The Key Players

How will your approach be different from and achieve greater results than others working in your field?

How can your organization work with, leverage and/or improve on the work that is currently being done?

ASC will improve the Peace Corps model by completing the circle of global service.

The Peace Corps (and VSO) has developed some best practices (e.g. a home stay for the 1st month of a volunteer’s experience) and has a strong reputation among individuals, foundations and the government. ASC will learn from the success of the Peace Corps, leverage their strong reputation, and present itself as completing the circle of global service started by the Peace Corps.

ASC plans to aggressively reach out to Return Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) for financial support, to build partnerships and spread awareness. In early conversations, RPCVs embrace the notion of the Atlas Service Corps most quickly. They personally know the value of international service and can be early organizational and financial supporters of ASC.

ASC will also connect Fellows to Peace Corps volunteers to build bridges between people who are having similar experiences but from opposite perspectives. ASC will work closely with Peace Corps offices when they operate in ASC countries to recruit Fellows & spread awareness. The Peace Corps is currently neither in India nor Colombia, however as ASC expands to countries like Mexico there will be opportunities for collaboration.

2. U.S. Citizen Sector Organization (CSO) exchange programs

The Clinton Democracy Fellows (CDF) Program of City Year

Rotary World Peace Fellows

Soros Fellows

The second innovation of the Atlas Service Corps is to change the philosophy. There are many organizations that take CSO leaders from the developing world to the US, but all of these programs are about developing world CSO leaders learning skills from the west and never about the developing world leaders contributing skills. In addition these programs are almost all associated with universities and are either a few weeks or at most a couple of semesters (9 months).

The Clinton Democracy Fellows (CDF) Program takes about 10 citizen sector leaders from South Africa to the US on a 8 week program to learn about US CSOs. During their time in the US, Fellows engage in dialogues, workshops and training with leading American service practitioners, policymakers, academics, social entrepreneurs, private sector leaders, and public officials. CDF focuses almost entirely on South Africa and after four years is only taking 10 people a year on this short-term program.

Other programs like the Rotary World Peace Fellows and Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship also support leaders from the global south to come the US. These programs are entirely university based and work with participants with less experience and therefore less to contribute to the US.

ASC can learn from the success of how these programs recruit candidates, integrate them into the U.S., And teach them US CSO methods and best practices.

ASC has already reached out to former Clinton Democracy Fellows staff, Azad Oommen, for his advice and feedback. He has provided helpful comments on the high program expenses, the difficulties with visas, and even in country logistical challenges. ASC plans to continue to reach out to CDF to learn from their model and improve upon it by making the program a longer, more intense service-learning (and teaching) experience.

ASC improves on the CDF model by making it longer, more hands on, and by valuing the contributions the Fellow can make to the U.S. It is not just about rising leaders coming to the US to learn for a few weeks and then leaving. ASC will bring the rising superstars of developing world CSOs to not only learn, but teach in the US for an in depth, yearlong program. Furthermore, after they return home, ASC will cultivate an international network of CSO leaders to facilitate increases cooperation even after the Fellowship is done.

Other US CSO’s like Rotary and Soros also provide good models to learn from as well as vast networks to spread the idea and generate support. ASC has already developed a relationship with Anne Campbell, the Program Manager at the Open Society Institute Scholarship Programs of the Soros Institute. She has provided helpful guidance on how to develop the program.

3. The United States Government funded exchange programs

Department of State, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)

The United States Education Foundation

The US Government invest millions of dollars in people-to-people exchanges because they believe it is one of the most affective ways to build bridges between societies and improves America’s image abroad. The flagship USG exchange program is the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The IVLP is typically a 3-week exchange where rising political, media, business and occasionally citizen sector leaders come to the US to learn about America. My approach is different because I will take just citizen sector leader to the US for a one-year Fellowship to volunteer in a US CSO.

However, the IVLP (and many exchange programs) are quite expensive, so the third innovation of the Atlas Service Corps is the sustainable financial model. The yearlong ASC Fellowship and the 3-week long I.V. program cost about the same amount per person ($30,000) according to the Public Affairs section of the US Embassy in New Delhi. The ASC Fellowship is also subsidized by a $16,000 US host organization cost-share. Over time the cost share increase and the Fellow cost decreases (economies of scale) so the cost share will eventually cover 90% of the program costs.

Another USG funded exchange program is the United States Education Foundation, which implements the Fulbright Program & the Humphrey Fellowship. These are both examples of academic programs that take academic leaders to the U.S. to study. The ASC approach is different because it is nonacademic, yearlong, and yet still less expensive.

