Five Project Ideas. Which One Rises to the Top?
It’s almost time to make a decision.
Students have proposed project ideas after considering the needs and the capacity of the cultural community. Below are half (five) for discussion and ultimately, a decision. Read them; consider them. What should be our criteria for making a decision? Register your thoughts. That’s what we’ll be discussing when we return to class next week.
Supporting The Philadelphia Black History Collaborative
Upon witnessing the flaws within the city’s current African American history curriculum, activist educators of color came together to fight for “the legacy of self-determination and the righteous study of Black history in our city and across the nation.” Through the volunteer work of their planning board and a self-initiated fundraiser campaign, they host professional development seminars and curriculum building workshops for African American history teachers throughout the city. Despite a lack of support from the Philadelphia School District, they sponsored the Black Lives Matter in Schools Week of Action. Funds to the Collaborative would fund the advancement of more engaging, relevant, and critical black history in Philadelphia.
Teach the Creatives of Today How to Fish in Tomorrow's Pools
Funding programs and brick and mortar buildings is so 20th century. It's time we start playing with 21st century paradigms like the attention economy and fund people and engaged communities of practice. Create a program to train creatives how to leverage Steemit and blockchain technology to build a bigger audience and create new revenue streams. Teach them how to fish in tomorrow's pools to advance sustainability. Building a community of practice on blockchain platforms like Steemit offers a new revenue stream, a dynamic peer group, and an expanded audience. By piloting a blockchain literacy program for artists, at In Liquid, The Woodmere Museum or The Painted Bride, the Philadelphia community can demonstrate innovate ways to nurture our creative economy and culture.
Support a Valuable Program Inside Public Schools
Fund The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, whose mission is to “identify, coordinate and connect philanthropic resources—through effective public-private partnerships—to leverage investments in local public schools. We target strategic priorities that have a measurable impact on the success of students regardless of zip code, family income or chance. … By turning our resources over to The Fund, we would have supported a valuable program to grow inside the Philadelphia Public Schools.
Create Paid Internships
Art-Reach works to increase access to the cultural sector, particularly for low-income and disabled people. In the last year their programs have served over 160,000 people. They offer a variety of internships, but they are unpaid and thus create barriers for students within their target audience to become involved. With funding these can become paid internships specifically for low-income and/or disabled students, with the goal of supporting subsequent careers in the arts.
Deploy The Public History Truck to Document the Temple Stadium Project
Temple University has plans to construct a football stadium along north Broad Street, another example of the school's expansion into the local community. Support The Philadelphia Public History Truck, winner of the 2016 Outstanding Public History Project award, to archive this moment in time and collect personal memories from the local community. The Public History Truck can augment the narrative regarding the university's expansion and humanize the impact it has on the local residents.
What does it take for a project to rise to the top?
Consider each of the proposed projects in several different ways. Is there the organizational will and capacity to implement? Does the proposed project promise quality results? Would it be considered a good investment in terms of community impact? Is now the right time to implement? Will the project leverage additional resources now or in the future? How would you rank the projects using this and additional criteria?
Come back tomorrow to learn about another five project ideas.
100% of the SBD rewards from this #explore1918 post will support the Philadelphia History Initiative @phillyhistory. This crypto-experiment conducted by graduate courses at Temple University's Center for Public History and MLA Program, is exploring history and empowering education. Click here to learn more.
Out of this bunch, I'm throwing my support behind the paid internship plan for Art-Reach. It seems like a great organization, and I certainly know the struggle of finding paid internships. This is a great, straightforward, effective way to get students involved in the cultural sector when they otherwise wouldn't be able to due to finances and/or disability. The sector needs young people getting involved, and this is a way in. It also meets our mission as public historians to help provide opportunities to underprivileged groups.
I also like the History Truck idea, but I'd want to know more specifics about how our Steem would allow for the collection of memories and how they would be used in the larger fight against the stadium.
For some of the other ideas, I'm worried that our money wouldn't be enough to develop a concrete, effective action. Again, funding the internships seems like the most straight-forward plan.
I like the idea of a paid internship for Art-Reach as well, especially with the challenge unpaid internships present in the cultural sector. Art-Reach does seem like a well run organization that will likely be successful in response to challenges as they arise.
One of the biggest things I took away from our last class meeting was the need for funders to consider the existing needs in nonprofits and to simply put forth the money to support whatever that intent might be in a specific organization. With that in mind, of the five listed here I support contributing to the Philadelphia Black History Collaborative or the Fund for School District of Philadelphia.
