Ripple Academy Project Update

Exciting things are “rippling” away here at Ripple Academy HQ, and we can’t wait to share them with you!

1) Our design committee comprised of a global team of grassroots and organizational development leaders is building off of best practices from our combined 35 years of training programming. Over the last year, we carried out user surveys and listening sessions to build a light-framed and flexible curriculum framework. We are now piloting the Ripple Academy through a series of “Learning Labs” in India, in 2018 to generate direct input from participants, refine the curriculum, and strengthen the design for greatest impacts. Each Lab includes 3 days of in-person training followed by remote group video calls, mentorship, small group discussions, and exercises through our online platform. The Labs are laying the groundwork for the year-long program, while delivering valuable content to participants and building our trainer and partner community in the process. If you’re a woman leader in India, be sure to apply to join our India Ripple Academy Learning Lab today!

2) We’re designing the Ripple Academy Impact Dashboard, a data visualization tool based on a unique set of metrics that mix global and community-designed, qualitative and quantitative measures of success. Global indicators include Sustainable Development Goals, Project Drawdown metrics (like Gigatons Reduced of CO2), and the W+ Standard (measuring improvements in women’s social capital, like income, economic mobility, # businesses started, # women trained by participants etc.). Community-designed metrics encourage communities to define their own metrics of success, (like # of meals per day) and include qualitative stories of change.

3) We’re building a sustainability program to make the Ripple Academy self-funded in 5 years. When it’s ready to launch, you’ll be the first to know!

To learn more about the Ripple Academy, and for way to support this work, visit the Ripple Academy Project page.