Allison Duane's Blog

Who is Allison Duane?

Allison Duane is a dreamer. She is a current college student with lots of big aspirations and plans for her life, but is trying to figure out how and where they all fit. She wants to have a bigger impact on the world and leave it better than she left it. Even if that means only having a positive effect on one person’s life, it will be a success. She has lots of big ideas, but needs to focus on how to get it all done. 

How will you change the world?


Studying International Relations and Economics, my goal is to work for a nonprofit or some NGO after college. The goal for whoever I wind up working with, is that the group’s mission statement and main goal is to create positive change in the world. I want to change the world by advocating for justice and for everything that is right and moral. I want that to be what I do everyday, what I literally work to achieve. I hope to change the world with my persistence and compassion.

What do you want your epitaph to read?


She was the change she wanted to see in the world.

Living an Impact-Focused Life

What’s your Why?

I believe I was put on this earth to:

Leave it a little better than I found it. So even if that means only positively affecting one person in my life, it will still have made a difference.

 

My purpose is to:

Serve other people and to make the people around me happy.

 

 

I believe (my core values):

That you should find the good in everyone.

That you should value everyone and put others first but also know when you have to do what is best for you.

 

The one thing I must do before I die is:

See as much of the world as I can, experience as many cultures as I can, and meet as many people as I can.

 

My advocates and supporters all believe I:

 

Am compassionate, strong willed, and try to do the right thing.

 

The evil I want to eradicate in this world is:

Inequality and injustice overall. Everyone should be treated fairly!

 

 

I want to work in order to:

Reduce poverty and inequality. I want work in order to help as many people as I can. I want to work for Red Cross.

 

Walk the Talk – Your How

If you are truly committed to your Why, you show it in your everyday behavior. It is all air until you do it. Working from your Why, How do you prove that you are true to your Why in all you do?

 

I always:

Try to see the good in people and try to treat everyone fairly.

 

I never:

Want to completely give up on something. I never want to fail at something and then walk away.

 

My work style is:

To start early, plan it out, and then put it into action.

 

I try to treat people:

With compassion and fairly.

 

I approach problems by:

 

Victories are time to:

Be humble. To reflect on what may have gone right to get me there, reflect on what I learned, and what I can do better next time.

 

If another attacks my point of view I:

Try to let them explain their point of view, and try to understand their stance, but then also try to explain my point of view in different ways to have them understand.

 

If I fundamentally do not agree with what an organization or person is doing, I will:

See if other people feel the same way. If so, bring it up to whoever is leading and express our opinions. If no one else agrees, I would still try to speak up, probably just more in a private setting. If nothing changes, I would then leave.

 

 

 

Your Credibility – Your Whats

You have just spent some considerable time at Lehigh, and specifically in the Global Social Impact Fellowship, on many whats. Your whats include lab research, formal presentations, writing research papers, engaging with people in other cultural contexts, building prototypes, designing and building systems, raising funds, hiring employees, etc. The whats you have collected along the way are critical to your credibility when you are entering the workforce or applying to the best graduate and professional schools. They signify a credible currency to which organizations can assign value. Create a list of your Whats that are truly reflective of your Why & How.  You did these things because you believe (Why) and you acquired them in the following (How) manner. These are examples you can use in interviews.

What Have I Done	List of Experiences, Accomplishments, and Lessons Learned
Degrees, Minors, Certificates, Fellowships	Pursuing joint major in international relations and economics with a minor in Spanish.
Research Experiences	GSIF
Inventions and Innovations	Save Tuba App
(Social) Entrepreneurial Ventures	GSIF – Save Tuba
Publications (Formal and Informal)	Engineering for Change article. GHTC IEEE Paper
Formal Presentations (at Lehigh and Beyond)	GSIF Semester Presentations Was a part of our GHTC presentation, although did not present myself.
Awards and External Recognition	Dean’s List WW-P PTSA Michael Zapicchi Scholarship Recipient, June 2019 Mercer County Professional Counselors Association Caring for Humanity Scholarship Recipient, June 2019 National Honor Society Member 2018-2019 Diocese of Metuchen Saint Timothy Award, 2017

 

Articulating and learning from GSIF-related Experiences. For each of these prompts, we want you to identify one and only one specific and compelling event/incident/experience/moment and identify exactly how you grew personally and professionally through that moment.

