The Vines (Fall 2024)

Partner Background

The Vines Foundation is a catalyst for positive change in Tunuyan, a city in the Western province of Mendoza, Argentina. Our mission is to promote the capacity of our community through sustainable initiatives that improve food security, strengthen socioeconomic independence, and contribute to the holistic wellbeing of each child in our community. As the philanthropic arm of The Vines, an Argentine farming, winemaking and hospitality company (vinesofmendoza.com, vinesresortandspa.com) with deep international connections, the Foundation is leveraging its resources to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the local community. Most importantly, we are seeking to increase capacity and participation through engaging community members and organizations, local and national businesses, and the municipal government to address complex challenges. 

 

Definition of Opportunity

The Vines Foundation seeks assistance in researching best practices and devising a plan to integrate our Relief Aid and Community Development efforts through the establishment of a multi-purpose community center (that might focus on nutrition, health, and education, as well as sports and recreation, as well as mental health support). This center will be a focal point for (1) relief aid outreach services and (2) community development initiatives, particularly vocational training programs for the hospitality sector. These programs will equip individuals with the knowledge and skills needed for stable employment.

For the Uco Valley community, these programs represent an opportunity for economic development by creating a skilled workforce that can support and attract businesses in the hospitality industry. For the students, these programs provide a path to financial stability, career advancement, and personal growth, including essential life skills like teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. By improving the well-being of individuals, we aim to foster a thriving and dynamic community.

Vision of Success

Through working with the Fall 2024 GAC, we hope to gain insight and devise these final deliverables:

• Based on the community assessment, define the best location(s), partners and physical components of the community center. Summarize what the community is hoping to achieve with this community center, identify risks & opportunities and list potential partners.  Provide recommendations for next steps forward.

• Based on best practice research, what community center models should be considered by the The Vines Foundation?  Identify the key factors that must be considered, possible financial resources and recommend the best next steps forward..

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

Education Bridge (Fall 2024)

Project Background

Education Bridge aims to create flourishing South Sudanese communities through holistic education and conflict transformation by educating a generation of peacemakers and transformational leaders to address the perpetual cycle of poverty and violence in South Sudan. Education Bridge drives this change through a unique and holistic approach to secondary education that merges peacebuilding curriculum, leadership development and academic excellence that is implemented through our schools - Greenbelt Academies.  Led by South Sudanese Notre Dame graduate Majak Anyieth ’17, the Greenbelt Academy currently serves over 1,200 students in grades 9-12 at two schools in the capital, Juba (Central Equatoria State), and in Bor (Jonglei State). These two high-performing secondary schools are ranked among the highest in the country. In addition to a desire to add more secondary schools across the country, Education Bridge has launched a teacher training network for its alumni as a pathway into primary school teaching. 

Education Bridge has worked with Notre Dame DAT teams over multiple semesters on projects related to developing a peacebuilding curriculum, enhancing opportunities for girls, contributing to organizational sustainability, and developing international partnerships. They are now considering the possibility of expanding schools and developing criteria for doing so.

Definition of Opportunity

The immense youth unemployment crisis across Africa presents an important opportunity to education organisations on the continent: how will we prepare young people to successfully transition into a world where they will need to address intensifying global challenges and create employment opportunities for their communities? In South Sudan, this is an especially pertinent question - with over 70% of the country's population being under the age of 30. Less than 1% of young people transition into university, and employment opportunities are extremely scarce. This poses a serious threat to the potential for dignified livelihoods, but also for the overall peace and stability within the country. Education Bridge is focused on developing a generation of transformational leaders and peacemakers who can end violent conflict and poverty in their communities. Over the last years, Education Bridge has developed a secondary school program that serves this purpose well. In the next few years, Education Bridge will have to expand their programming to ensure they are providing their students and alumni with the right support to successfully transition into the important community leadership role that will see alumni make meaningful changes in the country. Some questions to consider: What will enable Education Bridge alumni to become high-impact leaders in their communities? What support do they need at different stages of their journeys? What are the biggest challenges they might face, and how could Education Bridge best mobilise resources to help their students address and overcome them?

Definition of Success

A successful project will have a number of key outputs: 1. A strategy that defines and outlines key programmatic approaches to addressing the challenge at hand. 2. Work with Education Bridge to identify potential funding organizations and develop an actual proposal for at least one of those organizations and 3. Help develop a pitch for a proposal that can be used to approach potential funders passionate about this work with Education Bridge. 

