Dear Moreno Valley Residents:
We at the City of Moreno Valley are taking innovation to the next level, embracing prototyping as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge.
What is a prototype? A draft version of a product that allows the creator to explore ideas and show users the overall design concept before investing time and money into development. A prototype can be anything from simple drawings to a fully functional website for users to try out. Think of it as try before you buy.
Moreno Valley was one of just 35 cities selected out of more than 300 entries to move to the final round of the nationwide competition. The Mayors Challenge tasked city leaders to uncover bold, inventive solutions to tackle some of the toughest problems faced by cities. The City of Moreno Valley’s daring idea addresses the Earn vs. Learn dilemma of having to choose between earning a living and receiving an education that so many residents face. We are now a finalist in the competition – a Champion City.
With $100,000 in seed money from Bloomberg, Team MoVal has spent the last several months working with dozens of Moreno Valley College students, prototyping ways to solve our Earn vs. Learn dilemma. Our prototype, MoVaLEARNS, was our rough draft of fully functioning program to pay students to attend Moreno Valley College. Would money keep students in school? How much money was enough? What were the other barriers to education?
We had so many questions – and we needed answers.
From awarding $1,000 no strings attached stipends students to working with human resource managers to find out how they balance the needs of student workers with workplace demands, we are “testing, learning, and adapting” to come up with the best solution – in the most cost efficient way.
On Thursday I welcomed 20 MoVaLEARNS students to City Hall as part of the Mayor’s Workshop. I wanted to hear their stories, their struggles, and their dreams. I wanted to hear how their lives have changed in the weeks since they joined us on our MoVaLEARNS journey.
And what that meant for their futures.
Their struggles – overcoming language barriers, food insecurity, lack of support at home – were heartbreaking. But these students refused to be broken.
Their struggles inspired them, driving them to achieve what others told them was unachievable.
What I heard from each one of these students was not how much they struggled, but how much they dreamed.
We have an opportunity to help make these dreams a reality.
The Mayors Challenge winners will be announced in October. One city will be awarded $5 million and another four will be awarded $1 million each to turn their solutions into reality.
We are continuing prototyping – and crunching data – in the hopes that our solution to the Earn vs. Learn dilemma will once again stand out against the competition.
Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about our Mayors Challenge journey.
#bloombergdotorg #mayorschallenge #ilovemoval #movalearns