K-Robs Social Enterprise Case study
Overview
K-Robs social enterprise is a non profit consultancy organization that partners with local
NGOs or other organizations with similar missions to consult on ways to overcome
challenges and barriers that are preventing children in third world countries from gaining
access to quality education. Kareem Roberts who is currently the President and a
member of the board of directors established the organization in November 2013. The
reasoning for establishing this organization was after a trip to Tanzania,Africa in June
2013. He volunteer at the school called Gloryland Prep School, while Kareem
volunteered at the school he taught basic math
and English to the students but after a few
days he realized that the school needed more
help on business side of the school. He
worked with the school’s principal teaching her
simple accounting, bookkeeping and business
management. During Kareem’s volunteer
experience he was introduce to the project
manager of the school. The project manager
over saw all the fundraising efforts for the
school, and worked along with the school’s
principal. At that time the school was in very
poor condition and they only had one
building to school the children, and most of
the students were schooled in tents or in
another building on site that had no roof.
At that time the project manager was
relying on friends and family to help fund
the school. The students paid school fees
but it wasn’t enough to meet demands of
the school expenses. The project manager
had no charity status and there was no
registered company only relying on her
network of friends and family. Upon
Kareem return home he received a call
few months later from the project manager
asking him to take over and become the
new project manager, Kareem accepted
the role. The previous project manager work with Kareem for a few weeks before he
fully took over in January 2014, but immediately Kareem ran into issues with the
previous project manager. The previous project manager had no business skills and no
sense of budget management. The school account had over $3000usd in the account
she withdrew all the funds and purchase all new school uniforms for the students (which
wasn’t needed) then once all the money was spent she fully resigned and left Kareem
from starting from scratch with no funds to pay the teachers for the up coming school
year, no food budget to feed the students, and no money to operate the school! Also
half the sponsorship programs recipients withdrew from sponsoring the school and
students. Kareem was only left with 5 sponsors going into the new school year and the
K-Robs Social Enterprise Case study
student population grew by 25 additional students putting the student population over
100 students. Kareem wasn’t expecting all this to happen in a matter of days and he
had to quickly think about ways to over come these challenges. Kareem knew in order
for him to get creditability to obtain new sponsors he had to form a non profit
organization hence why K-Robs Social Enterprise was formed.
Organizational structure
Over the course of 2014 K-Robs Social Enterprise had to struggle in defining what they
were and what services they wanted to offer. The company first started off with 7
members who all volunteer their time to help with the Gloryland Prep School project. By
the end of 2014 there were 4 board of directors and 2 executive staff members.
The company define themselves as a non profit consultancy organization that partners
with local NGOs or other organizations with similar missions to consult on ways to
overcome challenges and barriers that are preventing children in developing countries
from gaining access to quality education.
Their purpose of the organization they believe that education is the primary key to
success and are dedicated to providing children in third world countries with access to
the best schooling available. At the moment we are working towards eliminating socioeconomic
barriers that prevent children from attending school. We understand the
importance and benefits of education and strive to instill the same values into children
and their families.
There mission is to consult in the development of and to implement solutions to the
challenges that prevent children from gaining the benefits of primary and secondary
education.
The current organizational structure is Kareem Roberts is the chairman of the board and
president of the organization. The other board members are Ashley Fernandez, Giordan
Zin, and Priya Parmar. On the executive team Anastasia De Lyon is Kareem’s right
hand person and CEO. All the board members attended Algoma University together and
all except Giordan were part of Algoma business administration program; graduating
from the program between 2008-2009. Giordan has a law and justice degree from
Algoma university and has Public Communication diploma from Sault College.
Anastasia has a child and youth worker diploma from Seneca College. Kareem majored
in marketing at Algoma University and has over 7 years as an investment banker
working for the third largest bank in Canada. Ashley and Priya both are accounting
majors; Ashley has his CMA/CPA and Priya is a licensed compliance officer.
Gloryland Prep School
Gloryland Prep School is private elementary school that is taught in english only. The
school was founded by the school principal back in 2010. Asnath who is the school
founder received land from her parents, instead of building a home for herself and her
family she instead decided to build a school. She wanted to give back to community.
