The Vines (Fall 2023)

Partner Background

The Vines Foundation is a catalyst for positive change in Tunuyan, a city in the Western province of Mendoza, Argentina. Our mission is to promote the capacity of our community through sustainable initiatives that improve food security, strengthen socioeconomic independence, and contribute to the holistic wellbeing of each child in our community. As the philanthropic arm of The Vines, an Argentine farming, winemaking and hospitality company (vinesofmendoza.com, vinesresortandspa.com) with deep international connections, the Foundation is leveraging its resources to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the local community. Most importantly, we are seeking to increase capacity and participation through engaging community members and organizations, local and national businesses, and the municipal government to address complex challenges. 

 

Definition of Opportunity

Help the Vines Foundation research best practices and develop a general plan for a new vocational school to promote skills for community members and connect them with local economic opportunities.The Uco Valley is witnessing exponential growth in the tourism industry. Despite this, there is a shortage of workers for hotels, wineries and restaurants, and at the same time there are many in our community who don't have the necessary skills to get good jobs in the hospitality industry.

The Foundation is exploring the creation of a school focused on providing high-quality hospitality training to members of the local community — helping build the necessary skills and experience to secure good jobs in local hotels and restaurants, including The Vines. The programs would be designed to provide comprehensive training in various aspects of hospitality, including customer service, food preparation, housekeeping, and management. We will provide hands-on training, internships, guidance, and mentorship to ensure that community members gain mindsets and practical skills that can get them good jobs.

For the Uco Valley community, these programs provide an avenue for economic growth by producing a skilled workforce that can attract and sustain businesses in the hospitality industry. For graduates of these programs there will be a path to financial stability and career advancement. Additionally, we hope our programs can provide opportunities for personal growth and development, as participants gain valuable life skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.

Vision of Success

Through working with the Fall 2023 DAT, we hope to gain insight and devise these final deliverables:

Based on the community assessment, define the overall market and potential for a hospitality vocational school. List the risks, opportunities and potential corporate partners. Share the information on the skills that are most in demand in the area, and best ways to build those skills in the local community.

Meet the Team

University of San Martín De Porres Dentistry

Bright Spots: Children’s Health and Cavity Prevention

Partner Background

The Department of Pediatric Dentistry of the University San Martín de Porres has been one of the leading Latin American research institutions in promoting children’s dental health and preventing early childhood caries (or cavities). It participated in the creation of the Research Observatory for Dental Cavities of the Latin American Region and developed projects for the International Association of Dental Research, the World Health Organization, the World Dental Federation, and the Peruvian Association for Babies. The head of the Department is a member of the Peruvian Ministry of Health.

 

Definition of Opportunity

Early childhood caries (ECC) is defined as any caries experience involving primary dentition in children under 72 months. Although it is preventable, it is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in early childhood, a risk factor for malnutrition, and a factor limiting the growth, development, and quality of life of children with untreated lesions. Even though the main risk factors in the development of ECC are well-known and categorized as microbiological, dietary, and environmental, its worldwide prevalence (48%) has not significantly changed since the ‘90s. There is ample literature on how the disease develops, reaching up to 90% of 5-year-olds from low-income families in Peru, but little is known about the mindset of the 10% disease-free population.

 How do these families implement preventive habits despite sharing the same constraints and barriers as others?

 This project focuses on understanding these positive deviants, known as bright spots, to identify the best practices and behaviors of that community and help design and develop activities that can engage the target population for long-lasting preventive results. This approach has been proved valuable in fighting situations such as childhood malnutrition in Vietnam and reducing hospital infections in the U.S.

Definition of Success

The insights generated by this project have the possibility to change early childhood outcomes not only in Lima but anywhere the created methodology is applied. The study offers an innovative approach to help communities identify and implement easily accessible solutions for their children’s oral health.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

Bright Spots Presentation (English Version) - Fall 2023 by Joseph Drey on Scribd

The Vines (Spring 2023)

Building capacity and sustainable development in Mendoza, Argentina

Partner Background

The Vines Foundation is a catalyst for positive change in Tunuyan, a city in the Western province of Mendoza, Argentina. Our mission is to promote the capacity of our community through sustainable initiatives that improve food security, strengthen socioeconomic independence, and contribute to the holistic wellbeing of each child in our community. As the philanthropic arm of The Vines, an Argentine farming, winemaking and hospitality company (vinesofmendoza.com, vinesresortandspa.com) with deep international connections, the Foundation is leveraging its resources to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the local community. Most importantly, we are seeking to increase capacity and participation through engaging community members and organizations, local and national businesses, and the municipal government to address complex challenges. 

