Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Open Hearts Big Dreams Fund (OHBD) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that believes the chance to dream big dreams should not depend on where in the world you are born. Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country; literacy is only realized by around half of the population (less for women and girls); leaving tens of millions without this critical ability. Recent nationwide literacy tests show few students are learning to read well in any language. The median age in Ethiopia is under 20 with only a small percentage of the youth getting to pursue higher education. Ethiopia has made great strides toward educational goals but still Mission Inspiring and enabling youth (K-14), their communities and organizations who serve them, to reimagine their futures by providing literacy, STEAM/innovation, inclusion (with a focus on gender and disabilities), and leadership, education and opportunities
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
OHBD ReadySetGo Early Reader Bilinqual Books Project
Create local language, culturally appropriate books to support organizations and individuals focused on Literacy and Early Education.
Global researchers for UNESCO and other organizations report about 250 million children are still not learning basic literacy skills, even after four years of school.
Entrepreunership Training to Increase Innovation
Offering Boot camp to create more opportunities for youth to create career paths for themselves as entrepreneurs, supporting their communities needs and becoming a talent pool for global technical needs
OHBD ReadySetGo STEM Laboratory Manuels
Creating supplementary laboratory materials for middle to high school teachers based on the work of an award winning teacher in rural Ethiopia. Topics focused on initially are biology, chemistry and physics. Books are dual language and illustrated and focused on making use of what is available in the community to conduct experiments to demonstrate scientific concepts. Could also be used by homeschooling parents in the United States.
Model Community Libraries
We are completed a library building in Gondar to serve both an elementary school as well as the surrounding community. We previously funded and built (with Ethiopia Reads) another Model Library in Bahir Dar. Both serve their communities as well as students.
Where we work
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of new book titles created
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, People of African descent
Related Program
OHBD ReadySetGo Early Reader Bilinqual Books Project
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We are creating unique content and measure success by new titles created. We make available in English as well as a number Ethiopian languages so far. They are designed for early readers.
Number of books distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, People of African descent
Related Program
OHBD ReadySetGo Early Reader Bilinqual Books Project
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We collaborate with local orgs in Ethiopia to print and distribute our Ready Set Go titles to schools, libraries, and communities to use for practice reading. Efforts delayed in 2020 due to Covid-19
Number of organizations we work with who increase capacity or increase collaboration with other organizations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, People of African descent
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We are looking to help increase capacity and collaboration for existing organizations and NGOs working in Ethiopia.
Number of programs documented
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, People of African descent
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We are working on identifying, documenting and sharing innovative approaches and programs so they can be applied by other organizations to increase impact and learning.
Number of languages supported through our #ReadySetGo Literacy Project
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
OHBD ReadySetGo Early Reader Bilinqual Books Project
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Ethiopians speak many languages. We want to continue to reach more of the population so will add additional language over time. We also know our stories have appeal to other African countries too.
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?
OHBD is designed to take on hard challenges that needed to be solved but haven’t been solved yet. We didn’t just want to be one more small NGO. We wanted to have an outsized impact by choosing “white space” challenges which if solved would be game changers. We also wanted to use the best of business and technology to help drive faster progress.
Our focus is K-14, education and Ethiopia but everything we do could be applied to other parts of the world with similar challenges but design. We also provide support to the Diaspora in promoting black stories, African culture and language preservation.
We believe in the power of collaboration so we a key goal is driving collaboration with other NGOs who share our mission and approach. We collaborate directly and also use our programs to introduce NGOs and encourage collaboration between NGOs. Our pillars of focus are Literacy, Innovation, Inclusion and Leadership.
We chose each because they provide children, and adults, a way to problem solve and reimagine their future. We believe education is more than formal education and that teaching leadership is critical.
We set big, bold goals and hold ourselves accountable to achieve them. We use experiments and pilots to test before making a larger investment. We identify game changers, reimagine, reinvent and innovate.
We also identify areas where there is no organization currently focused on solving a key challenge. We want to supplement or support the good work already being done, not reinvent the wheel. Our projects search for gaps that need to closed and then design and implement a solution.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We developed tenets, borrowing an approach used by leaders at Amazon, to guide our strategic decision making. Tenets represent our aspiration as well as help us make tough trade-offs and choices. We decide priorities and make decisions based on these tenets.
One: Our scope is Ethiopia, K-14, and education
Although our approach is applicable to other regions with similar challenges, we need to focus our efforts to be successful.
Two: We run like a business
We set big, bold goals and hold ourselves accountable to achieve them. We use experiments and pilots to test before making a larger investment.
Three: We identify game changers, reimagine, reinvent and innovate
We look for efforts that, although they may present uniquely difficult challenges, if solved, will have a disproportionate impact.
Four: Our projects close important gaps
Our projects search for gaps that need to be closed and have a need for us to design a results-oriented solution.
Five: We design to scale and include measures of success
Many NGOs stay small and don’t focus on scaling. We want to take the business approach to building scale into each project over a period of years.
Six: We partner with NGOs and organizations who build local capacity
We know our limitations. Working in Ethiopia requires unique skills, knowledge, and relationships. Many organizations are already doing great work. We want to work with those who are innovating, willing to collaborate, have bold goals, and are focused on increasing local capacity.
