Glasswing International USA
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Glasswing International’s address the root causes and consequences of violence, inequality, and poverty in Latin America, by building partnerships across public, private, and civil society sectors to implement public education, health, and community development programs and build the local capacity in the process.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Volunteerism
Volunteering is a cross-part of all Glasswing programs. This strategy generates social and economic value, empowers all members of the community, and serves as a powerful tool to heal social fabric, engender trust, and promote greater social cohesion. Volunteering allows the participation of all citizens and demonstrates the power of collective impact to rebuild the social fabric of vulnerable communities. Many students who participate in the programs become volunteers after they graduate, wanting to give back to their community and younger peers. This not only demonstrates the profound impact the program has, but is also key to local ownership and sustainability.
Education
Over a decade, Glasswing has leveraged the natural convening power of public schools to develop an evidence-based, holistic, community-based intervention that converts centers of public education into community havens. Through this integrated violence prevention and positive youth development program, called Community Schools, Glasswing works with local leaders to implement a diverse set of activities to complement the school day (which is a mere 4.5 hours in most countries) and provides the necessary support system children need to survive and thrive, reducing their risks and enhancing protective factors.
Rather than creating a parallel educational model, Community Schools are highly inclusive and build on existing physical infrastructure (public schools), as well as leveraging human resources such as faculty, parents, empowered students, and volunteers. Glasswing has replicated this model in 10 countries, focused on enhancing the role of public schools in their communities to ensure that every child has access to safety and support; working within the public education system to change established paradigms about the role of schools as centers of community; and integrating strategies for positive youth development. Glasswing has also seen that success in a critical mass of schools can generate the necessary evidence to contribute to the system-wide adoption of practices, procedures, and even policies aimed at halting the cycle of violence.
Traditional public schools are transformed into safe centers of community, where students build life skills and resilience through complementary learning and recreation programs, psychosocial support, as well as teacher training and parent/caretaker engagement. The Community Schools methodology integrates evidence-based education and mental health interventions, including:
Extracurricular Programs: respond directly to student interests, strengthen life skills, and are led by trained and committed volunteers. Glasswing mobilizes and trains volunteers as mentors, who commit 2 hours/week, year-round to lead Clubs such as Debate, Leadership, Robotics, Science & Discovery, Sports, Girls and Masculinity, English, Art, Glee, among others. After-school program Video.
Inter-scholastic Competitions (soccer, robotics, debate, GleeFest), exhibitions (science, art) and leadership forums provide an opportunity for young people to engage with peers from other communities - that are often controlled by rival groups/gangs, and with whom they could otherwise never engage;
Academic support, tutoring, and mentorship through the school coordinator and volunteers;
Socio-emotional support; mindfulness; and group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for students at higher risk;
Teacher training in restorative practices;
Community Cafes that bring together parents and family members at the school (bimonthly) to share stories and problem-solve strategies; learn from each other on how to constructively empathize and engage with their children; understand expressions of emotion and how to promote prosocial behaviors; and support themselves and their family members with coping strategies;
School-based mental health committees (SanaMente): composed by trained students, teachers, and parents to address chronic stressors and acute crises faced both in and out of school (i.e. intrafamiliar violence, gender-based violence, homicide, extortion, disappearances).
Health
Trauma and mental health training to engender more ‘trauma-informed’ practices among service providers within public health and other government institutions.
Glasswing’s hospital-based violence prevention program, Sanando Heridas: provides people who have been violently injured with trauma education and support. Hospital staff are trained in trauma-informed and restorative practices, providing patients and their families with tools to better understand the impact and consequences of trauma, and cope better. This program was evaluated by the World Bank in 2019, and proven to reduce the likelihood of patients returning for subsequent violent injury by up to 30%. It is currently being institutionalized in 3 of the main public hospitals in El Salvador.
Glasswing is also training law enforcement personnel in trauma and mental health, self-regulation, and self-care, to provide police with the knowledge and tools to manage their own stress and trauma in order to prevent the perpetuation of violence and excessive use of force (particularly against young people).
First aid training: CPR, basic and advanced life support (American Heart Association Certification); pediatric life support (PALS).
