BEL Initiative MOOC

In Haiti, entrepreneurship is an important aspect to the economy and the livelihood of many due to high unemployment and the lack of available jobs. Though the entrepreneurship ecosystem is growing in Haiti, there is still lack of structured, quality entrepreneurial education. Furthermore, the education available online and literature available is typically in French or English, not Haitian-Creole, which is spoken by all Haitians. This is a barrier.

BEL Initiative's goal is to improve the platform where entrepreneurs can have access to online courses, information, and instructional content in Haitian-Creole. To address this, we will translate existing content into Haitian-Creole. Further, we will recruit leading entrepreneurs (Haitian and non-Haitian) to provide original content tailored to Haiti's business environment.

Access to this information will empower entrepreneurs to thoroughly learn and understand the world around them. Furthermore, it will allow Haitian entrepreneurs to actively participate in this growing global market.

There are over 11 million people living in Haiti.  The official languages are French and Haitian-Creole. However, the administrative language of Haiti is French even though less than half of the population speaks it. This means that even educational material is published primarily in French making it difficult for most Haitians to navigate the business and education environment. 95% of people living in Haiti speak Haitian-creole, which should be the primary language in which Haitians learn. Since 2017, BEL Initiative has provided entrepreneurship education to Haiti-based entrepreneurs and realized that much of the quality online content and courses provided are typically in English and French. This makes it difficult for entrepreneurs in Haiti to grasp business concepts since much of the content is not in their primary language. This leads to these words and concepts not even existing in Haitian-creole. After conducting some customer discovery, we found that many entrepreneurs were taking online courses in other languages to make up for the lack of quality content available in their language and overall in the country. We also found that they were not fully comprehending the content since it was not in a language they were most comfortable with.

Our solution is to create a massive open online course platform that will take quality existing content  and courses related to business and entrepreneurship, and translate them into Haitian creole. We also plan to create original content that fits the Caribbean market as well. The main technology needed to execute this a website/mobile application where courses can also be accessed without internet access. This will allow all Haitians to have access to quality entrepreneurship and business education regardless of their formal education level. 

The population that will primarily benefit from this platform are Haiti-based entrepreneurs, students and educators. Haitian-Creole is also the world's most widely spoken creole, so those creole speakers outside of Haiti will benefit as well. Haiti is a developing country in the Western Hemisphere that suffers from political instability and vulnerable infrastructure which in return impacts the quality of education. Furthermore, not even secondary education is free in Haiti, and content is usually in French, which means many people are locked out of the opportunity to improve and their socio-economic condition. Moreover, most of the resources and quality education are typically limited to those residing in the capital of Port-au-Prince. One of the most important factors to help develop a country is to improve the human capital. This can be done through quality education. To understand their needs, we are constantly involved in the customer discovery with Haiti-based entrepreneurs to comprehend the kind of information and skills they are needing. We also look at industries and opportunities that they can leverage within their market.

By providing a platform that can be accessed through a mobile phone or laptop, people now have a way to self-improve, self-educate and gain access to plethora of content. They can take some effective action to take control of their lives and not leave their knowledge gain up to chance. With the content being in Haitian-Creole, it also democratizes business and entrepreneurship information to the masses. With most Haitians having a mobile phone, the information can be accessed easily even in areas where their the internet is not strong. This solution also:

-Attacks the problem of brain-drain; Some of Haiti's brightest minds typically leave the country to get educated. Access to quality entrepreneurial and business education allow people to increase their economic opportunity, and decrease their need to leave the country in search of education.

-Empowers them to continue building businesses which eventually creates jobs to reduce unemployment in the country

-Allows entrepreneurs to participate in a global market.

This problem targets a population in LAC where most do not have access to quality education. The concept of a MOOC is not new, but one with quality that takes Haitian culture into consideration is. Currently, it is difficult to find quality courses related to business in Haitian-Creole. At large, they don't exist. Many students graduate and don't have many options for employment. Therefore, entrepreneurship is the viable option. The online courses guarantee educators, students, and the community access to education that can be consumed by anyone who speaks Haitian-Creole, regardless of their inability to speak French or English.

The reason why prototype stage was selected is because were have already structured a few courses and tested with several Haitian entrepreneurs. However, we have not opened a full platform to the masses. Through constant research, we are solidifying a business model that will be receptive to our target market and sustainable in the Haitian market.

The innovative aspect of this project is that it simply narrows down and customizes content using existing technology and concepts to fit a specific group of people who are largely disadvantaged. Though this may be difficult for many people in a developed world like the United States to see and understand, there are many proven concept that have not been introduced to Haiti. With Haiti's proximity to the U.S., it's natural that many try to adapt to the American culture. However, access to some of the most basic things are still difficult. So creating a customized platform that allows Haitian entrepreneurs to understand the world around them gives them a chance to play in the global market versus being a victim of ignorance.

I do expect this have to have an impact on the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Haiti. Further, it will provide an alternative to the outdated education system in Haiti which is preparing students for jobs that do not exist after they graduate. Students and communities now have the option to create their own destiny and feel empowered to build by having an option to create their own solutions through entrepreneurship education. Further, it provides continuing education for those who don't have access to formal business training in their native language.

The core technology that will power this solution is a website/mobile application and software. The technology needed to already exist and the only other component to add is allowing the information to be access without internet. This is important due to internet connectivity issues in certain parts of the country. Especially outside of larger cities. Being that technology is not a unique or proprietary advantage, the most important thing would be the branding, gaining a significant part of the market, and quality of the instructional content. However, we still plan to invest in other technologies that provide the best customer experience as we discover them.

The technology used in this solution is widely used and accepted and can be observed through platforms like coursera, edX, Teh Great Courses, Khan Academy, Linkdin Learning and MIT OCW.

