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Our mission is to provide opportunities for higher education without regard to race, religion, or nation of birth. We currently have 47 ECE Scholars enrolled in 6 partner universities in Nashville, TN. Criteria for our scholarships include a B average, a documented financial need, a definite career goal, and a legal status of undocumented or DACA as these students are not eligible for student loans, federal aid, and cannot attend any state colleges as an in state resident. We provide each scholar with two mentors, one an older student at their university and the other an established individual in their career goal to offer guidance, support, and guaranteed professional success post college. We believe that we are granting our scholars an equal chance to achieve their American Dream and become productive members of society through a college degree.

We are a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to: (1) Reshape the attitudes of society so that people with disabilities can more fully participate in and contribute to society, and (2) Empower people with disabilities to achieve as much of the American Dream as their abilities and efforts permit. RespectAbility was founded to correct and prevent the current disparity of justice for people with disabilities. We are a stronger community when we live up to our values -- when we are welcoming, diverse, moral, and respect one another. People with disabilities and their families have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else, even if they face different challenges. Together we can build a more just and inclusive community where our children, parents, grandparents, and other family and friends with and without disabilities have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Vaga Lume Association is a Brazilian non-profit organization founded in 2001 grounded in the belief that investing in people is the best way to transform a reality. Its mission is to create opportunities for cultural exchange by reading, writing and orality, valuing the empowerment of people and rural communities of the Brazilian Legal Amazon region. Vaga Lume works in 160 rural communities (indigenous, riverside, roadside, rural settlement people or quilombolas - Brazilian with African descent) of 23 municipalities in the Brazilian Legal Amazon region, which encompasses nine federal states (Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondonia, Roraima and Tocantins), occupies 59% of the Brazilian territory and has 20 million people (12% of the Brazilian population). Despite the fact that education and culture are basic social rights, protected by the Brazilian Constitution and under human rights international treaties ratified by Brazil, its access and implementation in the Amazon region are very limited. It is one of the poverty zones in Brazil - with a GDP per capita 30% lower than the national value - where 42% of the population survives with less than US$ 5.00 a day. Due to the outstanding impact of Vaga Lume's work in the region, the organization is recognized by many international and national awards such as the Juscelino Kubitschek Award of Merit for Regional Development in Latin America and the Caribbean given by the Inter-American Development Bank (2009); the Millennium Development Goals Award, conferred by the United Nations and the Brazilian government (2005); the Vivaleitura Award, from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education (2008); and the Chico Mendes Environment Award, given by the Ministry of Environment (2006 and 2008). In 2011, Vaga Lume received its most important recognition: the 4th place at the Intercultural Innovation Award, conferred by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group. As an awardee, in 2012, Vaga Lume was welcomed to the World Intercultural Facility for Innovation (WIFI), a network formed by the UNAOC, the BMW Group and the ten 2011 winners. Through this network, the UNAOC and the BMW Group challenged all winners to replicate and scale up their actions to promote intercultural dialogue and offered training, consultancy and institutional support to assist organizations to accomplish such results.

Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) was created in 2001 in response to the HIV crisis in western Kenya. It is built on a partnership between Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Moi University School of Medicine in Eldoret, Kenya, and a consortium of North American academic health centers, led by Indiana University. The partners joined forces to create one of Africa's largest, most comprehensive and effective HIV/AIDS management and control systems. AMPATH is a formal partner with the United States government through a $75 million grant from USAID and has continually expanded its successful HIV approach to into a more comprehensive primary health care system. With a tri-partite mission of care, education, and research, AMPATH provides healthcare services to a population of 3.5 million people in western Kenya and focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of the entire population-leaving no one behind.

Nourish is a NoN Profit organization registered with the Department of Social Development in South Africa. Started by a young South African woman in 2011, Nourish was created to be a platform that could link conservation needs, issues and ideals with community issues and ideals - and aims to find integrated sustainable solutions to conservation issues such as poverty, low education standards, lack if food security and unemployment. Finding solutions that break the poverty cycle and create healthy resilient communities are ultimately solutions that link these individuals and communities back to their wildlife heritage and the jobs/opportunities created in the wildlife and tourism economy. Especially in the area of Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, where we focus our projects, there is a huge amount of poaching which is a conservation issue, but also a huge amount of poverty, as this is a neglected and under served area/community in South Africa. Solutions aimed at linking and bridging the two are the only way for this area to have a sustainable future. This is where Nourish focuses it's projects; investing into sustainable livelihoods that will benefit communities and conservation, boosting their resilience.