Teamwork Experience (and Lessons Learned)	GSIF. I have been able to work with people across so many disciplines and have been able to work on projects and tasks I never thought I could. I have learned lots of new skills and been able to broaden my research skills and collaboration skills overall.
Conflict Resolution Experience (and Lessons Learned)	Family conflicts. Being in close proximity for an extended period of time can hinder your ability to see things in different ways. It is often important to take a step back and try to see the other side/perspective, then come back and reevaluate.
Leadership Experience (and Lessons Learned)	Flight 45 Talk that I lead. I didn’t know everything about the topic I was facilitating, so I learned that as a leader it is also important to listen and learn from others around you.
Dealing with Chaos, Ambiguity, and Uncertainty (and Lessons Learned)	COVID over this summer. I had no idea what the semester ahead was going to look like, what my season would look like, if I could work, etc. But I had to take it day by day and reevaluate everything again and again.
Personally Challenging Experience (and Lessons Learned)	Being a junior Volunteer Firefighter. I really had to push myself out of my comfort zone constantly to be able to do this. It was physically challenging, and I felt like I didn’t belong sometimes but had to keep telling myself why I was doing it. I had to learn how to believe in myself and realized I was stronger than I thought.
Cross-cultural Experience (and Lessons Learned)	Going to Guatemala to visit our partners from my church at home. I got to meet our partners there and have meaningful connections and conversations with them even though we didn’t speak the same language. Just through our body language and our partnership with them and us being there we were able to communicate a lot.
An experience that helped you connect your GSIF work to your discipline / major.	Experiences differences in how nations handle certain aspects of life. For example, how Kazakhstan handles environmental sustainability different. As an IR major I want to be able to work with countries on many different problems, and to do so you have to understand how a country currently functions. This has helped me understand how that first step in the process works.
A moment that boosted your sense of agency and self-efficacy – you felt like you can speak for yourself, get stuff done, take on the world and make it better.	When I became a Peer Leader in High School. I realized I could help make the freshmen and other high schoolers feel more comfortable in school and help them transition better. I wanted to be a role model for them and really make an impact on their high school experience. That’s when I saw how making even one person’s experience better could make a difference. I learned how to lead groups and use my voice through this as well.
A moment where you felt like you truly have a strong sense of purpose and belonging in this dynamic, globalized interdependent world.	When I saw the poverty in Guatemala when I went, but the people I met weren’t sorrowful. They were happy. They were happy for the relationships they had, for their family, for their health, for a lot of little things that we often take for granted. I also saw how impactful our microfinance program and our partnership was for them. I realized though that relationships and solidarity are more important in partnerships than just money or supplies that you are providing to help them.

Group: Save Tuba (Bishoy, Tommy, and Ugochi) https://venngage.net/ps/7xBBIiiu0o/current-system

 https://venngage.net/ps/BSwx8EoikA/system-with-save-tuba

 

Group: Ugochi and Bishoy

 

1. System #1:You are chief of police, how do you solve (use systems thinking)

To try to solve this problem of mass corruption in Afghanistan’s policing system, we would start by requiring all police stations to have “role calls.” By requiring commanders to report exactly who is working everyday we will be able to determine who the “ghost” policemen are. This would be our regulation aspect to the system. Then, when we determine who the “ghost” policemen are, we will be able to stop paying them, and in turn use that money to give all the real policemen and the commanders a raise. That will be our leverage point by raising morale. It will incentivize the commanders to actually report the real numbers by giving them monetary incentives. In addition, a way to increase public trust in law and order, we will make public statements to each community on who is on the police force. That way the community can feel more connected to law enforcement and feel more safe, it will create holism within the system. 

2. System #2: How does she solve the hyacinth problem? Use systems approach.

To solve this problem, she should hire some of the workers in the community to help her with her business. Since her need for hyacinth is increasing substantially, she will need more than four people to cut it and collect it. Since collecting the hyacinth benefits each member of the community as a whole because it decreases the spread of disease, and makes it easier for fishermen to access the lake, they should be happy about her business, they were only upset because she was making money off of it. So, by differentiation, she can hire some workers within the community to cut the hyacinth, some to crush it, and some to bring it to the workshop, depending on their specialization. Each worker will be putting in a different input based on what their job is, but it will be to attain the same goal of creating compost and briquettes to make the lakes cleaner (equifinality). All of these jobs create holism in the system because every aspect is completing the system by making the community more safe. Our solution is multifinal because fishermen now have more space to fish, as the hyacinth is being cleared away, less disease is bring spread, workers in the community that are hired to help clear the hyacinth economically benefit from new jobs, and the hyacinth crushed and used for compost and briquettes can potentially have good environmental benefits because it is a good alternative fuel source.

 

 

Describe at least 5 partnerships that were formed (before or) during the GSIF fieldwork experience that impacted the success or failure of your venture. Please identify partnerships at the individual, team, and Lehigh / GSIF level.

1. KazNU, AlmaU, SDU
   1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. Coordinators, faculty and students.
   2. How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
      1. By talking to faculty, coordinators, and students at these universities, we were able to better understand what the education system looks like in Kazakhstan. We were also able to get feedback on several aspects of our Save Tuba app. We also helped them by giving feedback on their project ideas as well.
   3. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. It was a symbiotic relationship because they were able to give feedback on our project ideas, and we were able to give feedback on theirs. 
   4. What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. If we could have someone on our team directly working with them on their project, like they do with us, it would make this a more equitable relationship. 
2. Nazarbayev Schools
   1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. Teachers, students, and school administrators.
   2. How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
      1. The teachers will help us with implementing our app into their curriculum and introducing it to their students. School administrators will help with logistical aspects of implementation and connection between schools. By using the app in schools, we will be able to reach more youth in Kazakhstan. We can provide teachers and schools with a useful educational tool that will (hopefully) engage their students in a fun way.
   3. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. It is a symbiotic relationship because we both have a goal of making Almaty and Kazakhstan a more sustainable place, and we both have a goal of educating the youth. Our partnership will accomplish this for both of us.
   4. What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. We could strengthen this partnership by talking with higher ups at the school to make our app a part of the curriculum for more schools. Also if we were able to talk face to face, it would strengthen it more.
3. Other schools (similar to Nazarbayev Schools)
   1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. Teachers, students, and school administrators.
   2. How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
      1. The teachers will help us with implementing our app into their curriculum and introducing it to their students. School administrators will help with logistical aspects of implementation and connection between schools. By using the app in schools, we will be able to reach more youth in Kazakhstan. We can provide teachers and schools with a useful educational tool that will (hopefully) engage their students in a fun way.
   3. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. It is a symbiotic relationship because we both have a goal of making Almaty and Kazakhstan a more sustainable place, and we both have a goal of educating the youth. Our partnership will accomplish this for both of us.
   4. What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. We could strengthen this partnership by talking with higher ups at the school to make our app a part of the curriculum for more schools. Also if we were able to talk face to face, it would strengthen it more.
4. Local businesses
   1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. Store/shop owners.
   2. How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
      1. Local business owners can help us incentivize our users more. By providing real world rewards, such as a voucher to a local store, players will become more connected with their community and more immersed into the app storyline. It will help us make the users more engaged, and help the business owners expand their customer base. 
   3. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. It is symbiotic because it will help us make the users more engaged, and help the business owners expand their customer base. We will both gain from it.
   4. What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. We could strengthen this partnership by getting the local businesses to be more environmentally sustainable as well. We can introduce ways they can become more sustainable to further promote our goal. 
5. The city of Almaty
   1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. Officials and people of Almaty.
   2. How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
      1. The city of Almaty can help us in our research of levels of recycling (to help us determine if we are achieving our goal). If they help us with our app by making more things in the city environmentally friendly (e.g., making recycling more accessible, having set days for collection, etc.) our app will help make their city cleaner. 
   3. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. It is a symbiotic relationship because our app will eventually make Almaty a cleaner and more sustainable city. So by the city working with us to make our app accessible, we will be helping them improve the city.
   4. What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. If we could talk with officials to implement utilities of functions that would make it easier for citizens to be environmentally conscious and sustainable, that would strengthen our partnership, and our ultimate goal.