This technology does not introduce any major risks. The only risks is privacy of data which can be addressed the existing software and to protect the information of consumers.

Currently our solution is only being used a select group of people of about 47. However, we have also lightly tested with over 100 people to get feedback.

Within one year of promoting it to the public, we look to serve over 5,000 users. Within 5 years of strategic planning, learning and adjusting, we can aim to have consistent 500,000 users on the platform.

We understand that Haiti has a unique set of challenges, so our goal is to make sure that we scale in a manner that's effective and brings value to the the people. Though we could aim for a higher number of users, we want to solidify a  sustainable model that can effectively produce the outcomes listed in our theory of change.

This solution is one part of an ecosystem that we are building in Haiti. Education is the foundation to the ecosystem since it allows entrepreneurs to effectively use resources they gain access to. In the past, we have connected Haiti-based entrepreneurs to resources that were not capitalized on due to the lack of exposure and proper education in the business world. 

Our goal for next year is to have establish a consistent flow and access to entrepreneurial education in Haitian-creole outside of our annual fellowship program. We plan to do this by connecting with experts and academics within and outside of the Haitian diaspora who are willing to help lead courses that can be published on our platform. 

By 2026, the BEL Initiative MOOC will be become a platform that democratizes business learning for Haitian-Creole speakers in Haiti while strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This will be carried out by establishing partnerships with universities, incubators, accelerator programs and the Ministry of Education in Haiti. After successfully proving this model, providing value, and gaining a significant following with results, these strategic relationships can have lasting impact on change education and how people can make a living for themselves through entrepreneurship.

Put simply, we plan to achieve these goals through testing and execution, providing valuable content and constantly assessing its value, and strategic partnerships that brand the platform in a manner where students and entrepreneurs adopt the MOOC as a source of quality entrepreneurship education.

Indicators that we will use to measure the progress towards our goals include

• The number of users who complete courses
• The number of users in rural areas 
• Gauge demand, recommendations and request.
• Female and male participation
• Popular courses in comparison to activity in business sectors and industries

3

Dr. Edwin Magloire is an educator, entrepreneur and brand strategist based in Haiti. As an educator, Dr. Magloire understands the weaknesses of educational system in Haiti and how entrepreneurs learn. He teaches on a regular basis and has been teaching since his collegiate years.  As a brand strategist, he has worked on some of the largest brands in Haiti and continues to work on brands through his own branding agency. As an entrepreneur, he understands the Haitian and U.S. markets.

Rigle Jean-Louis is an educator in Haiti. As a college physics instructor, he understands first hand the current learning environment in Haiti and the needs of students. His experience as an educator provides insight on the learning styles and how people and students consume education in Haiti. He also has the strength of creating effective curriculums that can be digested in today's environment. 

Dr. Ronald Cetoute is founder of the BEL Initiative and has been working with Haiti-based entrepreneurs since 2017.  He has successfully helped entrepreneurs in Haiti gain access to resources and gained partners and supporters of the program such as University of Iowa, Albany State University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the U.S. Embassy in Haiti to name a few. He spent most of his time in higher education working in administration and understands the structure and business aspects of an institution. As an entrepreneur himself, he is able to balance the the synergy between business, education and social impact.

As a team who comes from underserved communities, we understand first hand how important diversity is. We also understand that it is important that the people we serve see people that look like them, while simultaneously meeting people from other backgrounds. As we continue to grow, our team will continue to embrace people from different genders, sexuality, different regions and religions. Our approach is to focus on everyone's abilities and respecting their differences. Those differences are what can actually help us server the our audience better. 

For 2020/2021, we made a great effort to diversify participants of the BEL Initiative annual program. In Haiti, one of the issues were that most of the quality education and resources were centralized in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Most of our applicants are typically from that area since they have access to more resources. Furthermore, there were very few women participating. With the help of institutions and women chambers of commerce, we were able to successfully recruit participants from 9 out of 10 departments in Haiti and almost half recruits were women. This was a major achievement. This example shows our commitment to equality, which we will remain open to for our leadership team.

I am applying to the 2021 TPrize Challenge because I know that we need help in executing our idea in an effective manner. Though my team and I may have the passion, we understand that surrounding ourselves with the right community and getting guidance to achieve a social impact goals is vital. I have no doubt in my mind that we will continue having an impact in Haiti through our work. However, sharpening our skill set, being exposed to new ideas, and challenging our current ideas is what we need to solve massive problems within our community and the world.

In a developing country like Haiti, so many things can happen at once and we want to make sure that we learn to create sustainable projects that can withstand the occurrences that are frequent within the country. We also want to pass that energy and knowledge down to those entrepreneurs who will be the ones to make Haiti a developed nation in our lifetime. 

Some of our main needs include partnerships to help provide more credibility to the courses and certificates. We also need acceleration in the sense of making sure we have the right structure. I think it's also important that there is a community we are connected with to help with our knowledge base. This can help us find solutions much easier than trying to figure things out completely on our own. Further, we want to make sure we position ourselves to connect with the necessary resources that will help us execute our goals and impact effectively.

For educational aspects, I'd like to get in touch with the right departments (such as the entrepreneurship or college of business) at some higher education institutions. This would be to coordinate partnerships with either the professors or institutions to help lead the course and provide credible education. Some institutions include, but not limited to:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Florida International University
• Florida A&M University
• Babson College
• Morehouse College Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center
• Georgia State University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Harvard University
• Howard University

I would also be open to partnering with other MOOCs who have already established themselves to collaborate on this special initiative geared towards Haiti. Further I would like to make sure I clearly understand their strategies and models to confirm what might work best for this initiative in this current climate. I'd be interested in partnering or learning from MOOCs such as, but not limited to

• edX
• Udemy
• Khan Academy
• Cousera
• Udacity