The Children's Radio Foundation (CRF) uses radio training and broadcast to create opportunities for youth dialogue, participation, leadership, and active citizenship. Through giving youth the tools and skills to produce radio, young people are mobilized to engage in productive dialogue about the issues they face, and work together to improve their lives and communities. With 74 youth radio projects across six African countries, CRF works with radio stations and CBOs to create local platforms for discussion, information sharing, social engagement, and action. Our reporters take on issues that resonate with youth in their community, including but not limited to children's rights, sexual reproductive health and rights, power dynamics in teenage relationships, gender norms and stereotypes, HIV and AIDS-related issues, climate change, and the environment. Speaking in local languages and in a youth-friendly style, they interview community members, host debates, and bring out local perspectives. Their reporting projects, broadcasts, and outreach activities are geared to generate discussion about issues facing youth.

The Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!) was established in 2008 to help rural populations in the developing world prepare for water, food, and fuel shortages resulting from the impact of climate change on their communities. CREATE! operates on the principle that all people have a right to water, food, shelter, energy, and the means to earn a living. We work with village populations to meet these needs through a culturally respectful, participatory process grounded in our belief that people must have a stake in their development and contribute towards solving their own problems. The cooperative groups in our beneficiary villages have already demonstrated the validity of this approach. CREATE! currently operates in Senegal. Senegal is representative of many Sub-Saharan African countries that are hardest hit by the increasingly disastrous effects of global climate change. CREATE! responds to the inter-connected crises generated by climate change with strategies that decrease dependence on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources, and increase the use of appropriate technologies. Our programs produce sustainable, human needs-based development at the village level while forging resilient and vibrant communities across rural Senegal. CREATE! seeks to face these challenges and assist rural Senegalese residents with small-scale, accessible, and "appropriate" technologies - technologies that are adapted to, and fit, their local conditions - and with human needs-based strategies that can both better their lives and build their capacity to meet these inter-connected challenges. CREATE! works in six villages in two regions of Senegal. One region is in the rural north of Senegal, centered around Linguere in the Louga Region, where CREATE! implements programs in the village of Ouarkhokh. The other region is in the central-west of Senegal, centered around Gossas in the Fatick Region. CREATE! implements program activities in five villages in this region. The total beneficiary population of the six villages is approximately 12,000 people, comprised of both agricultural and pastoral peoples. The average per capita annual income of the population in these villages is approximately $350 a year. In each of these villages, CREATE! staff work closely with local and traditional authorities, including village chiefs and imams, in addition to other community leaders, families, and public schools. CREATE! values the expertise and input of community members and strives to incorporate their knowledge and participation into each stage of our programs. As a registered NGO in Senegal, CREATE! works with government officials from the regional office of the Department of Water and Forestry. CREATE! also respects the Senegalese government's strategic development goals for rural communities. Although CREATE!'s administrative office is located in the United States, CREATE! relies on local Senegalese staff and volunteers to plan and implement successful development interventions. Barry Wheeler, CREATE! Founder and Executive Director, has spent the past 27 years working to alleviate suffering and to provide basic human needs for rural villagers, displaced persons, and refugees in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. After serving in the Peace Corps for six years as an Improved Cook Stove and Appropriate Technology volunteer, trainer, and technical advisor in Togo, Barry earned a Master's degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. Barry has served as Country Director for the American Refugee Committee's programs in Uganda, Sudan, and Rwanda; as a consultant for UNICEF and UNHCR; and as a team leader and training coordinator in local capacity building, renewable and appropriate technology, and sustainable rural development. CREATE! Chief Operations Officer Louise Ruhr has more than 30 years of private sector and nonprofit management experience and has spent the past eight years working with international NGOs, including the American Refugee Committee, to support women's cooperative groups in Rwanda and Senegal. CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck oversees program activities and conducts site visits in CREATE! communities. He also manages CREATE!'s finances and staff in Senegal. Omar closely collaborates with local and traditional authorities, community volunteers, and CREATE! staff to achieve both organizational and village goals.

A Catalyst for the Disability Employment Movement, the National Organization on Disability (NOD) is a private, non-profit organization that promotes the full participation of America’s 56 million people with disabilities in all aspects of life. Today, NOD focuses on increasing employment opportunities for the 79 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities who are not employed. With programs on the ground, NOD is demonstrating new employment practices and models of service delivery, evaluating results, and sharing successful approaches for widespread replication. We are conducting research on disability employment issues, including the field’s most widely used polls on employment trends and the quality of life for people with disabilities. And our subject matter experts in disability and employment provide consulting services to public agencies and employers seeking to harness the unique talents that people with disabilities can bring to the workforce. To achieve our goals, we work in partnership with employers, schools, the military, service providers, researchers, and disability advocates. Our current employment programs are benefiting high school students with disabilities transitioning into the workforce, seriously injured service members, employers seeking to become more disability friendly, and state governments engaged in policy reform.

