The Definition of Value

Fall 2020 Founder Update

Bridging Opportunity Gaps

Immediately following our Summer 2020 update, we realized how much COVID-19 would fundamentally change how Nyah Project seeks to impact the young leaders we serve.  

For the last six years, while we have provided leadership training to up to 100 students as part of our annual fellow selection process, admittedly, we have operated with an intentionally narrow focus on providing a transformational leadership experience and support system to our 12 fellow cohort and alumni community.

Yet, as the national dialogue surrounding the impact of racism in our society accelerates, we cannot ignore the fact that protracted systemic inequities impact the level of exposure, access, and opportunities available to those who need it the most — our youth.

We made the uncomfortable and necessary decision to revisit our core model and the assumptions upon which it was designed.  We pushed ourselves to think beyond our immediate response to the forced deferral of our summer Leadership Fellowship in Rwanda. We sought to explore on a much deeper level how we could make the most of this unique moment in history.  

One question kept resurfacing:  How can we add value to more youth ?

I’m proud to say that our resulting program changes will allow us to have a 10x increase on the number of young people served, while still retaining the life-changing impact of our signature  leadership fellowship program. 

Most importantly, however, our focus on exposure and access will remain the same: 

We will continue to bridge systemic opportunity gaps for diverse youth leaders through a transformative fellowship abroad and now double down on improving educational outcomes for more youth through an on-demand, online, college strategy coaching platform.

Access to New Pathways

We realized that our proven model for college admissions strategy coaching could offer tremendous value if we could make it available to more youth.

This pandemic pivot allowed us time to transition to a new EdTech offering: Access Online, which is a mobile friendly, on-demand online coaching platform comprised of a suite of 8 courses, 35+ individual video lessons, and over 40 hands-on practice guides and tools to empower underserved high school students to develop a successful college entrance strategy.

Access Online leverages mindset coaching, interactive exercises, video-based instruction, and validated learning objectives that have resulted in a 100% college admission and over 90% scholarship acquisition rate since 2014.

Past Nyah Project fellows have collectively won over $10 million in scholarships using the Access methods and materials. Don’t take my word for it, check out what past fellow have said:

This abnormal and uncertain year has left our high school seniors with a new set of challenges to overcome. Unfortunately, many lack the essential stability to focus on the already stressful college application process. 

That’s why our team made the decision to waive the $400 per participant cost of Access Online to make it available for FREE to any high school student through December 31, 2020. 

Harnessing Power of Art

Finally, we launched a pilot of Nyah Project Studio. This new provides a unique opportunity for underrepresented artists to receive a transformational leadership and cultural immersion experience in conjunction with its signature global fellowship program.

The vision behind Studio is simple:  artists have always served as a cultural conscience.  Their work plays a pivotal role in shifting narratives of how we ought to see the world for the better.  The beauty, resilience, enterprising and innovative communities the Nyah Fellows are exposed to each year, particularly on the African continent, are not always reflected accurately in mainstream perceptions and media. It is our hope that these embedded experiences will inspire new bodies of work that de-stigmatize our partner communities abroad.

What’s Next?

We have a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) of making Access Online available to over 1000 youth before January 1, 2021.  We’re already at 10% of this goal.

But, we need your help to spread the word about this essential college pathway resource, and if you have them, please make connections to organizations that support underprivileged youth.

The best part-- we’ve made it super easy for you to be an ambassador.  It’s a low-lift opportunity to make a difference.  Visit the Ambassador Toolkit for a hub resources, social media assets, suggested copy and links to help amplify the impact of Access Online.

If our vision for impact resonates with you, please get it touch so we can collaborate more intentionally.

Cheers,

Leigh-Ann Buchanan

Founder, Nyah Project