ASC will seek to partner with the US Government to recruit Fellows and fund the expansion of the organization. The USG will likely embrace this opportunity because not only does the ASC Fellowship strengthen the global citizen sector, but it also exposes rising CSO leaders from around the world to American society. Often CSO leaders around the world are the most critical of the US Government, however after living and working in the US for a year, Fellows will return to their home country with a more favorable view of the US.

Because of my work experience with the US Embassy, I have been able to talk to individuals in the State Department’s Public Affairs Office that implement the IVLP Program. They may be willing to provide financial support to ASC, as well as other in-kind support, such as recruiting talented individuals. Even a small partnership with the State Department would yield high results since it would ease the difficult visa process.

For example, the Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs (ECA) announced a grant of up to $250,000 for a US nonprofit to facilitate exchanges with international nonprofits. This is the type of funding I could apply for in the future. (CFDA#19.415)

In addition to working with the IVLP program, I will partner with other parts of the USG, like the United States Education Foundation India (USEFI). USEFI has participated in a development lunch for ASC contributing to the design of the program. They have provided important logistical advice and have pledged to continue to support the program. USEFI staff could nominate Fellows, and some alumni may even want to participate in the program.

4. International Business Exchange Programs

AIESEC (Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales)

CDS International (CDs)

The fourth innovation of the Atlas Service Corps is the adaptation of successful business practices into the citizen sector.

For centuries the business sector has always benefited from taking the best minds of foreign countries to come contribute their knowledge to the US. The globalization of world markets has intensified this practice over the last decade.

The most similar program in the business world is the AIESEC international student organization. AIESEC facilitates overseas internships for students. These interns are occasionally from the developing world and may intern in the US, but usually these are interns who travel from Europe to the US or the global north to the global south. In almost every case, these are interns working in a business environment, but it is possible that they could intern at a CSO as well.

ASC is different for many reasons, the most obvious of which is a social focus rather than business focus. But the other difference worth highlighting is the requirement of 4-8 years of experience. Internship programs are primarily about people learning, which is why so many internships are done with people in, or right out of, school. When Fellows have 4-8 years of experience they are able to teach as well as learn – which gives them great value to host organizations.

ASC will aggressively work with the private sector to adopt best practices and to leverage funds.

AIESEC, in particular, has the potential to be a great partner. AIESEC has a huge network of alumni (50,000 people from 80 countries) who may be interested in participating in the Atlas Corps Fellowship and/or spreading the word about the Atlas Corps opportunity. Many leaders in the business world participated in AIESEC programs as students and may be willing to contribute financially to the Atlas Corps Fellowship. AIESEC also has an extremely strong presence on many college campuses around the world and these student networks can be used to build support, raise awareness and generate funds.

Beyond AIESEC, the private sector will be a significant partner for the growth and support of Atlas Corps. In India, J.V. Bakshi, a board member of the Business & Community Foundation, stated “Indian business will definitely be interested in sponsoring Fellows. You should be able to fund ten Fellows (at $15K) each from multinational companies in India alone.”

5. International CSOs that have employee exchange programs.

Ashoka Fellow in Residence Program

The World Bank

OXFAM

The fifth innovation of the Atlas Service Corps is the creation of an international network of citizen leaders working together on global issues.

Ashoka (& some other international organizations) has a program that takes one or two of their international Fellows to come work in the headquarters for about one year. This is a similar model of change, but in these cases the exchange is entirely internal to one organization. This type of internal exchange does not facilitate bridge building.

The impact of these internal programs is limited by the small size of a single organization. Atlas Corps has more scope for expansion and will therefore achieve greater results. While internal exchanges are beneficial to the organization and the employee, they do not lead to a multi-directional & organizational international networks.

Atlas Corps Fellows can learn and teach more by volunteering at a different organizations and exchanges between organizations create more opportunities to facilitate collaboration on global issues.

The Ashoka Fellow in Residence Program demonstrates that there is great value for US CSOs to host a Fellow. Most US CSOs do not have the opportunity to bring someone from an international branch of their organization to the US and even those that do are often not equipped to (legally) handle the complicated visa requirements. Atlas Corps can work with organizations that are already doing a similar exchange in a small way and allow them to expand the program and reach more people. These organizations will be some of the first that Atlas Corps approaches so that they can benefit from the program & share their best practices with other international Fellows.

Atlas Corps can also work with organizations that are not doing these exchanges, but see the value demonstrated by CSOs like Ashoka and would like to participate in that sharing of knowledge.

Atlas Corps is the logical partner to Ashoka. Ashoka’s mission is to develop the citizen sector, and the Atlas Corps mission is to integrate the citizen sector. Atlas Corps will build on the positive development of the citizen sector by organizations like Ashoka, and create a vast network of rising CSO leaders from around the world to facilitate their cooperation across national boundaries and organizational walls.