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Assured Labor Colombia sExpansionAllen Kramer

2013.5

Economics

allen.p.kramer@gmail.com

(646) 335-2251

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There are many facto rs that lead to un employm ent,including mac r oeconomic t rends, str uctu r al adju stment p er iods,and f r ictional sear ch time. In d eve loping count r ies such as Colombia, w hich is marked by po ver ty combin ed wit h stark economic in equality, on e cr itical cau se of high unemploym ent

leve ls among low-incom e population s is the lack of acc ess tofully functioning info r mation n etwo rks and fo r mal job- sear ch chann els such as the Inter net. In Colombia, only about 22% of low-incom e household s have access to t he We b, a s compa redwith over 67% of higher class gr oup s. How ever , near lyever yone in Colombia has his or her own c ell phone. This creates an oppo r tunity to l ever age that acc ess and tu r n it into a system s pecifically d esigned fo r this middl e and low-incom e gr oup .

Assured Labo r does just that. The company i s a fo r -pr ofit social enter pr ise that seeks toreduce the bur den of un employm ent in emer ging ma rke ts by conn ecting low- and middl e-wag e wo rkers with jobs using mobil e and Int er net t echnologi es. The enter pr ise was found ed by CEO

David R eich and a small g r oup of p eers in 2008 out of MI T Sloan Sc hool of Manag ement. Und er their br and, Empl eo Li sto, t hey pilot ed op er ation s in Nica r agua in 2009, ex pand ed to M exico in2010, and to B r azil in 2011 . To dat e they have registered o ver 200,000 u sers thr oug hout t he three count r ies and have posted job s by mo re than 3,000 employ ers. The business gener ates reve nue

by c har ging employ ers for hosting t he job po sting s and facilitating t he inter mediation wit h the wo rkers. A c r itical a s pect of t he business mod el is that t he workers who receive the job off ers donot pay fo r the serv ice; this reduces one of t he majo r barr iers to alt er native for mal m echanisms of employm ent.

The impact t hat A ssured Labo r creates is lar gely g ener ated in two p r incipal ta r get gr oup s: the employ ers who gain acc ess to mo re qualifi ed candidat es faster , and t he workers who a re

pr ovided wit h more and b etter job oppo r tuniti es. Over all, t he pr incipal indicato rs and var iables inwhich there is an ex pected impact includ e: users registered and employ ers posting job s; jobs facilitat ed; reduced co sts and tim e for businesses in employ ee acquisition ; decreased a ver age time s pent in sear ch between job s; better quality employm ent po sition s. Not all of t hese var iables are currently a ssesse d du e to p r ohibitive costs associat ed wit h measurement.

In o r der to facilitat e the ex pansion of A ssured Labo r into t he Colombian ma rke t, t his Sta rr Fellow ship p r oject conc entr ates on executing key elements in the company s standa r d p re-launc e

pr ocess for a new count r y. Acti vities leading up to and du r ing t he fieldwo rk in Colombia du r ingthe summ er of 2012 la r gely fall into fi ve cat egor ies: marke t rese ar ch; oper ational rese ar ch;

business & bottom of t he pyr amid (BOP) str ategy; custom er deve lopm ent; and bu siness deve lopm ent.

BMD P eer Mento r ing Li ly Chan

Becker MD .or g is an onlin e patient community w here individual s can di scuss their ex per iences with Becker Muscula r Dystr ophy (BMD) . BMD i s a r are genetic di sease

2013

Biop hysics

lily_c han@b r own .edu

(516) 225-8132

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that in volves pr ogress ive volunta r y mu scle weak ness resulting in immobility, ca r diaccomplication s, and con sequently, a shor tened lif e ex pectancy . Sinc e BMD i s such a r are disease,

patient-to-pati ent contact may b e har d to com e by. Additionally, BMD i s re latively less severe compa red to ot her types of mu scula r dystr ophy, w hich som etimes cau ses not only la r ger health or ganization s to o ver look it in some cases, pati ents themselves minimiz e their health issues

