Our history
“Leadership is highly personal. It begins with the self. If you’re not sure about who you are, if you haven’t defined your unique purpose and vision, why should anyone follow you — especially during these times?” Nick Craig, President of the Authentic Leadership Institute
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011
Two minds, one vision: starting in New York
In 2007, the time was ripe, Frank Cohn and Sarah Gogel had been waiting many years to meet to create Global Potential (GP). These two young serial social entrepreneurs with their Masters of Social Work, an average of 10 years of experience in community and youth development, collectively speaking nine languages and having lived and worked in 13 countries, met at the perfect time in one of the world’s most famous melting pot cities, New York, to build up an innovative program Global Potential (GP), (www.global-potential.org). Together they created GP under the umbrella of Frank’s organization that he founded, Globalhood, Inc. GH was founded by Frank and two of his colleagues including Marina Kaneti in 2006 to create innovative international development projects by bringing together people and knowledge from across disciplines. It was part of a socila work project supervised by Professor James Mandiberg in 2005.
Frank and Sarah, with significant knowledge in cross cultural adaptation and a strong understanding of the challenges of living and working overseas, were introduced by a friend in common who knew each other’s coinciding visions for Global Potential.
For many years, Frank and Sarah had been expressing to their friends, classmates, colleagues, professors and others in their surrounding their desire to use their positions of relative privilege to create opportunities for low-income youth to travel and be inspired by global community work. They had both personally and professionally experienced the transformative power that participation in travel and volunteer programs to remote areas of the developing world have to challenge and inform perceptions about self, community, and the world. They were convinced to the core that poverty was not only about lack of resources but also a perception of self. They knew that low-income youth living in poverty are more at risk for negative outcomes than youth from high-income families. This needed to be resolved: these youth were an untapped source for future leadership roles in our global society and ever.
Frank and Sarah were determined to diminish the “summer achievement gap” described by leading economist of Education at Princeton, Alan Krueger, describing the drastic decline in fall test scores for students from low-income families compared to the spring, because of the lack of summer learning and enrichment programs that can influence student success in school.
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Background work
Coincidentally, Frank and Sarah had been eating all their meals at the same table for three months, in Varanasi, India, with the same families, six years apart. Unaware, they had closely followed each other geographically and professionally in India through the Where There Be Dragons program, in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and in New York for their Masters in Social Work in different schools.
Frank and Sarah had both separately already analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of WTBD and other programs, so when they met they immediately put all their knowledge together under the umbrella of Globalhood, Inc., into what it has become today, four years later the booming non-profit program, Global Potential. Simultaneously, another flagship project of GH was created, called GlobalVote
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Starting and sustaining GP fearlessly
In September 2007, Frank and Sarah decided to not fall into the trap of most investors to think that it is riskier to take lower-income youth internationally and that that no insurance provider would want to cover them, that they would be too challenging to manage in the field, that the program would be too time consuming and expensive to manage. Their theory of change was that there is actually less risks associated with taking these at-risk youth internationally, that they are more resilient and flexible than others to better handle the challenges of a international rural experience, they they are more capable of forming real and sustainable bonds with the community.
They immediately began to pull together their first team of passionate volunteers that would make Global Potential a reality. They relied on in kind donations, fundraising events, individual and corporate donations to obtain the resources necessary to run the program. They operated with a bare minimum of expenses, with all incidental costs such as printing, office supplies, and transportation to meetings and conferences which were underwritten by GP’s 25 plus volunteers. Through Globalhood, they were able to obtain pro-bono professional services (Legal, Accounting, Design), meeting space, and volunteer staff to operate at a low cost.
GP held six fundraising events the first year (August 2007, October 2007, April 2008, June 2008, October 2008, December 2008), raising over $11,000 and raised $5000 from corporate foundations. They immediately started cultivating with several foundations and prospective major gift donors. To date GP has held over 20 fundraisers and events raising over of $20,000, and has raised $30,000 from individual donors and $3,500 from corporate matching grants (UBS, Goldman Sachs and Citibank.) GP staff also work with GP students to raise $300 each with GP’s support. GP has submitted various grant applications and continues to cultivate with several foundations and prospective donors.
