https://onion-hexaflexagon-yh22.squarespace.com/home daily 1.0 2020-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600706096612-A1LFXWU97JRKA4Z2E77D/image-asset.jpeg Home - Social Justice Advancing equity by countering systemic obstacles to opportunity for marginalized young people. The Walter Family Led Projects include The Academy Group, Chicago Beyond and OneGoal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600748250897-5IXDNFE35DKQC7SHWFSV/Cheetah+Cubs Home - Conservation Saving endangered species and wild places. The Walter Family conservation projects include White Oak Conservation in Florida and others in Zimbabwe and Namibia. https://onion-hexaflexagon-yh22.squarespace.com/social-justice daily 0.75 2020-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600747551077-XG5PRG99MJXW5C95H7T1/Chicago+Beyond Social Justice - Chicago Beyond A child’s ZIP code is the biggest predictor of life outcomes. Chicago Beyond invests in leaders and organizations that are positioned to disrupt that harsh reality, while simultaneously driving towards systemic change so that ZIP codes are no longer what influences a young person’s fate. From working with the third largest school district in the nation to develop the first-of-its-kind blueprint for providing holistic trauma supports for over 300,000 students to authoring a 100-page guidebook, Why Am I Always Being Researched?, which has been used in more than 70 countries and all 50 states to inform equitable research practices in communities, Chicago Beyond is leading impact initiatives for the city and nation. It invests in everything from education, to youth safety, to community development, to health wellness, and beyond. This is important because there is no single barrier to equity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600748376600-BH8NPAXXVS772LWIO3HN/The+Academy+Group Social Justice - The Academy Group The Academy Group narrows the opportunity gap by providing holistic lifelong support, structure, guidance, education, and employment to systemically disadvantaged individuals by intervening early in the lives of students and staying involved for life using a self sustaining ecosystem of Academy owned companies and programs to provide education and employment. Fueled by the belief that talent is ubiquitous, The Academy Group unlocks opportunity for young people from the nation’s most resilient communities to realize their full potential as economic, educational and social change agents. The Academy Group provides hundreds of youth the opportunity to go from the excluded to the exceptional. Fueled by profits from businesses founders Kimbra and Mark Walter have contributed, The Academy Group provides academic support, mentoring and work experience to scholars during a 14-year-journey from fourth grade to career. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600707555292-4N72JPLBPB09SA8X7WUG/OneGoal Social Justice - OneGoal OneGoal’s mission is to close the degree divide in America. Despite decades of work and millions of dollars invested, the degree divide continues to be one of our nation’s most complex and critical injustices. Only 22% of students from low-income communities earn a postsecondary degree (bachelor’s and/or associate), compared to 67% of their peers from high-income areas. However, 86% of OneGoal high school graduates enroll in a postsecondary institution and 76% of those persist one year after high school graduation. OneGoal partners with high schools and colleges in low-income communities to ensure college and postsecondary planning, preparation and support are no longer extracurricular luxuries but integral components of the high school experience for all students. Honed over 12 years, the model has three core components: rigorous and culturally relevant content and experience that ensures its students are affirmed in their identities and understand their why, cohorts of students who can support each other over the course of the three year program, and a teacher (Program Director) who supports their most vulnerable students’ long-term ambitions. OneGoal starts as a credit-bearing class during students’ junior and senior year of high school. Then, Program Directors bridge the transition from high school to Fellow’s chosen postsecondary path by continuing individualized support for a full year after high school graduation. Leveraging technology, they provide a flexible model that can be delivered in-person, online or through a hybrid structure and one that allows Fellows to explore and affirm their individual identities in order to identify postsecondary paths aligned to their personal aspirations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600706935370-CKFBMX2JPGMYX84Q5BVR/image-asset.jpeg Social Justice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600783614251-8WA9MSAOCQL6HBG07OA5/image-asset.jpeg Social Justice https://onion-hexaflexagon-yh22.squarespace.com/the-walters daily 0.75 2020-11-14 https://onion-hexaflexagon-yh22.squarespace.com/conservation daily 0.75 2020-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600620138583-ULR20PMBG0PC1PYFWMJQ/Giraffes Conservation - White Oak White Oak Conservation is a one-of-a-kind center in northeastern Florida, established in 1982 for the conservation and propagation of threatened and endangered species. With the Walters’ support, White Oak has expanded to 17,000 acres dedicated to the conservation and care of assurance populations for species including rhinoceros, okapi, bongos, Dama gazelles and cheetahs. In the United States, White Oak partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on species recovery and release efforts for Florida panthers, Florida grasshopper sparrows, Mississippi sandhill cranes and whooping cranes. White Oak has also returned American-born bongo, black rhino and roan to Africa, and is working towards restoring other rare species to their native countries. Walter Conservation is eager to bring education and awareness to the next generation of conservationists through its world-class educational and training programs, in person and remotely. In 2019, more than 1,600 students visited White Oak and participated in education programming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600620051709-QZWGU08MHPM183NUFATR/Zebra Conservation - Zimbabwe Project In Zimbabwe, Walter Conservation supports wildlife on a property one-third the size of Yellowstone. From the 1900s to the 1990s, this area was composed of numerous individually fenced, privately owned cattle ranches. In the midst of severe drought during the 1990s, the decision was made to re-introduce wild game to the area because they are locally adapted and more able to cope with the fluctuating rainfall and range conditions. Since that time, internal fences were removed and numerous farms were joined into a vast area, totaling nearly 1,500 square miles. Here, the full set of indigenous herbivores has been re-introduced (including buffalo, gemsbok, giraffe, impala, kudu, sable, waterbuck, wildebeest, and zebra) and cattle have been removed. Lions were also re-introduced and the population in the area has now grown to be one of the largest populations remaining in Africa. Other animals returned on their own (including elephants) or rebounded from straggler populations that coexisted with cattle (including caracals, cheetah, brown hyenas, striped hyenas, and leopards). Black and white rhinos were also translocated onto the property from areas that were under threat of poaching or encroachment, and it is now a nationally important stronghold for both species. The property is not only one of the healthiest and most productive ecosystems in Zimbabwe, but it is also one of the largest employers in southern Zimbabwe, with over 500 employees on the payroll. Because of the Walters’ support, employees now benefit from improved housing, higher salaries, and a food program. People living near the reserve benefit from extensive nutritional support, support to schools and village infrastructure (including medical and educational facilities, and water supplies). The property is also converting all its electrical and water infrastructure to solar power. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1599067026363-NREZUVYFULIZ3UH7GQHT/Ongava%2Brhino%2Bwater%2Bimage%2B.jpg Conservation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600723248124-WM6HR2G3NKAIRBUFGRHK/image-asset.jpeg Conservation - Chimp Haven At Chimp Haven, chimps retired from research experience the joys they would have enjoyed in the wild: climbing trees, living in large, bonded social groups, eating their favorite fruits, running, playing and exploring. Located outside Shreveport, Louisiana, on 200 acres of beautiful, forested sanctuary, Chimp Haven houses more than 300 chimpanzees, many of whom were used in biomedical research, entertainment and as pets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d30ed19357668c0500a6c/1600791994667-ZQ7ZPT5564N1W3ULFTDL/image-asset.jpeg Conservation - Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo inspires communities to create environments where wildlife will thrive in our urbanizing world. The zoo is a leader in local and global conservation, animal care and welfare, learning, and science. A historic Chicago landmark founded in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is a privately managed, member-supported nonprofit organization and is free and open 365 days a year.