as well. Based on my p rev ious long-t er m in volvement wit h Becker MD .or g, it b ecam e appa rent tome that w hile the boa r ds off ered a vir tual suppo r t gr oup fo r patients, the lack of long er -ter mconn ection s hindered the flow of di scussion fo r many indi vidual s. The pr og r am ma kes the

patient-pati ent conn ection mo re for mal so t hat t he time and re peated int er action n ecessar y tofor ge tr usting relation ships may b e fostered. The pr ogr am diff ers f r om a regula r ly m eetingsuppo r t gr oup b ecause it is more individualiz ed; mento rs and m entees would b e pai red acco r dingto ag e, lif e ex per iences, and ot her facto rs. The pr ogr am aim s to go b eyond public- s peak ing-engag ement-typ e ex per ience shar ing, w hich, while beneficial, t ends to b e less personal, andconstitut es a shor ter -ter m relation ship. Not only would t he mento rsh ip p r ogr am b enefit t he mentees directly, but it would al so suppo r t a g r oup of pati ents who could b ecom e advocat es in

many ot her way s for other BMD pati ents. A p relimina r y surve y distr ibut ed onlin e to BMD pati ents indicat ed t hat near ly all (29 out of 30) res pond ents were int eres ted or ver y int eres ted in pa r ticipating in a m ento r ing p r ogr am. Fur ther more, survey results showed a relatively eve n s plit b etween res pond ents who w ere interes ted in b eing m ento rs and m entees, w hich pr oves pr omising. Additional p r ior rese ar ch includ es contacting ot her patient m ento r ing p r ogr ams, my extensive ex per ience wit h peer mento r ing in my ot her activities, volunt eer ing at a mu scula r dystr ophy camp, and con vers ingwith many BMD pati ents, ca retakers , and docto rs.

Community-based Tourism in Vila daVolta

Em ily K irkland

V ila da V olta i s a fi shing community of 2,000 p eople onthe banks of t he Jagua r ibe River , in t he Br azilian state of Cear a. The town i s str ik ing fo r its beautiful location and fo r the imm ense war mth and f r iendlin ess of it s people. Still, it i s

2013

Economics/Latin American

Studies

emily_kirkland@brown.edu

(646) 623-5271

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not an easy plac e to li ve. Fish population s have declin ed d r amatically in recent years, leavingmany famili es wit hout a reliabl e sour ce of incom e.

Over the cou rse of t he past nin e mont hs, community l eaders in V olta have begun tal k ing about t he idea of community-ba sedtou r ism small- scale, sustainabl e tou r ism a s one potential

solution . V

olta i s locat ed only about 20 k m f r om ConaQue br ada, a majo r beach destination, w hich dr aws more the 240,000 national and int er national visitors ever y year.

V olta could capitaliz e on t his marke t, off er ing day t r ips andacti vities like boat r ides on t he Jagua r ibe, natu re walks in the mang r oves, home-coo ked meals, and danc e per for manc e. Tr ips to V olta could combin e natu r al b eauty wit h cultu r al imm ers ion an ex per ience totally unli ke anyt hing cu rrently off ered in t he area.

V olta i s also locat ed only about 10 k m f r om Co quer inho, a se par ate community-ba sedtou r ism pr oject t hat d r aws 400 visitors a year. Coquer inho do es not have beach or r iver access,and Co quer inho leaders have already ex presse d int eres t in fo r ming a pa r tnersh ip in o r der to b r ing

tou r ists toV

ila daV

olta . Impl ementing CB T in V olta would require almo st no in vestment and in volve almo st no fi xedcosts. Instead, t he CBT initiati ve could ma ke use of existing a ssets like boat s. Even wit h only af ew hund red visitors a year , CB T could have a substantial impact on incom es and standa r ds of living.

In No vember , community l eaders for med an official CB T committ ee, con sisting of fisher men, wom en, and yout h. The y plan to b egin receiving tou r ists f r om Co quer inho this s pr ing. Unfo r tunat ely, t hey have not had t he time or the financial resour ces to ma ke some of initialinves tments that t he pr oject n eeds, like pr omotional mat er ials and t r aining fo r guid es.

