Charlotte's reflections on North Shore Country Day School Fall Interim

By: Charlotte, Student at North Shore Country Day School

Every year our school holds a week of experiential learning where students discover outside of the classroom. I choose to do the Social Entrepreneurship program with Allow Good, where a few of us went into downtown Chicago and spoke with different businesses about how they were helping with a social venture within communities around them or throughout society as a whole. We also learned about the for-profit, nonprofit, and for-profit with social venture spectrum to see where different companies were coming from in their business plan.

By the end of the week, we had heard from about eleven businesses with completely different business plans and social ventures. Out of these my favorites were UNICEF USA, A Better Chicago, and Regroup Therapy.

UNICEF USA is a non-profit organization that works to protect all children (individuals under the age of 18). This presentation allowed me to learn more about the widely known organization, such as different processes they have to go through in order to enter a country to help and how they help the children by working not only on the ground, but also with the governments of countries to help the problem from multiple angles. It was also interesting to see behind-the-scenes aspects of the organization by learning about their funding and about how simple it is for ordinary citizens to help children in need, even if it with the smallest contribution. This presentation made us think about not only helping the communities around us, but also about becoming global citizens as we continued to grow.

A Better Chicago is also a non-profit organization, although it is much smaller than UNICEF USA. A Better Chicago stood out to me because it is a business concept I had never heard of. The company helps improve the education system in the Chicago area by sponsoring different organizations that are helping the community. Their method of doing this is that individuals donate to A Better Chicago and they place the money in areas that will be the most beneficial to the community. They understand that when individuals are donating money they are obviously trying to help a cause, however, these donations are often made without much research on organizations being donated to and the money is not always guaranteed to make as much of a difference as one expected. This is where A Better Chicago comes in as they have already done the research for you! This ensures that everyone is benefitting to the greatest extent with these donations. I also found this business very interesting because of their size; they are so small, yet they are able to make a significant difference.

Regroup Therapy is a company that is helping with psychologists and psychiatrists shortages in areas. The company works with hospitals and/or doctor’s offices to provide sessions for patients through video chat. In doing this, patients are able to speak to someone without having to travel far, which is not an option for many individuals. This service is also available for all ages, which was quite interesting to learn about, as the resource is available for all patients struggling with mental health. It was really fascinating to learn about the company what the company does on a regular basis to ensure this resource is continually available for patients.

At the end of the week, we returned to the classroom where we reflected on the different business plans and companies we had spoken with. We also had the opportunity to create our businesses using the information and business plans we had learned about for the past four days. Creating presentations we answered a variety of questions about how our company would work and also about social entrepreneurship in general. This allowed the group and myself to pay more attention to businesses we encounter on a daily basis and also find a cause we are passionate about and see how we could also begin to help.

Program Alumna Colette: 5 Years Later

Colette was a member of our very first summer program in 2012. Over the course of the program, she learned how to create impact through fundraising activities, such as the fashion show that she organized to benefit the Liger Learning Center in Cambodia. Allow Good also taught Colette compassion and patience, skills she uses personally and professionally.

After her time with Allow Good, Colette enrolled at Columbia College of Chicago to support her growth as a young fashion designer. In her junior year at Columbia, Colette found a nonprofit organization that has helped her marry her love of fashion design and civic engagement. As an intern for The Creative Palate Series at Dream On Education, she created lesson plans focused on developing design skills among under served junior high school students. The curriculum focuses on goal setting, professional development, and career exploration and guidance. She also arranged for well-known companies such as Akira, Iridium, and Ford Models to present to the students.

The program was so successful that Colette was asked to help expand the program to schools on the west side of Chicago. Colette has enjoyed her time empowering young designers, she feels that she learned as much from them as they learned from her.

Now, Colette is pivoting to focus on her fashion brand, Mixed Sprinkles. Her brand that is just as fun, spunky, and energetic as Colette was during her time at our summer program. The first items of the collection, t-shirts with a design honoring Harriet Tubman, have been featured in her school newspaper! Once Colette gets her brand off the ground she wants to continue to give back through fashion, most likely by organizing benefit fashion shows.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Colette! We can see that you have a bright future ahead of you as you use your love of fashion to empower other young people and continue your journey as a changemaker!

If you would like more information about Colette's brand, Mixed Sprinkles, you can visit her website or follow her on Instagram @mixedsprinkles

Program Alumna Nina: 5 Things I Learned From Allow Good

Nina participated in Global Philanthropy Summit (now called Summer Summit) in 2012, 2013, and 2014; Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy in 2013; and Global Engagement Excursions in 2014 and 2015. She has stayed involved with Allow Good through her position as the Youth Chair on our Board of Directors. In honor of our 5th year of programming, we asked Nina for the top 5 things she learned from working with Allow Good. 

1. Service can take on a variety of forms. Often times growing up, we have a limited definition of service that largely consists of donations to charity and direct forms of community service (such as volunteering at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter). Allow Good is unique because it teaches teens and young adults that no matter what walk of life you choose to pursue, you have the capacity to give back to your community. This is especially seen in programs such as the Summer Summit, where participants can see the service components in companies and organizations ranging from Groupon to Design for America to Microsoft. Allow Good teaches teens that giving back isn’t limited to giving checks to charity - rather, it is something that all of us can incorporate into our daily lives and careers, regardless of whether we choose to pursue a STEM field or public service.
    
2. Philanthropy is accessible to everyone. Continuing off of the previous idea, Allow Good teaches teens that we too can be catalysts for change - philanthropic work isn’t just for richer adults. Allow Good provides teens with the tools that they need to solve issues that they are passionate about by broadening their outlook on what philanthropy involves. It doesn’t have to be about money alone; volunteering our own time and talents can be equally as effective in creating change.
    