 

Definition of Opportunity

We seek to communicate through our work the importance of accompaniment and co-creation, in which we see our community members as partners who are the first and best teachers capable of enacting change and creating opportunities for their families and neighborhoods. 

For the Spring of 2023, The Vines Foundation is partnered with the University of Notre Dame Development Advisory Teams (DAT) to explore strategies for turning community kitchens (comedores) into community spaces that become hubs where the community can find connection, take advantage of recreational and educational activities, seek assistance, and take ownership of the comedor’s direction. 

During 2023, we aim to:

• Work with comedor leaders to create and implement workshops on girls’ and women’s empowerment, education, nutrition, and mental health. Embed strategies for encouraging parents’ participation in the workshops and in the comedor more generally.

• Outline a program of hands-on volunteer experiences and workshops for employees and vineyard owners to connect with the work of The Vines Foundation.

• Identify and provide wellness, recreational, and educational resources and opportunities for The Vines employees, from seasonal laborers to year-round staff, that they identify as being beneficial to their wellbeing.

Definition of Success

Through working with a Spring 2023 DAT, we hope to generate interest, excitement and actions in support of The Vines Foundation.  We define success as effectively and sustainably increasing community participation and receiving positive feedback from community members on the programs and opportunities that we work with various stakeholders and community leaders to provide.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

Final Deliverable Vines F23 by Joseph Drey on Scribd

Enseña Chile (Spring 2023)

Enhancing Leadership Development in Chilean Schools

Partner Background

The non-profit educational organization, Enseña Chile is promoting a movement to transform opportunities for public school students in Chile. Inspired by Teach for America in the US, Enseña Chile works to develop educational leaders committed to improving access to excellent educational opportunities for students regardless of socio-economic circumstances. Founded in Santiago in 2007 by Enseña Chile CEO Tomas Recart, the organization works to provide quality education for high school students by bringing outstanding university graduates with leadership skills into under-resourced schools. Through its Colegios que Aprenden (CQA) consulting unit, Enseña Chile is working to produce a system-wide impact on issues of educational quality, leadership, and equity.

 

Definition of Opportunity

Over the past ten years, Enseña Chile has partnered with Notre Dame’s International Development in Practice class and the i-Lab Master of Global Affairs program to evaluate best practices and key aspects of supporting educational leaders in Chile. The 2022 i-Lab project examined the role that school leadership plays, and focuses on the key role of principals for enhancing outcomes for students.  In the process, the i-Lab team developed a leadership development tool for principals. This DAT project aspires to explore models that can help disseminate and actively use the tool to promote activities that can support the sharing of good school leadership practices in Chile.  It is critical to define how the tool can be used within the framework of Enseña Chile CQA’s coaching sessions, and more generally to promote leadership and teacher development. 

Definition of Success

Enseña Chile seeks to implement the findings from the i-Lab team report, and find the most effective way principals might use the tool which focuses on three overarching themes: Build Trust, Be Coherent, and Develop a Learning Culture.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

Ensena Chile Presentation F23 by Joseph Drey on Scribd

The Vines (Fall 2022)

Project Background

The Vines Foundation is a catalyst for positive change in Tunuyan, a city in the West of the province of Mendoza, Argentina, exploring ways to empower our community to enhance health, end hunger and overcome hardship, as well as promote sustainable livelihoods. As the philanthropic arm of The Vines, an Argentine farming, winemaking and hospitality company (vinesofmendoza.com, vinesresortandspa.com) with deep connections to international resources through our clients in the US, Europe, and Brazil, the Foundation is leveraging these resources to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the local community. Most importantly, we are building capacity within our community and the organizations we work with, and seeking to engage community members and organizations, local and national businesses, and the municipal government to address complex challenges. 

Definition of Opportunity

In the fall of 2021, and in the spring of 2022, the Vines Foundation partnered with the University of Notre Dame Development Advisory Teams (DAT) to create a strategic and inspirational mission and vision statement for the Foundation, which will serve as guiding principles for the foundation as it expands its community work. We seek to communicate through our work the importance of accompaniment and co-creation, in which we see our community members as partners who are the first and best teachers capable of enacting change and creating opportunities for their families and neighborhoods. Working together with the community and the DAT, we developed strategies to bring together an effective working/community group of local leaders to guide the development process.