This summ er , I hope to help the CBT committ ee fully impl ement community-ba sed tou r ismin V ila da V olta . I will a rr ange for a tr aining sess ion fo r guid es and help wit h the creation of

pr omotional mat er ials and t he constr uction of a wal k way fo r mang r ove tours, among ot her tasks. Ideally, by t he end of t he summ er , V olta will b e receiving tou r ists on a regula r basis.

Next No vember , V olta will b ecom e par t of t he Tucum N etwo rk , which is a g r oup of 14 CB T pr ojects thr oug hout t he stat e of C ear a. Tucum m embers receive advice, t r aining and acc ess tosmall g r ant s f r om Terr amar and Caica r a, two NGO s based in t he stat e capital of Fo r taleza. Terr amar and Caica r a will t hus be able to p r ovide long-t er m suppo r t to t he CBT pr oject in V ilada V olta .

Connecting Children with ChampionsS idney Kushner

I want to b egin by int r oducing you to my f r iend St even, an11-y ear old boy w ho could b e the most die-har d hockey fan onEar th. Steven and I m et at Camp Ooc higeas a s pecial camp fo r k ids wit h canc er and in stantly b ecam e f r iends. As soon a s he hear d about my simila r love for hockey, his eyes lit up . Not hingexcited St even mo re than tal k ing about his favor ite play ers to

2013

Applied Mathematics-Biology,Child Development

sidney_kushner@brown.edu

(617) 259-0377

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him, t hey are the ultimat e r ole mod els. The y are his ins pir ation to n ever give up b eing w ho he want s to b e.

Bef r iending St even in s pired m e to do something big . In conjunction wit h pr of ess ionalathletes acr oss the Unit ed Stat es, I launc hed CCChampions . By conn ecting local, k ind- hear tedathletes with k ids just like Steven, m eaningful long-t er m relation ships are created du r ing t he first

six mont hs of int ensive canc er treatment. All ot her or ganization s in the marke t focu s on t he gr anting a singl e wish. CCChampions is the only p r ogr am t hat c reates lasting relation ships,adding a wa r m stable for ce to an un stable lif e.

Currently, CCChampions is wo rk ing wit h Majo r League Base ball Play ers AlumniAssociation (MLBPAA) and it s 6,000 m ember athletes acr oss the nation . The pilot p r og r am

between the Pitt s bur gh Pir ates Alumni A ssociation and C hildrens Hos pital of Pitt s bur gh is already n ear ing compl etion . Wit h 16 k ids and 16 at hletes, this first c hapt er has been mo re success ful t han I could have ever imagin ed. Between the conn ection t hat a re instantly d eve lopedand t he smiles that I see on t hese k ids faces, not hing excites me more than t he oppo r tunity toshare CCChampions wit h as many k ids as possible.

There is no b etter time to b egin t his pr ocess than t his upcoming summ er. Thr oug h our

re lation ships wit h the MLBPAA and var ious hos pital s ar ound t he count r y, t he conn ection s have already b een mad e for the deve lopm ent of n ew c hapt ers , pa r ticula r ly r ight here in P r ovidence. This summ er will b e devoted to building a stable foundation con sisting of t he a t eam of offic ers ,conn ection s thr oug hout t he local community, and a collabo r ative shar ing of n ew app r oac hes andideas to inno vatively help k ids who have canc er. The CCChampions netwo rk is ready tosk yr ocket, and t his summ er is wit hout question a tu r ning point in t he futu re gr owt h of t he or ganization .

Foo d Rec ov ery Netw o rk B en Chesler

One out of seve n household s in R hode Island a re at r isk of going hung r y ever y day, and on e out of six children live in po ver ty. At t he same tim e, the U.S. pr oduc es over 34million ton s of food wa ste ever y year , s pends 1 billiondolla rs just to di s po se of t hat food wa ste, and recovers only3% of t hat food . All of t he discar ded food sits in landfall s and releases methane, a pot ent g reenhouse gas wit h 21times the global wa r ming pot ential of ca r bon dio xide. Ontop of t hat, w e are in an economic climat e where donation s to non-p r ofit s have dr opp ed d r amatically a s eve n the household s for tunat e enoug h to have enoug h to f eed their own famili es cannot affo r d to donat e to t hose in need. The

2015

Economics

ben_chesler@brown.edu

(617) 259-0377

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pr oblem w e face is not c reating mo re food, but r ather getting t he food w e have to t he people whoneed it mo st. Solving t he hung er cr isis will fall to o r ganization s that rese mble tr uck ingcompani es more than t hey do t r aditional NGO s.

