Please describe your proposed solution.
Our solution consists of working with an NGO to develop a model of revenue that converts the impact generated on educational programs for low-income students in the favelas (slams) into profit. We expect to create a system integrated with blockchain technologies in which we can apply principles of transparency, traceability, tokenomics and, therefore, to be attractive to investors looking for trustful NGOs to invest in.
We will implement this proposal with ARCA, an education NGO located at Sao Paulo, Brazil. Details of the NGO will follow below.
Based on our strategy, we hope to inspire many other NGOs to start using their impact as a source of revenue, either to invest in new programs or to scale up their activities.
OBJECTIVES
Primary: to create a strategy that will help our NGO (Arca) and others to profit from their impact generated, using Cardashift CLAP tokens.
Secondary: to inspire other education NGOs focusing to adopt the same or similar strategies that will lead to impact monetization.
To achieve our goals, we will investigate the following questions:
- How can the education NGOs focused on low-income students monetize the impact generated by the courses offered at their centers?
- In which ways the transparency of blockchain protocols like Cardano and Cardashift can ensure security to the companies willing to invest in the work done by the NGOs.
- In which ways the tokenization of impact makes it more attractive to investors.
- What are the tokenization protocols that we need to start using blockchain to monetize impact.
- What are the indicators needed to prove impact objectively (and how to handle them), without falling into self-made assessments of impact that reduces the trust in such NGOs.
IMPLEMENTATION DESIGN (Steps)
- We will select an expert in impact assessment of educational programs to assist in the project with an external perspective. This person will be responsible for developing a framework of impact monetization, taking into consideration our research questions mentioned above.
- We will select one course focused on employability. This course will be offered to students and implemented at the NGO Arca facilities. The number of students attending the course is expected to be around 30 (from age 15 to 22 years old).
- The expert, along with project coordinators, will establish indicators and an impact assessment plan.
- The course is implemented and the framework of impact is tested.
- We maintain the impact assessment after the course is implemented (to assess the effects in employability).
- We evaluate results and test the viability of a protocol for impact monetization, taking into consideration the use of the Cardano and/or Caradashif solutions to scale and offer impact as a service for the NGOs.
- We publish the results and the protocol and share them with NGO partners. Therefore, they can find similar or better ways to monetize their impact as well.
- We keep improving and refining our protocol after this proposal cycle.
BACKGROUND
Arca is a french-brazilian NGO that works in the Vila Prudente favela in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It's a vocational training center for youth and adults with 20 years of expertise in vocational training for low-income students. The center attends almost 200 students every year and offers a variety of courses designed to increase the employability of vulnerable youth. Arca offers integral support to the students, with programs that cover:
- professional training courses,
- programs of academic and professional mentoring,
- psychological assistance,
- courses for all ages,
- accompaniment and engagement with the families of the young people,
- distribution of food baskets for families in food insecurity.
With prices soaring, there's much more pressure on the low-income classes. Basic human rights and needs are even more scarce for the lower classes. Therefore, the work done by many NGOs like Arca is both saving lives from malnutrition and keeping the youth on the right track by providing education and job opportunities. Without such educational programs to improve employability, the youth living in the favelas are more likely to get involved with criminality, early pregnancy, or to work under sub-human conditions.
We have chosen Arca as our model, because it is located at the heart of a Favela (slum) in the city of Sao Paulo, and has a similar context shared by the other 13.151 Favelas in 743 Brazilian cities, according to the last census[1]. So we believe that although the indicators and the framework might not be literally translated to all the Favelas, or to all the countries in Latin America, it is still a good first step in terms of piloting forms of monetizing impact with the help of the blockchain technology.
According to recent data, the black population is 2.7 times more likely to be a victim of murder than the white population[2]. Not coincidently, the majority of the population living in the slums is black.
Therefore, good education and career opportunities act as a shield against societal problems such as high levels of homicides, lack of opportunities for underrepresented students, inequality, and lack of trained professionals ready for the jobs of the future.
References: [1] https://ufmg.br/comunicacao/noticias/aumento-do-numero-de-favelas-no-brasil-e-reflexo-da-desigualdade-crescente-afirma-denise-morado
[2] <https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2019-11/negros-ou-pardos-tem-27-mais-chances-de-serem-mortos-do-que-brancos>
Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
We will list below some core aspects presented in the challenge and explain why we are matching them.
Impact valuation and impact monetization: we will work on both issues, the creation of valuation framework that is broad and still relevant to the context of many NGOs conducting education programs. At the same time, we will investigate what are the possible protocols to monetize the impact generated by such programs.
The lack of financial attractiveness of impact projects: we will investigate and do our best to create a impact protocol that is attractive not only to the NGO, but also for industry members and investors. By focusing on transparency and trust, we will make it more attractive to invest in educational programs.
Monetizing impact requires the development of an entire ecosystem: Actors capable of defining criteria (standard) on what an impact means: That is exactly what we are, with our expertise and experience in educational programs and impact assessment, and with the structure of the NGO Arca, we will be working with a real scenario.
Discovers innovative ways for impact-oriented projects to create financial value out of their impact generation, notably by issuing impact tokens: In other words, a protocol to issue impact tokens (possibly using CLAP protocol) is an essential component of our objective.
What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
Risk 1: The selection of indicators for monetizing impact gets too broad or too complex.
Solution to mitigate: we will partner and contact organizations that have experience in monitoring impact for education and social NGOs. We will seek support from experts and think tanks to design the outline of the indicators.
Risk 2: The strategy of impact assessment and monetization created is not connected to the blockchain technology.
Solution to mitigate: we will seek support from Cardashift community, and also from Cardano and Catalyst community, to understand what points can be worked.
Risk 3: The impact assessment gets too broad or irrelevant.
Solution to mitigate: We will use the existing structure of an existing NGO, and apply the project in a real scenario. This avoids an approach that is sometimes too theoretical or too far from the reality in the Favelas, even though the impact assessment is well elaborated.