The program aims to support the development of human resources and the strengthening of business management capabilities of NPOs that are focused on social issues related to reducing disparities for children, youths and women. Despite being the first iteration of the program without any track records yet, we received numerous applications from multiple organizations.
Each entry form submitted strengthened our conviction that nurturing talent, including the manager positions we are targeting, is key to organizational growth and ultimately to achieving the organization’s mission. We extend our gratitude once again to everyone who considered applying and submitted applications.
We are committed to supporting the 16 individuals from the 8 organizations selected as they overcome challenges, achieve results as managers, and grow in their own unique ways as well as organizationally.
Table of Contents
Application Overview
Organizations and companies that meet both of the following criteria:
1. Field of Business: Organizations addressing social issues related to opportunity gap s among children, youth, and women through education, play, employment and career support, welfare, and community building. No specific corporate form is required.
2. Business Phase: Organizations in the phase of transitioning from founder-led to management-led, with an established initial business model and working on business expansion and diversification.
●Target IndividualsManagers of the target organizations (individuals bridging management and members)
●Application Period
March 13, 2024 (Monday) to April 4, 2024 (Thursday)
●Program Period
May to August 2024
●Selection Methodology
The selection process was conducted rigorously by the Nonprofit Organization ETIC, the Apollo Opportunity Foundation, and external experts based on specific criteria. For more details, please see the official application information on our website.
Selection Results
Number of Organizations Selected: 8
Overview of Applicant Organizations
The most common field of activity among the applying organizations was “children’s learning support” (33% of 21 organizations), followed by “youth independence and employment support” (29%).
*The fields of activity were independently set and determined by the secretariat.
The most common duration of organizational activity among the applicants was “10 to less than 15 years” (48% of 21 organizations).
The most common annual budget scale among the organizations was “100 million to less than 300 million yen” (43% of 21 organizations).
The most common number of full-time employees in the organizations was “20 to less than 50” (38% of 21 organizations).
In this section, we independently classified the status of manager development in the applying organizations into three stages: consideration, introduction, and improvement. The breakdown of the 21 organizations was as follows:
Consideration Stage: Organizations have employees with managerial positions, but their role definitions and training are left to on-the-job training by superiors or individual self-effort.
Introduction Stage:Organizations have employees with managerial positions and are trying to train them through one-on-one meetings , one-time trainings, and participation in external trainings.
Improvement Stage: The role of managers are defined organizationally, and a PDCA cycle for their development and evaluation is moderately functioning.
Overview of First Term Participants
Half of the 16 participants from the 8 selected organizations were in their “30s”.
The number of full-time members managed by the participants was “3 to 5” (56% of 16 participants).
The most common duration of management experience within the current organizations among the participants was “1 to less than 3 years” (31% of 16 participants).
First-Term Participating Organizations (in alphabetical order)
Social Design Works
・Field of Activity: Youth independence and employment
・Location: Iwaki, Fukushima
・Business Description: Aiming to create a society where the place or environment an individual is raised does not determine life’s disparities. Operates “Social Square,” a base supporting independence training and job transition for youth facing difficulties, spread across nine locations nationwide in Japan.
Diversity Kobo
・Field of Activity: Childcare, educational support for children, and women’s empowerment
・Location: Ichikawa, Chiba
・Business Description: Supporting children and their families with the aim of creating a society where all families can live in peace. Activities range from nurseries for children from 0 years old to learning support for children with developmental disabilities, learning classes with meals, and shared housing for mothers and children and young women.
Chance For All
・Field of Activity: Providing places and playgrounds for all children
・Location: Adachi, Tokyo
・Business Description: Committed to realizing a society where everyone can live happily regardless of the family or environment they grow up in. Operates nine after-school care facilities, creates places for children to drop in, such as candy stores, and conducts research on after-school activities for elementary school students.
Nobel
・Field of Activity: Childcare, women’s empowerment
・Location: Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
・Business Description: Working towards a society where it is normal to work even after having children. Manages an in-home sick child care service in the Osaka area, supports single-parent and special needs children’s families through donations, and starts projects to promote societal involvement in childcare and to support work-life balance from a structural perspective.
Bridge For Smile
・Field of Activity: Independence and advisory support for children and youth
・Location: Minato, Tokyo
・Business Description: Aiming for a society where all children who cannot rely on their parents can live with a smile. Providing support through a variety of approaches, such as providing independence seminars and work experience programs to children who cannot live with their parents due to abuse, poverty, parental illness, etc. and live in child welfare institutions or foster homes, and providing community spaces and advisory services for young adults entering society.
Houkago NPO Afterschool
・Field of Activity: Eliminating educational disparities for children
・Location: Bunkyo, Tokyo
・Business Description: With a vision that “After-school is Golden Time,” operating “After School” locations all over Japan using school facilities to ensure a safe and enriching after-school time. Collaborates with corporations and municipalities to improve environments and provide training at after-school sites, creating opportunities for experience.
Learning for All
・Field of Activity: Learning support for children
・Location: Shinjuku, Tokyo
・Business Description: With the mission of “Providing a Fundamental Solution to Child Poverty”, providing learning support and places for children in difficulty. Aiming to provide seamless support from early age to independence, creating “connection,” “learning environments” and “nurturing” environments” in cooperation with various local stakeholders, and practicing “comprehensive community-based child support” that provide all necessary support and opportunities for children from ages 6 to 18.
ReBit
・Field of Activity: Independence and employment for youth
・Location: Shibuya, Tokyo
・Business Description: Aiming for a society where LGBTQ individuals can learn, work, and live as they are; provides education and training on LGBTQ and diversity issues in schools, administrations, and corporations, and supports LGBTQ career development. Also operates employment transition support facilities friendly to diversity and disabilities in Tokyo and Osaka