 

1. [Individual] List ten specific ways in which your teaming approach has changed/evolved since you started, teamwork skills you have developed, and lessons you have learned:

 

1. I have learned to take a proactive approach to our tasks, but then also take a step back afterwards and check with other team members that it is correct and how we want it. 
2. I have learned that each of us have our specialities, so we can split tasks up more effectively by playing to our strengths.
3. I have learned that due dates are important to keep us on track, but ensuring that our final product is more than just “acceptable” is more important. It is more important to do a thorough job. 
4. I tend to want to get a task done right away when it is “assigned”, to just check the box off. I have learned that that often leads to work that isn’t as good as it can be. It is important to get feedback from all team members.
5. I have learned to be patient. It has been hard to communicate with our partners in Kazakhstan and get their feedback. I have learned to continue to work on the venture, and verify later. But ultimately to be patient. 
6. I have learned how to work on aspects of our venture that I have had no past knowledge on. For example, I don’t know how to code/program an app (like what we are working on), but I have learned how to be a supporting member to my teammates that are working on that part of the project. 
7. Since starting back on the project this semester, after not having worked on it over the summer, I have learned that it’s ok to ask lots of questions. I missed a lot of important updates over the summer, so it is important that I catch up, and ask lots of questions to make sure I am on the same page as my teammates. 
8. I feel like I have learned how to prepare in case our first plan doesn’t work out. We are putting all our hope in the fact that this one app will be effective. Khanjan keeps reminding us that we may have to make LOTS of adjustments to find success. I have learned that I have to be prepared for that.
9. Our approach changed because I feel like in the beginning we jumped right into our app idea without much research. Then we took a step back, researched a lot, got some things published, and now are back to our project idea. This way we are able to be a lot more knowledgeable. 
10. I think our team is a lot more comfortable with each other now. We are able to “call people out” to ask them to finish a task, or ask for more clarifications. This helps us work more efficiently as teammates on our venture.

2. Collaborative Plan (Updated): Bishoy, Tommy, Ugochi, Allison

Goals

• Project Goal: To create our app, Save Tuba, that will help the citizens in Kazakhstan become more sustainable and environmentally aware.
  • To measure the success of our project, we need to collect data on how many people use the app, on the rate of recycling in Kazakhstan, and possibly do interviews to see how people think it has changed their lives. There will also be quizzes in the app to track environmental education of the users. 
• Personal Goal (Alli): To broaden my knowledge on the school systems in Kazakhstan, and learn how to integrate a gamified, educational app into their curriculum. Also to gain a better understanding of the culture in Almaty.
• Personal Goal (Ugochi): To understand the in-depth process behind successful and impactful smart innovations, and leave the project with an ability to implement similar innovations in other cities.
• Person Goal: (Tommy): Learn the process of implementing a gamified learning tool into schools. Better understand how partnerships work to complete a task. 
• Personal Goal: (Bishoy): Improve writing and research skills to better understand how impactful papers are written and how to get published in the research role. To set realistic expectations for our app to synthesize a distribution process where it reaches the most people.

Roles

• All of us have been working on publications. Each of us have an E4C article published, we have a paper accepted for GHTC, and an IEEE paper in the works. 
• Now, as our project is beginning to have more concrete tasks and has a more detailed plan, we have focused on various subgroups. Tommy and Bishoy are working on the app development and testing, Ugochi is working on the wireframe and the visuals, and Alli is working on the sustainability tasks. However, there is overlap; we are each helping each other with all the tasks if we need help.
• We don’t have one project manager, but we each sort of head various tasks. So some of us are the “project managers” of a certain publication, or of creating the MVP, etc. Ugochi and Tommy worked on the venture over the summer, so they are most knowledgeable on the project right now.

Procedures

• For decision making, I think we should strive for consensus, but if we hit a specifically difficult topic, then it might have to be majority rules.
• Right now we have been doing a lot of communication online, and it seems like it is going to have to continue to be that way. However, as many zoom meetings, or “face-to-face” simulations we can have, the better. Texts (GroupMe) and emails are good substitutes when we cannot zoom right away.
• For meeting roles, it depends on the meeting, as our roles will shift. However, usually we all do a good job of each taking notes, and all keeping time in mind, and facilitating together.
• We are meeting at an additional time (aside from the one with Khanjan). We have been having a zoom call every Thursday evening to debrief on the work we have done, and plan out what we still have to do.

Relationships

• Everyone on our team has different strengths that play well into making us work effectively. We have various majors and disciplines across our team, including computer science, engineering, and international relations. This allows us to use each other’s strengths to solve any issues we may come across. We also all have different cultural backgrounds which helps us look at everything with different perspectives.
• Our team name is Save Tuba.

Group: Bishoy, Ugochi, Tommy, Allison

20 FAQ’s:

1. Where the app will be available (platform)
   1. Right now we have an elementary version of the app for android phones. Android is used more commonly among this age group in Kazakhstan, based on questioning our partners.
2. Where do you get stats for your environmental goals?
   1. We have researched that the recycling rate is 11% in Kazakhstan right now, and projecting an increase to 40% by 2024 is reasonable because the infrastructure is already there, citizens just have to be taught how to be more sustainable; which our venture/app does.
3. Roles of small businesses?
   1. Small businesses are a core part of our reward system. In our 4 categories, (in game customization, in game power ups, classroom rewards, and gift cards) small businesses would contribute gift cards for users to earn by actively using the app. It makes a win-win situation for both parties because small businesses can advertise our app to people in Almaty, and we can advertise their businesses in our app.
4. Why did you choose this age group?
   1. Our app is for three age groups; 6-9, 10-12, and 13-16. We chose these ages because that is when children are the most impressionable and formulate lifelong good or bad habits. It is also the age range to most likely find an app/game engaging to play.
5. Are there current gamification apps that have been successful?
   1. Grendel Games is a company in the Netherlands that has created many successful gamified apps. One of them is called Water Battle. It takes the users (primary school children) through a story of a character in the water network in a city in the Netherlands, and the user learns to use water and energy wisely. This is a very similar concept to ours, and they have found successful, measurable outcomes.
   2. An IEEE publication: “Using Gamification to Incentivize Sustainable Urban Mobility” discussed a case study on a green game called Viagga Rovereto which enhanced Rovereto, Italy’s sustainability in mobility.
   3. IEEE : “A mobile gamification learning system for improving learning the learning motivation and achievements”
   4. IEEE : “HomeSchool: an Interactive Educational tool for child education”
6. How are kids going to influence their families on their habits?
   1. Children involve their families into their school lives, for example mothers tend to help children with homework, so the family will definitely be involved with a new and innovative idea.
7. Verification and validation of concept
   1. We have been arranging for the app to be distributed among our partners, but we are still waiting for a final MVP to test it. But we have already heard from a few school teachers (including Xeniya Volkova) that our concept could work.
   2. We have surveys created to send out to students and teachers in Kazakh schools as soon as we hear back from our contacts.
8. How will the reward system work?
   1. Each sustainable act will earn the user a certain number of points. To get to the next level they need a required amount. In our 4 categories of rewards, (in game customization, in game power ups, classroom rewards, and gift cards), users will be able to choose where they want to spend their points. Outside rewards such as classroom rewards or gift cards will require more points, therefore incentivizing users to complete more sustainable actions. 
9. Inner workings of the app?
   1. There will be a storyline to engage the user, and tasks and quizzes for them to complete to progress forward in the app’s levels.
   2. Will be answered more effectively with a 20 second video. We can send the link to you afterwards if you would like further information.
10. How is your app an example of a smart city innovation?
    1. Smart City innovations can range in scope. Ultimately it is some sort of technology that improves citizen’s quality of life. We have written a paper for IEEE’s GHTC conference that was accepted titled “A Taxonomy of Smart City Innovations.” We can send you the link afterwards if you would like to read it.
11. How can you quantify the impact of the venture and is this impact even a significant role in the potential increase in the recycling rate in Almaty?
    1. We quantify impact using the number of active users compared to the number of schools and students in Almaty. For example our goal is to implement our solution at 4/8 international schools in Almaty. We also plan to quantify by calculating the recycling rate, and also by our quizzes in the app to determine if the students gain knowledge as they play.
12. What market share might this app have in Almaty?
    1. So there are not a lot of gamified recycling apps in Kazakhstan currently, so we aim for a decent market share of 20%?
13. How have you tested the app among students, teachers, etc.?
    1. Unfortunately due to many covid restrictions, we haven’t been able to test the app among students or teachers, but as soon as it is possible/safe, that is our next step.
14. What role do your partners play in the venture?
    1. Our partners in Kazakhstan play a big role in validating our app. Throughout our creation and development process, we shared our progress with our partners to get feedback, criticism, and any advice or recommendations that we could use to improve our process/designs.
15. What social / cultural barriers are expected?
    1. Their methods of teaching, project management, and achieving goals are different. We use a more active and persistent approach, which sometimes clashes with their work ethic. 
    2. Kazakhstan is being affected by covid as well, so communication is more difficult now. 
    3. It’s a new form of teaching, so it will be met with skepticism.
    4. Environmental literacy and sustainability is a few field of study being implemented into school as far as we know from a few of our partners
16. How are you planning on funding the development of the app?
    1. We are currently working on a proposal for IEEE SIGHT funding.
17. What is the significance of using the Saiga antelope?
    1. The saiga is an endangered animal native to the Kazakh steppe, so we wanted to integrate the idea of increased sustainability and recycling with improving the environment for endangered saigas.
18. How are you incorporating Almaty or Kazakhstan into the design of the app?
    1. All of the sustainability acts will be mindful of the user’s location and what is available and accessible to them in Almaty.
19. What about students who don’t have access to a mobile device? Will there be a web-version available?
    1. Once we have our app worked out, we can then work on a web-version. However, phones have become progressively less expensive, so most households in Kazakhstan have at least one mobile device.
20. Why do you think your approach of using gamification and education will be successful?
    1. Literature: In reading many publications about gamification successes, if it includes some form of “persuasion” it is able to change habits. The paper “Gamification of Persuasive Systems for Sustainability” emphasizes this. Also more IEEE papers back this up with successes in children with dyslexia, and ADHD learning to manage better.
    2. Strategy: We will have a storyline to engage users, and rewards to incentivize and persuade effectively.

Case 1

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible 

• ~35% of the children in East Africa is stunted due to poor nutrition
• The current gruel used to complement breastfeeding is not nutritionally adequate according to scientific research, but the moms believe the gruel is nutritious.
• WHO recommends breastfeeding until an infant turns 6 months
• The longer the child nurses when the mother is HIV+, the higher the chance of them contracted with HIV.
• The donor who gave us the grant intent is to build up the women’s cooperative to simultaneously improve the nutritional status of children and improve the livelihoods of rural households
• The grant has sufficient funds for a nutritious, shelf-stable porridge made from locally grown produce
• The porridge is intended to wean children off of breastfeeding at the age of 6 months
• The 500 women are skeptical of the porridge as a weaning food because it is too new (not something they’re accustomed to in their daily lives)
• Pesticides are typically used in growing the crops used in the porridge
• Assumption: not all women are aware of the adverse health effects resulting from the pesticides used in the crops to make the porridge
• The area has a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and very little testing

 

Ethical issue: Currently, mothers in the region combine breastfeeding with a non-nutritious maize and banana gruel for the first 24 months of their child’s life. HIV/AIDS is highly prevalent in this region, is not tested on a widespread scale, and can be transmitted through breastfeeding. Our job is to establish a cooperative that will work to give mothers a nutritional porridge that they can use to wean their children off of breastmilk at around 6 months. The problem is, some of the ingredients in this porridge are grown using pesticides, which could result in pesticide residues in the porridge itself. The ethical issue here is deciding whether to go ahead and feed these 6 month old children pesticide grown food, or to continue having the mothers feed their children breast milk with the risk of transmitting HIV.

 

Step 2 & 3: Define the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome. Determine and distinguish between the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders.

Stakeholders:

• Breastfeeding Moms:
  • Professional Motivation: N/a 
  • Personal Motivation: The mothers want to be providing their babies with the best nutrients while keeping them safe 
• Woman joining the co-op
  • Professional Motivation: sell as much porridge as possible to the community (build up the co-op), make the best and safest product (porridge), educate breastfeeding mothers, make money.
  • Personal Motivation: help their own babies stay healthy, help their neighbors.
• Babies
  • Professional Motivation: N/a 
  • Personal Motivation: Want to minimize their risk of contracting HIV and still intake their required nutrients.
• Farmers 
  • Professional Motivation: produce as much of their crop for community consumption as possible, make money (maximize profit), collaborate with the women in the cooperative 
  • Personal Motivation: help the community stay healthy (provide the best crops)
• Grant Donor (secondary stakeholder)
  • Professional Motivation: Have good reputation of making good deeds, want their money to be allocated wisely and productively for meaningful purposes
  • Personal Motivation: Want  women in the area to be healthier and have their livelihood improved
• Doctors
  • Professional Motivation: Would want HIV cases to go down and  would want to allocate their resources and knowledge to other patients with other illnesses  
  • Personal Motivation: Prevent the amount of infants they see with HIV/Malnutrition
• Us (researchers establishing the co-op)
  • Professional Motivation: To start a successful and sustainable co-op what will also enhance our skill sets and credibility, build up good record and establish their credibility for future fundings and resources 
  • Personal Motivation: Want to improve the livelihoods of women and children in the arena 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture. 

Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action] 

Potential solution 1: Form the cooperative. Educate the mothers the dangers of breastfeeding children while being HIV+. After six months, have them wean their children off breastmilk with the porridge (without telling them the potential harms from the pesticides).

Ethical Principle or code: Consequence-Based Thinking because we will be able to convince more women to use the porridge by not telling them about possible harms of pesticides. By “hiding” some negatives we will be able to stop breastfeeding earlier and prevent more cases of HIV in children.

Pros: 

• The babies will have a smaller chance of contracting HIV from their mothers
• Moms are more likely to switch to the porridge if they think that it is more nutritious than the cruel without any side effects. 

Cons: 

• We are not telling the mother about the negative effects of the pesticides in the porridge so there is a chance that the porridge will affect the babies negatively in some way.
• It is also unethical for researchers to not inform women the side effects of the porridge that was developed specifically for their children.
• HIV+ education to the women and locals cost time and resources 

Potential solution 2: Form the cooperative to educate the Mothers the dangers of breastfeeding children while being HIV+. After six months, have them wean their children off breastmilk with the porridge, and tell them the potential harms from the pesticides.

Ethical Principle or code: Duty Based Thinking because we are doing the right thing, and most ethic thing by giving the women ALL the facts we have. We are telling them all the positives and negatives of breastfeeding and the porridge.

Pros: 

• Mothers understand the dangers of HIV transmission through breastfeeding
  • Reduces the number of children with HIV
• Mothers know when to begin feeding their children the porridge, the potential harms, and the nutritional benefits of the porridge
  • Reduces Malnutrition

Cons

• The decisions now depend on the mothers’ intuition, which can go either way
• The children still face the risk of contracting HIV+
• The children are now at risk (if their mothers use the porridge) to the harms of pesticide residue in the food they consume

 

Potential solution 3: Form the cooperative to educate the Mothers the dangers of breastfeeding children while being HIV+. After six months, have them wean their children off breastmilk with the porridge that has gruel in the recipe, and tell them the potential harms from the pesticides.

Ethical Principle or code: Duty Based Thinking (for same reason as above) + Care Based Thinking because we are taking into account the personal relations with the women who prefer to use the guel and feel comfortable with it. 

Pros:

• The mothers will be more comfortable using an ingredient they trust in their new food supplement
• the risk of the babies contracting HIV will reduce

Cons:

• The mothers might be hesitant because there is still a risk associated with using the porridge.
• Adding gruel to the recipe might reduce the nutritional values of the original recipe, which might impose negative implications on the children’s growth and development. 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection.

• There is a 15-45% chance of passing HIV onto your baby if neither are taking treatment (https://www.avert.org/hiv-transmission-prevention/pregnancy-childbirth-breastfeeding) 
• In East and South Africa, 20.7million adults have HIV in 2019
  • 84k new HIV infections in children (0-14yrs) in 2018
  • (https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/sub-saharan-africa/overview)

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class.

I think that Solution 3 is the best course of action because it satisfies duty-based ethical thinking, AND care-based ethical thinking. It is the best solution because while it does explain to the women the potential hazards of pesticides that may be in the porridge, you will also be explaining why it is still a better option than breastfeeding for two years. Through teaching you can emphasize that the risk of contracting HIV is much worse than potential side effects of a small amount of pesticides in the crops. However, you are choosing to be ethical in giving the women ALL the facts that you have so that they can make the final decision for themselves. We are also implementing the gruel (which the women are comfortable with) into the new porridge (which they are not comfortable with yet), making the transition easier.

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

Because of being thrown lots of scary facts all at once, it may take awhile for women to feel comfortable switching to the porridge. They co-op may start small and take a little bit to grow. By being completely honest and open, you risk a slower growth rate. BUT in the long run you will grow trust and reach more of the community. You will also have to come up with a new porridge recipe that includes the gruel which may cost more money, however it will help the mothers feel more comfortable. 

 

Case 2

Team members: Brianna W, Allison D, Tri N, Jake D.

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible 

• The cooperative has been thriving for 6 months
• The women can sell the produce grown on their farm to the cooperative for additional income.
• The women work for nine hours a day and make 3$ 
• The women like this arrangement because it saves them money and time 
• The women enjoy working together and are happy with the co-op
• The women have to give their money to their husband father or brother
• The money the women make gets wasted on alcohol/frivolous things
• The twin social outcomes of improving the nutritional status of children and the livelihoods of rural households are not achievable right now
• You as the entrepreneur will leave the cooperative’s committee (you and other 6 local women) after 6 months. 
• The entrepreneur does not have direct say in the in the co-ops functioning
• Assumption: not all 500 women of the cooperative will work on growing the produce.
• The women are upset that their hard earned money is not used to feed their children

Step 2 &3: Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome. Determine and distinguish between the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders. 

Problem: The women in the co-op do not get to keep their money to feed their children, because the money is given to the men in the household. You are leaving the co-op in 6 months and want to get the cooperative back on track. You want to get the cooperative on track of achieving the twin social outcomes in a sustainable manner.

Stakeholders:

• Other 6 members of leadership committee
  • Personal Motivations: want to provide for their family, wants to keep good relations with the men and not cause issues, wants to keep good relations with the other women in the co-op. 
  • Professional Motivations: maintain position on the leadership committee, make a decision that satisfies everyone in the co-op and in the community.
• Men in households:
  • Personal Motivations: buy products and goods that are personally satisfying (alcohol, and luxury items)
  • Professional Motivations: Work and provide for their family, but also take the money that the women bring home.
• Breastfeeding Moms:
  • Professional Motivation: N/a 
  • Personal Motivation: The mothers want to be providing their babies with the best nutrients while keeping them safe 
• Woman joining the co-op
  • Professional Motivation: sell as much porridge as possible to the community (build up the co-op), make the best and safest product (porridge), educate breastfeeding mothers, make money.
  • Personal Motivation: help their own babies stay healthy, help their neighbors.
• Babies
  • Professional Motivation: N/a 
  • Personal Motivation: Want to minimize their risk of contracting HIV and still intake their required nutrients.
• Farmers 
  • Professional Motivation: produce as much of their crop for community consumption as possible, make money (maximize profit), collaborate with the women in the cooperative 
  • Personal Motivation: help the community stay healthy (provide the best crops)
• Grant Donor (secondary stakeholder)
  • Professional Motivation: Have good reputation of making good deeds, want their money to be allocated wisely and productively for meaningful purposes
  • Personal Motivation: Want  women in the area to be healthier and have their livelihood improved
• Doctors
  • Professional Motivation: Would want HIV cases to go down and  would want to allocate their resources and knowledge to other patients with other illnesses  
  • Personal Motivation: Prevent the amount of infants they see with HIV/Malnutrition
• Us (researchers establishing the co-op)
  • Professional Motivation: To start a successful and sustainable co-op what will also enhance our skill sets and credibility, build up good record and establish their credibility for future fundings and resources 
  • Personal Motivation: Want to improve the livelihoods of women and children in the arena 

Step 4, 5, and 6: Formulate ONE solution – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture. Include additional assistance you sought to identify the one best solution. 

