RELIABLY TRANSFORMATIONAL

STRATEGIC ROADMAP WINTER 2020

SOLIYA ENVISIONS A PLURALISTIC WORLD WHERE DIVERSITY IS EMBRACED AND CONFLICTS ARE TRANSFORMED INTO OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATIVE LEARNING.

WE PREPARE RISING GENERATIONS TO APPROACH DIFFERENCES CONSTRUCTIVELY AND LEAD WITH EMPATHY IN ORDER TO THRIVE IN AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD.

WE COMBINE THE POWER OF INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND THE SCIENCE OF DIALOGUE TO OFFER PROVEN CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGE AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES.

EST. HQ REACH 2003 NYC North America, Europe, Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia

Nearly 20,000 young people directly engaged and 40,000 impacted globally from a network of over 250 partner institutions in 35 countries.

BACKGROUND We started as a response to the growing distrust that we saw in a post-September 11th society. At a moment in time before Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we recognized how social circles in the digital space could change the world — for good — and became leaders in a field called Virtual Exchange.

We developed our own videoconferencing platform, the Exchange Portal, through which we currently bring together over 5,000 young adults each year in small, diverse groups and over the period of several weeks for dialogues on identity and in the context of current events guided by our trained multi-partial facilitators.

Everyone’s story deserves to be told –– and heard. That is why we connect people in conversation, enabling them to share their personal journeys and engage with and across difference. In a 21st Century society, we eliminate the notion of ‘the other’ in favor healthy interdependence amongst peoples.

Current ConditionInteractive technology offers connectivity but not connection.

Identified NeedAbility to engage constructively with others in modern society.

InterventionMethodology enables masses to experience and cultivate effective engagement.

InterventionAdvocacy for this work catalyzes engagement with and within communities.

Individual ChangeMeasurable, lasting progress in ability to be empathetic and think critically.

Societal ChangeA world where diversity, inclusion, and pluralism are embraced through collaboration.

THEORY OF CHANGE

METHODOLOGYWe champion responsible technology to empower the individual and the communal. Our program and technology are carefully designed, ensuring accessibility to sustained, synchronous, and facilitated dialogues across socioeconomic barriers.

Through the assembly of diverse, balanced groups in digital roundtables, we foster a scientific approach to dialogue, instilling key skills and allowing for positive attitudinal changes, as evidenced through measurement and evaluation in collaboration with research teams at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, University of Oxford, and University College London.

OUR VALUES

Empathy and Respect Pluralism and Inclusion Commitment to Quality and Excellence Communication and Transparency Responsibility, Drive, and Passion

CLICK HERE to learn about the practical application of our methodology at SUNY Potsdam.

OUR VALUE PROPOSITION

Empathy Building Transformative Experiences Borderless Engagement Multi-partial Approach Innovative Solutions

PROGRAM SNAPSHOT

CONNECT PROGRAM

At a key moment in their identity formation, we bring young adults together in groups of 10 to 12 over a 4, 5, or 8-week period of time to learn that no peoples are a monolith and that there is strength in seeing beyond that which divides us.

Process1. Orientation | 2. Polite moderation 3. Learning through difference | 4. Sincere transformation 5. Forward-looking brainstorming | 6. Activation

Awareness: Examine values, biases, social norms, and experiences that shape perspectives.

Attitudes: Enable participants to see and validate each other’s humanity.

Skills: Sharpen 21st Century skills in contexts that encourage a global view.

Activation: Inspire participants to address local challenges with their new skills and attitudes.

FACILITATION TRAINING PROGRAM

We designed a certification process to mobilize dialogue leaders for our Connect Program, equipping young professionals with tools that also serve them well in the workforce — including multi-partial leadership.

Skills-Building: Learn to listen actively, observe, summarize, and address diverse dynamics.

Hands-on Facilitation: Apply the skills you learn in practice sessions with other trainees.

Individual Feedback: Receive notes on practice sessions to pinpoint strengths and opportunities.

Open Discussions: Explore themes that build self-awareness about your style and points of view.

Online Tools: Promote productive online engagement and communication.

Academic Discovery: Study conflict resolution theory as explained by the masters.

PROGRAM INNOVATION

FIRST YEAR CONNECT (1YC)

It is a time of need. The chasm between connectivity and connection is not reserved to the global context. Sociopolitical divisions exist across the United States and stand to deepen in the wake of a pandemic that yields the isolation of the body in addition to the mind. These tensions are reflected within higher education student communities. As we look toward a new normal in the months to come, students risk becoming entrenched in silos that reinforce battleground mentalities — now more than ever before.

Our solution is First Year Connect (1YC). In collaboration with partners who intend to welcome students back to campus for the fall 2020 semester, we will leverage best practices honed over two decades operating internationally to pilot a United States campus-specific program.

A mandatory part of the orientation process, 1YC is designed to function as a structured space for students to discuss differences in a way that builds trust and respect, establishes habits of constructive discourse, and prepares them to reinforce those norms during times of tension on-campus and beyond. It will also empower them with the digital competency to thrive in future scenarios that demand virtual engagement alone.

1YC was conceived in association with Search for Common Ground and Tiger 21.

EXCHANGE PORTAL

We wanted participants to meet in an online space that supported best practices. We wanted to include people living in remote places and with poor internet connections. We could not find a videoconferencing platform that met those non-negotiable standards.

So we created our own tech for good.

SYNCHRONOUS (“REALTIME”) INTERACTION

Signature roundtable design Group live chat box and direct messaging Breakout rooms Screen sharing Social rooms for non-facilitated conversation

ASYNCHRONOUS (“YOUR TIME”) INTERACTION

Community platform Streams and customizable profiles Resources Scheduling and tracking Private messaging

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Advanced security certificates Cross-platform support Custom bandwidth optimization

LEARNING TOOLS

Whiteboard Polls Quizzes Realtime screen drawings

BEHAVIORAL CHANGE

PRACTICAL SKILLS

ACTIVATION

EMPATHY

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

PRE-PROGRAM POST-PROGRAM FULL POTENTIAL

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

$0

$350

$700

$1,050

$1,400

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2025 2030

COST PER PARTICIPANT NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

REACH

FUTURE

We are committed to Virtual Exchange and the impact that our approach has for young adults within our existing geographic footprint and beyond. Ours is a model that can be applied across fault lines local and global in scale, making the possibilities for positive change profound in depth and scope.

5 YEARS

Our methodology and technology will be amplified as best in class for the field of Virtual Exchange, with our brand elevated amongst Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), the technology sector, and targeted corporate partners. We intend for our programming to have doubled, deepening our expansion into Southeast Asia and diversifying program offerings across languages and new divides.

10 YEARS

Our programming model and technology will be recognized and normed as the most effective methodology for preparing rising generations to engage constructively with inevitably diverse and interconnected communities and work places.

RISING ISOLATIONIST PHILOSOPHIES THREATEN TO INCREASE IN THE MIDST OF A GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. WE EMBRACE INNOVATION IN COUNTERING THESE DYNAMICS.

TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED FOR DESTRUCTION. WE REPRESENT THE COMBINATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN INTERVENTION TO FOSTERS CONNECTION AT SCALE.

WE HAVE SHOWN CONSISTENCY ACROSS CONTINENTS AND PROVEN RELEVANCE ACROSS VARIOUS FAULT LINES. WE ARE PREPARED TO LEAD THE FIELD THAT WE BUILT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

WAIDEHI GOKHALE Chief Executive Officer

+1 (718) 701-5855 x123 waidehi@soliya.net

soliya.net