Empowered Through Us

Hello everyone,

Very, very, very busy week for us here at the ACM Chicago Program. There is only three weeks left before the program is over and two of our classes actually end next week, including seminar. For our final project in this class we are supposed to come up with a business plan for an actual company and do all the necessary research to see if it is a valid market or not.

My company is called Empowered Through Us, it is a for profit social enterprise that is based on the idea of crowd sourcing. ETU is a platform for people from all over the world (but more specifically for women), to help empower one another hence the name of the organization. As part of my project I have developed a website that gives you an overview of the organization, why it exists and how you can help.

Please feel free to visit my website and send me some feed back if you want.
Here is the link to the website: http://empoweredthroughus.weebly.com/

Cheers!!

Author: Tsiry R.

How is it almost May already?

Wow, these past few weeks have been super busy! With the end of the program in three weeks, we have been working hard on our final projects for each of our classes. Here are a few updates on my classes:

For seminar, we are currently working on our human rights campaign. My group is working together with Cease Fire (also known as Cure Violence) to create some kind of fundraising project. In the recent events with the Boston marathon, we came up with the idea of creating a Cease Fire charity team for the Chicago marathon to help prevent violence in Chicago. We sat down with Cease Fire and discussed the possibility and they loved the idea! So we are going to spend the next week researching how to become a charity team and organize all the different components of it. It may be too short of notice to get it all figured out for this coming marathon, but hopefully we can kick start it for next year!

For Core class, we are working on our asset mapping projects. Throughout the entire semester, we have been exploring our neighborhoods (Hyde Park and Logan Square) and looking at all the different assets they have to offer. Such assests include restaurants, business, cultural events, influential people, etc. We are now working on combining all the different assets into a presentation to present to the class! This coming Friday, we are working with high school juniors on their essay component of their applications to college. It should be fun! This past week, we had to pretend we were had children in the Chicago Public Schools and had to decide where they would go to high school. It was a very time consuming and stressful process! My "son" was a talented dancer who did not receive very good grades at school. I had to take all that into consideration when looking at all the different schools. I ended up deciding to have him audition for a charter school that focused on the arts. Unfortunately through a random drawing, he was not accepted into the school. Even though it was all fake, I still felt really upset at the whole process! I cannot even imagine how it would feel to actually be in that situation.

My independent study project is....getting there. I really just need to focus and sit down to write out my paper. I have ran with four different running clubs and sat down with the president of Girls on the Run, a super awesome after school running program for girls in the city. Now I just need to compile everything I have learned and create a final product out of it! That is my goal this week :)

We only have two more weeks left of our internships. I have really been enjoying my time at Girls in the Game. I have two after school sites that I coach at, and I absolutely love the girls. They are so great, and I have such a fun time with them! I have also been working on reaching out to community organization about promoting our Super Saturday event. I have spent the last three months researching all the community organizations in our eight target communities. It has been such a long process, but I love seeing the finished product being put to use! I think I ended up with around 200 different organizations.

I think that is all the updates I have for now! I will definitely post later in the week! Hopefully with pictures after our Cubs game on Wednesday!

Author: Maria W.

ISP - Social Enterprises

Hey again,

This is at the point of the program when things get really busy and kind of crazy. Specially with ISP. I have decided with the help of my lovely professor Robyne that profiling several social enterprises (both for profit and non for profit organizations) in Chicago would help me in my own personal entrepreneurial endeavors to one day start my own social enterprise. 

This week, our expert interview is due and I have been having a hard time hearing back from the people that I have contacted. So my advice is that, start early on your ISP and use your connections to help you find the right people. This is an independent study, so even though your professors will help you, you got to do it yourself but again use your resources and connections to help you out.

I will be updating on here about my ISP for the next couple of weeks until the end of the program.

Cheers!!

Author: Tsiry R.

Teen Living Programs - Internship Update!

Hello all,

Been awhile. Well this past week was an interesting week at my internship. On Monday I got to visit their new walk-in center, they found a really great place in the south side. Then we went to lunch at Chicago's Home of Chicken and Waffle, I would recommend trying it (they have two location in Chicago) if you are going to be in town. This was great for me because I got to interact with my co-workers over lunch outside of work.
So far I have been doing a lot of things for their spring gala event and I have been learning a lot about event planning and what after the event. I really enjoy the work atmosphere and relax work environment at the office and everyone there is just so nice. I would really recommended you pick TLP as an internship site if you are interested in the works that a non-profit does.

Author: Tsiry R.

My Internship: Fun, But Lots To Learn

I'm currently interning as a project assistant at Jeanius Booking. Jeanius It's a management and booking firm for bands and musicians. Some of the perks from working with Jeanius is: I get to attend shows, help on set and meet a wide variety of people. The picture above is from the first show I attended which was at Double Door. It was a new and exciting experience for me, it was also very fun. Apart from the perks, I also learn a lot about contracts, press releases, finding venues to perform and searching for bands who can also fit the bill. I am learning a lot of things that will serve as a good foundation to break into the music industry and i'm glad I chose this wonderful opportunity.

By Ema Bassey

ISP Update!

So it’s getting to the point in the semester where we are getting to crunch time with our Independent Study Projects. I figured I will update you on my project J I am doing a project on the Chicago Marathon and the different running clubs in the city. I plan to research the marathon and then run with different clubs in the city to learn about how running affects them and how the marathon influences why they run or why their club was formed. I also hope to learn how a running club can really influence one’s desire and goal to run a marathon, which seems to be the ultimate aspiration of many runners. I also signed up to run the Chicago marathon. Call me crazy! I am extremely nervous, but it has been a huge goal of mine, so I cannot wait to complete it.