Seven: Supporters trust us because we measure and disclose our impact
We know trust is critical if we are asking people to donate their precious time, talents, and funds. We want to ensure we honor that trust by measuring and disclosing the impact of our projects and programs as much as possible. We also share stories of our impact, the impact of those we collaborate with, and those we learn about, to amplify and elevate their efforts.
Eight: Our results inspire involvement and encourage collaboration
We want game changers and results that inspire others to get involved to help. NGOs currently don’t have many incentives to collaborate. We want to change that by using our Model Projects to take the best of organizations we vet and help them teach other organizations so they can move faster in challenging areas.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
OHBD is an innovator in STEAM and Literacy. OHBD (with Lebawi in Addis) piloted a 6 week girls coding school in 2018, piloted Train the Trainer (ToT) and virtual coding class (with Q.Me) programs with American corners and Ethiopian universities and Tech leaders from leading companies, and won a US Embassy grant to lead Computer Science, Business/Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Communication training in their 6 American Corners in Addis, Jimma, Dire Dawa, Bahir Dar, and Mekelle. OHBD published over 125 colorful, culturally appropriate dual language early reader titles in seven Ethiopian languages, distributing 300K+ copies locally since 2017 with plans more another 100K+ in 2022. We also added French with support from Amazon in 2021.
All 47 titles submitted to Ministry of Education in Ethiopia in 2019 were approved. OHBD is well positioned to deliver cutting-edge instruction, increase connection between Tech and Academic leaders in the US and Ethiopia, build knowledge sharing and collaboration through publishing capabilities, and increase the visibility of talent pipeline for tech employment in Ethiopia and the US.
Many NGOs stay small and don’t focus on scaling. We want to take the business approach to building scale into each project over a period of years.
For example, when the Ready Set Go books project came to us, it was focused on smaller languages requested by individuals or organizations that provided small amounts of funding. The printing was done with local resource in Portland. We redesigned to scale with on-demand printing on Amazon and focused on the top 3 languages which would cover 80% of the local population and set the bold goal of 200 titles since research said that was the number needed to have the chance to improve the literacy rate. We are now a mid-sized publisher on Kindle Direct Publishing and are adding new languages as well as focusing on STEM training manuals for teachers.
Another example relates to our STEM efforts. We piloted three different STEM training efforts and are now working on expanding to more locations and engaging more volunteer and supporting organizations as the US Embassy training partners. We also built both a science building for a innovative teacher and two community libraries to model for communities the impact of these types of investments.
We continue to grow the number of individuals and organizations we collaborate with to build local capacity each year.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
OHBD Bilingual READYSETGO Books-- Literacy Focus.
We have created over 125 unique titles so far in seven different local languages (more coming) and English with more than 300 people involved in the creation. They are available on Amazon in North America and Europe and in assorted selection in WA, CO, MN and CA Public Libraries. We have versions in Amharic, Tigrinya, Afaan Oromo, Somali, Dizin, Anuak, French and a few Greek. With collaboration organizations, we locally printed and distributed over 300,000 copies of our books. The Ministry of Education in Ethiopia reviewed and approved the all our Amharic versions titles we submitted to practice reading. We trained 300+ educators to use our books to teach kids how to read. We are working on another 100,000+ printing run in new languages and have developed two local printing approaches to continue to make affordable books available in country. We are piloting a Model program focused on illiterate moms called Read 2 Mom to increase literacy of two generations. We also conducted writers and artists workshops to increase the number of local content creators. We launched an artist in residence program for a local artist to teach kids in Ethiopia and plan to expand to more artists and schools in the coming years. We provide coaching and support for new writers and illustrators to develop more own voices for our books.
INNOVATION and LEADERSHIP
We piloted a number of Model programs, a six week girls coding camp in Addis, well transition scholarship for talented high schoolers to attend local universities, and STEM intro and train the trainer classes. We also built two Model Libraries and Science building. Each program is documented and shared so other organizations will be able to learn and use. We are now working on expanding our STEM offerings to more students and organizations with a gender balance focus, we are creating and publishing STEM focused teacher training manuals, expanding the library to model how it can support the community and adding a disability focus to all our projects in addition to the gender and economic lens we currently have in place.
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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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We serve Ethiopian families in Ethiopia and Diaspora families outside of Ethiopia.
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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, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We have changed how we are our approaching our inclusive book series based on feedback from experts serving kids with disabilities and their families. We have now added an inclusion consultant relevant to the topic for each book when applicable.
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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 take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), 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, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting 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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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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Open Hearts Big Dreams Fund
Board of directorsas of 06/08/2022
Ellenore Angelidis
Kati Cardea
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Dr. Teferi Adem
Yale University
Eyoel Ashaw
ShipShape Inc.
Tizita Assefa
Tizita Assefa Consulting
Amy Bates
Saltshaker Consulting
Rajitha Yelamanchali-Boer
Breakwater Solutions
John Clements
PWC
Pazion Cherinet
Orbit Health
Jennifer Mazukelli
Kentlake School District
Dr. Tadesse Kassie Melesse
Walgreens
Sultan Sultan
Self Employed
Tigist Regassa
Dibora Ethiopian Language Resources
Yenenesh Shewaneh
Grant Thornton LLP
Angel Shimelish
Microsoft
Tammy Steele
Fully Present Living
Bethelehem Tsegaye
Fanos, Inc.
Kara Wiegand
Threads Worldwide
Hanan Ibrahim
Microsoft
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? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
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? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
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:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/08/2022GuideStar 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 ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- 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 use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.