Johns Hopkins and Barclays to Develop Youth Entrepreneurship Program to Benefit American Indians

BALTIMORE, Md., April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has partnered with Barclays Bank to develop a youth entrepreneurship program with the Bloomberg School's Center for American Indian Health. The new initiative is aimed at designing an evidence-based program to inspire American Indian youth to stay in school and create business and social entrepreneurship opportunities.

As part of the partnership, Barclays will provide a total of $1.2 million in program funding over the course of the next three years. Additionally, Barclays employees will lend their business expertise and serve as mentors to program participants.  Program efforts will first concentrate on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona with the ultimate goal to implement youth entrepreneurship programs in poverty stricken communities throughout the world. 

"American Indians living on reservations in North America suffer the poorest health and socioeconomic and educational status of any ethnic or racial group in the United States," said Mathuram Santosham, MD, MPH, director of the Center for American Indian Health and professor in the Bloomberg School's Department of International Health. "Economic opportunity and community health are inextricably linked. The program we are launching with Barclays will go a long way toward improving both the economic and health outcomes of American Indian youth."

Over the next three years, the Johns Hopkins team will develop, implement and evaluate the entrepreneurship program for youth enrolled in the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Key components of the program will include a highly experiential summer camp that launches a year-long program in which students will build skills and design and implement plans to pilot small business and social ventures. The curriculum will blend basic Western entrepreneurship concepts with Apache traditions that promote resilience and a sense of empowerment among youth. Pilot youth businesses will be run out of a common marketplace, centrally located on the reservation.

"We're excited to be launching this initiative with Johns Hopkins," said Jocelyn Stewart, Senior Director of Community Relations with Barclays.  "We are constantly looking for ways to leverage the skills of our team members and to bring financial inclusion to areas where they are most needed.  Over the course of the program, Barclays employees will work with young entrepreneurs on business plans, marketing, operations, accounting and driving their business toward sustainability.  We have pursued this model in other programs and geographies with much success."

Within the White Mountain Apache Tribe, nearly half of all students do not graduate high school and 62 percent of those over 16 years of age are unemployed. However, the White Mountain Apache Tribe and Johns Hopkins have a 30-year partnership in which they have pioneered public health solutions that have been disseminated worldwide to overcome the most urgent disparities.

"This is a new opportunity for our youth to learn about business in a way that takes our everyday challenges and turns them into opportunities for change," said Novalene A. Goklish, senior field coordinator with the Center for American Indian Health and a member of the White Mountain Apache tribal community. "We are a hopeful nation that relies on the wisdom of our elders and traditions of our shared past. We want to build collaborations and take immediate action to increase youth wellness through programs aimed at building self-sufficiency and resilience within and outside our tribal communities."

The Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health is a national leader in partnering with tribes to achieve renewed health and well-being for America's first peoples. Its mission is to work in partnership with American Indian and Alaska Native communities to raise their health status, self-sufficiency and health leadership to the highest possible level.

About Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
As a leading international authority on public health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to protecting health and saving lives. Every day, the Bloomberg School works to keep millions safe from illness and injury by pioneering new research, deploying its knowledge and expertise in the field and educating tomorrow's scientists and practitioners in the global defense of human life. Founded in 1916 as part of the Johns Hopkins University, the Bloomberg School of Public Health is the world's oldest and largest independent school of public health. More information: http://www.jhsph.edu.

About Barclays
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in personal banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs approximately 140,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com.

SOURCE Barclaycard US