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables

Global Affairs Canada (Fall 2024)

Project Background

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is responsible for defining, shaping and advancing Canada’s interests and values in a complex global environment. GAC manages diplomatic relations, promotes international trade, provides consular assistance and leads international development, humanitarian and peace and security assistance efforts. It also contributes to national security and the development of international law.

The Strategic Coordination and Analysis unit, in the Transnational Threats and Conflicts Bureau, produces tailored analysis and advisory support to inform Canada’s peace and security programming in conflict settings. It also works alongside other parts of the department and diplomatic missions on responses to conflict and security threats and conducts analyses on emerging security challenges.

Definition of Opportunity

Since 2018, Coastal West Africa (CWA) has seen an increase of instability with a spike of violent extremist attacks and widespread intercommunal tensions and conflicts in northern regions along the borders with the Sahel. In order to address the window of opportunity to prevent more instability from emerging and spreading, GAC developed a Conflict Prevention Framework to guide its peace and security approach in southern regions of the Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) and northern regions of CWA (Benin, Côte d’ivoire, Ghana and Togo). The framework is underpinned by an in-depth analysis of conflict drivers and regional trends, intended to inform Canada’s engagement in the region to prevent the spillover of conflict and instability in transborder regions. Of the various conflict drivers examined, the relationship between climate and security needs further research. GAC is interested in understanding how climate change impacts security dynamics in northern regions of CWA. For instance, how are strict conservation and environmentalist policies fuelling community grievances in northern Benin (W—Arly—Pendjari Parks)? How are violent extremist organizations (VEOs) capitalizing on these grievances to recruit disenchanted youth and marginalized communities? How are governments in Coastal West Africa responding to the rising security threats amid rising tensions over access to natural resources?

Definition of Success

We would be delighted to have short and insightful research that allows us to better understand the linkages between climate change and security in Coastal West Africa. Short analytical pieces and mappings will boost our knowledge about this thematic. We want to clearly identify how these thematic fuels conflict drivers and enable the spillover of violence and VEO activity in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

Partners In Health (Fall 2024)

Project Background

Partners In Health (PIH) is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to providing high-quality healthcare to marginalized communities, addressing social determinants of health, and advocating for health equity. PIH Engage is its grassroots advocacy and fundraising network, mobilizing volunteers to support PIH’s mission through community organizing, education, and policy change efforts.  

The need for community health systems strengthening became increasingly evident for Partners In Health (PIH) in 2014, when we were invited by local partners and Ministries of Health in Liberia and Sierra Leone to join the effort to address the ongoing Ebola epidemic in West Africa. It was reinforced in 2020, when we responded to calls from our partners around the world to help fill crucial gaps in local and national responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our experiences delivering care in community during these crises, witnessing the impact of community-based solutions on equitable outcomes, and our work partnering with Ministries of Health to strengthen health systems in their wake was the impetus for PIH to launch the Global Academy for Community Health Systems Resilience (the Global Academy), in partnership with the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) and the Aspen Global Innovators Group. 

Definition of Opportunity

The Global Academy, currently in its first year of implementation, is a twelve-month-long fellowship program which convenes community leaders to learn from experts in community health and health systems strengthening and to work together to pilot innovative, community-centred solutions to the most pressing challenges and underexplored opportunities in their communities. The program recognises the power in bringing together community leaders from diverse backgrounds to learn from one another and engage in a collaborative exchange of experiences and best practices. Our long-term vision is to build a collective voice of community leaders who can influence plans, policies, and movements in the fight to strengthen community health systems worldwide. 

As part of this collaborative effort, PIH contributes our experience in care delivery and health systems strengthening and our global network of implementers and partners. This fellowship program is built on the experience and expertise of UGHE, PIH’s training and research university in Rwanda, which has extensive experience delivering transformative executive education to healthcare and public health professionals on the African continent through its Center for Leadership in Global Health Equity. Together with the Aspen Global Innovators Group, who have extensive, global experience catalysing leadership potential to drive community change, we are seeking to elevate the place of community in the global conversation around health systems resilience and to shine a light on interventions for strengthening community health systems.

Definition of Success

• A successful final product would be in the form of a well-written, well-packaged and visually appealing report, including the following components:

  • Background and rationale of the Global Academy in the context of PIH’s mission and values and the global conversation about health systems resilience

  • Profiles of our current fellows, including the early impact that this program is having in their personal and professional lives, and on their understanding of community health systems resilience

  • Illustrative case studies on the early outcomes of our current fellows’ breakthrough projects

  • Engaging imagery

  • Short video summary of the report, produced from interview footage, graphics provided by interviewees, and other publicly available materials

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable