1.
MCXI, A Junior Achievement Social Enterprise was founded by young
entrepreneurs to start a movement:
We are youth helping youth create a
stronger community.
We believe that connections and community are built upon a foundation. It
is through the people we know and the friends and co-workers we socialize
with.
Using connection as our prime value we have established two supporting
pillars, Arts and Sports, acting as platforms for universal interaction
regardless of language, gender, race or other barriers.
We embody this in our motto
+ =
Arts Sports Community
MCXI
2.
IT STARTS
WITH
ONE
We represent a new type of business.
We don’t define success in profits and returns, but rather the number of
lives we have connected through sports and arts and the positive
social impact we have make in our community.
Unlike traditional charities, which ask for either money or time
MCXI empowers our customers to make a difference through their
consumer choices and actions.
As a social enterprise, our model is to use the profits from our two
products as the funds to make direct social impact through our
organized community events and employee volunteer hours.
IF IT HAS TO BE
IT IS UP
TO ME
3.
All you need is
ONE individual
with a brilliant
IDEA
As a youth social enterprise we realized that there is a huge problem in
our community: We live in a world where we focus on what sets us
apart rather than what brings us together.
So 23 students across the GTA came together to include others,to
motivate others, to build a community through sports and arts.
#the1movement
We started the #the1movement
with the belief in the power of one.
It only takes one person to make a
difference.
Starting with one individual we have
grown and connected worldwide
from Toronto - to Sri Lanka, the
Bahamas, Singapore, Australia,
and the Cayman Islands - building
an international community.
4.
✦ Create a successful Social
Enterprise, which could be
adapted to any global market
✦ Create social media campaigns
that had participation from
people across the globe
✦ Connect students through the
power of arts & sports
✦ Educate students on the
potential business
opportunities in the arts &
sports world
✦ Create the
#ChallengetoConnect
campaign which promoted
building positive connections in
our community
✦ Have the first ever student
company run networking event
for JACO
✦ Have the first ever student run
fundraising event for the MLSE
Foundation
✦ Secure in-kind donation of
venue as a result of the support
offered from the Mayor’s Office
✦ Receive 3 of the 6 group
awards from over 40
companies
✦ Volunteer Advising Team
of the Year
✦ The Gary & Joanne
Reamy Family ROI Award
✦ Company of the Year
And from one idea we were able to:
6.
OUR
LEARNINGS
✦ Learned project planning - not taught at school but needed for
most leadership roles (if not for the actual role, then an
understanding of project planning is definitely required to
effectively guide and coach teams in your area) in the outside
world and a 4 year course at college/university
✦ Social enterprises are fairly new. This gave the students an
opportunity to research and learn about social enterprises and
what makes them different from just any regular company. For
example, Free the Children realized that donations dry up and
there are only so many benefactors, which is the reason they
started MetoWe their own charitable initiative with products sold
by Free the Children being their main source of funding.
Additionally, this sends out a very powerful message to their
customers that they are not just buying a product but also
effecting change. Many people get fed up being asked for
donations all the time. However, they are more than willing to
buy a product that supports a charitable initiative. Example
Dove, people were using the soap anyway but sales went up
dramatically once people saw where part of the proceeds were
going
7.
OUR
LEARNINGS
✦ Communications is key in every walk of life. Many pay huge
dollars to attend Carnegie. Here the students got on-the-job
training in communicating with politicians, entrepreneurs,
Olympians, TV producers. They learned the art of effective
communication and the importance of speaking to the heart of
the matter to generate positive responses which is the reason
their panel did not have just anyone off the street but a Canadian
Olympian, Producer of W Network, Owner of Scarborough Snapd
and the award winning top sales person from the largest bank in
Canada, RBC.
✦ We talk about all the problems with mental illness and youth
unrest and crime, that has been shown to start with youth having
low self-esteem and self-confidence. These students were all
about youth helping youth address this huge problem - not by
throwing money at it or by engaging more security and increasing
the police force but by youth helping themselves. Just like one of
the JACO honourees from the 2015 Bold Thinkers Inspiring
Leaders Event Sunny Verma, it is all about connecting youth with
mentors. It starts with one, and the student’s #1movement
addresses this huge problem plaguing our politicians and
community with what is often seen as no resolution in sight.
8.
OUR
LEARNINGS
✦ There is an old saying: 'if you give a man to fish you feed him
for a day, if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a
lifetime'. The #1movement is proof of this. It is not about a
hand out but a hand up and that is something that will benefit not
only our youth but will have a ripple effect through the
community as thru mentorship these youth become effective
members rather than a burden on society. As they grow into the
next generation they will also ensure that their children get the
same help and start out with a hand up, not a hand out thus
setting them up for success. This cannot be learned in school or
university or collect or thru any business course.
✦ The great philosopher, Plato, once said: 'do not train a child to
learn by force or harshness, but direct them to it by what
amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to
discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of
each.' These students realized (something that is not taught in
schools) that youth connect thru arts and sports and therefore
their slogan was Arts + Sports = Community as they realized the
truth in Plato's saying and approached this problem from a very
unique standpoint using Plato's wisdom to approach youth thru
arts and sports. This #1movement can be (if given the air time)
the beginning of the end of youth crime as well as perhaps also
youth mental illness.
9. MCXI is determined that their #1movement does not die with the
end of the company program so we are actively approaching media
around the world to garner support for this movement.
The Exchange has the unique opportunity to be at the forefront of
this movement and we hope you take this opportunity to start the
ball rolling on what will surely soon be a worldwide movement.
.
#the1movement
