New Global Citizens is a Tempe-based nonprofit with the mission to activate individuals to use their knowledge and skills to impact the global community. Our unique and innovative programs provide students with a global perspective, the opportunity to create change, and the skills they need to thrive in a global knowledge economy.
Specifically, students learn how to: 1) educate their local community about global issues, 2) advocate on behalf of pressing social issues, and 3) raise financial resources to effect sustainable change. NGC’s programs in the afterschool, classroom, and community-based organization settings all focus on developing skills in global competency, digital competency, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and leadership.
New Global Citizens started our relationship with Social Venture Partners in 2006 when we were still known as Youth Re:Action Corps. (YRC merged with Youth Philanthropy Worldwide in 2008 to form New Global Citizens.) As one of YRC’s first five donors, SVP provided us with much needed marketing, HR, operational, and governance support. Several SVP members also individually donated and a few joined (and still serve) on our Board of Directors. (Dan Rigby is our Board Chair and Carol Cox is our Board Vice Chair.) As our co-founder Courtney Klein explains, “SVP was the lifeline I would call whenever I had a question or needed a connection to resolve an issue. This partnership added legitimacy to our work and enabled us to open other doors that led to funding and school buy-in.”
We continued our partnership in March 2012 when our Executive Director, Jennifer Vollmann, participated in the final round of Fast Pitch. Jennifer presented our new earned revenue model to the Arizona community at this event, an organizational pivot that would completely change the course of New Global Citizens.
At that time, we only offered an Afterschool Program. Since then, we have launched our Classroom Program and Professional Development, both of which provide the organization with an earned revenue stream. We are proud to report that our earned revenue from partnerships with schools and districts now make up 25% of our budget, and that number continues to grow! This school year we are working with 500+ educators and 17,000+ students across the country, in a few years’ time we project those numbers to increase to 2,000+ and 57,000+ respectively.
But what does all of that growth really mean? It means that we are improving both the breadth and depth of our programs. It means that our earned revenue stream allows us to focus more time on best supporting our teachers and students, rather than solely riding the non-stop rollercoaster of traditional fundraising. It means that thousands of youth across the country develop into compassionate and knowledgeable leaders as we increase our number of students impacted each year. Most importantly, once these students identify their unique role in improving their local and global communities, they won’t ever forget it.
We sincerely thank Social Venture Partners for their guidance and support over the last nine years. To learn more about New Global Citizens, visit our website, follow us on Twitter (@NGCitizens), or like us on Facebook. For general inquiries about the organization and how you can support our growth, email NGC Development & Operations Manager Maggie Broderick at Maggie@newglobalcitizens.org.
Tolleson Documentary Night (Above): an annual event for fundraising and community-education. Screened To Educate a Girl and facilitated a discussion on how water issues are tied to universal education.