SHOULDER -toSHOULDER FOUNDATION “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope… those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” - R O B E RT F. K E N N E DY
Today, it seems harder to find an individual who stands up for an ideal. And yet, the need for such a person has never been greater. Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation believes that developing generations of ethical leaders is the solution to our world’s most pressing needs and that in every society and for any challenge, sustainable progress begins with ethical leadership. We believe that high school is the ideal time to inspire a vision of ethical leadership for the next generation; indeed, it is the first ripple toward a profound impact on society.
W H E R E ET H I C A L L E A D E R S H IP B E G I N S. With this in mind, we created a model that builds and nurtures this concept with high school students. Our program creates synergy across sectors - business, education, philanthropy, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – to create generations of ethical leaders who move on to make a tangible difference in society. The world is our classroom. Economics, politics, geography, culture and ethics are our curriculum. Proven experts in global development from four continents are our teachers. The students are our future.
Help be the change you wish to see in the world. Be that pebble, that ripple that becomes the current. Help Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation bring ethical leadership to the youth of our country, and to our society.
H OW YO U CAN H ELP
DONOR PROGRAMS
LEGACY LEADERS
These individuals provide a backbone of support for the operations of Shoulder-to-Shoulder. This support allows our team to be in the field with the youth we are serving, to branch our organization out to all corners of the world and to serve our students from the time they enter our program until they enter the work world.
$50, 000
COURSE U N D ERWRITER
Each of our courses benefits from the direct support of an underwriter. This contribution provides the support for one of our ten courses. Each course has ten students participating for 1-3 weeks.
$25, 000
This collection of donors provides support for our Global Solutions Forum and supports our NGOs who provide hands-on leadership for our students.
$10, 000
GLOBAL CITIZEN
S C H O L A R S H IP S U P P O RT E R
We believe that it’s important to provide our youth the opportunity to engage in ethical leadership regardless of their financial situation. To that end, donors to our Scholarship program provide that support for these students.
FRIENDS OF S H O U L D E R TO SHOULDER
This donor program provides our team with the ability to continue serving youth throughout college and their entry into the work force. Our alumni are the future, and we believe it’s important to continue to fan the flame through these critical years.
A D V O C ATE
Donors in the Advocate program allow us to continue to reach new schools and populations of service, ensuring that the practice of ethical leadership continues to grow.
BASECAMP
Every organization depends heavily on the support of those who are committed to what we do. Basecamp donors provide the basics for our efforts, supporting all that Shoulder-to-Shoulder does.
$5, 000
$2, 500
$1, 000
$10-$50 0
Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation began in 2007 with twenty-seven high school students who wished to better appreciate the world, and a few teachers who understood what was needed. Ten years later, Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation has served hundreds of students working with partners around the country and NGOs around the world. The world is inextricably intertwined. And this “flat world” calls on ethical leaders with the necessary skills and, most importantly, the moral fiber to lead in a globalized world, balancing growth and social responsibility as measures of successful business. In 2015, the World Economic Forum’s Outlook on the Global Agenda listed ethical leadership in the top five among global challenges: More pressing than weakening democracies, rising population, and climate issues. Though at times the enormity of the issue can cause paralysis, we know that every solution begins with one.
O N E P E R S O N . O N E E F F O RT. O N E H O P E.
“My Shoulder-to-Shoulder course changed the way I look at the world and the issues we face as a society. This experience taught me two things: that the communities I belong to are global and that there is no excuse for inaction. During my course, I learned the facts, I lived with children and their parents, and we worked together as partners to solve problems. This is global citizenship: learn, empathize, act. My new perspective, the worldview SStS gave me, influences my every decision. In medical school, it motivated me to get involved with my communities closer to home. I work in a student-run clinic for patients with limited access to medical care. I helped create a new program to train hospice providers in pediatrics so children, too, could have excellent care at the end of life. Then, I decided to pursue a business degree because I believe our health care system needs to change; and it will require business and medical leaders to learn, empathize, and act.”
- C H R I STI A N A / A L U MN A , B OA R D M E M B E R