User:DigitalOppTrust/sandbox

Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) is a Canadian charitable organization and social enterprise that delivers technology, entrepreneurship, leadership training programs to young people in countries in East Africa, the Middle East, and Mexico. The organization headquarters are in Ottawa, Canada, with local operations around the globe. Since the organization was founded in 2002, DOT has directly impacted more than 4,500 youth worldwide, who have gone on to reach over 800,000 of their fellow community members. More than 90% of alumni go on to either secure employment or start their own businesses within six months of completing DOT programming.

DOT’s stated mission is "to create global networks of talented, energetic young leaders who make a real change by educating local communities to apply technology effectively to real life."

The DOT Model
DOT operates under a youth-leading-youth model. Each of its economic, education, and leadership programs are led by recent graduates from the local area. Those team members are called DOT Interns. Those Interns go through a month-long training process where they learn writing, collaboration, facilitation, and coaching skills. They then offer DOT's signature programs at partner organizations across the countries where they're working. Each DOT Intern is predicted to impact about 200 of their peers.

DOT's programs include:
 * ReachUp! - an economic program that trains youth in technology, business, and workplace readiness skills
 * StartUp! - an entrepreneurship program that addresses the skills needed to start a business, and create customer-centric small and medium-sized enterprises
 * TeachUp! - a technology program that helps teachers in Lebanon and Mexico integrate technology in the classroom.

Leadership
DOT’s President and CEO is Janet Longmore, who has been recognized as a leading social entrepreneur. In 2013, Longmore was named a Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, becoming only the second Canadian to ever win the award. She has also been named a Senior Fellow with Ashoka Canada for her leadership at DOT. Longmore is a member of the World Economic Forum.

Canada’s current Governor General, David Johnston, was DOT’s first chair of the board of directors, a role he served in during his time as the President of the University of Waterloo. The current chairman of the board is Patrick Gossage, who served as press secretary to former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Expansion
Indigenous Canada

In Fall 2014, DOT launched ReachUp! North, its first program in Canada targeted at Indigenous youth. The program adapts DOT's international ReachUp! program to meet the unique needs of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth in Ottawa, and adds a cultural component to the workplace and digital skills training. The program is meant to help counter higher than average rates of unemployment among Aboriginal youth in Canada.

Ethiopia

The latest funding from the Government of Canada was in support of youth employment programming in urban Ethiopia. The $10 million contribution aims to build the entrepreneurship and business skills of 75,000 young people in the country. The grant will also help DOT Ethiopia establish a series of Business Development Service Centers in Addis Ababa, Hawassa, and Mekele.

Youth-Led Enterprise and Development Program

The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada has also supported DOT through its Youth-Led Enterprise and Development Program, which is projected to impact 88,000 young African women and men in Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda.

West Africa

In October 2014, DOT received a grant from The Rockefeller Foundation in order to determine the feasibility of its model “to address digital skills development and job placement for high potential, disadvantaged youth in Ghana.” The grant is part of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa Initiative.