Optimal Solution: The cooperative will establish a partial credit system that allows women to earn more benefits by storing some of their earned money rather than cashing out $3 every day. These benefits can be in the form of discounts on local goods and porridge for the kids.The committee will decide the procedure on how to cash out (limit per day, what products can be purchased with high credits), making sure that money will be spent towards their kids rather than being wasted by the men in the households. However, the other portion of their pay (lesser part) will be in cash so that they can still save face with the men in the households. Additionally, the women will also be allowed to take home roughly two servings of porridge each day to ensure their kids are being fed.

 

How does the solution meet twin outcomes?

The women in the co-op will be able to use their pay to provide for their families now (through the credit system), and also will still be bringing back physical money to the men at home (so it doesn’t disrupt cultural norms and cause issues in the community). The women will not have to confront the men about wanting to use the money for other non-frivolous things. On the other side, you are still “paying” the women in the co-op. Altogether, this solution will help meet the twin outcomes: better nutrition for the children and improved livelihood for rural households.

Pros: 

• The women have to spend a certain amount of their earned pay on food for their families. 
• The women are allowed to bring home porridge free of charge each day to nourish their children.

Cons:

• The men will still be receiving some of the women’s pay and using on personal luxury items.
• The women will only be able to use their credit earnings on porridge, or food/products that are within the co-op (or agreed upon by the committee). 

 

How does it save face of those involved? 

The co-op partial credit system allows for the women to still bring home a smaller portion of physical money that the men will be able to spend how they want to. The women will now be given an opportunity to spend their money how they want (on their families) without having to confront the men. It will also save face for the co-op and the committee, because it is a very non-confrontational approach that attempts not to disrupt cultural norms. 

Implications on relationships 

• Short-term 
  • The men will most likely be disappointed that the women are bringing home less money, but the men will not likely be too offended that they abuse the wives and the children because at least we still give them the impression that they are “in control” of the finance.
• Long-term 
  • The relationships will be healthier between the men and women in the household because the men will still be receiving money though it is small and the women will be able to feed their children
  • The men might start changing their behavior and thinking more about their family.
  • The families will have access to more food and necessary items (live better)
  • If the children grow up happier and healthier, they could help out the family with higher productivity, which could raise the family’s income and contribute to the elevated livelihoods.

Implications on the venture 

• Short-term
  • They co-op will have to be prepared to have more porridge available because the women in the co-op will now be buying more too.
  • Might be easier to pay the women (not need as much cash).
• Long-term 
  • The committee will now have more power in deciding the ratio of credit to cash payments of the women, and also in what products they can use the credit on.
  • The co-op may be more successful because each of the women will now essentially be reinvesting their earnings into the company by buying food. 
    • More women may be able to participate

 

Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

We combined our own proposed solution as well as our peers’ in order to maximize the benefits to the community while saving faces for every stakeholder involved. Some of our peer’s suggestions:

1. Gift card. Extracting part of the money that they earn per day to the gift card, which can be used to purchase goods in the grocery store. 
2. Food Receipt. Require that a certain amount of the food is spent responsibly. Receipts required, incentives could be included to encourage more responsible use of money in the rural household.
3. Hold meetings with the cooperative’s committees (6 women) and the community leaders (including both men and women) to bring up the issue and discuss how money earned by the women working for the cooperatives can be distributed in a more sustainable manner. 
4. Co-op gives the women option to walk away with porridge everyday for free to address malnutrition problem

Our inner reflection: 

• We do not integrate solution 1 and 2 into our proposal because we think it might not be as effective as the credit system in the context of giving  the power to the women to purchase food and necessities to support their families physically and mentally. 
• We got solution 4 from our peers, and we think it is a viable idea that can help address the malnutrition problem effectively; so, we incorporate them into our solution. 
• For solution 3, it doesn’t not necessarily solve the problem, but it reminds us that no matter how good our solution is, if we don’t have a good implementation strategy, it automatically becomes useless. The team will take this into consideration into our last step.

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.

• Ask the women in the leadership committee if they want a change. Get them to understand the system and the problem we are facing.
• Validate it with committee and the men – talk to 25-30 people one on one, try to get them on board 
• Bring everyone together for the large meeting
• Try to moderate the discussion → move it towards to the grassroot diplomacy 
• Ask the people in the meeting, “How do they want to structure the cooperatives’ finance?”
• Figure out a set ratio of credit/cash pay, and implement ways the committee can adjust this over time if it doesn’t work.
• Figure out what items the credit can be used for.
• Test the system out for a few months, and reconvene with the committee to make adjustments if needed. 
• Before you leave, make sure you communicate candidly and clearly with the 6 women in the committee about the vision and core mission of the cooperative, making sure everyone is on the same page. Encourage them to find and educate younger members about the mindset so that the venture keeps flourishing even after your departure.

 

 

Step 1: Facts

• Children living in youth center in Kenya
• Children of all ages 3-14 yo
• Youth center received gifts from donor
• Gifts already allocated for specific children, Jack is meant to distribute gifts
  • Four children did not receive gifts
  • Staff unconcerned about these children that didn’t get a gift
• Have black hats which are available to distribute as an alternative
  • These children are unhappy with Jack and feel excluded
• Assumed cultural difference between Jack (who is American) and the Staff (who are Kenyan)
  • It may be a cultural normal that when gifts come to the center, not every child gets a gift every time
• Black hat assumed to have some sort of negative stigma

Step 2: Problem & Stakeholders

Problem: Four children at the youth center didn’t receive a gift from the donor because they were short. They were given hats to supplement, but now it looks bad that Jack didn’t get them a similar gift. 

