Grant Pitch

For my grant proposal the idea I came up with is IT related. Currently one of the fastest growing job occupations are technology related and it is a must to have proficiency in knowing how to access the Microsoft suite. I suggest that in order for the refugees and asylum seekers to build their resume Stevenson professors would visit the site once a month to give classes on how to use the Microsoft suite. After one would take the class through the grant one would also be able to become a certified expert. This would be great for anyone seeking employment and needs more skills to add to their resume.

AWE Elevator pitch

In 2016, 96,874 refugees were welcomed into the United States. However, not all of them have the means for a successful life in the United States. Asylee Women Enterprises (AWE) is a foundation that helps refugees adapt to life in the U.S., including housing, teaching English, and career placement. AWE relies heavily on the support of their volunteers and the Baltimore community, and there are a few ways the community can get involved. The AWE foundation needs volunteers to help them teach refugees the skills they need to live a successful life, drivers to help transport refugees to classes, appointments, and job training sessions. Along with volunteers, AWE needs people to donate clothes, craft items and household items. Monetary donations can be made on their website and volunteer postings are also available.

The intended audience for this foundation would be people looking to assist refugees in need by donating money, clothes, or household items. The audience could also be people looking for a way to volunteer their time to help the AWE foundation. To reach this audience, a page on the AWE website will connect people to volunteer and donation opportunities. This page will include ways to get involved with the foundation, donated goods that are in high demand, how to contribute your time or money, links to social media pages, how to sign up for a monthly newsletter, and upcoming events (links to the calendar/ news tab). This information is critical to continuing the legacy of AWE via volunteers and donations. Having this information written clearly on the website can lead to increased volunteer retention and donation rates, and by doing so, increase the longevity and success of Asylee Women Enterprises.

Some of the media that should be included on this webpage would be videos or pictures of volunteers working with the refugees, links to the social media accounts, pictures of any volunteers who ran or helped with the Baltimore Running Festival that will be advertised, and other pictures of the AWE location. These forms of media will help engage the audience and will make reading the website easier. The pictures will help break up blocks of text, spreading out the information in a way that flows better on the webpage.

Asylee Transportation Pitch

As discussed by Tiffany Nelms during our in class meeting and during AWE’s grant request, transportation is a major issue facing the asylees living in Baltimore. Navigating the public transit system in Baltimore can be intimidating and expensive, as well as confusing if one is unfamiliar with routes, connections and methods of travel.

Image result for mta

Baltimore’s MTA has three main modes of transportation, the metro, bus and light rail for commuting within the city and county region. The MARC train leaving from Penn station in Mt. Royal (north of the inner harbor) allows for travel along much of the east coast. In this case, its routes to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia are of the most interest as it would allow for asylees to get to work should they happen to find employment in either of these locations. An easy to use website section simplifying the cluttered MTA version of Baltimore’s mass transit department would be of great help to AWE. It would be something available not only to those directly involved with AWE, but also a virtual hub for other asylees in the greater Baltimore area looking for help with transportation.

The intended audience is asylees unfamiliar with Baltimore’s mass transit. They may or may not be involved with AWE. It would also include asylees looking to come to Baltimore to take advantage of resources like AWE through transportation methods like the MARC train to other cities or the lightrail to pick them up from BWI airport.

Incorporated media should primarily include simplified maps and a guide to landmarks and locations within Baltimore City and County. A currency table may be helpful as public transportation prices vary based on the type of transit used as well as the length or frequency of the trips. Making sure the asylees are comfortable with the process of buying tickets at stations and navigating would be a priority. I’m not sure about the extent to which we can make these features interactive, I think the primary focus should be accessibility rather than flashiness from things like traceable routes.

A project done by the University of Vermont may provide insight into the development of this web feature through their research on the transportation needs and challenges faced by refugees in the North Eastern United States. Even if it does not add much to our web page, it may be an important asset for AWE to gain a better understanding of the challenges refugees face.

http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/research/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-10-018.pdf

The MTA website is overwhelming in its layout and information presentation but will need to be consulted in order to provide accurate information on the updated AWE site.

http://www.mdtrip.org/maps-schedules-fares/?gclid=CNiFvJWL6NICFV5MDQodazsKvQ

some sort of table representing US currency and the corresponding amounts and/or combinations required to purchase tickets for MTA transit may be helpful as well.