Currently, the community engagement efforts of the Foundation are structured around:

Engaging in co-creative efforts to realize sustainable projects in the community.

Maintaining and developing relationships with community members to strengthen a chain of transparent communication and feedback throughout project development and implementation.

Creating a network of local and regional organizations and businesses to partner with the comedores to allow for simultaneous investment in capacity-building and increased community independence. Develop best practices for increasing presence of Social Corporate Responsibility (RSE) in alliance’s work.

Currently, the project-based efforts of the Foundation are structured around:

Providing food weekly to the comedores (soup kitchens) of Tunuyan, which serve as community spaces where children can receive meals during the week and interact with each other.

Increasing comedor capacity through workshops and educational and recreational opportunities to be held on-site.

Developing a community garden at 3 different comedores, which will serve as a pilot project for the community to grow in independence and learn new skills.

Maintaining a dog refuge/shelter on property grounds to care for, vaccinate, and facilitate adoption for stray dogs. We are also seeking to evaluate resource dedication towards facilitating spaying/neutering for street dogs in the community

Definition of Success

Through working with a fall 2022 DAT, we hope to generate interest, excitement and actions in support of The Vines Foundation.  We plan to firmly establish the base for expansion and replication of our successful projects and develop strategies to increase the monetary and non-monetary resources and capacities of the foundation.  

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

The Vines Fall 2022 Final Deliverable by Joseph Drey on Scribd

The Vines (Spring 2022)

Project Background

The Vines Foundation is a catalyst for positive change in Tunuyan, Mendoza, exploring ways to empower our community to enhance health, end hunger and overcome hardship, as well as promote sustainable livelihoods. As the philanthropic arm of The Vines, an Argentine farming, winemaking and hospitality company (vinesofmendoza.com, vinesresortandspa.com) with deep connections to international resources through our clients in the US, Europe and Brazil, The Vines Foundation is leveraging these resources to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the local community. Most important, we are building capacity within our community and the organizations we work with, and seeking to engage community members and organizations,  local and national businesses, along with the government to solve complex challenges.

Definition of Opportunity

In the fall 2021, for the first time, the Vines Foundation partnered with a DAT to begin to create a strategic and inspirational mission and vision statement for the Foundation, which will serve as the foundation expands its community work for at least the next decade.  We hope that two of the students that worked on the project, Lucie Kneip (lkneip@nd.edu) and Carson Krol (ckrol@nd.edu), will continue to be engaged with the DAT this spring and as interns this summer at The Vines in Mendoza.

As a next step, we want to expand on the work completed to identify solid guiding principles, and meaningfully engage prospective donors and partners to unite a force for good. In the end, we want to become a model for sustainable development upon which others can base their initiatives to effectively serve the needs of the broader region and country of Argentina.

 During 2022, we aim to move from the mission and vision development phase to the execution phase by:

·  Creating a structure and strategies to bring together an effective working/community group of local leaders guiding the development process and creating goals; and an advisory board of donors and global stakeholders.

·  Developing a strategy to continue to support the 10 community kitchens we have been helping and a plan to transition that support into a more sustainable operation, likely by bringing in partners from the community and region.

·  Outlining a plan to evaluate the feasibility of, and if it is feasible, implement the “Rosario project” of community development in Tunuyan.

· Creating a best practices document for the dog rescue shelter at The Vines, and the evaluation of a mobile spay/neuter clinic.

Definition of Success

Through the work with a spring 2022 DAT, we hope to generate interest, excitement and actions in support of The Vines Foundation. This might include providing hands-on volunteer experiences for individuals to become connected to the mission of The Vines Foundation.  We plan to move from the theoretical to the execution stage, developing the initial parts of a strategic plan.  We will build on initial dialogues with members of the local community that DAT members carried out to explore further opportunities for becoming an incubator of new thoughts, strategies and methods to identify and solve the ever-changing needs of the local community.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

- VIA Educacion (Fall 2019)

Project Background:

 Vía Educación is a non-profit organization in Mexico seeking to improve people’s quality of life by promoting sustainable social development through education. The organization believes that every person is capable of improving their opportunities in life as well as those of their communities. 

Vía Educación developed a methodology for social transformation based on building problem-solving capacities on communities of youth and adults. The methodology aims to increase individual and collective self-efficacy among community members; develop civic competencies through solving relevant community needs; and strengthen social capital. This methodology is the backbone of the organization and is applied in a variety of programs and settings in Mexico. 

