Whats New at Street Soldiers

November 12, 2004

JOSEPH MARSHALL INDUCTED INTO INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public cites innovative work combating street violence

SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. - A nearly catastrophic crisis demands a radical solution. Dr. Joseph Marshall chose his weapons for fighting street violence among young people carefully.

First he co-founded an organization dedicated to nonviolence and to keeping people alive, free from violence and incarceration: Omega Boys Club/ Street Soldiers. Then he became the first person who has classified youth violence as a disease, and his work has been recognized in the 2001 Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence. The Street Soldiers program and ideal redefines street violence as a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue.

For his innovative approach to eliminating violence among young people, Marshall will be inducted as one of 18 U.S. and Canada Fellows by "Ashoka: Innovators for the Public" at a special ceremony tonight in Houston, Texas. Once elected to Ashoka, Fellows benefit from being a part of the Ashoka global Fellowship for life.

Headquartered in Arlington, Va., Ashoka elects emerging social entrepreneurs to an international Fellowship of their peers, providing significant financial support and an array of pro-bono strategic and professional services.

A global organization, Ashoka supports those who share qualities traditionally associated with leading business entrepreneurs - vision, innovation, determination and long-term commitment - but are committed to systemic social change in their fields. Ashoka Fellows are recognized for their innovative solutions to some of society's most pressing social problems.

Dr. Joseph Marshall, working in the city's Potrero Hill district, discovered a cure for the number one cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 24 years in the United States: violence. Marshall launched "The Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers" in 1987, creating a way for hundreds of community organizations and public school educators to effectively eliminate violence from their schools and the lives of their communities and children.

What began as a program of the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House has grown into full service program. The Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers has our components: The Omega Leadership Academy for academic and life skills education; The Omega Training Institute on violence prevention; Street Soldiers Communications, which includes a nationally syndicated radio talk show, a news magazine and a local television program, and the recently formed the Street Soldiers National Consortium to fight violence nationwide.

The Street Soldiers program has achieved remarkable success:

• 90 members of the Omega Boys Club are now college graduates
• 65 members currently are enrolled in colleges across the country
• 30 programs use the Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers Violence Prevention methodology
• 15 radio stations carry the Street Soldiers program
• 10 schools use or have used the Street Soldiers methodology.

Dr. Marshall left a 25-year career in education with San Francisco United School District to dedicate his life to understanding and eradicating youth violence. He earned a doctorate in psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley to better understand the topic. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from More house College in Atlanta last year.

A member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Dr. Marshall currently serves as vice chair for student affairs on the University of San Francisco's board of trustees and is a member of the San Francisco Police Commission.

He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the McArthur Foundation Genius Award, the Leadership Award from the Children's Defense Fund, the Essence Award honoring outstanding contributions by African American men from Essence Magazine and the "Use Your Life Award" from Oprah Winfrey. He is also the author of the 1996 best-selling book, "Street Soldier: One Man's Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time."

In addition to up to a three-year financial stipend designed to allow each Fellow to concentrate fully on his/her program, Fellows can apply for supplemental funding for collaborative projects and are eligible to receive training and technical assistance through three primary partnerships: McKinsey & Company, Hill & Knowlton, Inc. and the International Senior Lawyers Project.

Ashoka Fellows work in six broad fields: learning/youth development, the environment, health, human rights, economic development and civic participation. The selection process focuses on identifying the most innovative social entrepreneurs with the greatest possibility of achieving large-scale social impact. Criteria include the social impact of the idea, demonstrated creativity in problem solving, the newness of the idea and the entrepreneurial quality of the founder.

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a global organization, identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs - extraordinary individuals with unprecedented ideas for change in their communities - supporting the individual, idea and institution through all phases of their career. Ashoka's mission is to develop the profession of social entrepreneurship around the world and to shape a citizen sector that is entrepreneurial, productive and globally integrated. There are more than 1,500 Fellows in 53 countries implementing innovative ideas for change in their communities, countries and continents. Ashoka does not accept government funding; business entrepreneurs, corporations, individuals, foundations and volunteer chapters finance Ashoka's work.

More Information:
www.ashoka.org
www.changemakers.net
View Acrobat PDF of Ashoka Fellows

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