Employability and Entrepreneurship
This program provides unemployed and out-of-school youth - from contexts of poverty and extreme risk - with economic opportunities through life skills and leadership development, psychosocial support, financial and entrepreneurial capabilities, and employability skills to better prepare them for formal employment or to generate their own income through entrepreneurial activities;
as well as employability and entrepreneurship training.
The program also works to reintegrate youth into the school system so they can finish their high school degrees and/or continue on to higher education.
The curriculum for this program is adapted from YouthBuild International’s proven model, and the successful placement rate (of over 60%) is significantly above other employability programs focused on this target population.
Public Space Revitalization and Community Development
Leveraging the power of volunteerism and service, Glasswing works with communities to identify ‘latent’ community public spaces (i.e. abandoned parks, schools, community centers), and transform them into safe havens for children and young people to play, families to spend time together, and communities to convene. Glasswing believes in the power of public space recovery as an important part of violence prevention and positive child and youth development strategies.
Migration
Since the 2014 unaccompanied minors forced migration crisis, Glasswing has been working with migration authorities in Central America to provide support to children, youth, and families in the reintegration process. Glasswing has both worked at the reintegration sites, helping returned populations navigate the process, but has also as well as provided training to local government employees - that are handling these complex cases - on trauma-informed care, as well as self-care and stress management.
Where we work
Awards
Social Entrepreneurship 2020
Skoll
McNulty Foundation Laureate 2010
McNulty Foundation
Juscelino Kubitschek Award, 2nd place 2018
Inter-American Bank
Audacious Award 2022
Audacious Project
Social Innovation Award 2023
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Affiliations & memberships
Hands On Network 2014
Hands On Network 2013
Hands On Network 2012
Hands On Network 2015
Hands On Network 2015
HandsOn Network 2016
HandsOn Network 2017
HandsOn Network 2018
HandsOn Network 2019
HandsOn Network 2020
HandsOn Network 2021
HandsOn Network 2022
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of students impacted by extracurricular activities
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of clubs implemented
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of youth participating in gender clubs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Children and youth
Related Program
Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of people impacted through our health programs and services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Health
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Volunteerism
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of public spaces and/or schools revitalized, refurbished
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Volunteerism
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
- Build the protective factors of children and youth facing extreme adversity, through trauma-informed education and health programs that: foster experiential learning, build social and emotional competencies, provide positive role models and social networks, and empower kids to be agents of change.
- Enhance community resilience, building on existing strengths to: empower individuals through volunteerism, equip local actors with tools to jointly mitigate the consequences of violence, bridge collaboration across community, government, and private sectors, and - thus - strengthen social cohesion.
- Accompany implementation with ongoing monitoring, feedback from program participants, evaluation, and learning, as well as rigorous practice-based research, to: respond to changing contexts, ensure the desired impact is achieved, and develop replicable and scalable solutions.
- Strengthen the knowledge, capacity, and skills of local service providers (ie. public schools and health facilities, child protection authorities, law enforcement, and community organizations) especially as it relates to trauma and violence.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Glasswing's cross-sector approach forges partnerships with international and local governments, corporations, non-profits, and civil society. We believe in bolstering communities' existing resources, such as public schools, hospitals, and health clinics rather than building anew.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Glasswing's team is comprised of skilled experts and local and international volunteers. This allows our organization to harness global experience and skills with local expertise, in order to ensure the most impact.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2007, Glasswing International has:
• Impacted 1.5 million+ lives
• Grown from three to 300 employees
• Mobilized over $90M for programming
• Worked in over 550 public schools
• Developed evidence-based practices (evaluated by the World Bank Group)
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Glasswing International USA
Board of directorsas of 08/23/2023
John Moore
Morgan Stanley
Elizabeth Griffin
Ken Baker
Glasswing
Rodrigo Pineda
Orlando Muyshondt
Magdalena Serpa
Ricardo A. Sagrera
Zita Saurel
Emiliano Roman
Ana Morales
Carmen Busquets
Christina Henriquez
John Skipper
John Moore
Jana Pasquel de Shapiro
Diego de Sola
Beatriz Beltranena
Celina Sol Zaldívar
Sarah Fandell
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/15/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.