Sprout e-course – Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation

Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation

The Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation is an international fellowship program that supports the most promising social change projects created by TakingITGlobal's network of youth leaders. In January 2011, the partnership between TakingITGlobal and Pearson Foundation evolved to recognize and support youth-developed projects created as a component of TakingITGlobal's innovative Sprout online learning experience.

Partners

TakingITGlobal has built an award-winning online community of youth who are working for change by addressing issues of economic opportunity, education, health, human rights, access to technology and the environment. This "social network for social good," has over 425,000 members from literally every nation on earth. Through these members and their projects, TakingITGlobal reaches millions of young people worldwide every year. http://www.tigweb.org/

The Pearson Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that aims to make a difference by promoting literacy, learning, and great teaching. The Foundation collaborates with leading businesses, nonprofits, and education experts to share good practice; foster innovation; and find workable solutions to the educational disadvantages facing young people and adults across the globe. More information on the Pearson Foundation can be found at www.pearsonfoundation.org.

Program Overview

The Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation will be awarded to young people with the most promising and well-prepared plans for community projects developed during the Sprout E-course. For our 2012 Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation cycle, we will be selecting up to 20 deserving Fellows to receive a seed grant of $1,000 USD each.

The program offers:

• Tools and resources in attracting funding and developing sustainable initiatives.
• Expertise and consulting on stakeholder engagement, business model development and evaluation.
• Networks and peer-learning support with like-minded social innovators from all over the world.
• Individualized and high-impact coaching by experienced program staff to aid Fellows in project launch and/or growth.
• Profiling through TakingITGlobal, Pearson Foundation, partner websites and press coverage.
   

Eligibility Criteria

You are eligible to apply for the Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation if you are:

• Able to commit no less than 8 hours per month over 4 months to Pearson Fellowship acitivites and deliverables.
• Passionate about creating positive change in your community
• A Sprout Alumni having successfully completed a Sprout E-course between Spring 2008 up to and including Spring 2012, having been given a certificate of completion
• Fluent in spoken and written English
• Able to access regular and reliable broadband internet
• A good online communicator
• A member of TakingITGlobal

In order to apply for the Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation, you must submit:

• Completed Application Form
• Completed Character Recommendation Form by someone who can attest to your abilities and interest in the areas to be addressed in the Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation Program (leadership, collaboration, social entrepreneurship, project management)
• 1-2 page resume/curriculum vitae
• Completed Employer Recommendation Form by someone who can attest to your work ethic and commitment

Please note: incomplete applications will not be considered.
 

Application

Applications for 2012 Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation are now closed. 

How to Be a Successful Applicant

It’s not a secret that we are looking for the best and brightest among the Sprout Community to become part of our Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation. We want you to know what we are looking for. Here’s how to be a successful applicant and land yourself a Fellowship.

The selection of Fellows depends on the criteria below. Do you have what it takes to be a Pearson Fellow?

Pearson Fellows are:

• Ethical and committed to upholding their values and personal integrity;
• Guided by their social conscience and sense of personal responsibility;
• Self-directed, persistent and entrepreneurial;
• Self-aware and willing to learn as much through failure as success;
• Able to articulate the root causes of the issues facing their communities;
• Creative problem-solvers with new ideas to solve age-old challenges;
• Able to demonstrate their project meets an unmet need;
• Persuasive and can present a legitimate case for the validity of their solution;
• Exemplary performers with a track record of meeting deadlines and deliverables as demonstrated through their participation in the Sprout E-course;
• Able to plan, develop, and execute their projects;
• Uniquely positioned to create change in their communities;
• Dedicated to executing projects that are financially viable and sustainable;
• Able to gauge the impact of their projects and be accountable to stakeholders.

2012 Pearson Fellows

Adama Diop, Pellital Microfinance Institution (Senegal)

Alison Burkett, Write to Remember 1994 (Rwanda/Canada)

Brian Magwaro, Nyalenda Community Library and Resource Center (Kenya)

Chijioke Okonkwo, Youth Can (Nigeria)

Daniel Um, Video for Life (Philippines)

Jin Yun Soo, Green Brunei Photography Talk (Brunei)

Julian O'Shea, Regioneering Road Show (Australia)

Rachana Shrestha, Talk Sexuality (Nepal)

Sartaj Anand, The Share Network (India)

Sia Komba, GET IT (Sierra Leone)

Surya Gaire, Healthy Hands (Nepal)

Tinashe Mafukidze, ImmigrantYouth.org (Canada)

Tukeni Obasi, Youth Consortium for Progress (The Gambia)

Varun Kashyap, Suvidha Bazaar (India)

2011 Pearson Fellows

In January 2011, 12 young social innovators and numerous leading experts in entrepreneurship, social innovation and philanthropy came together in an online community to work relentlessly toward launching change-initiatives that take root in their communities.Through four months of peer learning, pitch training, business consulting, marketing tools and mentoring, 12 Pearson Fellows transformed the projects developed in the Sprout E-course from the planning stage to reality.

Valens Ntamushobora, Let Us Stay Alive (Rwanda)

Pankaj Shanker Jethwani, Maid in India (India)

Ujala Shanker, Stitches (India)

Sarah Khalid, Young Suburban Growers Program (Canada)

Fai Cedric Yengo, Leaders of Tomorrow International (Cameroon)

Tahirah Stanley, Theatre for Peace (Canada)

Ronald Mukanya, Peer Support Training (South Africa)

Edna Akullq, Self Help Foundation (Uganda)

Philip Bundi Kabiru, Togetherness (Kenya)

Niwa Rahmad Dwitama, Students for Tomorrow (Indonesia)

Natasha Sahijwala, Green Machine (India)

Richard Seshie, Vivus Renewables (Ghana)