Definition of Opportunity:

With that in mind, the Investigation and Evaluation team at Vía Educación would like to explore the link between these acquired skills (teamwork, democratic and citizenship participation, conflict resolution, assertive communication, collective organization skills, among others) and mobility (social, educational, economic). An emerging body of literature suggests that civic engagement may affect peoples’ wellbeing. Are our participants expanding their opportunities in life? The team would like to further learn about this, and even possibly incorporate a tool we could apply with our alumni network and current participants to test this potential relationship. 

What does success look like? 

Success for us would look like a clearer picture of the relationship between civic participation skills and mobility (e.g. a couple of pages concisely stating what literature has to say about this relationship as well as the mechanisms behind it – that is, if there is a positive relationship, how do civic participation skills contribute to expanding an individual’s opportunities in life?). We also would appreciate a concrete tool that we could use to test in the field to measure this relationship in a variety of settings (e.g. urban, indigenous, marginalized, rural communities, etc.) and populations (from students in high school to teachers and authorities in Mexico’s public school system as well as neighborhood community members).

Meet the Team:

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Building Networks and Alliances to Address “Wicked Global Problems” - Latin American Leadership Academy (Fall 2019)

Project Background:

Latin American Leadership Academy (LALA) seeks to promote sustainable economic development and strengthen democratic governance in Latin America by developing a new generation of leaders. LALA creates international and socioeconomically diverse cohorts of the most promising graduating high school students who have demonstrated an unshakeable commitment to social change. LALA is launching leadership boot camps throughout Latin America to create local hubs of social impact and find values-aligned youth. In the near future, LALA hopes to open an eighteen-month program, which blends entrepreneurial leadership, a liberal arts education, and social and emotional learning. The program connects participants to mentors, resources, and opportunities, and LALA envisions a diverse continental ecosystem that collaborates across differences to bring shared prosperity to Latin America.

Definition of Opportunity:

Silos are the bane of systemic change. A shared fear among policymakers, community organizers, and entrepreneurs alike is that all their hard work adds up to nothing due to missed opportunities for networks and alliances. As LALA’s visibility grows in Latin America, so too does our responsibility to support, respond to, and collaborate with changemakers across the region who are addressing its most seemingly intractable issues -- “wicked problems.” After two successful years of boot camps and a gap year academy on the horizon, LALA receives proposals for partnerships with organizations across the continent every day. Our vision is to become the region’s flagship leadership organization by making strategic alliances with institutions that are doing similar work. However, we need a framework that would help us systematically find these organizations and negotiate partnerships that are both mutually beneficial and valuable to the region.

Initial Steps:

We need a systematic strategy to identify specific issues and to identify and classify programs and organizations in Latin America that intersect with our issue areas in the countries that we serve and identify the young people who care about them. For example, we have identified five priority areas, and a team might focus on one or multiple issues, depending on their backgrounds and interests:

Central American communities suffering drug trade violence. Eg. Tijuana, Acapulco, San Salvador, Guatemala City, Distrito Central.

Unprecedented Latin American migration crisis , including 3.4 million Venezuelans and . Mostly from Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and settling in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, and Peru.

25% of region's urban population live in slums. Eg. Alagados, Paraisópolis, Rocinha, Comuna 13, Moravia, Nezo-Chalco-Itza, Villa El Salvador, and others.

Although 40% Indigenous and Afro-descendants remain a disproportionate share of poorest . Eg. Quechua, Aztec, Aymara, Muisca, Tairona, Mayan, Shuar, Yanomami, Kogui, Guarani, Afro-Colombians, Afro-Brazilians.

Rural poverty in Latin America has increased for the first time in a decade.. Eg. Pará, Piauí, Ceará, Bahia, Chocó, Huancavelica, San Pedro, Chiapas.

What does success look like:

Latin American Leadership Academy wants to enhance its understanding of possibilities for strong networks to combat social inequality in the region. We want to develop a network of partnerships with people and institutions that have the strongest commitments to supporting education and social change. And we are committed to bringing young people (14-18 years old) who are connected to these issue areas into our existing LALA network of 450+ alumni. These issue areas are supported by many organizations from across the globe and we want to map the outreach and partnerships that will allow young people to access our leadership development opportunities more readily. From this exploration of best practices, we would like to launch strategies to nurture, thicken, and enhance the connections in our Latin American ecosystem. Broadly speaking, this team hopes to map successful examples of network building in support of social impact initiatives that might serve as models to help improve LALA’s decision-making and better inform our network building aspirations.

