11-2B Eagle Eye Institute
Grant Round:
2011 Fall
Grant Program:
Boston Grants
Grant Type:
Other Grants
Grant amount requested:
10,000.00
Attachments
Please provide a brief description of the project for which you seek funding.
In the spring of 2010, Eagle Eye Institute launched a new initiative, E.A.G.L.E.--Earth Advocates, Green Leaders for the Environment--to recruit, train, and engage Tufts university students to serve as Program Champions for urban youth and nature. Over the course of the project, young men and women become trained in organizing and running Eagle Eye's proven learning and stewardship programs. As in all Eagle Eye programs, natural resource professionals will continue to receive training to provide hands-on experiences in nature specifically for urban youth and land conservation groups will provide natural areas that youth can experience.
Following Eagle Eye's signature full-day Learn About Forests(LAF) program at a natural site away from the city, the Tufts University Student Program Champion leads an urban stewardship project within the youth's home community. This essential component of the Eagle Eye environmental education series allows the youth to bring their new knowledge and experience back to their home community in order to begin their role as environmental leaders and take a leadership role in their community. The Champion is able to learn about the youth within their every day context, and the youth are able to create a positive impact on their own community through their passion for and knowledge of our natural world.
This is a new Champion audience that we see as a unique opportunity with great potential. As emerging leaders, Tufts students will be mentored in community organizing, program delivery and youth development by Eagle Eye staff. At the same time, these Tufts students will mentor urban youth by giving them opportunities for leadership development as they build awareness and develop their environmental responsibility.
Through the E.A.G.L.E. initiative, Eagle Eye is building bridges between communities in order to identify, support, and uplift the next generation of environmental leaders and community advocates. Bringing together college students with urban youth in nature creates a strong coalition of young people ready to stand up for urban youth, for the environment, and for our community.
This summer 2 Tufts student interns are implementing 8 learning and 8 stewardship programs for 6 youth development organizations in Somerville, Cambridge and Boston. Over the next year we will continue working with Tufts University's Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service to recruit, train and engage more Tufts students and continue conversations with Tufts biology professor Erik Dopman who is looking to work with Eagle Eye engaging urban youth in an organic farm/pest management scientific study. Tufts students will provide environmental programming for community youth development organizations over the course of the 2011-2012 academic school year. Next summer our goal is to have 2-4 Tufts summer interns who have been trained to provide environmental learning and community stewardship programs for local community youth development organizations.
Primary Issue Area:
Land & Water
Please break-down/categorize the program expenses:
| Proposed Item | Estimated $ Amount | Would grant funds be used for this item? | Type Of Expense |
|---|---|---|---|
| E.A.G.L.E. Program Manager Salary | $4,000.00 | Yes | Materials |
| E.A.G.L.E. Program Manager Salary | $26,000.00 | Materials | |
| E.A.G.L.E. Program Manager Salary benefits | $800.00 | Yes | Materials |
| E.A.G.L.E. Program Manager Salary benefits | $5,200.00 | Materials | |
| Liability Insurance | $2,000.00 | Materials | |
| Postage | $600.00 | Materials | |
| Marketing material graphic design | $600.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Office rent | $4,500.00 | Materials | |
| Program supplies and materials | $500.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Telephone and internet | $1,200.00 | Materials | |
| Travel to program sites | $1,200.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Travel to program sites | $1,800.00 | Materials | |
| Summer student intern stipend | $2,000.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Summer student intern stipend | $1,500.00 | Materials | |
| Marketing contractor to help promote the initiative and get our message out | $750.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Printing marketing materials | $150.00 | Yes | Materials |
| Newsletter printing to promote project and publish project outcomes | $800.00 | Materials | |
| Fundraising contractor to assist with grantwriting for the project | $1,000.00 | Materials | |
| Miscellaneous expenses | $500.00 | Materials | |
| One Tufts student summer intern paid by Tufts grant to the student | $3,500.00 | Materials | |
| Executive leadership team project management - all volunteer | $5,000.00 | Materials | |
| ufts Tisch College Scholars - 1 each term spring and fall | $2,000.00 | Materials | |
| 20 Natural Resource Professional volunteers serving as Instructors - In-Kind | $4,000.00 | Materials | |
| Office volunteers to assist with mailings, evaluations and fundraising events | $1,750.00 | Materials | |
| Food for youth and volunteers on program days - donations from local food markets | $500.00 | Materials | |
| Volunteers and students assisting with the program logistics | $1,000.00 | Materials |
Whom does your group need to make this project happen?