Types of US Currency

(couldn’t figure out how to cite these properly, sorry!)

 

 

 

Elevator Pitch Programs Page

Taylor Barksdale

ENG256

Dr. Licastro

We live in a world where the wrongful persecution of humans occurs on an insanely large level. People from countries such as China, Mexico, India, Ethiopia, Syria, Iraq, Nepal. and Somalia are constantly being judged, arrested, beaten and even killed simply because of a part of their demographic  composition such as race, religion, nationality or political opinion. Those seeking asylum do not have as many resources afforded to them as refugees being they are not given the same protection as refugees who have applied for protection before arriving to the United States. This being said, any organization willing to aid asylum seekers needs to appeal to the most amount of possible donors.

AWE provides services to asylum seekers such as housing, employment, education, and providing a community for asylum seekers to gain ties to their community and one another. They are specifically targeting members of society who are in a financial position to contribute funds to help those seeking asylum. As many services as they offer, the current “Programs” page lacks in attracting possible donors to actually get excited about what their donations could possibly help with. I think that a revamped version of the Programs page would help to attract more donors, and help get them excited about donating to this cause.

On the Programs page, giving a more detailed account of what services are provided by AWE would help reach readers on a more personal level. With each service, warmer language could be used in order to make AWE sound inviting and not just “another charity”. Detailing the day of an asylum seeker could also complement these descriptions. Writing about an AWE asylum seeker waking up in an AWE provided housing unit, coming down to the center to receive educational classes,  eating lunch with other AWE recipients and ending the day at a park with members of their community could be enticing and give people a real want to not only donate, but perhaps venture down to the center as well. Images of women engaged in these activities could give the page a multimedia advantage as well.

One really great example of how a website reflects how a Programs page could be done is Heifer International. They not only offer one Programs page, but several that cover one aspect of their services at a time. Heifer utilizes multimedia by providing images of people who benefit from the work they do, as well as use whitespace so the media on the page doesn’t overwhelm the reader. They also do an amazing job of not only focusing on the services they provide, but also by giving insight as to why those services are really helping the recipients as well as detailing the lives of those being helped by Heifer.

Bray, J.D. Ilona. “Which Countries Do Most People Granted Asylum in the U.S. Come From?” Www.nolo.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

“Heifer International | Charity Ending Hunger And Poverty.” Heifer International | Charity Ending Hunger And Poverty. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

 

AWE Website Pitch

Many people in America today are misinformed about where refugees and asylee’s are coming from. The majority of the news circulating portrays all refugees and asylees as terrorists and a threat to our country. When I Googled “refugees” , many articles talking about terrorism and terrorist show up. When actually, these people are ESCAPING terrorism, trying to get away. On AWE’s new website, there should be correct information about these people. Who they are, where they are coming from, and why they are coming here. In a “Get the Facts” or “Explore the Issues” kind of tab.

Not only are people misinformed, but they seem to be ignorant to what is going on in other parts of the world. It’s not happening here, so why should we worry about it? But thing is, we should.

The primary audience of this website is potential donors or volunteers, people here in America. The most important thing we should do is play to their sense of empathy. We can include videos or stories or pictures of what is happening in the middle east, show why these people are fleeing. But the most important would be to highlight the stories of the people who AWE works with. Get as specific as we can be. Show the public that these are people just like us who have been put in a horrible situation and are fighting just to survive.

One thing I want to include media wise, besides the videos or stories of the people AWE works with, would be a map. When looking at refugees.org, I was very intrigued by the map and facts they included that also tell why people are fleeing these countries. This also shows that it’s more than just from the middle east people are fleeing. The map can be seen at this link by scrolling down  http://refugees.org/explore-the-issues/refugees-facts/

Empathy plays a huge role in how people feel about a topic, and to experience empathy, you must experience something. Showing a map, videos, sharing stories could really play to a persons senses and they will be more inclined to donate when they feel that connection.

 

Citations

“Restoring Whats Been Lost.” U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

Elevator Pitch

Howard McMillan, Jr.

