WORKING FOR A BETTER LIFE

Organizational Vision
Citizen Base Strategy

Organizational Vision

Working for a Better Life (WBL), founded by Mostafa Shiblee in 1996, strives to cultivate and educate the minds of students aged 11-16 to help them become more aware of their society and the problems within it. Their primary aim is to boost the confidence of young citizens and assist them in becoming constructively involved in their community and eventually their country. WBL develops debate programs in local schools that ignite the imagination, enthusiasm, and curiosity of the students, and encourage them to read and learn, to boldly express their opinions and ideas and to be aware of their civic responsibilities. By engaging school students in these debates, WBL believes they can divert their attention and attraction to violence and anti-social behavior.

WBL has launched 24 parliamentary style debate programs, exhibitions, and inter-school debate tournaments. They focus on issues chosen by the students, such as child and women's rights, the environment, drugs, history, culture, and terrorism. By the end of 1999, WBL plans on expanding the debate programs to 40 schools in the greater Dhaka area, and by mid-2000 that number should reach 60.

Citizen Base Strategy

Design a symbiotic relationship between a for-profit business and a non-profit organization.

Shiblee has creatively generated funds by launching a for-profit business, Badhon, that continues to support WBL for new initiatives and in times of financial crisis. Creating a mutually valuable relationship between the public and private sector allows and promotes the allocation and exchange of human and financial resources as necessary.

There are two factors which have contributed to the success of this relationship: Understanding between for-profit partners that non-profit organizations will be sister-organizations, the commitment of partners, executive committee, and staff to make both organizations successful, and for-profit staff recruited with the intent of using them for non-profit activities and vice versa. Non-profit staff should have a business-sense and for-profit staff should have a sense of civic responsibility and moral obligation, which allows human and financial resources to be allocated and exchanged as necessary between the organizations and has had significant beneficial impacts on WBL’s sustainability. Shiblee avoids allocating a significant amount of funds to overhead by relying on the support of Badhon to provide office space, a fax machine, telephone lines, etc. Resources made available to WBL from Badhon have prevented financial issues from negatively impacting WBL’s productivity.

Financial and technical support from Badhon has provided WBL with seed capital for additional programs and other self-financing projects. This support has been critical in the organization's development. For example, in July 1999, Badhon provided the Internet infrastructure to develop Ashoka's Internet Incentive Fund in Bangladesh. Badhon became a "virtual office" for the initiative, with three Badhon staff members creating web pages for Ashoka Fellows in the region. WBL will expand this as an income-generation scheme for the organization – charging a fee for the design and creation of websites for other social and business organizations.

Sharing human resources adds to the effectiveness of the organization, especially between for-profit and non-profit enterprises. WBL stresses the importance of having a staff who has strong management and business skills. They developed these skills through Badhon, but have applied them to WBL. In the last fiscal audit, it was reported that WBL has been cost-effective, and successfully utilized its resources and saving funds. Shiblee notes that working side by side with a for-profit business allowed them to fully understand that competency, productivity, punctuality, and seriousness are the key elements to a successful enterprise, whether for profit or not. The staff is becoming more market oriented; this in turn is encouraging them to develop programs that are perceived favorably by potential donors.

Start programs that are phased out of the budget and responsible for their own funding  

Shiblee has spun off debate programs in individual schools and communities that are financed through a combination of international and local funding, with core costs covered by Badhon. In addition, each product is strategically phased out financially from the organization's budget within 10-12 months of the new program's inception, giving each debate program the impetus to find their own creative ways to finance its program costs.

The local community supports WBL and is very present in the decision-making process of the organization. Decisions are made by participatory planning workshops where students, teachers, and other community people put forth opinions, concepts, advice, and strategies. The integration of local community members and educational stakeholders into the debate program has fostered a sense of responsibility for the debate programs within each school.  Knowing that each program will be financially on its own, students and community members have the foresight to begin planning strategically for each program's long-term sustainability. For example, one debate club put forth a plan to set up a school garden nursery to generate income from renting plants that would pay for books and materials for the club.

This strategy not only-ensures the long-term sustainability of Shiblee's organization, but it also ensures the long-term impact of what he can accomplish through his debate program. "If the schools take over the program," he says, "I think that my long-cherished dream will have come true. He hopes that eventually, the program will become 100 percent sustainable with WBL serving as a valuable resource.