William G. McGowan Fellows Social Impact Project - Youth Stories for Change
William G. McGowan Fellows Social Impact Project - Youth Stories for Change Website
Over the course of our partnership with the William G. McGowan Fund, we’ve not only received gifts to help further our programs and expand our work, but we’ve also partnered with multiple cohorts of their incredible McGowan Fellows program to carry out two distinct social impact projects - the first of which was to implement an interactive chatbot feature across our social channels and our website, allowing us to be able to send information and automated responses in real time, and get youth the next steps they need regardless of what time they reach out to us. Through their funding, they’ve also given us the opportunity to hire a new member of our External Relations and Philanthropy team who has lived experience with our work, and who will serve as a liaison for the youth and young adults we serve.
Most recently, we worked with them on a new project - Youth Stories for Change. This website is a collaborative effort between Chicago housing nonprofits and advocates for ending youth homelessness, which uses storytelling to combat misconceptions about youth homelessness and to raise awareness about the unique causes and consequences of this serious and often overlooked issue. The McGowan Fellows worked with Ignite and The Night Ministry to carry out this project - we spoke to Tedd Peso, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Night Ministry, Brian Peckrill, The McGowan Fellows Program Director, and Jessica Kim-Schmid, Fellow from the 2022 cohort. Read on to hear more about the Fellows program, the goal of the Youth Stories for Change site, and all the possibilities for the future of the site:
1.) Overall, what is the goal of the fellows program?
Brian Peckrill: The overall goal of the McGowan Fellows Program is to prepare high potential second-year MBA students to lead with a values-based framework that considers the impact of business decisions on both business and society. To do this, the Fund provides leadership instruction, developmental coaching and an experiential, “stretch” engagement where Fellows can apply lessons learned to a real world, complex social challenge. Through the training, Fellows develop leadership capacities along our six McGowan Principles – Accountability, Character and Integrity, Courage, Empathy, Resilience, and Self-Awareness.
2.) What are some of the things that the fellows hope to achieve with each project?
Brian Peckrill: The Social Impact Project (SIP) serves as the cornerstone of the McGowan Fellows Program, where Fellows have the opportunity to "test" out learning from the other elements of the Fellowship. Experimental in nature, Fellows can see first-hand how the McGowan Principles show up in leadership and how business decisions can impact society. The Fellows are provided ample time for reflection on their own leadership practice, and by the end of the SIP, will have settled their thinking on leadership and coalesced around an actionable leadership philosophy in which they can carry into the next stage of their professional career and leadership journey.
3.) How did the concept for the Youth Stories for Change website come about?
Jessica Kim-Schmid: The concept was developed over the course of the Fellows' second year of their MBA program. After several sessions focused on learning about youth homelessness in America and Chicago, including time to learn directly from Ignite youth, the Fellows brainstormed this idea during their Winter Retreat. They were inspired by how eloquently and passionately the youth they had met spoke about their experiences, and wanted to focus their project on amplifying the stories and voices of these youth.
4.) What do you feel that the Youth Stories for Change site does for youth in the community?
Jessica Kim-Schmid: We hope that it helps youth experiencing homelessness in the community feel empowered and heard. We also are excited that this project will give youth who are involved in the future development of the website a chance to build their skills while working on something that is important to them. The youth the Fellows met while developing this project had so many dreams for their futures, and we feel that this site will help them showcase their aspirations and be recognized for more than just the obstacles they have faced.
5.) What are some of the ways you hope the website can grow in the future/features you hope it can have?
Jessica Kim-Schmid: The original version of the site featured stories from four youth experiencing homelessness - in the future, it would be fantastic to feature the stories of more youth so that site visitors can truly understand how each youth experiencing homelessness is unique. It would also be wonderful to see the educational resources develop and diversify so that citizens and policymakers can learn about this important and often overlooked issue in a variety of different ways. We are sure that the creativity of the youth involved in this site will take it places we can't even imagine!
1.) Has the Night Ministry worked with the McGowan Fellows or the McGowan Fund before?
Tedd Peso: This is the first time we have partnered with the McGowan Fellows. The McGowan Fund was one of The Night Ministry's funders in the early 2000's.
2.) Why was the Youth Stories for Change project important to the Night Ministry?
Tedd Peso: As we approach more collective advocacy work for youth homelessness in Chicago it will be helpful for us to have a place where this work can live and which also provides people who are new to the issue with some understanding about youth homelessness. Also I really appreciate that the website will allow young people to tell their stories in their own words.
3.) Where do you see the future of the site going, and how do you feel that it serves youth in Chicago and beyond?
Tedd Peso: The Fellows provided us with a great framework for a site that can evolve to provide education on youth and young adult homelessness, while also organizing support for organizations like The Night Ministry & Ignite and our important advocacy issues.
4.) Finally, is there a capability of the site that it doesn’t currently have, but you’d like to see it expand to include?
Tedd Peso: Hmmmm.... It would be great at some point to have a tool built in where folks can send email letters directly to their legislators with just one or two mouse clicks.
