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Uganda Attempts to Shut Down Controversial Silicon Valley-Funded Schools

Jacob Kushner

February 14, 2018 |

Columbia Global Reports |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Uganda

Well-known Silicon Valley companies started the Bridge International Academies in 2007, an experimental school model, across some East African countries in an attempt to increase the quality of education, while promising a cost of $6-7 monthly per student. Bridge has now opened over 520 schools, serves over 100,000 students, and consistently showed rising graduation rates and testing performance, but its system of tablet-centered education and standardized curriculum has received criticism from its own teachers and government officials, who are weary of releasing control of their country's education system.

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Tech Support for an Ailing Planet

Virginia Gewin

January 30, 2018 |

bioGraphic |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The advancement of technology has created the capability to consider solutions never before possible. Conservation X Labs, a startup based in Washington, D.C., has committed their focused on marrying the worlds of conservation and technology, to combat mounting concerns of international poaching and deforestation. While the scaling of the technology is stagnated largely due to the expense of technology, progress has been made and devices are actively being piloted.

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Germany: Refugee Integration

Fi Glover Henrietta Moore Martha Lane Fox

January 23, 2018 |

BBC |

Radio |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Germany, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia

When Germany opened its doors to refugees, the country invested heavily in integration assistance, including free but compulsory language and civics courses. Though political division has formed in Germany over immigration issues, the focus on integrating refugees recognizes, and furthers, the potential of new arrivals to contribute to society.

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Putting the Voters in Charge of Fair Voting

Tina Rosenberg

January 23, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Michigan

Politicians across the country draw voting maps to favor their own political parties. In Michigan, a state with extreme congressional gerrymandering, voters are saying enough is enough. A nonpartisan group called Voters Not Politicians has collected 425,000 signatures in support of a ballot measure to create an independent commission to determine voting districts. The all-volunteer force gathered proposals at town hall meetings and spoke with voters at parades, football games, and even highway rest stops.

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When Being Unproductive Saves a Career

Courtney E. Martin

January 18, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

In the United States, executive leaders of non-profits have a high turn-over rate due to workplace fatigue. The Durfee Foundation has pioneered funding 3-month sabbaticals for directors of non-profits to “decompress” so that they can return to work feeling refreshed and productive. Research has shown that these sabbaticals have improved relationships with the board and other organizations. Now more foundations across the country offer funding for sabbaticals.

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These young women are raising awareness about sexual health in Iran

Shirin Jaafari

January 10, 2018 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

Multi-Media |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Iran

After studying in the U.S. and observing the prevalent amount of information about STD’s on university campuses, two Iranian women decided they wanted to focus on sexual health in Iran, where sex is a taboo subject. They started a sexual health website for Farsi speakers, and run sex-ed workshops in Iran. “They also run a nongovernmental organization — registered in the US as RAH Foundation and in Iran under Ctrl+S. They have an Instagram account with over 12,000 followers.”

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Nonprofits make rural home ownership more plausible

Jan Anderson

January 10, 2018 |

The Boulder Monitor |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Montana

Affordable housing often needs several solutions to make sufficient impact in a community. In Boulder, Montana, several groups and funding sources are working together to keep a diverse stock of affordable housing available to residents who need it most. The National Affordable Housing Network helps fund energy-saving homes in Montana. Some trailer parks have transformed into cooperative systems or community land trusts, so residents have more of a sense of ownership for what they pay.

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How you can tackle two New Year's resolutions at once

Matt Rocheleau

December 30, 2017 |

The Boston Globe |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, London

An organization called GoodGym combines fitness with voluntarism by having members run from the gym to volunteer sites where they perform physical tasks for community members. These tasks include moving dirt to help build parks, performing chores for the elderly, moving heavy objects for those who can't, etc. This approach motivates people to go to the gym more frequently because they benefit from their own health and giving back to their community.

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In push to end child marriage in Guatemala, young women are on the front line

Sara Schonhardt

December 28, 2017 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Guatemala, Tierra Blanca

In some rural parts of Guatemala, "more than half the girls...marry before the age of 18." While a coalition of organizations was able to lobby lawmakers, and raise the legal marriage age to 18, real changes happened at the community level when mentors engaged with girls.

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A digital solution when children can't find books in their mother tongue

Gretel Kauffman

December 26, 2017 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Rwanda

Research says that bilingual kids reap significant benefits from reading in their primary language. One nonprofit working in Rwanda, Congo, Haiti, Cambodia, and Mongolia provides digital books in students' strongest language and recruits local writers to create age-level books with local context: "It's not just a matter of translating materials," a professor at Columbia's Teachers College notes. "It's a matter of valorizing the home culture and language of the learners."

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