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The following proposal has received sufficient public support and, accordingly, The Social Venture Capital Foundation has awarded a seed money grant to Zuni Entrepreneurial Enterprises for the E³ Center project:

Proposal - 12-3-01

We are writing to request your assistance. Our goal is to enable Zuni Entrepreneurial Enterprises, Inc. (ZEE, Inc.) -- a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located on the Zuni Reservation in northwestern New Mexico -- to secure a grant to establish and operate an "Electronic Enterprise Empowerment [E³] Center." The E³ Center will provide necessary computer and Internet training and job placement and on-the-job coaching to enable unemployed adults with disabilities who reside on (or near) the reservation to secure and maintain meaningful, sustainable-wage employment. Your help is needed to generate the "seed money," intellectual capital, research, and additional support to help ZEE, Inc. win this grant.

Background: The Zuni Pueblo is located in an isolated area of New Mexico, 150 miles west of Albuquerque and 40 miles south of Gallup. Unemployment in this area currently exceeds 67%.

This proposal seeks to address three major challenges. First, residents of this area face a geo-economic barrier -- the long distance between where they live and large employment centers. Second, many residents of the reservation lack computer training and skills necessary for employment. Third, a number face significant physical or mental disabilities.

The most recent survey of the reservation found more than 400 individuals with disabilities. They confront a variety of challenges: 25% face physical or ambulatory disabilities; 40% have diabetes, renal disease and related complications; and 12% deal with various degrees of mental illness. The rest face other types of disabilities. Most are unemployed.

This situation does not have to persist. These challenges can be met. Together we can make a difference.

ZEE, Inc.: ZEE, Inc. provides vocational training, finds meaningful employment for trainees, and promotes entrepreneurial approaches to solving the vocational problems of individuals with disabilities living on or near the Zuni Reservation. Working under contract with various state and federal agencies, ZEE, Inc. has successfully:

Formed (and operated for nine years) a self-sustaining grocery and concession business that employs 12 consumers with disabilities and generates $250,000 in annual sales;

Developed and operates a Community and Regional Recycling Program that recycles about 100 tons annually and provides full time employment for 15 adults with disabilities; and

Established and maintains a public transportation program that provides 30,000 trips/year for residents.

Now ZEE, Inc. seeks to establish an Electronic Enterprise Empowerment [E³] Center. The E³ Center would be equipped with state-of-the-art computer hardware and software. It would be supported by computer teachers experienced in serving individuals with a variety of disabilities. In addition, to help the target population convert this training into meaningful and sustainable employment, the E³ Center would provide job placement and on-the-job coaching.

ZEE, Inc. will also seek private sector partners to establish a contract services hub for taking and transmitting retail customer orders or providing reservation services. Private sector partners, for example, might be catalogue sales firms, condo rental agencies, or hotel or rental car chains. The contract services hub could provide steady employment to the graduate trainees of the E³Center and contribute to economic development of the Zuni community. Companies using this facility would reduce operating costs and increase profitability.

Seeding the E³Center: The goal of this particular proposal is to raise $5,000 to assist ZEE in preparing a grant application capable of winning a substantial grant from one or more major foundations for start up and early operation of this E³Center. The proposed $5,000 entrepreneurial seed grant to ZEE, Inc. would come from two sources:

First, we are seeking to organize an ad hoc group to be known as Friends of the Zuni People. We seek at least 15-20 people -- each committed to the well-being of Native Americans, and each willing to contribute at least $100 to a seed grant pool.

Second, The Social Venture Capital Foundation will match each $100 contribution from Friends of the Zuni People with $150 (up to $3,000 total from SVCF).

How the Seed Grant Would Be Used: The longer term goal is to provide this $5,000 seed grant, grant writing support, and management counsel to help ZEE, Inc. win one or more larger grants to fund the start up and early operation of the E³Center. ZEE, Inc. will use the seed grant funds for two main purposes:

1. To conduct research to identify --

programs that have most successfully provided computer training and job placement services for persons with disabilities elsewhere in the country, and the types of disabilities that they have addressed;

government and private sector employers that provide computer-based remote employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and minority workers;

types of equipment, software programs and training systems that would be most useful for training individuals with varying disabilities for meaningful employment in the government and private sector;

all the costs necessary to establish and operate the E³Center effectively; and

foundations, such as the Gates, Packard or Intel, with the resources, focus and priorities that would be most likely to fund initial establishment of the E³ Center.

