SANDRA SCHURMANN and LUKAS HARLAN PROJEKTFABRIK – JOBACT
GERMANY, ASHOKA FELLOW 2009 http://www.projektfabrik.org/ https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/sandra-schurmann
PROBLEM In December 2014, almost 10% of the EU28 active people could not find a job, and youth unemployment recorded 21.4%. The frustration of not finding a job, the lack of self-confidence and of social integration of the jobless, reinforced by the public perception of them as social “freeloaders” creates a vicious circle and further deteriorates their chances of finding a job. Existing programs that deal with youth unemployment through skills development and classic training have proved ineffective in fighting such a structural unemployment crisis, with an average job placement rate of less than 20 percent. On the other hand, classic job coaching focuses on overcoming participants’ weaknesses instead of focusing on tools to instill higher levels of self-esteem and hope. They fail to empower young people to develop a vision for their lives, to take responsibility, but also to acquire life skills such as punctuality, reliability, teamwork, endurance, a strong work ethic, commitment, and respect for others.
IMPACT With a 43% success rate of finding a job or vocational Training, JobAct strongly outperforms the state agencies' rate of 24%. On top of the 43%, an additional 24% of JobAct® participants go either back to school to finish a degree or go into other programs that keep them off the streets. So far, JobAct have run over 220 performances in 80 locations., involving more than 4400 participants and 44.000 people have attended JobAct® performances. Currently they run between 35 and 40 projects per year. ProjektFabrik works with more than 80 educational institutions and established a network of collaboration throughout whole Germany and with 84 different JobCenters..
ROADMAP SANDRA SCHURMANN
SOLUTION Sandra Schürmann's "Projektfabrik" takes a different approach by drawing unemployed youth into an intensive program that uses performing arts to help them regain selfconfidence and self-worth and teach them vital professional skills. PART ONE. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. Young jobseekers enter a five-month program aimed at producing a theatre show. With a local theatre pedagogue and job coach providing support, they experience every type of work related to the theatre production, including playwriting stage design, acting, performing, publicity, and event planning. Participants receive hands-on experience with skills used in professional fields, such as management and marketing. What is more, through clearly assigned responsibilities, these young people learn to work as a team, to rely on others, and see how much they can achieve when they take personal responsibility, after a long period of social isolation. PART TWO. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. With the support of a professional job coach, youth find a five-month internship and put in practice the skills learned. The coach works closely with the theatre pedagogue and closely evaluates and assists each participant.
VISION Sandra’s vision is to demonstrate the power of creative tools and arts in tackling unemployment by fostering the personal development of the participants and exchanging passivity with proactivity. She aims to disseminate JobAct methodology across Europe and is currently looking at Southern Europe. The most important principle which guides ProjektFabrik and the scale-up is that strategy has to follow the mission and not the other way around. Sandra received numerous recognitions for the innovative model created, such as the first National Award for Youth and Work in 2006, the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon from the German Employment Minister (2010), Schwab’s Foundation “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2011 and “Vision Award” in 2012.
With the support of
ROADMAP SANDRA SCHURMANN AND LUKAS HARLAN SCALING STRATEGY To scale JobAct in Southern Europe, Sandra and Lukas intend to use the dissemination and partnerships strategies. They aim to build relationships with local partners and provide them with train-the-trainer programs and a development coaching package to accompany them through the process to help them take full ownership of the model and start implementation using JobAct brand. Due to the diversity of the institutional and financial structures in each country, they are currently building local relationships and working on redesigning the program to adapt it to the regional circumstances, in partnership with regional experts in the field of education and employment. For this, they submitted an Erasmus Plus proposal to kickstart joint projects with organisations from Southern European countries and continue to fundraise to make it happen. Moreover, to reinforce their structure, visibility and voicing power of their work, they are working on a European advocacy project. In the future, they aim to build a European network of institutions and individuals trained in JobAct methodology and/or who use art as educational principle for employment programs, aimed at sharing experience, raising awareness and attracting financial support. To identify the potential of such a network, with the support of Ashoka, they sent a survey in 5 European countries, to which 62 organisations replied. SHOWCASE
FIND PARTNERS
SCALE
MEASURE LOCAL IMPACT
SCALING JOBACT IN SPAIN On March 9, 2015, Sandra and Lukas presented JobAct in the Spanish Senate in a major event hosted by Ashoka in the framework of “THIS WORKS” initiative. Following this event, several local organisations showed interest in their methodology and are now discussing with Lukas ideas of collaboration, such as Accion Contra el Hambre and Fondacion Santa Maria la Real of Ashoka Fellow Peridis. Ashoka Spain is also looking for supporters and social investors eager to contribute towards building a more inclusive and sustainable labor market in Spain by diffusing JobAct methods.
SCALING JOBACT IN GREECE Lukas and Sandra also participated in the “Innovation for Society” Summit in Athens on April 29, 2015. On this occasion, they started conversations with executives from Robert Bosch Greece, who showed interest in supporting the local spread of JobAct in the country. Moreover, Lukas further connected with a key partner in Greece, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, with whom they are now discussing how to design a local pilot program and attract financial support.
SCALING JOBACT IN ITALY Following Ashoka Italy’s event “Innovate to Restart” in Milan on February 26, 2015, Sandra and Lukas are now in touch with various local partners interested to implement their methodology in Italy. With the support of their local Strategic Advisor Francesca Cima, international affairs advisor at ItaliaCamp, they met various organisations interested in learning more about JobAct and in supporting the local expansion, such as representatives from theatre schools and social enterprises. For example, they are collaborating with Vivaio from Florence and Teatro Cargo from Genoa and together submitted a joint Erasmus Plus proposal. Moreover, they started discussions with Robert Bosch Italy, who also showed interest in supporting them.
Should you be interested in helping Sandra and Lukas to scale in one of these three countries or partner with them, write to Ashoka Spain – comunicacion@ashoka.org, Ashoka Italy - italy@ashoka.org or Ashoka Greece – ashokagreece@ashoka.org !
With the support of