ENG 256-01

Prof. Licastro

Any non-profit organization needs the help of potential donors to assist in keeping them afloat and thriving. In addition to having a “Donate” page, non-profit organizations must participate in fundraisers and events in order to generate interest in whatever the organization is passionate about. The events that Asylee plan to appear at or hold. The Calendar/News page for AWE could do with a heavy makeover as it is genuinely disorganized and holds information that is outdated. In addition to updating the information to reflect more current and future events that representatives from AWE plan on holding or attending, especially community events that are designed to attract donors and potential volunteers.

I would suggest an interactive calendar on the site so that information can be easily updated and seen. Programs like UpTo allow a calendar to be embedded on your website. The level of creativity is completely up to the designers but the ability to update the calendar will be easy. With this update, the AWE site would allow for potential donors looking on the site to effectively plan for the events listed and have their donations in order while also providing clarity to the casual viewer on the overall activity of AWE as an organization.

Citation:

“The Modern Website Calendar for Groups and Organizations.” UpTo, UpTo, Inc, Web.

Elevator Pitch- Brian Casciero

The Asylee Women’s Enterprise is an organization providing assistance to those seeking asylum to America, offering housing, community, and friendship to asylees in their time of need. In its marketing, the organization has stated that it wants the asylees to be viewed as human and relatable but also as hopeful, determined people who need help. Emotional pleas based on pity should be avoided.

One of the most key players in the success of the Asylee Women’s Enterprise is the donor; the organization heavily relies on donations of money, clothing, and more. The AWE website currently contains a donation section on their homepage that is not eye-catching or attractive. From looking at the “Donate” page, the link to donate is not immediately apparent because it is a simple, small hyperlink at the top of the page. AWE needs potential patrons to immediately see its priorities, recognize a call to action, and perceive credibility. The solution to this “Donate” page is to achieve these goals while holding true to AWE’s values and how they wish to be perceived. I propose that a strategic, informative photograph next to an action button is the best way to reach this outcome.

Visual grammar is the structure and relationships within a visual representation as it makes a particular statement to the audience. Kress and van Leeuwen, the pioneers of visual grammar, propose that one of the functions of visual grammar is the interactive meaning. The interactive meaning frames social relationships between audience, author, and visual “participants,” culminating in an evaluation of the world. This contains the four elements of contact, social distance, attitude, and modality. Each of these elements are tools for strong statements when used correctly (Hu and Luo 157-158). The “Donate” page on the website should strive to display asylees as strong and hopeful using these components.

Kress and van Leeuwen also state that strong visual grammar requires a narrative process. In an action process like this one, there are two types of sub processes, transactional and nontransactional. A process is transactional when there are two aspects of the visuals that represent the actor and the goal (Hu and Luo 157-158). For AWE, the actor should be the picture of the asylees that shows them in a positive light. The goal will be the donation button. There will be a logical process for the patron to follow.

 

Hu, Chunyu, and Mengxi Luo. “A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Tmall’s Double Eleven Advertisement.” English Language Teaching 9.8 (2016): 156-69. ERIC Institute of Education Sciences. Web. 21 Mar. 2017. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1106632.pdf>.

Elevator Pitch

Asylum seekers, asylees, and refugees who escaped the blight of their countries, come to America in hopes of a better life but, sadly experience more persecution by many. Yet, through the persecution, some find their way to individuals much like Asylee Womens Enterprise (AWE). With the change coming to the AWE website, the main focus should be on the stories of the volunteers with supplemental pictures relating to the stories they tell. The intended audience of the website should focus on those who are looking to get involved and either help or donate. By the main focus of the new site honing in on the touching story of those individuals, this approach will not only light a fire in those who are contemplating donating, but will call those individuals to action by their transformational stories of how touching working with the individuals at AWE. Many successful websites like refugues.org dedicate a large portion of their site to the transformational stories of those whom they have helped. Refuge.org takes this approach though layering the webpage with photo links that allow you to not only to read the stories but to see the individuals who the stories are related (Refugee.org). By taking this approach, AWE can use videos and testimonials of these volunteers and workers and turn them into a direct connection with the viewer. Testimonials from staff will show individuals how transformational donations and working in AWE can be. By taking this approach, the intended audience, those who are trying to be recruited for donations or volunteering, they will feel a kind of personal attachment to those in who AWE are helping. Connecting individuals on this technological level allows a connection to be formed immediately and creates as deeper passion.  We can ask Tiffany to send over testimonials and interview videos for us to edit and format. Potential questions can range from “How has working at AWE changed your perspective on Asylees?”, “Expand upon your most emotional experience you have had through AWE?”, and other related questions.

