Updates from the Final Stretch

Rebecca G-K - University of Michigan Ross School of Business and Medical School

It is hard to believe how fast the summer (or rather, winter here in the southern hemisphere) has flown by and I now find myself wrapping up loose ends to finish my project. The main goal of the internship was to work with Plan to develop a new approach to measuring the impact of their programs, with a specific focus on tracking gender equity initiatives. Until now, the organization has tracked, in addition to some qualitative interviews with participants, numbers: the number of workshops on early childhood facilitated with parents, the number of girls who were trained in digital advocacy, the number of community members who attended a community event. The question guiding our work this summer was: what good is it to reach thousands of girls if the programs aren’t changing their lives positively? We needed a systematic approach to approximate the effects on participants’ wellbeing.

We began by visiting Plan’s recently revised theory of change to map out the intended outcomes of Plan’s work. It was a complex undertaking because Plan has many different projects that take place in four different regions of the country and for youth ranging from ages 5 to 20. As is typical of many non-profit organizations, over time the programs shift and evolve based on the funding climate and specific interests of corporate sponsors. One of our main challenges in the beginning was deciding whether or not we could make one streamlined tool that could be applied to every Plan program. All of our iterations began with the three program areas of the new Plan strategy: Lead (advocacy and leadership skills), Thrive (preventing violence), and Decide (sexual and reproductive health); does each of these program areas deserve its own evaluation tool? After many discussions and literature searches, we decided to pare the tool down and collect data on the core outcomes that are shared among all of Plan’s work (such as self-efficacy and beliefs regarding gender equality).

This was only the beginning, however! The following weeks involved testing the survey questions to make sure participants would understand the questions as they were intended. We spent a lot of time breaking down words like “advocate” and defining exactly what would be considered “violence” or “harassment.” The final product is still a work in progress, as it will continually be improved with each cycle it is used. However, it represents a step forward in understanding the impact that Plan programs have on girls and their communities.

(I can't post photos from this process due to Plan's child protection policy, so I'll post some of my other activities below).

Design Thinking workshop with Plan 

Another highlight from the last month was a Design Thinking workshop, conducted by LiveWork Brazil, for the Plan team to develop several innovation projects that have been in the pipeline.

Essential tool of design thinking: Post-It notes
We even received tips on peeling post-its so they retain their "stick!" 

I was lucky enough to join Plan employees from different regional offices and functions, board members (one of whom, it turns out, is married to a Ross MBA alum!), and community members in a 2-day design extravaganza. Groups of 5-6 focused on a question related to an opportunity or challenge for Plan, and conducted interviews to gain new perspective. My favorite part of the workshop was brainstorming solutions using exercises like “How would the United Nations solve this problem? What about Disney? Google? What is the worst idea you can possibly come up with?”

Sharing our rapid-fire brainstorming ideas 

São Paulo - Worth a visit! 

This may be my last blog post before the summer comes to an end, and I would be remiss not to include a plug for visiting São Paulo. Sao Paulo is often skipped over by tourists, on their way to Rio or Iguazu Falls, and underappreciated by business travelers. The city gets a bad rap for being a concrete jungle, with high-rise buildings as far as the eye can see stretching out in every direction. However, it is a bustling, vibrant, diverse megacity  that can somehow feel like a friendly small town despite its population of 12 million. A few reasons to visit:

On Sundays, the a main street is closed to cars and filled with street artists, food stands, and families strolling. 

A free music show at a photography museum downtown 

An early 5:30pm sunset on Paulista Avenue 

Dumplings at the Liberdade Sunday market. Liberdade neighborhood is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan

Quintessential São Paulo is sitting at a sidewalk table at a "boteco" diner-like restaurant with friends and ordering manioc fries or fried cheese snacks and ice-cold drinks

Ibirapuera Park is where families congregate on Sundays to picnic and exercise

Impressive samba moves

If you like jazz or bossa nova music, give samba a listen! This is a song by Moacyr Luz and Wilson das Neves, performed by Chico Aguiar Médico.

Listening to samba music with full participation of the crowd: an unforgettable experience 

Measuring the impact of gender-equality programs in Brazil

Rebecca G-K  -  University of Michigan Ross School of Business and Medical School

I am thrilled to be a WDI fellow this summer working with Plan International Brazil. Plan international is a global development organization with a focus on the health, safety, and education of children. The organization was founded in 1937 and is now active in 70 countries. Programs in Brazil began in 1997 and are headquartered in São Paulo, with program offices throughout northeast Brazil where poverty rates are highest. In the remote northern state of Maranhão, the average per capita monthly income is $157, less than half of Brazil’s national average.

Local street market in São Paulo 

In recent years, Plan Brazil has shifted its program focus to gender equality; the current programs are designed to reduce gender-based violence, promote reproductive health and healthy relationships, and advance female leadership and representation in Brazilian society and politics. Child marriage is a particular problem in Brazil. Brazil ranks 4th in the world for absolute number of married or cohabiting girls under age 15. Brazil ranks 4th in the world for absolute number of women who gave birth by age 18, following India, Bangladesh and Nigeria.  A recent study by Plan and Promundo found that the high rate of child marriage in Northeast Brazil is closely associated with unplanned adolescent pregnancy, interpersonal violence, limited economic opportunities for girls, and social beliefs about gender. Plan notes that its work is especially crucial in a climate of reduced federal support for reducing gender-based violence; the funds for tackling violence and promoting women’s equality were reduced by 74% in this year’s federal budget.

Plan Brazil implements numerous interventions with young boys and girls. One of their flagship programs is a female football league, in which girls learn to challenge gender stereotypes and occupy social spaces traditionally dominated by boys. Other programs train adolescents to teach their peers about reproductive health, teach young children how to protect themselves against child abuse, and enroll young women in an extracurricular Leadership School with modules on human rights and political participation. To learn more, check out this video.

My project this summer is focused on performance measurement. Before arriving in Brazil, I spent one week at the WDI office preparing and learning a ton about social impact measurement from the brilliant Performance Measurement Initiative team. I’ll be working with the Plan team to analyze their current monitoring and evaluation practices and launch a new methodology in order to capture the social impact that Plan’s work aims to achieve. I’ll also be collaborating with the finance team on a cost analysis project. 

Flag on a car's side-mirror: World Cup spirit is everywhere! 

Outside of work-related news, this week Brazil played its third match in the World Cup. The streets are all decorated for the world cup with brazilian flag banners and street art. The entire country pauses business to watch the matches! The Plan office did not even open until after the 9:00am game today so that everyone could watch. It was a tense game, with Brazil tied against Costa Rica 0:0 up through the last few minutes of the game. Then Brazil scored 2 goals for a victory! The streets erupted with firecrackers and vuvuzela horns. You can root along for Brazil next Wednesday as they play their next game!