Please explain how your group will engage members from your community in this project.
The E.A.G.L.E. initiative reaches out to university students in order to engage their spirit, energy, and passion for the environment in our mission of leadership development and empowerment of urban youth. Eagle Eye believes this is an audience capable of playing a significant role in spreading the work of engaging urban youth with nature and in communicating their work to their families, friends and professional networks.
We will first engage Tufts students as volunteer mentors and program coordinators. This requires our training them in working with this population, in delivery of the Learn About Forests' model and the Stewardship program as well as all the pre- and post-programs. We will also recruit and engage additional university students and alumni to volunteer in program activities as well as office and fundraising activities.
We will be working with natural resource professionals training them as volunteer instructors and mentors for urban youth.
We will be recruiting community members and municipal officials to be involved in youth-led community stewardship projects.
Youth development organizations will engage their staff and youth in learning and stewardship programs. We also want the staff of these organizations to advocate for continued environmental programming,stewardship opportunities and other ways to engage their youth as environmental leaders.
Working with our new (as of June, 2011) part time marketing and communications contractor, we will be increasing awareness of our work and the need to engage urban young people as environmental leaders through our website, facebook page, Tufts University networks, other social media outlets as well as our bi-annual newsletter, e newsletters and press releases to local newspapers. See Eagle Eye Institute's facebook page for recent program photos.
If your group receives a NEGEF Grow grant, how do you plan to pay for remaining expenses?
| $ Amount | Source |
|---|---|
| $25,000.00 | Individual donations |
| $14,000.00 | Private foundation grants |
| $3,500.00 | Mass Cultural Council grant |
Please list these materials or services
| $ Amount | Item |
|---|---|
| $3,500.00 | Tufts Summer Intern |
| $2,500.00 | 2 Tufts Work Study students 8 hrs per week @12/hr |
| $4,000.00 | Natural resource professionals as volunteer 20 x $200 per day |
| $5,000.00 | Voluteer leadership team project management |
| $2,000.00 | Tisch College Scholars - program Champions |
| $500.00 | Local food store donations for programs |
| $1,000.00 | Volunteers helping with general office duties |
| $750.00 | Community volunteers assisting with youth-led stewardship projects |
Please describe what changes will occur in your community and its environment when your group's project is successful.
A sustainable program within Tufts University where Tufts students and facility are committed to engaging Somerville, Cambridge and Boston youth could have many measurable impacts:
Increased number of Tufts students engaged in the EAGLE Program - At least 8 Tufts students are engaged during the school year in Somerville and now because of their work with Eagle Eye they have a deeper understanding of the needs of the local community in relation to the environment. Through Eagle Eye's training methods, Tufts students now recognize that through their participation in the EAGLE Program, they are now able to address issues of environmental injustice in their home communities by helping to engage and empower urban youth as active environmental citizens. There will also be 2-4 Tufts students working as summer program interns in 2012.
Increased number of faculty involved in the EAGLE Program - We will be working with a number of faculty to engage them as volunteer instructors and to engage their students in developing sustainable evaluation protocols for the EAGLE Program and all of its elements.
Increased number of university student-led outreach and information sessions in surrounding communities - We expect that students' enthusiasm will enroll other students to become involved in providing more outreach services and programming to urban young people in Somerville, Cambridge, and Boston.
Increased number of youth development organizations and youth that are engaged in stewardship projects in their community. Upon completion of an Eagle Eye Learn About Forests program, a youth development organization is eligible to receive supplemental Eagle Eye programming and logistical support as they adopt a community stewardship project, become leaders in their community, and pay it forward by engaging and educating other community members.
Local community green spaces will have more stewards.
As youth advocate for the environment, they will gain more attention of local decision makers.
Please list how many people in your community your group expects to actively engage in this project.
1 500
What relevant skills does the group need (but does not currently have access to) to help move the initiative forward?
Our volunteers and staff lack skills in the areas of evaluation - long term. We use evaluation tools and we have lots of anticdotal evidence of the effectiveness of our programs in the short term but we need help with developing the tools and protocols for a long term university study. One of our objectives involves enrolling Tufts University faculty to assist us with this need.
What relevant skills do current members of the group have to help move the initiative forward?
Our volunteers and staff have the following skills:
Environmental program design and implementation
Youth education leadership and development
Outdoor leadership
Fiscal management and fundraising
Marketing and communication
Forest health and land management
Planning and implementation
Community Organizing