Upstate Class VII, Fall 2008
DLI Participant Roster
Photos
Community Action Groups
Bridge Builders |
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Upstate Diversity Forum – Building Inclusive Organizations and Communities Discussions about diversity are occurring in small silos in limited industries and community organizations. Bridge Builders created the Upstate Diversity Forum to provide an opportunity for diversity leaders from private corporations, non-profit groups, and government organizations across all industries and areas of interest to discuss diversity and inclusion progress and challenges within their respective entities and the community. The Forum’s primary purpose is to build inclusive organizations and communities in the Upstate. Bridge Builders partnered with the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber has agreed to host the Forum’s meetings. Bridge Builders suggests that the Forum decide how often it wants to meet, but it recommends that it meet no less than quarterly. Modeled after the Middle TN Diversity Forum, the Upstate Diversity Forum will: (1) build awareness of the diversity in the community; (2) serve as a diversity resource to the community; (3) share best practices and benchmarking among organizations in the region; (4) assist organizations in strengthening and managing their diversity initiatives; (5) share diversity lessons learned; and (6) provide networking opportunities for its participants. Bridge Builders hopes that the Forum will soon become a resource to the community for information on how the region excels (or struggles) in diversity and inclusiveness. Member organizations will be expected to volunteer to lead Forum meetings and provide speakers on various topics of interest. Bridge Builders suggests that the topics are selected by Forum members, but it recommends the following topics: (1) the state of diversity in the community; (2) recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce; (2) discussing the dimensions of diversity: disability/race/gender (each dimension can be a separate topic); (3) understanding and embracing the burgeoning ethnic populations of the Update Region; (4) understanding and managing generational differences; (5) the state of diversity in the community: demographics and discussion; and (6) best practices in diversity: Michelin/Furman/Greenville City/Greenville Health Systems (each company is a separate topic). The Forum should consider documenting these discussions for publication. The ultimate result of the Forum’s efforts will be to yield greater inclusion in organizations and communities across the Upstate. |
C2C: Collision2Collaboration |
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C2C: Collision to Collaboration selected Sara Collins Elementary’s Sizzling Saturday program for its pilot. Goal: Define, create, plan, and implement a Diversity module to be incorporated into an existing Sizzling Saturday event at Sara Collins Elementary. Based on the results of this pilot, we plan to define the Sizzling Saturday program with a Diversity module and introduce it to elementary schools in neighboring school districts working collaboratively with schools and local PTAs. Purpose of Sizzling Saturday: Provide an opportunity for parents to be engaged in the education of their children who do not have the flexibility in their schedule to participate during the week, or who have had a bad experience at the school and have altogether disconnected from school activities. Each month a new subject (math, science, art, nutrition, etc) is presented through three (3) to four (4) concurrent sessions of 30-minute duration. Participants are involved in interactive lessons with specific learning points. This is a great opportunity for parents to engage in the academics of their child(ren). The overall objective of C2C's diversity module: Introduce and educate elementary students, their parents, and the educators on the Diversity concepts through interactive exercises; talk about individual differences and how they should be managed to enhance performance goals; encourage participation and interaction among families to highlight cultural similarities and differences; teach the concept of respect through exercises that demonstrate complimentary behavior. Proposed Method: Conduct 3 or 4 interactive concurrent sessions on January 24, 2009. The event is typically from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Details will be discussed with Garry Green, Sara Collins Elementary's Sizzling Saturday Coordinator. Create a transition plan to introduce this concept to schools in the Anderson, Pickens, Greenville, and / or Spartanburg areas. |
STANDUP—Speaking Truth and Understanding People |