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2007-2008: FIRST YEAR, pilot project
In the first pilot year, GP partnered with the International High School of Prospect Heights (IHSPH) in Brooklyn, New York and selected 10 youth who were all recent immigrants or refugees to the US (four from Haiti, three from the Dominican Republic, two from China, and one from Gabon.) They were partnered with GP’s first international host community in the Dominican Republic, which had been selected meticulously, called Batey 8. A Batey is a very poor community of migrant workers and their families who harvest sugarcane in the Dominican Republic. This was a community of Haitian descended Dominicans where 60% of the population earns less than $47 a month and 72% of adults have only an elementary school education.
During the summer of 2008, the youth constructed of a local classroom in collaboration with local community members, as well as town-hall meetings on topics such as racism and poverty in Batey 8. Because it is cheaper for corporations that control sugar production to employ undocumented (“illegal”) workers, most of the workers originally came from Haiti. When GP youth came back after their 1.5 months abroad, they received $1000 in funding from Ashoka youth venture to create their social venture “Planeta Jeunes Kuai Le” (Planet Youth Happy – Spanish/Haitian/Chinese). This was directed at getting teens off the streets, drugs, violence, or other risk activities, through a cross-cultural after-school venture, using art, sports and cultural exchange to engage them in positive recreational activities.
The group’s weekly meetings were self-managed and designed, and facilitated by GP staff with support from Ashoka’s Youth Venture. The pilot year was a success: 9 of the 10 students from GP’s 2008 pilot are currently enrolled in college and the other is enjoying her work!
Staff and volunteers that helped make this first year of GP a reality!
*Michelle Abreu *Sarah Gluck *Jeannie Ferrari *Stéphane Hyacinthe *Dariana Castro *Marina Kaneti *Sasha de la Cruz *Ays Necioglu *George Schafer *Andreas Brinck *Tricia Linn *Juan Rubio *Emily Albert
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2008-2009: SECOND YEAR, growth phase, policy work, international film awards
In 2009, GP entered its Growth Phase because it selected yet another school in Brooklyn to add to the recruitment efforts there, called Bushwick Academy of Urban Planning and New Heights in Washington Heights. In 2009, 35 students were served directly, 18 of whom traveled internationally. Out of this youth cohort, 5 GP students were awarded a full ride scholarships to college.
This year, GP got a contract to work with GlobalKids, Inc., that served Transfer School youth in Queens and Harlem, to bring their youth to the Dominican Republic for 1 week in spring of 2009. In the summer of 2009, GP also partnered with the New Heights Neighborhood Center that served GED Students in Washington Heights to carry out another version of its program where the youth traveled to the Dominican Republic in the fall of 2009. Finally, GP also ran that summer the Family Justice, Inc workshops (Family Bodega) to reach out to Truant Youth in East New York.
In 2009, GP was part of the founding members of the Building Bridges Coalition, a project of the Brookings Institute working to increase access on a National level to international volunteering experiences.
GP was pre-selected by UNESCO as a best practice in youth programming, was a finalist in the NYC Venture Philanthropy Fund, and was invited by the Western Union Foundation to submit a proposal. GP has received commendations from local governments in Brooklyn (Brooklyn Borough President’s Office and the Office of U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke) and in the municipalities we work in the DR.
Staff and volunteers that helped make this second year of GP a reality!
