Thanks for the warm welcome Mariann!

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow began experimenting with using
various social networking technologies, including MySpace and LinkedIn,
about 6 months ago.  Although we are really still in the beginning
stages of figuring out how to apply these technologies to our work
effectively, our early successes indicate that social networking
technologies can be a valuable resource for nonprofits.  More on that
later - first, I want to introduce you to our agency's work, culture,
and students:  

Our programs. Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow offers a range of
services to that are geared to helping people jump start their careers
including:

*	Youth Employment and Training Program.  This program serves 240
youth per year, ages 17 - 21, and provides an intensive business skills
training with an option for GED classes, if needed. Most of our job
placements are white-collar office related positions in financial
services firms, law firms, government, and other related businesses.
*	Adult Employment and Training Program. This program serves
adults over 100 adults per year, ages 18 +, and offers business skills
training and/or direct placement services.
*	Opportunity Knocks, Young Adult Internship Program.  This
program provides three weeks of business skills training followed by an
eleven week paid internship to 90 young adults, ages 17 - 24, per year.
*	Adult Literacy Program. This program provides ESOL, GED, and
Pre-GED classes to over 300 adults per year.

 Of these programs, our youth employment and training program is our
flagship program from which all culture, structure, and concept behind
the rest of our programs was born.  OBT's service model is unique among
youth programs due to its comprehensive scope of training and its
emphasis on personal discipline. The youth training model is an
intensive 20-week program that includes GED classes (if needed),
business math, business English, office procedures, computer classes (MS
Office), public speaking and communications, and a world-of-work module.
A simulated real work environment is an integral part of the entire
curriculum. For example, students punch in and out on a time clock each
day, dress professionally, and are given work assignments with timelines
for completion. Excessive lateness and absenteeism result in the student
being "fired" from the program; we offer few second chances. The model
is often referred as a "tough love" approach, but in our experience,
many young adults need discipline at this point in their lives. Students
that successfully complete the 20-weeks emerge with a General
Equivalency Diploma (GED) and the skills necessary to obtain and retain
employment. Most of our job placements are white-collar office related
positions in financial services firms, law firms, government, and other
related businesses. Our overall job placement percentage averages about
85% annually. A percentage of our graduates also go on to enroll in
college.

Our students. The majority of the participants in our four programs are
economically disadvantaged minorities with barriers to self-sufficiency
including lack of a high school diploma, deficiency in basic skills, no
marketable job skills, chronic unemployment, single parenthood, past
drug abuse and/or criminal records, and limited English proficiency. In
a survey of our youth, we found that 88% of them have MySpace pages.

 

How social networking fits in.  OBT's organizational culture is often
described as "tough love" and when we told our students that we were
launching an OBT MySpace page they were surprised, to say the least. For
us it was a way to reach them where they are at.  While at OBT, our
student dress and act like they are in the workplace.  But we understand
that even the most dedicated professional has a life outside their work.
MySpace was a platform for us to access their world, their space.  

 

Disconnected youth are a particularly vulnerable population, prone to
shifting in and out of programs due to the stressors of everyday life.
In the information age old forms of communication like phone calls and
letters have been replaced by text messages, MySpace, Instant Messenger,
Second Life, and email.  We needed a way to reach through this barrier
and reach out to youth that would never answer the phone without caller
ID, but who checks their MySpace page religiously. We have had
particular success using MySpace for engagement, communication, and
retention purposes.  

Examples of Other Organizations with MySpace pages:

*        NYU Recent Alumni Network.  620 friends.

*        ACORN United. 469 friends.

*        Working Families Party. 184 friends.

*        National Lawyer's Guild. 779 friends.

*        The Labor Movement. 1624 friends.

The other social networking tool that we have used is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a lot less about meeting students where they are at, than it
is getting them where we want them to go.  Its use, benefits, and
limitations are different than those of MySpace. For example, it's not
possible for organizations to have LinkedIn pages, only the people in
them.    

 

OBT's MySpace page: http://profile.myspace.com/obtjobs

 

Here is my Linkedin page: 
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=12015366  (The 25 "OBT
Interns" listed under my contacts are all part of our young adult
internship program)

 

Over the next few emails today I will discuss more specifically what the
goals, the challenges, and the nitty-gritty details of how MySpace was
implemented.  Tomorrow I will discuss how we used LinkedIn and present
some research on other social networking sites that OBT hasn't tapped
into yet.

 

 

______________________________

Emily May

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow

783 4th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11232

718-369-0303

emay at obtjobs.org

www.obtjobs.org

 

<mailto:emay at obtjobs.org>  

 

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