership opportunities, we might get a part of initial funding by which we can do our works quicker and broader than our current condition. Broadening will help you get revenue back to get financial sustainability quickly and quickening will add an impulse on getting financial sustainability. 
• With Solve's prize funding, partnership opportunities and mentoring, we can increase our reach which will help us to remove our barrier. More reach can bring on more funding or help which will work as an impulse to program for making it quicker and broader. Also it will increase our acceptance, chances to apply globally, revenue, secondary clients or consumers and so on.
• By Solve's mentoring or connecting programs, we will be able to find secondary clients, create workspace and remove our barriers. It will fulfill our SWS Program's vision. 

Without these, barriers can be removed with progressing slowly which is actually too slow and also will remain in a narrow range for a long time. These helps will work as catalysts. 

Full time staffs: 5

Part time staffs: 10

Executive Members for various region : 7 

Advisors: 2

• We choose executives from marginalized society, who lived there and now living out for running family or other reason. They know the way of their thinking, what strategy will be right for them and how to start the program in their area. Their experiences uniquely position our team to deliver the solution.

• Our team leaders have tried to apply the solution in narrow sphere, and it worked. We possess the experience of changing people's life.

• Beside this solution, team leaders previously arranged a lots of events, on their own or from their other organizations, to help marginalized people. This includes teaching, financial helping and so on. These skills and experiences also uniquely position our team to solve the problem.

Currently, we are not partnering with any organizations. But after starting our work, we might partner with SFS ( Service for Food Sustainability) who works in the same range of ours in a different way with a different goal. 

          Our targeted customers are marginalized women through whom we can change their family. And for being connected with them, our chosen executive from their society will be a bridge for us. They will take the responsibility of the prosperity of their society. For growing our customer, we will arrange workshop and establish local stations with the help of chosen executives. And for keeping our customers, we will keep contact with them through our executives.

Figure: Business Model

          We will provide the chance of free access to any technologies, according to plan, they want when their plans got selected. Beside this, free internet and computer usage for women will be an open option. Selected will be helped by venture capitals and so more option. In order to serve this, we arrange workshops to train skills and teach knowledge and their arrange contest to select ideas after training workshops. And we will continue building training manuals too for their improvement. 

          We want to partner with international dealers to increase workspace, and also to get the consumer of the products made by our served people through dealers' help. Besides, all ventured projects of our program will remain a partner and perform some work on their locality on our behalf. We will accept help from local non profit organisations too. 

          Costs and revenue streams are stated in the model.  

We will gain financial sustainability through many paths. Like-

• Ventured plans: After workshops, we will arrange model contest and select potential business models from them. If they need capital to start, we will give them option to get venture capital. After every workshop, we might get around 80 plans and select 20 or more potential plans from them. Profit of those company will generate revenue.
• Donation: We will be open for donations and helps. We will try to persuade- through our works- individuals, organizations and governments to donate. Also we will request our customer to donate after they get enough sustainability so that more people can get sustainability like them.
• Banking system: At first, people will use our supplied technologies if they want. But they can use it only in our office and for limited time. To work full time, they have to buy and we can manage discount for that. To buy, we will encourage them to store an amount of money regularly in our banking section, through which they can get interest too. Using the money stored in bank, they can buy technology after a while on their own and we can invest that money to our work to generate revenue. 
• Digital marketing: Our training modules might contain ads and it will be seen by a lots of our customers. 
• Low commission: When we get them customer or consumer for their product, we will charge a very little amount from their profit.

          We are applying to Solve because our program currently have some barriers, which can be overcame by the help of Solve. As mentioned earlier, our main barriers are lack of initial impulse with fund, reach, workspace and consumer. Solve's prize funding and partnership opportunities, mentoring or connecting programs have potentials to help us solving these problems.          

         Through Solve's prize funding and partnership opportunities, we might get a part of initial funding by which we can do our works quicker and broader than our current condition. Broadening will help you get revenue back to get financial sustainability quickly and quickening will add an impulse on getting financial sustainability. 

         With Solve's prize funding, partnership opportunities and mentoring, we can increase our reach which will help us to remove our barrier. More reach can bring on more funding or help which will work as an impulse to program for making it quicker and broader. Also it will increase our acceptance, chances to apply globally, revenue, secondary clients or consumers and so on.

         By Solve's mentoring or connecting programs, we will be able to find secondary clients, create workspace and remove our barriers. It will fulfill our SWS Program's vision. 