In t his food land scape, food recover y (al so k nown a s food rescue) is a relatively n ew, viable alter native to t r aditional food donation s. Food recover y or ganization s have emer ged in citi es

acr oss the count r y, recover ing sur plu s food and b r inging it to t he people who need it mo st. Fr om f r uits and vegetabl es on a fa r m to d ented can s in a super marke t, to p re pa red food in acaf eter ia o r restau r ant, t he supply of food t hat can b e recovere d i s endless. We there fore findourse lves with no shor tage of food and no shor tag e of p eopl e who need food . The tr ick y pa r t is conn ecting t he food wit h the people who n eed it . In R hode Island, W e Share Hop e has emer gedas the premier food recover y or ganization, coll ecting food f r om ac r oss the stat e and p r ovidingover 250,000 m eals annually to t he states hung r y. Wit h an un relenting commitm ent to foodrecover y, and a healthy di staste for bureauc r acy, W e Share Hop e has ex pand ed r apidly in t he

past two y ears as they have built up t he tr ust of t he states manufactu rers , restau r ants, meal sites,and pant r ies.

We Share Hop e excels at building community and finding t he people who really n eed food .

Ever y person, f r om t he CEO of a company donating food, to a homeless person receiving a m eal,is bot h treated wit h res pect and ex pected to share in the wo rk of food recover y. Guid ed by t hose pr incipl es, W e Share Hop e has slowly but surely built up t he W e, re info r cing t he notion t hatthe food w e recover belong s to t he univers al u s and t hat w e all have an int eres t in recover ingand di str ibuting it . We Share Hop e has also t hr ived at ma k ing sure that t he recovere d foodreaches the people who need it mo st, even if it m eans using non-t r aditional di str ibution m ethods. Thr oug h inno vative par tnersh ips with out reach workers and emer gency she lters, W e Share Hop e is able to reach people who mig ht not b e serve d by t r aditional food ban ks. Yet des pit e these successes , We Share Hop e faces some or ganizational c hallenges that t hreaten it s sustainability . The two majo r challenges that W e Share Hop e faces are the lack of a sustainabl e funding mod eland a reluctanc e to ta ke credit fo r its accompli shments. The two c hallenges are bot h se par ate and, at t he same time, int er twin ed, a function of t he reclusive natu re of t he or ganization . Fur ther more, W e Share Hop e is look ing to ex pand to coll ege campu ses and hos pital s in the Pr ovidence area, in an effor t to inc rease bot h the amount of food recovere d and t he effici ency of the oper ation .

My own bac k gr ound in non-p r ofit manag ement, a s well as my po sition a s a Br own uni vers itystud ent, put m e in a plac e to help W e Share Help o ver com e the challenges it fac es. As the for mer Chief Financial Offic er of a yout h-r un non-p r ofit, I am familia r with the fundingland scape for NGO s. And a s a Boa r d member of t he campu s-ba sed Food R ecover y Netwo rk , a501(c)3, I have k nowl edge of t he work ings of a succ ess ful food recover y or ganization . Fur ther more, thr oug h my po sition a s a stud ent at B r own Uni vers ity, I have created and, wit h the help of t he Sta rr Fellow ship, will continu e to ex pand a food recover y pr ogr am on campu s. Wit h this Sta rr Fellow ship, I hope to continu e to ex pand B r owns food recover y pr og r am a s wellas work to put W e Share Hop e on t he path to financial stability . I will u se the f ellow shipmento rsh ip and t r aining s to enhanc e my k nowledge of social entre preneursh ip p r incipl es, andthen I will apply t hose pr incipl es to W e Share Hop e. I will c reate a sustainabl e funding plan fo r the or ganization and I will ensure that it ta kes credit fo r its accompli shments, gi ving W e Share Hop e the ability to build up it s base of suppo r ters and ex pand it s wo rk in a sustainabl e mann er.