Entrants's Name: Michel Gratton

Country: Canada

Field: Cooperatives

Innovation - idea: This youth job coop focuses on empowering AIDS affected orphans and vulnerable children in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Orphans are usually taken charge by the extended family but are the last to benefit for education, food and medication. The idea of this coop is to bring financial help, leadership training and work experience directly to youth so they may help themselves by cooperating.

Innovation - why it is pioneering: To my knowledge, it is the first time in Burkina Faso that a youth job coop focuses on orphans and vulnerable children affected by the AIDS epidemic. More and more children are orphaned due to AIDS, but few programs deal with empowering the orphans directly.

Strategy - how it achieves impact: A youth job coop creates small odd jobs within a community (servicing private citizens and businesses) and can grow according to the needs and aspirations of the youth involved. It can contribute to the creation of new businesses as the youths become adults. Members of the coop can work evenings, weekends and especially during the school vacations to support their own education. Most children know they can achieve greater things if they go to school, the "means" is the greatest difficulty if you are an orphan or a vulnerable child. If a child does not receive support from a local organization or his family, he or she will NOT be able to complete his or her education. This does not create successes. A coop can achieve impact directly with children.

Strategy - growth plans: A youth job coop can be created in every village in Burkina Faso and may be easily replicated elsewhere in Africa. The result of this pilot project will be shared with many AIDS organization in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in Africa. With few ressources needed to create a coop, many AIDS organizations will easily replicate the model.

Impact to date: A local AIDS organization in Burkina Faso (ADIP/Solidarité) will benefit from a volunteer with a canadien NGO (Uniterra.org) to create the first coop of this kind. Youth job coops have been created in Ontario, Quebec and other canadian provinces due to the initiative in a small town in Northern Ontario (Hearst); it took less than 10 years for the model to be replicated nationally.www.adip- bf.org

Future impact: Since the number of orphans will keep rising due to AIDS epidemic, more and more children will become vulnerable, and projects like this one can become their only source of income. If this pilot project succeeds, all of Western Africa may have their own youth job coops for the AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. And if many children benefit economically, their future will become much brighter. It may spark the creation a small businesses all over Africa. The impact can be enormous.

Sustainability - resource base: Presently, a canadian NGO (Uniterra.org) with a local community organization in Burkina Faso will see to the coordination of the pilot project. A volunteer should be on site in April 2007 to help create the coop and to "transfer knowledge" in the creation of youth job coops. This "transfer of knowledge" shall be shared within the existing parterships created by Uniterra. www.uniterra.org

Major challenge for the field: The biggest challenge is to invlove businesses to accept that AIDS orphans and vulnerable children come to work for them on a seasonal or part-time schedule. Businesses that hire the youth job coop make the difference early on in the creation process. The "social" mission of the coop must be well communicated and well received by the business community for the coop to achieve success.

Contact Information:

Name: Mr Michel Gratton - Problem solver
Mailing address: 158-C rue McArthur #1903, Ottawa (Ontario) Canada K1L 8E7
Country: Canada
Email: michelgratton@mac.com
Tel: 613-741-3970 (or daytime 819-777-2282 until April

Bio: I have worked or consulted in the creation of many new projects as consultant, municipal counsellor, volunteer or community organizer in many fields: youth prevention programs focused on leadership and improvisation, a municipal outdoor recreation centre (trails and observation sites), a summer/winter camp based on group dynamics and leadership, training and direction of youth job coops, production of major music concerts for festivals and televison, piloting and hosting fundraising intiatives using comedy, theatre and music and even organizing the first mountain bike races in our region.

I have volunteered in Ecuador (teaching and consulting with an ecological project piloted by a foundation working with indigenous people) and Burkina Faso (creating partenerships for community AIDS organizations).

I've always approched projects trying to resolve problems, embrace change, find ways to connect people together and create the best possible scenario for the projects or activities I am involved with. I'm a people person, a leader, a great listener, a calm and creative problem solver that can work under very stressing situations and I make many friends by using humour.

I have a university degree in Sociology and Recreology, and was teaching part-time at Ottawa University in Leisure studies for 4 years.

I've been self employed since 1998 working on various kinds of projects. Since returning from Africa in December 2006, I've been searching for ways to create a new kind of community. I am presently in a kind of transition period open to anything and everything.