PacLinks

Economically disadvantaged youth lack the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century. Faced with uneven teaching quality and learning environments, these learners face a greater risk of falling behind academically especially during COVID-19, and being underprepared for the workforce. 

Further, without access to economic opportunities and skills to make informed choices for their future, combined with the proliferation of fake news - these learners face increased trafficking risks when searching for job opportunities.  

PacLinks online learning platform connects disadvantaged youth with low Internet connectivity to curated online learning tools and role models for workforce readiness. PacLinks offers workshops, self-study courses, resources, and mentorship that is culturally responsive for skills development (English with AI, digital literacy, self-learning, resume writing, self-awareness, etc.) and career exploration to bridge the gap in inequitable, remote learning and unlock learners’ potential while building their confidence to stay in school and access improved safer, economic prospects.

Remote learning remains out of reach for at least 500 million students (UN 2020). With the resulting school closures from Covid-19, 90% of students were out of school (UN 2020). This reverses the years of progress in education and exacerbates inequalities in education. Further, girls from the poorest families have higher chances of dropping out of school compared to boys (44% of girls versus 34% of boys (10-19 years old)). 

Our solution also addresses the risks of forced labor, modern slavery, and trafficking - a $150 billion industry in illegal profits (ILO 2012) devastating over 40 million people, their families, communities, and businesses worldwide. 71% of victims are women and girls (ILO and Walk Free Foundation 2017).

PacLinks addresses the root causes of trafficking including poor education and job prospects, gender inequality, and marginalization by enabling vulnerable youth to develop workforce readiness skills to access improved, safer economic opportunities. We provide them with critical guidance and curated culturally relevant resources to help them realize their potential for self-learning and advancement on their own. We also support them with the necessary materials (tablets and data access) if needed.

PacLinks hosts:

1. Online English Tutoring to connect learners with volunteer native/fluent English speakers to practice their English pronunciation, grammar, listening, and speaking skills. 

2. Workforce Readiness Workshops with industry experts for personal growth and networking to help learners make informed decisions for their future. Topics included: “Finding a job post-Covid-19,” “Mindfulness,” “Self-branding,” and “Women in IT.”

3. Camps and learning days to develop valuable life skills and explore career paths with volunteers from the public & private sectors (professionals from L Brands, MGF sourcing, Intel, Walmart, Rotary, etc.). 

4. Online Courses for self-study. Topics included: English, math, language arts, gender, financial literacy, human trafficking awareness & prevention. 

5. Mentoring to connect learners with role models (professionals from Intel, Walmart, etc.) in different fields to develop a plan to achieve personal and professional goals, build life skills and expand their professional network. 

PacLinks also offers a platform for teachers to host their own online courses for students. 

PacLinks was developed using Moodle, a free and open-source learning management system with integration of AI English learning tools including a speech recognition API, Essay check API, and Grammar and spell-check API. 

Our target population is economically disadvantaged youth from emerging countries. This population is often overlooked as they may not have readily available access to the internet and equipment to learn online. Even after being equipped with the equipment and Internet access, students, unfortunately, may not have the digital literacy to utilize the vast majority of online learning resources. 

For example, we have piloted PacLinks in the remote areas of Vietnam among 3,000+ scholarship students with limited access to resources beyond their immediate communities.

We are committed to providing our students with access to the tools needed for self-learning, self-awareness, and career exploration so they can become lifelong, independent learners and build their work readiness skills.

As one of few long-term academic scholarship programs in Vietnam, we have designed our solution to specifically address our target population’s need to be digitally literate and connected. The solution also accounts for limited connectivity and use of cheap smart devices to lower the barrier to accessing our online learning platform, closing the gap in education inequalities to increase engagement of learners in remote learning. 

PacLinks was launched in 2017. Since then, PacLinks has been deployed across the remote areas of 12 Mekong Delta and Central provinces in Vietnam, reaching approximately 3,000 disadvantaged students, 80% of whom are girls in our academic scholarship and empowerment programs per year. The platform has hosted nearly 70 1.5 hour workshops, 20+ self-guided courses, 2 camps (3-day life skills and career exploration camp with over 270 75-minute workshops, 2-day STEM camp with 4 workshops/day focusing on math, engineering, coding, and meteorology), and 2 learning days (1 focusing STEM and another on English). More than 18,000 hours have been spent by students self-learning English. 96% of learners shared how helpful they have found the workshops. 51% of learners have improved their English grades.

PacLinks brings online learning to underserved communities that have been unable to access it before. Oftentimes this is due to the lack of understanding of how to use such a platform and understanding its value. We expect our solution to enable broader positive impacts in the space of online learning by enabling disadvantaged youth to successfully make the initial leap into online learning and realizing their potential to self-learn beyond the classroom. Our solution also incorporates AI to give learners personalized feedback to improve their English.

PacLinks currently serves 3,000+ learners in our academic scholarship and empowerment programs. 

In 1 year PacLinks can serve 3,000+ learners. 

In 5 years PacLinks can serve 10,000+ learners. 

PacLinks is designed to be scalable and free for disadvantaged youth to use. In the first year, our focus will be on refining the solution to better serve the existing population. We will then leverage our existing programs and partnerships to bring access to additional students in the 100+ schools we are already working with. PacLinks can be localized for additional countries especially in emerging markets. The number of people served will depend on the resources available. 

