The Civic Action Program (GD-CAP)

Respondents to a recent national U.S. poll chose "a lack of financial support" as the number one problem facing public schools in the United States.  This issue is not exclusive of our country, and it is an indication of the lack of financial literacy and civics education, particularly within poor communities, that we are facing within academia.  Not understanding how government works, how to analyze financial reports, how to hold elected officials accountable for the work they signed up to do or how to support the ones doing a great job, are key barriers that impede financial progress within our public school systems.  Transparency and accountability are of the essence, and we must ALL understand what it entails and what it means for ANY kind of public administration to operate in such way using our tax dollars.

To solve this problem, Global Deeds has developed a new program called The Civic Action Program in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, taking place within the Gateway cities of our headquarters' state (low-income areas) and at the Massachusetts State House.  

It consists of two parts:

1.  The Civic Lunches and Dinners, where high school students conduct discussions of problems within their schools and communities that are directly affecting them and co-create solutions while enjoying a meal.  Global Deeds acts as their catalyst to match them with all kinds or resources through our network of supporters to help bring their projects to fruition.

2.  The Civic Action Summit at the Massachusetts State House:
With the help of college and graduate students from universities such as MIT and Harvard (GD Ambassadors), we are organizing this summit taking place in the Fall of 2023, where high school students and their chaperones (teachers) go through an intensive training program for one day on how to become civically engaged.  They will learn about participatory budgeting, financial reporting, how to run for office, and how the government works in general.  On that day they will have the chance to share their project ideas with their respective legislators and communicate their concerns in person during lunch.

Participating students will become certified as Project Managers, in addition to receiving financial literacy certifications.  They will be given the "spotlight" through social / mass media as a way of amplifying their voices in order to get more support for their solutions to community and school system problems.  Our target population are low-income, disadvantaged, and disinvested high school students living within the Gateway cities of Massachusetts, to the expand this initiative globally with the help of MIT and Harvard students in particular.

This kind of training and exposure will make the resumes of high school students "shine".  They will gain access to a plethora of mentors and supporters of their education who will most likely cover the cost of their studies even beyond college.

It is through the use of AI and an intricate database system that we can facilitate students with the resources that they need to attain their goals.

Collectively, we represent over 200 years of professional experience in the fields of education, engineering, medicine, workforce development, marketing, and beyond

This program is being supported by:

1.  The Office of The Auditor of Massachusetts, Diana DiZoglio

2.  Members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus

3.  The Commonwealth Seminar

4.  Members of the State House Asian Caucus

5.  Rise by the Schmidt Futures (community partner)

6.  Eastern Bank and more...

...and every single high school principal / headmaster of the schools we are targeting are on board with this initiative.  

We hope to get more MIT students, faculty and staff involved as well.  

The funds obtained through MIT Solve would be used to pay college / graduate students to help us with the technical side of this initiative (similar to a work-study program).