 I have already run with two different clubs and had a blast with them! Both groups were super friendly and welcoming. I ran three miles with one group and 10 miles with the other! I thought I wasn’t going to make it through the second run, but I survived J I ran at a much faster pace than I usually do! It was also very cold and windy for the second run. I dressed in a lot of layers and ended up getting pretty overheated, which did not help. But completely that run felt GREAT. The second group had pizza and Gatorade for us after the run, so that was a great community gesture. I learned about the history about both clubs and of different member’s desire to run the marathon or other races in the city. I hope to run with at least three other clubs in the city.

Lastly, I hope to use my findings with my research and involvement with the clubs to develop a proposal to start my own running club back home, hopefully with the goal of running the Chicago marathon for the runners. I also hope to get youth more involved in running because that is also a huge angle my ISP could take. 

Here is a picture of the Warriors Running Club, the first club I ran with. You can barely see me in the very very back.J

 

Personally, I chose this ISP topic because I have recently become more involved with running and wanted to research something I was passionate about. I also hope to learn more about how running can affect mental health, as sort of a therapy technique. I think the unique thing about a large city is that is has so many running opportunities for its residents, so I wanted to take advantage of that while I was here in Chicago J

 

Author: Maria WChicago

Trimester Session: Catching Up!

Being a Trimester Student, I started the program about a month after the semester students started and it took me a while to get the hang of things. Chicago being such a busy city, I had to get accustomed to the fast pace and how to get around to the places I needed to be. Surprisingly, it didn't take me too long to figure out the gift of google maps and how things work with the CTA buses and trains. So far, my experience has been wonderful and every single day I'm convinced that Chicago is one of the most beautiful cities in America. Chicago is filled with so many innovative and creative places that you might not find anywhere else. Every neighborhood is different and tells it's own story either through historical artifacts or even murals.

Sometimes I wish I could actually spend a whole day discovering Chicago. Unfortunately/fortunately the program keeps us busy doing lots of work and site visits so we only have a few moments to take it all in... unless you have time to go back and visit. Looking forward to the rest of the journey ahead!

Author: Ema Bassey

Witnessing History

As you probably have heard, the hot topic in Chicago lately is surrounding the issue of the school closings. Mayor Emmanuel released the list of schools that are planned to be closed next year, and it has not been received well. Last week, a protest took place downtown, and I was able to see it take place on my way home from my internship.

Here are a few pictures:

Author: Maria

Update!

Things have really started to pick up in the program, so I apologize for my limited posts! Here are some updates on what I’ve been doing:

For seminar, we have been discussing youth who give false confessions often because they do not know their rights and are pressured by police to confess, although they did not commit the crime. We met with the Northwestern Center for the Wrongful Conviction of Youth, which fights for justice for these youth and to get them out of the prisons. Many youth have been given life sentences for crimes they did not commit, so it is great to know that they are getting a chance to be released and receive justice. However, it is heartbreaking to know that there still remains many wrongfully convicted youth serving life sentences. We have also been discussing the issue around sentencing youth to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Many people are fighting to get rid of life sentences for youth because they are not fully developed yet and still have their whole life in front of them. We met with Emmanuel Andre from Precious Blood Ministry of the Reconciliation, an organization that deals specifically with these issues.

We are starting to work more on our independent study projects. I am doing my project on running in the city. I am hoping to research the Chicago marathon and the path it takes throughout the city and then research the effect the path the marathon has on the neighborhoods it goes through. Specifically, I plan to run with different running clubs around the marathon route and learn why the club was formed and what running does for the members of the club. I am not for sure what direction this project will take, but I think I will enjoy getting to experience the running firsthand! OH and did I mention that I will be running the Chicago Marathon for the first time in October?!!? I am SO excited! And nervous J

I will try and post more this week!

Author: Maria W

Morning Star...

Last week for our last field visit in my ISP class we went to Morning Start. This was no regular tour because we actually got to sit and watch one of their videos being filmed, it was such an exciting experience. We also got to sit in one of their weekly training sessions. I was a really interesting and unique visit, a good way to end our field visits for the semester.

Lobby 

Computer room where training took place

Author: Tsiry R.

Easter Break!!

So unlike most people that went home for Easter break, I was here. But lucky for me my sister was able to visit so we did some site seeing and a lot of eating :)

Here are some pictures from my Spring Break!!

 

Author: Tsiry R.

Innovation in play

Hello everyone,

It is so nice to finally see the sun shine every morning on the way to class or work. The past couple of days have been a little chilly compared to last weekend but apparently we will reach the 60 degrees this weekend. I can't wait to take a walk on the beach and finally file my coat away until November :)

Mailbox located at the lobby

The seminar class that I am taking in this program is focused in entrepreneurial innovation and we got first row sit to two amazing site visits these past couple of weeks. Last week we went to Red Frog Events, which I think is just the coolest company to work for. The company only (most of the time) hire from within so usually you have to intern there for several months then apply for a position. Many of my classmates are really considering working here someday, including myself, I think that their laid back work environment and fun events is such a magnet. I haven't been to any of their events but after our tour I feel like signing up for some of the stuff they have going on this summer.

Break room with 3 microwaves and 4 fridges and picnic tables

Conference/meeting room 

This week, we went to Threadless, another very fun and innovative company. We got to see their warehouse and some of their products, the different departments and the lobby area which I think was the best part for me. Threadless is a fairly new company but has done remarkably well and is growing everyday. If you like designs and all of that you should check them out. Their T-shirts, along with other products are really cool and unique.

Computer area at the lobby

T-shirts hanging right above you when you are standing in the lobby area

More T-shirts :)

Author: Tsiry R.