Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • In Myanmar's slums, women pool savings to get relief from crushing loans

    Years of misrule and a subsequent dearth of hard currency, along with crippling bank-fostered debt cycles and exorbitant home mortgage interest rates, have created immense suffering for Myanmar's poor. But with the guidance of a local NGO, Women for the World, a pilot project helped women in some of Yangon's poorest neighborhoods capitalize on their cultural "head-of-household" status; by forming and managing community savings cooperatives, the women have instilled trust through local control and, above all, enabled members to secure land, build homes, buy food, and even generate profit through loans to families' business enterprises.

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  • How One Consulting Firm Is Testing Its Models And Doubling The Yield Of Small Indian Farms

    Fresh Harvest farms is the first foray into social enterprise and agriculture by revolutionary consulting firm Innovation Alchemy. It reflects a positive and growing trend in the professional services community to directly innovative and experiment with models and ideas before pitching them to clients. They provide insights on social innovation, sustainability, supply chain management and advice on how to scale up solutions for the base of the pyramid by experiencing firsthand what their clients need through the management of Fresh Harvest.

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  • One town's quest to join tech revolution – and what it says about digital inequality

    As technology continues to play an ever increasing role in education - and subsequently, job opportunities - many rural towns with limited resources are struggling to provide their students, particularly those from low-income families, with the devices necessary to stay ahead in the digital age. In Greeley, CO - a town with significant minority and refugee populations that have little or no internet access at home - the digital divide and the wealth disparity between school districts is particularly stark. But the schools in Greeley remain determined - cobbling together old donated computers, salvaged devices, grants and fundraisers, to try and help provide better opportunities and more efficient education for all their students.

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  • As Its Neediest Schools Struggle, What Can PA Learn From Ontario's Success?

    Part 5 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario is widely lauded for its education system, thanks to more rigorous teacher preparation, universal pre-K, and a deeply rooted commitment to prioritizing the neediest students. Meanwhile, districts like that of Kenderton, Pennsylvania are floundering in a broken system that leaves many kids - especially minorities - behind. What can they learn from Ontario's model?

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  • N.J. will eliminate cash bail, speed up criminal trials in 2017

    New Jersey has eliminated cash bail and will instead make a determination, driven in part by computer algorithms, on whether someone is likely to commit another crime or not show up for their court date. This eliminates a system where more than a third of people awaiting trial were behind bars only because they could not afford bail. If a judge does decide to hold someone in jail, another reform kicks in assuring a speedy trial by setting required deadlines for cases to be heard.

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  • How Ontario's vision of equity for schools contrasts starkly with Pennsylvania's

    Part 1 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario has become widely lauded for its education system, celebrated for both high performance and relatively smaller achievement gaps between wealthy and poor students, thanks to the concept of "equity." This manifests, in essence, as more funding per-pupil to the school boards that serve students who face the greatest obstacles. The model contrasts starkly to the school system in Pennsylvania, regarded as "the most inequitable in the nation.”

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  • The Salvadoran Community Where Women Take the Lead

    Women in El Salvador have long faced the extreme challenges of having fewer economic and social rights than men, making it difficult to survive when tragedy - such as an earthquake - strikes. The Romero community, which comprises of 90% women, is providing protection and community for women where they help each other survive.

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  • What Caused the Populist Earthquake of 2016

    In 2016, the US had a historically large populist backlash against the political establishment. This inspired Hedric Smith to highlight where and how political reform in the US has succeeded or failed in an Orcas Current Lecture Series.

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  • The Students, Families Who Can't Afford Internet in the Bronx

    In an era when success in school and the workplace is so heavily reliant on internet access, almost 20 percent of New York City households still lack internet access at home. Fortunately, the New York City Housing Authority is taking steps to address the issue by providing solutions such as installing free hotspots, distributing complimentary Wi-Fi equipment, and even parking digital vans outside of public housing complexes so that residents can easily and freely access computers, printers, and the Internet.

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  • Cash and Tech Replace Bags of Rice in Urban Humanitarian Aid

    Refugees often find cold cash far more helpful than bags of rice or other products foundations provide. Iris scanners can make identity verification much easier for refugees to access money that is distributed to them at banks.

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