*Peter Maugeri *Adela George *Ays Necioglu *Dariana Castro *Sarah Gluck *Jeannie Ferrari *Amanda Fuchs *Lisa Kletjian *Andrew Rosenthal *Juan Rubio *Allyson Rotunno *Jessica Salazar *Renoly Santiago *Erica Shusas *Andrea Sum *Milena Uribe
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2009-2010: THIRD YEAR, Expansion to Boston and Nicaragua, new evaluation partners, fundraiser in Paris, France, national press coverage in Nicaragua
In 2009, Sarah Gogel founded GP in Boston to 12 youth from the John D. O’Bryant School and the Edward M Kennedy Academy for Health Careers. This year, Frank Cohn was invited to speak about the program to graduate classes at Columbia and New School universities, as a keynote address to the FuDan FuZhou Foundation, and on a panel on increasing diversity in international volunteering at the recent Partners of the Americas Conference in Washington, DC. In July 2009, Sarah Gogel was selected as a YouthActionNet Fellow by the International Youth Foundation, and field staff Sarah Gluck as a We Are All Brooklyn Fellow. Many of GP’s volunteers grow professionally and personally through their work with GP.
Furthermore, one of GP’s NY youth received President Obama’s “President’s Volunteer Service Award”. Three of GP’s youth were awarded a very prestigious prize (Plural +) by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and one of GP’s youth was awarded the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival award for their documentary films they made while in the village in the Dominican Republic with GP last summer.
In 2009, GP also partnered with the Center for Social Development at Washington University in 2009 to develop an excellent evaluation tool to measure the impacts of the GP experience on GP youth. GP also works with the school of Social Work at Fordham University to measure community impacts. GP started actively working with the New School University program on New Social Media to strengthen its Alumni connectivity.
The total expense budget in 2010 was approximately $ 72,000 with approximately $7100 in total foundation money, $10,000 of total city government funds, $33,000 of individual donations and events, $10,000 of corporate, and $14,000.00 of foundation funding.
For the first time this summer, GP had a former GP youth participant return as staff, Christian Ruiz, and he did a phenomenal job. GP also provided this year internships to three of its alumni. Furthermore, the Tribeca Film Institute funded GP’s film program with new equipment and support, and awarded one of GP’s youth’ s documentary films a spot in their Film Festival. The Paley Center for Media, Respect Magazine, and Human Rights Watch International Film Festival also screened GP youth’ s films this year and were strong media support. Cross Cultural Solutions selected GP as its Diversity Outreach Organization, and awards scholarships to their program for its youth.
During the summer of 2010, 52 Global Potential staff and students traveled on life-changing journeys for 45 days to villages in the Dominican Republic (DR), Haiti. GP’s 31 youth and 5 junior staff members, all from inner-city neighborhoods in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Boston, Baltimore, and Batey 8, learned about the history, politics, environment, activism, and culture of entirely new places and people, while at the same time tapping into their own diverse backgrounds (Bangladesh, Belize, Guinea, Mauritania, DR, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Senegal, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Trinidad, El Salvador) as a source of strength.
During the summer of 2010, GP also ran a summer program in New York City for 15 youth, featuring Hollywood actor Renoly Santiago, which built up their confidence and explored their artistic talents. This summer 2010 was also the first time that GP had a graduate student working in one of the villages with which we have a long-standing relationship, where she conducted ongoing evaluation of our impact there, as well as taught English classes and organized local youth to participate in our conferences and regional activities. GP also had the opportunity this summer to explore new potential project sites in Haiti, Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast, and in other nearby villages in the DR, and we had productive meetings with Mayors, government Ministers, and local and international NGO leaders.
Finally, GP held for the first time a fundraiser in Paris, France in July 2010, to garner support in another country and evaluate project scalability there since Sarah Gogel is originally from France and there is a clear demand for GP in France.