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STANDUP’s goal is to attempt to broaden the horizons of the Upstate’s most challenged youth by connecting them to opportunities for interaction with successful adults and exposure to future possibilities. Based on the belief that among the many challenges facing too many of our youth is a lack of exposure to successful paths forward, we recognize that a successful and stable career may indeed seem out of reach to those youth who have little to no opportunity to meet and interact with participants in various career paths and witness the options available to them. We believe that while there are numerous enrichment opportunities available to Upstate youth, all too often those essential opportunities do not reach those in greatest need. StandupSC.org will provide a simple, quick, and efficient connecting point between those who work with at-risk youth and what we hope will be an extensive list of local businesses, organizations, and individuals willing to open their doors to youth and share some of their time. Team members, listed below, are calling upon their peers in all sectors across the Upstate to fill out the short commitment form (attached and available online) describing what mechanisms of exposure suit their circumstances. Youth service providers will then be able to search an online database at StandupSC.org and utilize the site to contact the volunteers and organizations. Through the ease and convenience of a centralized connection point, we believe these essential interactions will become more frequent and our most challenged youth will come to believe that a stable and successful career and productive adulthood is well within their grasp. Visit the group's website |
The Riley Factor |
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The Riley Factor mission is to enhance the academic success of our children and the economic success of our community by promoting early literacy. We developed the READ Babies Project to emphasize our theme, “Read Early and Develop (Successful) Babies”. Reading to infants and very young children has several important benefits. Early reading helps develop important language skills by preparing the infant brain for readiness to read. Reading to very young children is an important social interaction and opportunity for bonding with parents, grandparents and other caregivers. Early experience with positive social relationships will help build relationships with teachers and mentors later in life. Lack of reading skills is a significant problem in South Carolina. Forty percent of our students drop out of school, and 75% of dropouts have reading problems. Half of young criminals have reading problems and 26% of Greenville’s children are not ready for 1st grade reading. Reading problems are greatest in low income families, creating a vicious cycle of perpetuating poverty. The READ Babies Project promotes early literacy in Upstate South Carolina in three ways: 1) identify and organize community partners with a common interest in early literacy, 2) educate parents of young children with a focus on at-risk families, and 3) synergize and direct community resources to develop a sustainable early literacy effort. The primary partner for this project is Lapsits for Early Literacy, a nonprofit organization that guides under-served parents and caregivers to create a love of books and develop readiness for reading in very young children. Initially, READ Babies is providing marketing and volunteer support for an Early Reading Information Fair at the Greenville University Center. The Fair provides education to promote early reading while giving out baby clothes donated by Gerber. We are also developing funding sources to enhance sustainability of the Early Reading Information Fair and the mission of Lapsits. The long term goal of READ Babies is to strengthen Upstate South Carolina by enhancing the success of our children in school and in life. |
Your Friends 4 |
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Recognizing the pervasive threats to children posed by the internet and other digital communication devices, and the desire for parents, grandparents, teachers, and others to more fully understand these threats, Your Friends 4 sought to develop a program that would inform all those concerned with the safety of our children. Cyber threats are not unique to any one demographic. The abuses and dangers of this technology touch children from all walks of life. The diversity focus of this project is as broad as one can define diversity. Your Friends 4 partnered with the Safe Kids Upstate program sponsored by the Children’s Hospital of the Greenville Hospital System, a nation-wide initiative which works with parents, teachers and children to inform and educate them about ways to keep children free from injury and threats to their personal safety. Protecting children from dangers found in the world of cyberspace is one component of the Safe Kids program. The internet safety initiative has been in high demand with only one staff member leading the effort. In addition, the presentation is currently being delivered by an adult to adult audiences. Our team felt that it was very important to involve the younger generation, who are extremely internet-savvy, to assist in this education of parents and teachers. To this end, Your Friends 4 matched the Safe Kids program with student resources at Furman University’s Heller Service Corps. Founded in 1965, the HSC (named in honor of former Greenville Mayor Max Heller and his wife Trude), is one of Furman’s largest student organizations. Each year, more than 1800 students volunteer to serve more than 40 agencies. Within this organization we identified students with interests and cyber-skills to take the Safe Kids message to a larger community. A pilot program was conducted at Bethlehem Baptist Church on December 3, 2008 and the resources of two well established programs has now been established to better educate the community about the dangers of cyberspace. |