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Project Hope

Investing Hope Foundation Contact: Jim Frantz

The project’s purpose is to expose students to the realities of vulnerable communities around the globe and provide them with meaningful opportunities to effect change on an international scale.

Two students sitting behind a table smiling
A student sitting in a chair behind a desk looking up at a zoom video board

Did you know that the UN’s #1 Goal of the millennium is to END GLOBAL POVERTY? How can YOU be part of the solution to end global poverty?

The Pope Globalization Academy’s Investing Hope Project is a pilot program in partnership with the INVESTING HOPE FOUNDATION (IHF) in Colombia. The project’s purpose is to expose students to the realities of vulnerable communities around the globe and provide them with meaningful opportunities to effect change on an international scale.

IHF’s YES (Youth Entrepreneurship and Savings) Clubs work with children 8-21 to explore entrepreneurship, generate income, and learn how to save. Participants in the Investing Hope Club will meet with the founders, teachers, and participants of YES programs in Colombia to learn about YES clubs’ impact and purpose. Participants will consolidate what they have learned into a short, informative pitch. The pitch will be shared with 2-3 people/groups (not family) to expose others to what YES clubs can accomplish. How do you convey what you learn over several weeks about YES and Colombia to someone who knows nothing about it? How long do you have to make your point? Usually less than 5 minutes.

The Investing Hope Project objectives:

  • To support … social entrepreneurship and financial independence globally.
  • To connect … academic knowledge with the reality of vulnerable communities.
  • To learn … how to plan and execute a fundraising campaign.
  • To develop … public speaking and critical thinking skills.
  • To experience … what social entrepreneurship, microfinance, global service, and the interdependence of non-profit/development work and fundraising are.

Requirements

  • Attend bi-monthly meetings after school
  • Create, in a group or independently, a persuasive 3-5 minute “elevator pitch” to educate others on:
    • the unique challenges of communities in Colombia
    • the potential solutions, both big and small
    • the importance of non-profit organizations like IHF in the larger global mission of social entrepreneurship and financial independence.
  • A plan to reach and share their pitch with a minimum of 2-3 audiences (not family).

Benefits

  • Earn ISDS volunteer hours for global service
  • Earn credit toward the Globalization Junior Merit Award
  • Strengthen college applications
  • Improve public speaking skills
  • Increase cultural competence
  • Support financial independence and social entrepreneurship of youth in Colombia
  • Raise funding for IHF’s YES programs, supporting IHF’s goal of reaching 10K people in the next five years through their social entrepreneurship and financial inclusion programs.
UN Poverty Goal