Making Virtual Moves
Press the life rewind button to exactly one year ago - OLASTEO was buzzing and building on the powerful momentum of back-to-back summer experiences in D.C., directly impacting 25 scholars. The relationships and memories we created in 2018 and 2019 set the stage for what was undoubtedly shaping up to be a next-level experience in D.C. this summer for 20 new scholars. Snap back to current reality - an OLASTEO trip experience to Washington D.C. or any other city is on hold for the foreseeable future. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt life as we once knew it. Since early March, our organization recognized the need to adapt to a socially distant landscape quickly. We felt an intense obligation to continue to provide enriching journeys for our student community, who feel the impact of this pandemic much more severely than most. It hasn’t exactly been a smooth transition, but I wanted to share the highlights of how OLASTEO has and continues to evolve from curating physical to virtual experiences.
Technology Upgrade - We have built a stack of operational software for the remote world, highlighted by investments in Zoom (virtual meeting & event hosting), Bloomerang (donor relations), Mailchimp (email distribution), ThankView (gratitude enablement), and Adobe InDesign (digital design).
Virtual Programming - When building our experience itineraries, there are no longer any physical museums, college campuses, in-person speaking events, sit-down restaurants, or physical escape rooms currently at our disposal. We’ve searched long and far to find some fantastic virtual options that we’ll be testing out on 8/6 & 8/7 during our first-ever virtual experience.
Zoom Speaker Series - Manny Scott is kicking things off for us on Thursday, 8/6, followed by State Senator Lena Gonzalez on Friday, 8/7.
Virtual Human Rights Leadership Training - Dr. Dan Prinzing, Executive Director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, leads an online learning course, modified for OLASTEO.
Virtual Escape Room - We had so much fun doing this in D.C., it was inevitable that we partner with one of the most innovative escape room companies in the world, Puzzle Break, to keep the tradition alive.
Partnership Opportunities - As with all challenges, the pandemic also brings with it vast opportunities. Strategic partnerships have always been a critical success engine for what we do. A few examples of relationships we’ve forged and will be involved in our upcoming virtual experience are:
SÜPRMARKT - Olympia Auset is doing amazing things towards her effort to end “food apartheid” in South Los Angeles. Our students will be receiving a significant amount of credit or SÜPR Cash as part of their completion appreciation gifts at the end of the two-day experience.
We were able to purchase discounted lunches for our students from local black owned business, Hawkins, and local Latinx owned business, Cruzita’s Deli & Cafe.
We have a couple more exciting and relevant partnerships to announce in the next few weeks!
I am incredibly thankful to our Board, our generous donors and sponsors, and the constant motivation of our scholars, always pushing us to unexpected places and new heights. We welcome additional ideas and suggestions to uncover and incorporate original, inclusive OLASTEO programming to our ever-expanding and diverse catalog. When we safely emerge to our new normal, OLASTEO plans to be a leader in experiential program learning both within the physical and virtual worlds. Watch out 2021 and beyond!