Pacific Links Foundation tracks the number of hours each student spends on the online learning platform. Each time a student logs in, the length of time on the platform and what the student accesses are recorded. Attendance is also taken during workshops to verify participation. Students submit a form each month to track hours spent self-learning outside of the platforms. Students take a placement assessment before receiving online English tutoring. The self-learning courses include quizzes to check the students’ understanding. Students also complete evaluation/feedback surveys and participate in focus groups to reflect on how they have benefited and areas that could be improved. 

Students' academic results are provided by the schools to the organization at the end of each semester to track progress.

Indicators include: 

• Number of benefiting youth especially girls 

• Number of students participating in camps and learning days

• Number of workshop topics presented to students

• Number of students participating in self-learning

• Number of students receiving online tutoring

• Number of teachers receiving training

• Number of students participating in workshops

• Number of students receiving “Self-Learning” training

• Percentage of students improving their academic results 

• Percentage of students accessing further education 

• Percentage of students accessing safe employment with livable wages

Part-time staff: 12

Pacific Links Foundation has 20+ years of experience empowering women and youth in a culturally competent context. Over the years, we have built a vast collaborative network engaging many other trusted NGOs, multinationals (Intel, Walmart, Clarks Shoes, LBrands, Abercrombie & Fitch, etc.), international foundations (Walmart Foundation, Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, Rotary, etc.), and governments which speak to the trust in our programs. Our direct grassroots experience in Vietnam working with over 150,000 disadvantaged youth brings a first-hand understanding of what is needed most for the poorest of the poor in remote communities. 

Our solutions are informed by our beneficiaries as well as stakeholders (schools, teachers, local governmental partners, etc.) to give voice and bring diverse perspectives to address their unique needs.

We believe that it is important to have a leadership team that represents diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills including those from similar communities that we serve and those who have overcome similar hardships. Part of that means investing in future generations so that one day they can serve in leadership roles. 

Led by women in nonprofits, businesses, and legal, our team collectively has 150+ years of expertise to solve the global challenges disadvantaged youth, especially women and girls face to advance their standing in society. Pacific Links Foundation collectively brings decades of experience in women’s empowerment, youth development, poverty alleviation, counter-trafficking, and social work. 

We frequently provide opportunities for beneficiaries to give back to the programs and become part of the team. Currently, our team member leading our girls' education program was formerly a Pacific Links Foundation scholarship recipient.

We are applying to Solve to expand our network to scale PacLinks to millions of potential learners. This includes: 

1. Developing partnerships to enhance our solution, access additional funding in grants and investments, and replicate our solution in other countries

2. Receiving mentorship, coaching, and strategic advice from experts

3. Receiving monitoring and evaluation support to refine our impact measurement practice 

4. Gaining exposure in the media and at conferences 

5. Accessing in-kind resources

The following support is especially needed to scale PacLinks: 

• Business model including strategy and development of a business plan to convert PacLinks into a social enterprise 

• Financial to develop a pitch to potential investors 

• Public Relations to develop a branding/marketing strategy, social and global media presences 

• Monitoring & Evaluation to fully capture our impact 

• Service Distribution to expand our client base and develop partnerships with schools

• Technology to further develop our PacLinks online learning platform including integrations of additional API to personalize and gamify the experience for learners

We are looking to partner with organizations that can:

1. Equip disadvantaged youth with equipment to access PacLinks such as tablets (Best Buy, Amazon, Samsung, Lenovo, Asus, Google, etc.) 

2. Connect disadvantaged youth with mobile data access such as mobile carriers (Mobifone, Viettel, Vinaphone, etc.)  

3. Integrate existing AI learning tools especially for English 

4. Bring existing Workforce Readiness and STEM programs and workshops to PacLinks learners such as Girls in Tech, Girls Who Code  

5. Provide role models to PacLinks learners 

6. Expand our volunteer network such as companies, universities, high schools, service clubs, etc.  

7. Further support the development of PacLinks such as MIT faculty, Microsoft, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Geneva Learning Foundation

PacLinks includes a heavy emphasis on English language development and STEM career orientation to increase inclusion and access, especially for disadvantaged youth. Our team will use the prize to enable more learners to access our solution through providing tablets and internet access, and build out partnerships and opportunities to increase access to STEM education.

PacLinks includes access to workshop topics designed specifically for girls to improve access to learning opportunities for advancement and building their confidence to have a voice that can speak for themselves and change how others view them. Our team will use the prize to enable more girls to access our solution through providing tablets and internet access, and build out partnerships and opportunities for girls to increase their voice and advance their standing in society. 

The platform incorporates AI in English learning to scale the ability to provide learners with personalized feedback. 

The platform incorporates AI in English learning to scale the ability to provide learners with personalized feedback. Our team will use the prize to enable more learners to access our solution through providing tablets and internet access, and build out partnerships and opportunities to further incorporate AI. 

PacLinks brings increased opportunities for disadvantaged youth to build the necessary skills to access improved economic opportunities. By transforming disadvantaged youth, especially girls, they will reinvest into their families and communities - eventually alleviating poverty and transforming communities. Furthermore, increased education and improved economic opportunities decrease vulnerable youth’s risks of being trafficked and enable the continued positive development of communities. PacLinks also includes a heavy emphasis on English language development and STEM career orientation to increase access to financial success.

Our team will use the prize to enable more learners to access our solution through providing tablets and internet access, and build out partnerships and opportunities to develop workforce readiness skills especially STEM career exploration.