The Disability Policy Consortium of Texas (DPC) is an independent group of health and disability advocacy organizations committed to promoting the rights, inclusion and independence of Texans with disabilities. The Guiding Principles of the DPC are: People with disabilities possess the dignity and worth innate to every human being. Individuals with disabilities, like all other people, have unique abilities, preferences, needs, desires, goals and dreams. People with disabilities have the right to full access and inclusion in all aspects of community life. Children with disabilities have the right to grow up in a family. Individuals with disabilities have the right to act on their own behalf, to direct their own future, to represent their own interests, and to make decisions and take risks based on their own goals and values. People with disabilities have the right to accurate and timely information, presented in a manner they can use, in order to have options and make informed choices. Individuals with disabilities and their families have the right to full participation in the making of policies that will affect their lives. People with disabilities and their families have the right to accessible services and supports customized to their needs, flexible to changing circumstances, and provided in their home communities. People with disabilities are entitled to the same civil rights protections as any American citizen. People with disabilities have the right to freedom from abuse and neglect.

Project1808 promotes sustainable community development in Kabala, Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone by aiding young students in their efforts to identify and address the root causes of poverty, public and environmental health challenges, and other community-identified concerns. Among our project's specific aims are the following: Fostering academic excellence and nurturing a resilient knowledge base through student mentoring, tutoring, internships, and teacher training programs. Stimulating curiosity, creativity, and innovation through student generated projects that enhance knowledge and encourage students to implement their ideas in ways that benefit their communities. Facilitating local and global partnerships for knowledge exchange, training for students, teachers and community members, student mentoring, and resources to sustain the community knowledge base Our Model Project1808 Model for sustainable development At the core of our sustainable community model is an investment in disadvantaged youth, schools, and their communities to form the building blocks as LEGOs of healthy communities in Sierra Leone and Africa. Through specific GLocal (Global and Local) partnerships, we practice the concept of thinking globally and acting locally, enhancing the exchange of knowledge, increasing the cultural competency, and expanding the worldview of all of our participants. Project1808 is committed to optimizing partnerships between educational institutions locally, within Africa and overseas, particularly with the involvement of other African countries. We want to bring back hope to youths (and whole communities) whose lives, homes, families, schools, infrastructure, institutions were destroyed by 11 years of war in Sierra Leone.

Through the commitment, motivation, determination and professionalism of its staff, COOPI aims to contribute to the process of fighting poverty and developing the communities with which it cooperates all over the world, intervening in situations of emergency, reconstruction and development, in order to achieve a better balance between the Global North and the Global South, between developed areas and deprived or developing areas.

How To Save Millions Of Lives With A Simple MP3 Player The solar-powered device developed by URIDU is used to provide health education to illiterate rural women in developing countries Every six seconds a child under five dies. Almost all of those deaths occur in developing countries - and most of them are entirely preventable. Millions of lives could be saved just by providing illiterate rural mothers with accessible health education. Unfortunately, bringing this knowledge to remote locations has so far been an enormous challenge for both governments and NGOs. A new project is tackling that problem with a groundbreaking solution based on solar-powered MP3 players. The so-called MP3forLife Player has been developed by URIDU (www.uridu.org), a German non-profit social enterprise. Each player contains more than 400 carefully selected answers to questions about health, nutrition, family planning, child care, work safety and many more topics. All texts are translated with the help of more than 10.000 volunteers from over 100 countries who participate in a unique crowdsourcing effort. Once the information has been translated it is recorded by a native speaker of the target language. Local NGOs are taking care of distributing MP3forLife Players free of charge to women in need. We conceived the MP3forLife Player for small group listening - it fosters discussion, exchange and group building", explains Felicitas Heyne, psychologist and founder of URIDU. We want to provide basic knowledge to illiterate rural women, but we also want to create a team spirit among them. They are key to positive change in their countries. Wherever women are empowered, a favorable spiral is set in motion. Health and education improve, populations stabilize, economies grow." The MP3forLife approach has been successfully implemented in Tanzania in co-ordination with the national Ministry for Health and Social Welfare. Further East African countries are following the example. About URIDU: URIDU is a German non-profit social enterprise that empowers rural women in developing countries using solar-powered MP3 players and mobile-friendly web content. The organization's website at www.uridu.org contains additional information.