The school has a student population over 120 students, and they are fed twice a day by
K-Robs Social Enterprise Case study
the school (once in the morning and lunch). The students are taught 9 subjects (math,
english, science, history, geography, french, gym, civics, and their native language
swahili). The school operates on calendar
year, there are 3 semesters (first semester
starting in January), the student have three
months off (April, August, December). As of
January 5 2015 the school will have 7 grades
(Junior Kindergarden to Grade 5). Since
Kareem has taken over as project manager,
has established an operating budget of
approx.$25,000USD per year. The school has
had some major construction during 2014, the
school was approved $3000 micro-loan which
was used to finish building the school; now all
students are schooled under one roof, they
have a proper kitchen, and a teacher lounge.
During the course of the school year Kareem
was able to fundraise over $7000 to pay
teacher salaries and school expenses. Students are required to pay annual school fees
of $350usd, however out of the 120 students there only 50-60 parents pay the annual
school. Also out of the 50-60 students only 20-30 students pay the total fee in the
beginning of the year and the remaining students pay what they can pay throughout the
school year. This causes budgeting and planning issues for Kareem and his team. The
reminding student parents pay the school fees when they can or their child is
sponsored. See the appendix 1 for school budget. There are many social issues that
are causing students from paying student fees on time. Some of the issues are as
follows:
• Government funding does not cover all of the school expenses
• Teachers are paid a very bare salary of $90 USD per month.
• Parents face tuition fees of $350 USD/year per child (Gross National Income per
capita is below $992USD)
• The high cost of education means parents rarely pay on time. It also affects the
school’s ability to pay teachers.
• Most parents can only afford to send one or two children to school, the preference
mostly falls on boys.
• Parents who pay for tuition are often forced to compromise with their children’s
nutrition. Some children only eat meals that are offered by the school.
• dependence on international donation
• lack of stable funding
These are few issues that are faced by the administration staff.
Tanzania, Africa
At roughly twice the size of California, Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa. It is
home to over one hundred tribal groups. Tanzania is also one of the world’s poorest
countries with a Gross National Income per capita below $992usd. The United Nations
lists it as an “undeveloped” country due to its human resources crisis’ with respect to
K-Robs Social Enterprise Case study
nutrition, health, education and adult literacy. Tanzania has over 1.6 million people
infected with HIV. Its population is exposed to extreme economic vulnerability due to
unstable agricultural production, instability of export goods and services, displacement
of its people by natural disasters, and extreme cases of child slavery and labour. In
addition to creating a immense challenge for the adult population of Tanzania, this
reality places extreme pressure on children to not attend school. Instead, they ‘work’ –
which often includes begging or working on the street to help support their families.
Financially constrained parents cannot afford to pay the cost of education for their
children. For children whose families provide them with the opportunity of an education,
the situation is not much brighter. A lack of funding means that students can spend
months without books and proper supplies; for the most part, teachers go underpaid. In
addition, most students are not eligible for public high school: after completing
elementary school the government offers only a limited number placements in high
school. The government’s decision on placements rests on the results of a standardized
test that is written in English. In the Arusha area the only time children use English is at
school, and it is very rarely spoken at home. Some of the social/political issues are as
follows:
• Tanzanian government doesn’t invest enough resources and money their education
• drop rates amongst girls are very high
• safety is major concern
• access to female hygiene products
• families do not see the importance of education
• pregnancy
• marriage as young as 12 years old
• school environment not female friendly
• diseases/HIV
• walking long distances to school
• school punishment
Not all these are issues at Gloryland School but these are an overview of issues that
are prevent children from gaining an education in Tanzania. Education is free in
Tanzania however if a child is sent to a public government school they are taught in
swahili, however in order to get into high school they must pass a government
standardize test which is written in english only. This is where 50% of students will drop
out and only complete schooling up to grade 8. If they pass the test out of that 50%
group only 40% of those students will be place into a high school if there is space.
Another major issue is, even though public government schools are free parents are still
responsible to purchase school uniforms, school supplies, lunch money, and
transportation to and from school which almost adds up to $350usd per child. Hence,
why many students cannot afford the public government schools either. If children want
a better education parents must send their children to private school that is taught in
english so that when their child is ready to go to high school they can pass the
mandatory entrance exam and continue their studies and hopefully finish high school.
Only 1-2% of the student population that finishes high school in Tanzania actually go on
to post secondary school.
