Today we’re introducing the first edition of our Nonprofit Spotlight Series, where we shine the spotlight on our course members’ organizations and where you’ll learn all about the AMAZING work they do for communities around the world.
Each nonprofit will tell you, in their own words, about their mission, the community they serve, strategies they’ve used for success, and what inspired them to do the work they do.
Let’s get into our first featured nonprofit!
Asociacion Kantaya Inc.
Miami, Florida
Mission statement: To promote quality education and holistic development for children living in impoverished communities in Peru.
Kantaya believes in the power of education and has created spaces where learning has benefitted more than 1000 vulnerable children of elementary and middle school age in one of the most impoverished areas of Lima, Peru.
Kantaya provides:
(1) After-school programs with quality education, holistic development, and learning opportunities for children ages 5 to 12 years.
(2) Online teacher training programs, to train and certify unemployed at-risk women as teacher’s assistants through high-quality curricula and development of social emotional skills.
Major goals for the year:
· Launch the online Teacher School Program (Kallpay virtual)
· Transform the kids after-school program to virtual; due to COVID lockdowns, we saw an increase of 20% of children at the national level
Kantaya’s recent programmatic successes:
After-School Program
· Kantaya has served over 1,000 children, who have achieved 70%+ proficiency in reading comprehension and maths skills against the national averages of 38% and 15% in Peru.
· Kantaya children are one year ahead in emotion regulation and six months ahead in relationship skills than other children in the area
· 67% of Kantaya youth have access to higher education against 2% in the area
Teacher School (Kallpay)
· Pilot program certified 10 at-risk women as Teacher Assistants
· 100% of alumni who applied for a job received a job offer
Q: Can you tell us a story about something that recently happened that reinvigorated your work or a story about what first inspired you to do the work you do?
“I started as a regular sponsor in Kantaya, wishing to grant a child the opportunity of a better education.
I am firmly convinced that education is the surest engine to change the life of someone for the better, as it opens opportunities and broadens the horizon of a person.
What drove me to participate more actively as member of its advisory board was a visit I made to the after-school program of Kantaya in Ventanilla, Peru.
Having worked for a multinational company where resources are plentiful, seeing the enormous needs of Kantaya, the creativity of the staff to optimize limited resources, and the impact it has on children inspired me to work harder and better for the organization.
More resources mean that more children would benefit from a better education, and the potential of expanding the model to other areas on a larger scale.”
-Gonzalo M. Cornejo, board member
New or noteworthy strategies Kantaya used to be successful:
COVID lockdowns in Peru created challenging conditions to continue our programs due to the limitations of computer access and internet/WiFi infrastructure in one of the most impoverished areas of Lima.
Notwithstanding, Kantaya through creative means (and using mobile phone widely available technology like Facebook, Instagram, Messaging and Whatsapp) was able to maintain engagement of children, increase by 20% attendance to its after-school virtual program and expand geographically its reach to other areas of the country outside Lima.
Facts and Further Information:
The unfortunate reality in Peru is that due to lack of quality teachers (83%) and development of social emotional skills in children (58%), the country ranks 129 out of 137 countries in quality of primary education.
In addition, and due to lack of infrastructure and technology access, impoverished communities are the ones who suffer the most, with high school drop rates in impoverished areas of around 66%.
Kantaya closes the gaps in education and development not provided by public education.
Kantaya’s funding successes, including grant awards:
Awards:
2020: Finalist Kunan Award, Gratitude Foundation
2019: GSBI Miller Center Alumni, SOCAP, OC Opportunity Collaboration, Perennial, Finalist Kunan Category Award
Grants:
2020: Help Peru, Children of Peru Foundation, Cummins (total US$30,000)
2019: Repsol, Cummins, ADM (total US$40,000)
Basic Information:
Reach out to: Gonzalo M. Cornejo, Member of the Advisory Board @ (267) 243-2497
Website: https://en.kantayaperu.com
Link for making an online donation:
http://kantayaperu.com/kantaya-todo-suma.html
Social Media Handles:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kantayaperu
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kantayaperu/
Years registered as a nonprofit: 4
City and State of registration – Miami, Florida
City and State of main office – Miami, Florida
Geographic scope of service – Peru
Thanks for reading, and look out for our next spotlight soon! Please join the conversation over on our Facebook group.
If you’re looking for guidance on how to apply for grants, we’ve got you covered inside Grant Writing Made Easy, our comprehensive grant writing course.