• Children Without Gifts
• Children With Gifts
• Jack 
• Youth Center Staff 
• Donor of Gifts

Step 3: Personal vs Professional Motivations

• Children Without Gifts
  • Personal: might want to take the other children’s gifts because they feel left out 
  • Professional: N/A
• Children With Gifts
  • Personal: might make the children without the gifts feel bad, want to keep their better gift
  • Professional: N/A
• Jack 
  • Personal: doesn’t want the kids at the youth center to hate him, wants to be “the good guy”
  • Professional: doesn’t want to upset the staff by blaming the mix up on them or overstepping with his solution; concerned about well-being of children
• Youth Center Staff
  • Personal: be trusted and liked by the children, wants to be “the good guy”
  • Professional: want to be respected by the children and not to be taken advantage of, wants the operation to keep running smoothly
• Donor of Gifts
  • Personal: make kids happy
  • Professional: reach as many youth centers as they can

Step 4: Solutions

• The children can share the gifts so that no child goes without a gift. This solves the problem by combining all gifts for use by any child at the youth center. Assign gifts on a number system each week (to mitigate the effect of cons).
  • Pros: no child will feel excluded, and each child can have access to a variety of gifts rather than one gift. It will instill a positive lesson in the children, as sharing is important for the kids to learn. Jack will save face providing a quick solution to the imminent issue involving the shortage of gifts. 
  • Cons: children may fight over the gifts, some gifts may be neglected because the children choose others. In this situation, it is likely that the children will want something that they can call their own. Asking the children to share the gifts they were given as individuals may take away some of the feelings of pride of ownership. Not all gifts may be appropriate for all children due to the range of ages.
  • Saves Face: No child will feel completely left out anymore and everyone will be able to play at some point.
  • Implications on Relationships: In the short term, some of the children might be upset they have to give up their personal gift for everyone to share, but in the long term all the children should be happy because they now have more gifts overall to play with.
  • Implications on Venture: The youth center will have to monitor when each child can play with each toy to allow everyone to play equally, so it is a little more work in the short term. But long term, hopefully everyone is happier.
• Jack can tell them their gifts were lost, delayed, give them the hats for now. Get the children gifts at a later date.
  • Pros: eventually all children will have a gift, everyone is leaving with something at the time (although some just have hats).
  • Cons: children will be disappointed until they receive their actual gifts, may not be as interested in the gift at the later time, have to go out and acquire additional gifts.
  • Saves Face: Jack doesn’t blame any specific person for the children not receiving their gifts, and promises them that they will get the same gift eventually so hopefully saving his relationship with them.
  • Implications on Relationships: Children will be unhappy until they receive their gifts, putting more responsibility on Jack to make up for shortcoming. Once they receive their gift they will be happy with Jack after that.
  • Implications on Venture: Short term the youth center (or Jack) will have to spend money out of pocket to get the children their gifts. The children will potentially be upset until they get the gifts. But long term everyone will receive a gift of the same caliber.
• Jack can take the children who received the black hats aside and make up a fun story to tell them about why the hats are special and how they can use them to play a game of some sort. Make modifications to hats to make them more appealing, add a fun experience to the gift.
  • Pros: This will make the children feel better about not receiving one of the other, more exciting, gifts. It will allow Jack to preserve his relationship with the children. It will avoid setting a precedent or creating a conflict with the staff at the center. This also preserves Jack’s status with the children, which will prevent them from walking all over him because he acts too sympathetically.
  • Cons: The children may see right through the act, making them still feel left out. The staff may be wary that you have chosen to act when they did not perceive a problem. Making decorations on hats requires additional resources- sets precedent. Kids without hats feel excluded.
  • Saves Face: Children will feel better about not getting the other gifts and they will still like Jack. Jack will make them and their gifts seem special.
  • Implications on Relationships: This is a “goldilocks” approach that will not completely satisfy the children because they are still without a conventional gift, but it does not cause conflict with the staff. By acting in this way, Jack is able to preserve relationships with the children and the staff for the long term.
  • Implications on the Venture: By preserving relationships with all parties, the motivation of the venture is saved. If partnerships were strained by the decision made by Jack, they may be less likely to continue working together. 

Step 5: Additional Info

• From personal experience, children like when they are singled out in a good way, so the solution that makes an interesting story about the hats may be even happier than the other kids because they now feel special.

Step 6: Best Action

• I think that the best course of action for Jack would be to take the children who only received the hats aside, and tell them a special story to make their hats have more meaning. In doing so, Jack now makes those kids feel special instead of left out. The story can be about a made up character having special powers with the hats, or a story of what an important historical figure did with a hat like that, or something along those lines. In doing this, it will cost Jack and the youth center no money out of pocket (like the other solution does). It also saves face for Jack because the children will like feeling special and not resent Jack for “forgetting” them. Jack will be able to maintain a good relationship with both the children and the youth center, without making any party look bad because of the mistake. In the short term, the children will be happy because everyone will have some sort of gift (and not have to share because that is difficult for children sometimes), and in the long term, Jack will be able to maintain good relations with both the children and the youth center staff because he handled the situation well with minimal conflict.

Step 7: Sequence of Action

1. Distribute all the gifts to the children, and the hats to those remaining (if possible disperse the hats between giving the actual gifts rather than all at the end to make it seem more natural).
2. After the ceremony, ask to speak to all the children with the hats.
3. Come up with a good story to make the hats special.
4. Tell the children the story in a fun way.
5. Emphasize that the hats are special, and to take care of them.
6. Make sure that every child’s name is on a list for the youth center so that no mix-ups happen in the future.