Meet the Team:

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Project Ricardo: Clean Water Access For Arcabuco, Colombia - NDIGD (Fall 2018)

Client Profile

The Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD) combines the existing world-class teaching and research faculty of the University of Notre Dame with a dedicated staff of experienced international development professionals, administrators, and researchers. Together we address the challenges of building just and equitable societies by leveraging the University’s signature strengths to promote development and human dignity worldwide. 

Partner Description

"The Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD) is forming a team of 8 undergraduates to support research to improve clean water access in Arcabuco, Colombia. The student team will travel to Arcabuco twice during the 2018-2019 calendar year (Fall Break and Winter Break). 

Initial Ideas

The student team will travel to Arcabuco on two separate occasions during the 2018-
2019 academic year for field research.

Definition of Success

Students will gain valuable, real-world experience by working with the Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD) on an innovative, applied research project to improve local water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) systems in Arcabuco, Colombia.

Meet the Team

Recommendations

Building a powerful network of young leaders and accompanying them across the continent - Latin American Leadership Academy (Fall 2018)

Client Profile

Latin American Leadership Academy (LALA) seeks to promote sustainable economic development and strengthen democratic governance in Latin America by developing a new generation of leaders. LALA creates international and socioeconomically diverse cohorts of the most promising graduating high school students who have demonstrated an unshakeable commitment to social change.

LALA is launching leadership boot camps throughout Latin America to create local hubs of social impact and find values-aligned youth. In the near future, LALA hopes to open an eighteen-month program, which blends entrepreneurial leadership, a liberal arts education, and social and emotional learning. The program connects participants to mentors, resources, and opportunities, and LALA envisions a diverse continental ecosystem that collaborates across differences to bring shared prosperity to Latin America.

Definition of Opportunity

As the LALA ecosystem expands, attracting new members to the community (youth participants, social entrepreneurs, facilitators, advisors, etc.), we need creative ways to stay connected, both in local hubs and at a distance, essentially building and sustaining effective networks. More than just “keeping track” of what people are doing, we aim to create a community of mutual support and guidance (i.e. accompaniment). So far, after our one-week boot camps, alumni have used Whatsapp groups to keep in touch about projects they are developing, to celebrate accomplishments, and share resources about college applications, educational opportunities, local politics, etc. However, Whatsapp is visually messy, has a limited audience, and can restrict engagement to a superficial level.  

Latin American Leadership Academy wants to enhance its understanding possibilities for strong networks to combat social inequality in the region. We want to develop a network of partnerships with people and institutions that have the strongest commitments to supporting education and social change.

Initial Ideas

LALA would like to know: what are other organizations doing successfully to “keep their communities connected”? Some ideas that were brainstormed: “Humans of LALA” posts, a podcast, a LALA interface with notifications, among others.

Definition of Success

From this exploration of best practices, we would like to launch strategies to nurture, thicken, and enhance the connections in our Latin American ecosystem. Broadly speaking, this team hopes to map successful examples networks building in support social impact initiatives that might serve as models to help improve LALA’s decision-making and better inform our network building aspirations.

Recommendation

LALA_ND DAT Appendix by on Scribd

Communicating for Impact - Inter-American Development Bank (Fall 2013)

Client Profile

Established in 1959, the Inter-American Development Bank is the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, with a strong commitment to achieve measurable results, increased integrity, transparency, and accountability. The IDB has an evolving reform agenda that seeks to increase our development impact in the region.

While the IDB is a regular bank in many ways, it is also unique in some key respects. Besides loans, the IDB also provides grants, technical assistance and does research. The IDB has shareholders, 48 member countries, including 26 Latin American and Caribbean borrowing members, who have a majority ownership of the IDB.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Inter-American Development Bank

Definition of Problem

Education is a priority area for the IDB, and there is a new strategy for the education for the bank, following a IDB reorganization six years ago. A key area for the IBD and its educational division is effectively communicating to policy makers, educators, academics, and other stakeholders about its work.

Initial Steps and Options

Students look at the most effective ways to communicate about the priorities of the IDB educational sector framework to policy makers, academics, NGOS, and other interested audiences in the region. The students might look at what other organizations (such as the World Bank, Ashoka, Gates Foundation, Save the Children, among other possibilities) have done in terms of a communication strategies, as well as, possibly, do focus group research with some particular group of actors or in a particular location.