         Without these, barriers can be removed with progressing too slowly. Program will also remain in a narrow range for a long time. These helps will work as catalysts. 

That is why we decided to apply to Solve with hope for getting help to fulfill our visions and goals. 

We are applying to Solve to overcome our barriers like low initial fund, less reach and lack of workspace. Overcoming these will fasten our progress. 

We could reach international clients or secondary clients for our product creators and also can create long-lasting deals with them. Without help of Solve, it might be tough for us to get international reach and apply our solutions globally to millions of people and fulfill our vision. And we believe, Solve can help us on our way and also give an impulse to our journey to accelerate it quickly. 

       Any non-profit organizations that work in our targeted areas with similar goals can be our partner to help us. They can help us by working in some of our sub projects and Solve can help us for creating the bridge, specially in the cases of international organizations. 

       We want international clients with whom we can make deal and create new workspace for our marginalized women. Work can include sewing, designing, sculpturing and so on. We need clients for whatever our marginalized people are making. And as our targeted countries are so called developing countries, international clients can get their job done with a lower rate which still will bring a revolution in the marginalized people's local economy and change their life. And Solve can create bridge here too. 

We would also love to see international sponsors who can help us, like they cam give technologies at a lower cost so that our solution can be applied more fluently, in so many ways.

        We believe that gender inequality and other related social problems are directly or indirectly happening by women's low economic contribution in family and that is why we also believe that women can raise their voices and achieve equality by increasing their economic contribution. In fact, for that we have started our program for empowering women by providing them the scope of using technology, which they lack most, for free and change their life. A part of our solution includes the use of modified distance learning, and another part includes making them skilled- to use any technology they want- to be succeed to change their life through their own entrepreneurial model. 

        There are a handsome amount of teams, building technology-based solution for women, which fail only due to the fact that the marginalized people don't know how to and don't have the access to use technology for their own good. We are trying to create a way and a platform through which they can reach technology and technology can reach them too. And this platform will help us to deliver our programs and also help others who are trying to achieve this development through innovative technology. As the goal of "Innovation for Women Prize" and our "SWS Program" converges, we think we qualify for this prize. 

        Afterwards, our program will use the "Innovation for Women Prize" for providing them the chance, to use technology for free to start changing the life of marginalized women, quickly and broadly. 

        We believe that rural marginalized people's high adaptability will allow them to gain skills quickly to create good jobs for themselves. For that, we try to enhance their knowledge at first, then ask them to create models for income, and afterwards we provide them with helps (like venture capitals, skills, marketing, consumer finding etc.) to run their model.

        In the last part of our program, we try to make an increment in their skills on their need. Skills include technological skills, linguistic skills, crafting or sewing skills and so more. By achieving these skills, they can start their own small businesses with their gained knowledge. They also can choose to compete in the present competitive market with their updated skill set. But whatever the market condition is, they can take the upper hand of their situations with their gained financial, entrepreneurial and business knowledge. And the end result is: they will know the quickest way to adapt themselves quickly in the changing marketplace and earn enough to improve their lifestyle. As these converge with the required goal of "The GM Prize on Good Jobs and Inclusive Entrepreneurship", we think our program qualify for the prize. 

        Afterwards, our program will use "The GM Prize on Good Jobs and Inclusive Entrepreneurship" to quickly and broadly spread the program and give the chance to marginalized people. They can get more venture capitals and crowd sourced resource for their betterment, for changing their life and for making world better place.

        The adults are a large part of our population and we believe that if adult can gain significant knowledge and skills, they can change the condition of their family and this is more true for marginalized people for their high adaptability. And on our path to change condition, we provide chance to use technology, literacy, digital literacy and so on.

        Our program initially arrange workshops for marginalized women which include basic primary education, financial, entrepreneurial and business knowledge. Though the main reason is to create small businesses with their entrepreneurial abilities, as a secondary outcome- adult literacy can also be achieved. And then we ask them to create sustainable models for their own business and finally we provide them with the helps they need. Helps include venture capitals, skill training, digital literacy for using technologies and so on depending on their need to fulfill their businesses for free. We will make marketplace for their products and also find consumers on behalf of them. Briefly, we will help them on every sphere they need for their betterment by themselves. And thus we think we qualify for "Gulbenkian Award for Adult Literacy".

        Afterwards, our program will use "Gulbenkian Award for Adult Literacy" to quickly and broadly spread the program and give the chance to marginalized people. They can get more venture capitals, technologies, learning content and crowd sourced resource for their betterment, for changing their life and for making the world a better place.