Dare to Dream Fund
Project Description:
Our projects are a suite of on-line social
networks that address critical needs around education--Dare to Dream's
iConnect®, iParent® and iTeach®. iConnect®, the "oldest" of the three,
is an on-line social network for youth who have a desire to succeed in life. It's a powerful peer-to-peer mentoring forum with unparalleled resources for
young people who want to go to college but don't necessarily have ready
access to counselors, advisors, etc. We have a college advisor who
blogs weekly, micro-scholarships for youth and a school-to-career portal. iTeach® is a similar environment for
teachers where they can collaborate on best practices and develop
professional learning communities. iParent® is where parents can go
and talk about parenting needs or learn about the college application
process for their son or daughter. These
networks ensure that all components required to promote educational
access & success in young people are met.
Project Goal:
When we started iConnect® in August '09, our goals were:
- have at least 150 members by the end of 2009
- have 2010 members by 2010
- raise $10,000 in micro-scholarship funds in 2010
- launch a school-to-career portal in 2010
For iTeach®, our goal this year is:
- have 200 new members by April 2010
For iParent®, our goal is
- have 200 new members by June 2010
What Happened?:
Because iConnect® was launched the earliest, we are excited to share
our successes. Yes, we did meet and exceed our 2009 membership goal
and ended 2009 with 160+ "Dreamers". We currently have 188 "Dreamers"
from our local high schools but also all over the world. We have
expanded the network through word of mouth - young people inviting
young people. The thing we are most proud of us the tone of the
network. It's an environment that is for
youth by youth with 99% of the content created by them. It's a no
bragging, no bullying environment where young people encourage each
other, support each other and are there to help each other. One of our
Dreamers, a 1st generation college student, said recently that she
would not have known how to survive the college application season
without iConnect® and the resources it provided. We just recently
launched iTeach® two days ago and so far we have 28 members--all
teachers or principals at the Monterey Peninsula Unified School
District. The response has been very positive and welcoming. We are
aware that we are infusing the education world with a new kind of
technology that has not yet penetrated its culture. We are excited to
see how this new tool will bring about change in our public school
system. So far, we are on track with our goals.
Lessons Learned:
On iConnect®, we would do a more expanded focus group next time. The
16-23 year old audience is the hardest to market to penetrate but they
are incredibly loyal. We would have presented directly to youth versus
adults who have access to them.
URLs:
Nina Rosete
Dare to Dream Fund