Both of these organizations have a clear mission and project already in motion which our funds could help support. I especially think that funding these organizations would hold a significant community impact. The Black History Collaborative could continue supporting Black History education in schools, and the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia acts to develop additional programs in schools.
If the idea is to cede authority of this money over to the nonprofits in question, rather than proposing new (and admittedly brilliant) projects, then these are the two of these five organizations I would support.
Yeah @dduquette, I also think the History Collaborative is my favorite pitch here. Both @engledd and I have talked about the lack of connection between Philadelphia's public schools and its museums. @engledd suggested walking tour materials and I suggested allocating money for buses. In any case, I think the Collaborative is an organization well positioned to make a huge difference in students' lives and make the Philadelphia museum culture more vital at the same time!
I think you bring up some really good points Derek. If we can attract the attention and collaborate with large and stable organizations it is more likely that our contribution will have a lasting impact.
Clear mission statements are vital to the success of non-profits and we have seen how lack of direction can negatively impact the growth of the cultural sector. That is why I through my backing behind Fund for the School District of Philadelphia.
I think we will do best to cede authority of this money rather than propose new projects, mostly because there is so much potential in education. With programs like the Black History Collaborative and the Fund, we plant a strong seed that can be watered by successful organizations and grow into much larger cultural achievements.
I love the paid internship one. It creates entry-level experience in the target field for the interns while they earn pocket money.
Thank you for your support! Unpaid internships are unfortunately universal in the cultural sector, which closes off future employment to populations who cannot afford to have those internships. Especially for organizations like Art-Reach who specifically work with underserved populations, paid internships open the doors to not just accessing the cultural sector but actively participating in it!
That's also my favorite one. Paid internships are so rare, especially in this field. I think it's a great way to get people involved when they otherwise couldn't afford to.
I think all the possible considerations for donations have great, and useful paths. However, it will be a difficult path to pick just one group to donate towards. I think the main concept of the donation should be that of the education. After all, the course taught us so much about cryptocurrencies, why not pass on the knowledge. Whether that educational element chosen is a traditional process or a unique process, is also an important element. It may be best to find a way of combining the traditional with a creative new approach. The concept of taking ideas from these approaches, and combining them to create a collaborative approach seems tangible. “Teach the Creatives of Today How to Fish in Tomorrow’s Pools,” and “Support a Valuable Program Inside Public Schools” could directly influence each other. Teaching block chain to artists would be innovative. However also teaching block chain to school students could set the foundation for the artists of tomorrow as well. It also could help create a better connection between educational intuitions, and non-profits. This relationship could prove vital to both groups involved. Creating a paid Internship would be very interesting. Reaching out to low income/ and or disabled students seems like a great concept. The only concern would be how to facilitate this plan? Would we give the Steem value directly to Art-Reach, or could we incorporate the concept of “teaching the creatives of Today How to Fish in Tomorrows Pools?” I think it all directly relates back to the concept of education. The education of the beneficiary about Steem cryptocurrency will be essential to the best use of the funds. The last idea of deploying the Public History Truck is interesting. However, with the limited time we have to select a group, this concept may not be obtainable due to Temple Stadiums projected timeframe. It would be interesting to include the Public History truck into the Public Schools, and Artists fishing into tomorrow’s pool concept. However, with limited time, this may be difficult to do. Each of these ideas and concepts have great elements. Is it possible to create a collaborative combined program? If so, in what way would you suggest do this?
While collaborating ideas would be great, I agree with @dduquette's point that it's not ideal to have organizations coming up with new programming when many are still trying to stay above water with their current programming. I just don't think we have enough funds to make a big, collaborative plan. But, I also think that no matter who we give the money to, because we are giving it to them in Steem and not $, there will inevitably be an element of educating them about blockchain. Maybe whoever we end up funding will have to include a note on their website about how the project/internship/etc was funded, directing more people to Steemit.
Thanks for sharing these top selections @phillyhistory team! This is an interesting range of prospective Steem Grantees.
We'll do some additional reading into this and think about which non-profits could stand to benefit the most. 3,000+ Steem could make a huge difference to some of these smaller orgs and perhaps kickstart an educational program. It's amazing how much you all have accumulated over the last few months!
Yes, thanks @sndbox. One thing I'd like to see students do here - and I'm not sure we're all there yet - is to stop thinking of the value of currency in traditional ways. I mean, as soon as we're in a USD frame of mind we're once again stepping away from a set of new and interesting possibilities. Basically, if it costs nothing for a NPO to convert its content into Steem, why so readily cash out?
I think most of these options could incorporate Steemit. For example, the Art-Reach interns could post on Steem about what they're doing, generating funds to pay next year's interns. The History Truck could post on Steem to continue generating revenue. That said, they also have immediate needs. Perhaps they could convert some Steem into USD and keep the rest to use as Steem power as a sort of investment into a new revenue stream.
Of course that's still running the risk of a big crash obliterating their Steem, and it seems like most NPOs are not willing to take that risk when they can barely afford to keep the lights on.
I think there is the pull to "cash out" to prove the viability of this process. We need quick wins to prove the mettle of this endeavor.
That being said, your challenge to think of currency in nontraditional ways is interesting, can you unpack that? I think it really boils down to the non-profits we select and how cash(poor/or not) they are. If they need money for a specific project and they want to get in and out versus if they are looking for a potential new revenue stream that may take some time to become reliable, but they are willing to take the time to learn about Steemit and blockchain potential.
Ideally, I think that any potential "winner" of funding should want to understand the dynamics of Steemit and Steem - rather than simply be in it for the cash. As a non-traditional funding approach, I think it offers a new wrinkle as to what sustainability might mean. But, as we see from the recent currency market, it also requires patience.
I think the paid internship is the best of the five options here. The program already exists and is successful, and paying interns would both increase access now and in the future as former interns eventually become sector leaders. It is an investment in people.
However, I am concerned about the longevity of it. As soon as the funding runs out, the problem will return. Perhaps the interns could use Steem to generate revenue while completing their projects to generate funds for more interns. I'm still worried that this would be very hard without the help of some whales.
In addition, we need to make sure the pay per intern is high enough, which may mean limiting the number of paid interns more than we would like. And if Art Reach does want to keep some Steem to use as Steem Power, that limits the available funding even more.
I like supporting the Black History Collective as well, but I'd like to see how they would propose to use the money before committing more fully.
good post I like everything you put in that post
@phillyhistory
Black History Collaborative – Interesting idea! They already exist within the school system and are working to improve the curriculum. It has immediate, on-the-ground impact. And, if we're focusing on an initiative that doesn't cash out the Steem (though, most organizations will likely not have the requisite time/labor to maintain a Steemit account), these teachers could have their students write and post. This has the possibility of using the seed Steem to generate more money in the long-term.
Blockchain literacy project – Who would run it? How would it be sustainable in the long-term (e.g., staffing)? Who would train the trainers? Some of the organizations mentioned have their own challenges (like the Painted Bride, which is selling its building).
The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia – Where would the funding go exactly? What program or specific need is it aiding? How do we know the money wouldn't just go to administration? This feels ambiguous.
Art Reach paid internships – This sounds amazing, however nobody on the staff of Art-Reach is disabled and they're nearly all white. This organization doesn't have a very good track record with internal diversity and inclusion. Yes, the intern could write/post on Steemit to generate more funds, however there might be a better place to start such a great initiative – somewhere with a better work environment and providing more direct services (rather than just a pass-through entity distributing tickets).
Public History Truck – I've always found this project problematic, run by young, white public history professionals soliciting poor communities of color to collect stories. I'm wary of the pseudo-grassroots approach that doesn't incorporate community members as interviewers and interviewees alike. In order to truly upend the white historiographical gaze, everyone must be included in the interpretation and curation of their histories. The celebration of the project by "the field," at times, felt white savior-esque and self-congratulatory. Indeed, for whom do we need to "humanize" local residents' histories? Surely not residents themselves. If we can do away with white spectatorship, then of course this would be a wonderful and self-sustainable idea. New Steemit posts used to generate funding could consist of excerpts from oral history transcriptions.
These are all great proposals that address major needs in Philly's cultural sector! I think the proposal that best reflects the objectives of this course includes training creatives how to leverage blockchain and Steemit. Clearly we want to show nonprofits new funding methods and the importance of being adaptive, but is that a substantial outcome of this course/experiment? Although we want to instill these lessons, I think we want a flashier result. Besides, wouldn't the award demonstrate those ideals to whichever organization we settle on? If we funded the Art-Reach internships, for example, we could both demonstrate the value of this new platform and yield an immediate result.