2. To create a multi-year grant proposal (with budget and sustainability plan) that ZEE, Inc. can successfully present to potentially interested public and corporate foundations.

Precedents and Sources of Expertise: The idea presented here is not entirely new. Similar concepts have been tried and are working elsewhere. A number of resource centers and sources of expertise are available. For example, Miami-Dade County Community College's MEED Program has provided business computer training programs and job placement to nearly 150 individuals with disabilities and placed approximately 80% in private sector employment. See http://www.closingthegap.com/cgi-bin/lib/libDsply.pl?a=1040&b=2&c=1. Similar programs exist at CUNY's Baruch College Computer Center for Visually Impaired People - http://prod.baruch.cuny.edu/ccvip/; and the University of Washington's DO-IT Program -- Disabilities Opportunities Internetworking and Technology - http://www.washington.edu/doit/. The proposed seed grant will permit a more exhaustive search to locate the best sources of information and experience to help guide the ultimate grant application and eventual design and work of the E³ Center.

Vision: The process proposed here will lead to:

1. ZEE, Inc. winning a grant (or other funding) in amounts of $150,000 - $300,000 or more for the establishment and initial operation of The E³ Center, including funds for:

a. Computer hardware (at least 10 - 20 computers, keyboards, voice systems), printers, and servers,

b. Specialized computer furniture and software (including word processing, spread sheet, internet search engine and web site design, desktop publishing, and specialized software) to meet the needs of the handicapped population to be served,

c. Subscriptions (to Internet Service Providers, DSL connections, and/or high speed satellite Internet access, web site-hosting, etc.),

d. Necessary telephone lines, wiring and networking, surge protection and necessary measures, and

e. Personnel, operations and maintenance costs for training, job placement, and coaching support. (None of these funds will be for facility expansion, maintenance, and utilities. Funds for these purposes will come from other sources.)

2. Establishment of the Electronic Enterprise Empowerment [E³] Center; provision of necessary training, job placement, and on-the-job coaching; and development of life-long career skills useful in a variety of employment settings.
3. Reduction in unemployment and underemployment by the target population and increased ability to market and deliver products and services developed by and for the Zuni people and those living near the reservation.

We appreciate your interest and concern and will welcome your suggestions and support.

Sincerely,

Larry Aflen, Director, Zuni Entrepreneurial Enterprises, Inc.

Jeff Schwartz, President, The Social Venture Capital Foundation, Inc.

Appendix 1:

Additional Issues to Be Considered

With First Phase Seed Grant

Among the additional questions or issues that may need to be considered with the benefit of the first phase seed grant are the following:

How necessary maintenance, upgrading, and replacement of the Center's equipment can best be provided?

What kind of staffing will be needed to run the E³Center, including oversight of job placement and job coaching functions?

Whether partnerships can be developed with private and/or public sector employers to establish the E³ Center and structure the training to meet the needs of those employers?

What types of employment opportunities are available within a reasonable commuting distance from the E³ Center?

Whether the existing ZEE, Inc. transportation system can ensure that all the consumers to be served by the E³Center will be able to get to and from the training and employment opportunities?

How the training and employment opportunities can be designed to maximize community integration and reduce social isolation of the population to be served?

What kinds of on-the-job coaching can be arranged through potential employers? Through remote access volunteers? From other sources? How the bond between coach and newly employed individual can best be strengthened so as to maximize the individual's ability to retain the new job and grow in it?

What other kinds of support and support systems (beyond job coaching) will be necessary to ensure that newly placed graduate trainees sustain their employment and realize opportunities for promotion?

How the availability of community support systems for people with varying types and degree of disability should influence priorities for early acceptance into the program?

Whether (and how) the E³Center can work with the school district for the Reservation to support the work of the other?

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