 

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Refugees.org, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

AWE Pitch

Andrew Vetsch
Professor Licastro
ENG 256 01
March 20, 2017

 

When watching a video, people tend to find it easier to follow visual storytelling, than textual storytelling. That’s because in visual storytelling, the story is told through pictures, or visuals, whereas in textual storytelling, the viewer has to rely on the things characters say, so the viewer has to work a little bit if he or she wants to follow the story. The website of a company asking for donations should never be boring. To motivate viewers to donate to the Asylee Women’s Enterprise, the company’s website should give the viewer an experience that makes them feel that donating to their cause is the right thing to do. To advance the AWE’s message on the website, there should be elements of not only visual images that demonstrate the refugees’ situation and their plight to get to a safer place, but sound effects that add noise and music that helps create mood for the viewer.

The “About Us” page could be greatly improved with visual elements such as sound effects, oral language, written language, music and still or moving images that are combined to create a lively experience for the viewer to feel more welcome. The page is too straightforward and is more concerned with getting to the main point of AWE’s cause, rather than making it appear engaging and emotionally right. If the message cares most about the message, then the viewer has little reason to care about selecting AWE as the cause to donate to if they want to help refugees.

An example would be the website for The Climate Reality Project, which uses visual imagery and textual language to communicate its views to the viewer. Rather than playing it safe and greet the viewer with an abrupt “please sign out petition,” users join a question-and-answer game” The AWE website doesn’t have to use a quiz to engage the viewer. It’s not just the sarcastic, simple questions that the CRP website uses to engage the viewer, it’s viewer’s ability to watch and re-watch cute animations and videos that make the concept of helping refugees slowly seep into their consciousness.

Citation:
“Our Mission.” Climate Reality. N.p., n.d. Web.

 

Pitch

Dabrianna Green

Professor Licastro

ENG 256 01

20 March 2017

Elevator Pitch

     Donors are the intended audience for this website. Whether they are donating their time, money, or efforts, donors are what AWE needs. Donors are what AWE wants to attract.

In order to motivate any audience to donate to a cause, they have to feel connected to it. It is important that this organization (and any organization) establishes a personality that communicates who they are and what they stand for. Currently, this website seems to be a hub for all of AWE’s most critical information. Though this is an extremely important aspect of a website for an organization, it isn’t an aspect that draws people in. Evoking a feeling and making connections with potential donors is a currently a main goal for AWE; the website is no exception.

Particularly, the “About Us” page does not give the website’s visitors a sense of who they are donating to, and it doesn’t pull any influential heart strings that will result in donations. A “Who Are We?” page, much like the one on heifer.org, would be an extremely beneficial addition to the site. This will set an overall tone for not only the website, but the organization. AWE is more than just a place that helps women seeking asylum to rebuild their lives and their spirits. AWE is a community that shapes everyone involved and so much more.

Incorporating the idea of Ubuntu within this page to effectively communicate who AWE is and what they stand for would be a unique, yet effective way of establishing a personality. No other site we have researched has done anything like this. In addition to viewing the video on Ubuntu presented in class, when I asked “What elements of the organization do your pride yourself on most, and why?” the immediate answer was Ubuntu and the sense of community that it has helped AWE establish. Tiffany even mentioned that the staff has learned and benefitted from this lifestyle as well. This can be communicated through powerful quotes, statistical data, personal stories, and a brief explanation of Ubuntu and how it applies to the organization personally.

Citation:

“Women’s Empowerment Quiz: What’s Your Most Inspiring Strength? | Heifer International | Charity Ending Hunger and Poverty.” Women’s Empowerment | Heifer International | Charity Ending Hunger and Poverty. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 March 2017.

*I tried to use a hanging indent on the citation, but it was displayed differently on the actual post.