3. Meaningful change takes time to create; it is not instantaneous. Working with Allow Good over the course of the past few years, and watching how the organization has grown, has taught me that creating a true impact within a community takes a great deal of time and effort - a large monetary donation won’t always immediately fix the problem. Allow Good shows teens how to solve a societal issue from multiple angles, and to look at the various factors that influence it, as they teach us that understanding those intricacies are imperative to solving problems in the long-term.
    
4. Collaboration and teamwork are essential for maximizing one’s own impact. What makes Allow Good special is not only exposure to different forms of philanthropy, but also the community of young philanthropists that it helps create and join together. Throughout the past 5 years, as I’ve participated in various Allow Good programs, I’ve had the opportunity to meet like-minded teens from around the Chicagoland area, all of whom have brought their own ideas, solutions, and experiences to the table. Exposure to such diversity from other young adults broadened my own perspectives on how best to help my own community. Allow Good provides a forum for discussion on a wide variety of issues, and in doing so, they magnify the voices of teenagers, who aren’t often heard in other nonprofit organizations.
    
5. There are smaller, more complex details involved in philanthropic work. Another interesting facet of Allow Good’s programs is that they teach teens the finer details of philanthropic work, from different types of business models that give back to a community (such as TOMS shoes) to the grantmaking process, wherein participants have a full immersion in the experience as they choose an organization that they want to give to. Much of the time, kids are limited in their knowledge of how a nonprofit organization operates on a day-to-day basis, and Allow Good offers them clearer insight into those processes.

Nina is pictured here on one of 2014 Global Engagement Excursions to Nicaragua

Catching Up With Allow Good Program Alumna, Anna

By: Anna
Anna participated in our Global Philanthropy Summit 2012 (now called Summer Summit). She was also an intern here at Allow Good in 2014. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Here is Anna’s update:

“I just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where I majored in Health and Societies -- basically looking at health through history and anthropology. I chose this major because of its ability to equip me to do good in the world. Many of my classes revolved around social justice. One of my favorites was a course with a community service component called Politics of Food. I worked at a local nonprofit for 3 hours a week as part of my coursework, while learning about food policy + justice in class.

I also spent a semester abroad in India, South Africa, and Brazil with a program studying public health. I learned so much about health and social justice through this program -- whether it was a guest lecture by a professor about post-Apartheid healthcare in South Africa, a meeting with a nonprofit that produces sanitary napkins in India, or a discussion with my homestay family about the Brazilian economy.

While I am most passionate about health policy (and specifically women’s health), Allow Good taught me to always remember the ripple effect -- the idea that small actions can ripple into greater impact. I remember learning at the very first Global Philanthropy Summit that the most important priority for the Liger Learning Center in Cambodia was not a shortage of school supplies, but was the need for clean water and sanitation! As a 17-year-old, this was incredibly formative; I started to think about the roots of social issues, leading me to pursue Health and Societies as a major at Penn

The ripple effect underlies everything I do now. I am about to start my first post-grad job, working on the research team at JB Pritzker’s campaign for Illinois governor. I am beyond excited to form an understanding of how political campaigns work, and to push for change in Illinois. In the future, I want to take my campaign skills and translate them to the field of health policy advocacy -- using my ripple effect to push for better policy.”

Anna has an impressive resume: researching racial disparities in children's vision care in Illinois for the Health Policy Team at Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, conducting research on America’s media coverage of the Zika virus through the Annenberg Public Policy Center (UPenn), leading a team of volunteers at the Democratic National Convention, and volunteering with Hillary Clinton’s campaign."

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us and continuing to be a changemaker in health policy advocacy and beyond. The Allow Good Family wishes you the best of luck starting your career and we look forward to seeing all that you will accomplish.

Why I Marched on Washington

By: Luc
Luc lives in Elmhurst, IL and has participated in our custom programs since 2014.

It has been one month and 2 days since I, a teenage boy from the suburbs of Chicago, marched on Washington with my mother and 1.2 million other men and women. Looking back, it was rough, it really was, I won’t lie to you. The bus ride was 12 hours, the seats were cramped, I knew nobody but my mom (and had to trust them with my safety when we got there), I was the only boy on the bus, and we were packed like sardines for an hour and a half before the March even started.

Looking back, however, I would no doubt do it again, and again, and again. I would do this because I got to stand up for what I believe in with other people who were doing the same. So, the March was rough, but it was the most unique and awe inspiring thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

There was so much passion in every inch of Washington, there was nobody walking beside me who looked like they didn’t want to be there, and everyone was united under one mind set, that of caring and kindness. I mean that’s why I went. My mom’s sign said “It’s about kindness & compassion”, and on the other side, “It’s about human dignity”.

I went to make Mr. Trump aware that I care, and that I am caring, and that we need more kindness, and that there are problems that we believe in that he needs to address. I wasn’t there to say he was illegitimate, I wasn’t there in hatred, I was there in kindness and compassion. The roar of people screaming out about their rights, the rights of others, and the rights of our Earth was a sound like no other, and a sound I will never forget. If you have ever been to a concert for Kanye West, Future, Chance the Rapper, Coldplay, or even TØP, you haven’t seen anything like a million women who are fired up and want what they believe in.

After such a chaotic month and a half after the election, being there in D.C. restored my pride in America and the world. To me it was one elaborate announcement to ourselves and the world saying “Hey, we’re not all how you perceive us, and most of us are with you!” If ever given a chance to stand up for what you think is right, Democrat or Republican, I would 100% recommend doing so. Take action, put in the work, be a part of the movement. I’m sure glad I did.