Current state of K-Robs Social Enterprise
K-Robs Social Enterprise Case study
As December 2014 K-Robs is still managing Gloryland school. There was a lot of
challenges but overall the team over came those challenges. However, in the years to
come funding will be the main concern. K-Robs Social Enterprise team has established
the following strategic plan for Gloryland School.
Strategic Plan
The five-year strategic plan for Gloryland Prep School is to have enough funding in
place each year to cover the salaries of teachers‘ and expenses. Furthermore, it is our
hope that the teachers at Gloryland Prep School will be paid at least the Tanzanian
average teacher salary, which is 400, 000 Tanzanian shillings ($250US) per month.
Within the next 2 years we anticipate commencing work on capital projects. These
involve the expansion of the physical facilities and we will have to obtain funding. Within
the next five year, it is also anticipated that the current primary students will graduate
and move on to complete their secondary schooling in a high school that will be
developed by K-robs Social Enterprise.
In 2015, we will be starting our Garden and Chicken Coop projects; both of these are
intended to improve the current meal plan and to lower the food expense cost for our
organization. Currently, our students are served two meals a day. Beginning in 2015 we
would like to have 3 meals offered daily. The additional meal will ensure that students
do not go home hungry in the evening.
During 2014 K-Robs Social Enterprise also establish partnership with a local NGO in
Tanzania to build the first all girls secondary school that will be taught at Western
education standards. The Maarifa partnership is a long-term project that will
involve:,The establishment of the first all-girls school in Arusha, Tanzania.
Issues
After the first year, Kareem reviews his first year’s successes and failures, he will be
faced with many challenges in the up coming fiscal year of 2015. They are as follows:
• funding for the gloryland school
• new innovative fundraising efforts
• new sources of income for payment of executive staff (currently staff is volunteering
their time)
• new services that can be offered by the organization can generate revenue
• exposure of the company
• fundraising and marketing efforts for all girls school
• Kareem would like to get charity status however it cost over $10,000 to do but could
be beneficial
Kareem has also addresses to his staff that he envision K-Robs Social Enterprise as
having a strong brand name reputation with several ongoing projects in other countries
besides Tanzania. Furthermore, our vision encompasses the successful completion of
the above mentioned projects from which we hope to gain outstanding recognition for
our work. We will have establish sustainable projects that will provide education for
K-Robs Social Enterprise Case study
children for years to come. The success of our work will be documented and our local
offices will provide employment for many community members. Above all we will bring
the benefits of education to all communities in which we work.
K-Robs Social Enterprise faces many challenges in the years to come but how can
Kareem Roberts implement his vision for his organization?
Appendix 1-Budget
2014 School Year
Item Tzn Amount Can Amount Year amount
Food $600,000.00 $400.00 $4,800.00
Water $23,000.00 $15.33 $184.00
Stationary $350,000.00 $233.33 $2,800.00
Baby Class $150,000.00 $100.00 $1,200.00
Baby Class 2 $150,000.00 $100.00 $1,200.00
Class 1 $200,000.00 $133.33 $1,600.00
Class 2 $250,000.00 $166.67 $2,000.00
Class 3 Head
Teacher
$300,000.00 $200.00 $2,400.00
Class 4 $200,000.00 $133.33 $1,600.00
Teacher Ass’t $110,000.00 $73.33 $880.00
Asnath $300,000.00 $200.00 $2,400.00
French Teacher $200,000.00 $133.33 $1,600.00
Cooks 1 $75,000.00 $50.00 $600.00
Cooks 2 $75,000.00 $50.00 $600.00
Security $100,000.00 $66.67 $800.00
Maid $100,000.00 $66.67 $800.00
Total $3,183,000.00 $2,122.00 $25,464.00
K-Robs Social Enterprise Case study
Appendix 2-Past fundraisers
Throughout 2014 Kareem hosted 2 fundraiser events. The first event was held in
Toronto,(wine and cheese event) the organization fundraised over $1500 which directly
went to paying teaching salaries. Then in November the second event was hosted in
Sault Ste Marie,(dinner event) the event only raised $400 but they obtain 5 new
sponsors for children. To sponsor a child it cost $350 per year therefore in total $2150
was fundraised. Later that month a friend of Kareem hosted a small fundraiser at the
local yoga studio in Sault Ste Marie which raised $325 dollars.


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