28 Staff and volunteers that helped make this third year of GP a reality!
*Peter Maugeri *Adela George *Christian Ruiz (Youth Ambassador) *Amy Weber *Kim Lee Alvarado *Jennifer Bess *Deryn Boyce *Ilsa Bruer *Jordan Capik *Dariana Castro *Esther Cho *Ashleigh Cooper *Jeannie Ferrari *Amanda Fuchs *Sandra Gonzalez *Elise Jernigan *Lisa Kletjian *Christine McReynolds *Ays Necioglu *Cristina Ovalles *Karina Ovalles *Jessica Salazar *Renoly Santiago *KK Shapiro *Erica Shusas *Luisana Taveras *Samy Beneco *Anne Gifford *Shanita Williamson *Christelle Domercant
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2010-2011: FOURTH YEAR
Since GP’s foundation in 2008, almost 300 youth have participated in GP, half of whom have traveled abroad with its program. One GP youth, Lesly Manzanares who was in Nicaragua during the summer of 2010, got an amazing interview on the Dick Gordon Show, on National Public Radio.
In September, 2010, four new staff started in GP’s office in New York and Boston continued with its 5 core facilitators from the previous year to work with GP’s youth at its partner schools. This year was focused on quality and working on making the program better and ensuring that more youth have access to these kinds of transformative opportunities.
GP was recognized by the International Programs in the Boston Public Schools and in Greater Boston, GP opened its doors up to three more high schools: The Fenway High School, Brookline High School and Lawrence High School. GP also opened up at the Bronx Guild in 2010, as well as the CDI program downtown New York, the Manhattan Comprensive Development Night and Day school.
In October 2010, GP started its work with the Improve Group, which it won for consulting engagement, in order to help disseminate its impacts to a broader audience.
In November, 2010, GP Boston was offered office space in the Encuentro 5 space in downtown Chinatown, which significantly increased the number of volunteers of GP Boston.
In December 2010, GP held a large fundraiser in Boston for International Volunteer Day, after which three groups of youth were each awarded $1000 for their social ventures they developed throughout the year. That same month, Frank Cohn was recognized as NASW Emerging Social Work Leader and Sarah Gogel was awarded Boston Hero of the Year by the Boston Metro. In January, Sarah became a PresenTense Social Innovation fellow to start developing GP in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
On March 23, GP held its NY spring fundraiser that raised $7000, at the Prince George Gallery Space. That same month, Jean Ulysse – GP Alumni from 2009 and GP Youth Ambassador, got accepted to the prestigious Global Citizen Year gap year. In April, GP held its first youth and community-led open space conference in Haiti. In April, Frank was also recognized as New Yorker of the week on NY1 and in May, Sarah was awarded the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship for Muslim and Jewish Social Entrepreneurs.
On June 4, GP held a large Youth Catalyzing Film Festival in partnership with Ashoka’s Youth Venture at the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in Boston where Dorothy Stoneman, Founder and President of Youthbuild, USA, was the distinguished guest speaker.
On July 5, 2011, 35 youth and 20 staff will be leaving to the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua until August 18, 2011, for another amazing transformative summer experience with Global Potential.
47 Staff and volunteers are helping to make this fourth year of GP a reality!
*Peter Maugeri *Adela George *Jean Ulysse (Youth Ambassador) *Marianny Martinez (Youth Leader) *Taylese Parker (Youth Leader) *Daniel Martinez (Youth Leader) *Daniel Alfaro (Youth Leader) *Christian Ruiz (Youth Ambassador) *Ilsa Bruer *Jordan Capik *Cristina Ovalles *Karina Ovalles *Ays Necioglu *Carolina Venegas *Elona Zakharova *Sarah Lamm *Rae Kuo *Jeff Balinksy *Papa Diop *Jessica Salazar *Erica Shusas *Dariana Castro *Ashleigh Cooper *Sandra Gonzalez *Christine McReynolds *Renoly Santiago *Dana Kuefner *Jessica Bolen *Latonya Dawson *Anne Gifford *Roland Bernard *Parker Shea *Kerry O’Reagan *Jodi Kaur *Alessia Mondlane *Samy Beneco *Shanita Williamson *Reeha Shafi *Christelle Domercant *Fien Weeda *Elena *Lauren *Beatriz *Brittany Lynk *Janine Flores *Lissan Hardware *Hogla *Feliberto
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