{"id":81,"date":"2013-03-12T17:03:36","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T17:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newwf.benfredaconsulting.com\/?page_id=81"},"modified":"2022-01-31T22:32:55","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T22:32:55","slug":"coin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/newwf.org\/grantmaking-initiatives\/coin\/","title":{"rendered":"COIN – Civic Opportunities Initiative Network"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n The Civic Opportunities Initiative Network (COIN) does exactly that.<\/span><\/p>\n A national leadership and community development program operating at the high school and college level in struggling communities across the United States, COIN\u2019s distinct approach builds on the potential of emerging young leaders to cultivate active participation in community life through leadership training, educational enrichment work, wellness development, guaranteed college access, one-to-one mentorship, and long-term civic engagement.<\/p>\n We work in close partnership with local universities, government agencies, and community based organizations to provide a consistent, sustained program that\u2019s adaptive to the particulars of local challenges and opportunities by leveraging local assets, resources, capacity and infrastructure to build a community focused agenda \u201cin place.\u201d<\/p>\n Whereas other\u00a0scholarship programs operate under a deficit model that looks at what poverty does to a person, COIN\u00a0shifts the perspective to explore the recognizable pillars of support experienced by middle-class families that can be applied to the successful education and mobility of low-income young adults.<\/p>\n We believe that prioritizing the advancement of young people, historically and currently left behind, while linking that progress to community development, is key to reclaiming community and expanding the middle class.<\/p>\n The COIN Scholars Pilot Cohort was an experimentation project launched in 2011, with the New World Foundation working in close partnership with community-based organizations in Florida, California, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia to identify 21 disadvantaged high school graduates to accompany the students through their 4-year college experience.<\/p>\n We provided sustained financial support, mentorship, opportunities to connect with other students, paid internship experience, political education, and implementation of reflective practice tools to serve a long-term vision that increased the students\u2019 chances of graduating, becoming civically engaged, and committing to the development of their local communities.<\/p>\n The results proved the COIN experiment successful, and led us to build a series of programs that invest in related and derivative pilot projects adaptive to the particulars of local challenges and opportunities, all of which highlight the significance of the pillars we identified. Here are some of the COIN models<\/a> operating nationally:<\/p>\n COIN National Organization Model:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Posse Civic Engagement Program<\/a> Working in partnership with the Posse Foundation, a national college access and youth leadership development institute, we created a Civic Engagement Posse Program to support students interested in exploring careers in social justice and public service throughout the local chapters. It features a curriculum designed to foster community action and build civic awareness and social responsibility along with summer internships at institutions and organizations that work to address societal inequities and create positive, lasting change.<\/p>\n COIN Undergraduate Model:<\/strong><\/p>\n The New World Fellows Program<\/a> The New World Fellows Program provided stipends for fifteen low-income Skidmore students to study social issues and policy development through community-based advocacy work each year. Beginning in the summer of Freshman or Sophomore year in college, students commited to a 9-week, full-time community-based field placement in a non-profit or government agency in their home community. Complementary academic and policy training was provided by the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network through work study placement in the student\u2019s college or university community when they returned to campus, and a \u201cSocial Justice Seminar\u201d in the fall that provided college credit to study issues relevant to their institutional placements, including needs assessment, grant writing, and policy analysis.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/h3>\n
Expanding Educational Opportunity & Building Community<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nThe Posse Foundation | Miami, FL<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSkidmore College | Saratoga Springs, NY<\/em><\/p>\n