Hive Fashion RFP

Request for Proposals (RFP)
July 19, 2012

I. Intro to Hive Fashion
A. Program Summary
B. Brief History: Program inception and key partners
C. Objectives
D. Potential Projects and Linkages
E. Resources for Hive Fashion Grantees

II. Information for Applicants
A. Funding Priorities
B. Grant Types
C. Proposal Requirements
D. Proposal Submission
E. Proposal Review Process and Timeline
F. Grantee Obligations

III. Hive Fashion Contacts

IV. Additional Online Resources
A. Connected Learning
B. Fashion
C. Webmaking

1

Hive Fashion RFP v.2 rev. 7-19-12

I. Introduction

A. Program Summary

Hive Fashion is a two-year collaboration of youth-serving organizations within the Hive
Learning Networks1 in New York City and Chicago from July 2012 to June 2014. In partnership
with industry professionals, Hive Fashion will give high school-age teens the transformative
learning experience that comes from bringing personally meaningful ideas to life through
creative design and production. The central theme of fashion not only engages teen interests
but also connects them to a wide range of expertise represented by the diverse membership of
the Hive Learning Networks. In this way, Hive Fashion is an invitation to member organizations
to further the network’s ability to provide youth with learning experiences aligned with a central
theme—fashion in this instance—thereby weaving organizations into one connected learning
environment that broadens the ecosystem of learning opportunities.

Learners will have a hands-on encounter with the entire creative design process from the
brainstorming to fabrication, with highly visible and widely celebrated outcomes. A select group
of challenge winners will even have their creations prominently worn by celebrities or advertised
by fashion companies. Along the way students will access two avenues to active engagement:
Fashion Strand for those interested in participation anywhere along the wide continuum
of creative production within fashion;
Narration Strand for students interested in multimedia storytelling of the oral histories
and learning trajectories of fashion professionals and student peers.

Outcomes include:

A Hive Fashion apparel line designed and created by Hive youth and displayed
prominently in New York, Chicago, and beyond.
Youth-led events such as runway shows and screenings to celebrate both fashion and
documentary creations.
Digital products such as digital explorations of the fashion industry, including video
documentaries illustrating career paths or virtual tours of textile factories.
A rich database of how-to guides and curricular resources to guide the teaching and
learning of skills necessary for success in the fashion world.
A digital badging system to recognize teen growth and achievement.
Programs built on Fashion content that is aligned with current research on connected
learning.2 As well as programs and learning activities that will provide multiple
opportunities for testing foundational principles of connected learning.

B. Brief History

Funded by the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative,3 Hive Fashion
began as a partnership between MacArthur, Hive Learning Network organizations in New York
City and Chicago,4 and New York-based fashion designer, Christopher Bevans, the Design
Director for Pharrell Williams’ and Jay-Z’s Billionaire Boys Club streetwear brand. The Spring

1
http://www.hivelearningnetwork.org/
2
http://connectedlearning.tv
3
http://www.macfound.org/programs/learning/
4
Hive planning team organizations in NYC: Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum,
DreamYard, and New York Public Library. In Chicago: Chicago History Museum, Chicago Architecture
Foundation, Free Spirit Media, and YOUmedia.
2


2012 release of MacArthur’s connected learning principles coincided with our planning meetings
and served to guide our thinking about how the Hive could best support interest-driven, peer-
supported, and externally relevant learning by teens.

Hive Fashion is one of several programs within the Hive Learning Networks, and is not a
separate network or initiative. Because of its thematic approach to program development,
funding for Hive Fashion is supported through a separate RFP. In this first year, Hive Fashion
programs in New York City and Chicago will all be funded through a MacArthur grant made to
the Mozilla Foundation. Mozilla will issue 2012-2013 Hive Fashion funding. The Hive Fashion
project is collaboratively managed by staff at the Chicago Community Trust and the Mozilla
Foundation, with special project support from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design
Museum in New York and YOUmedia in Chicago.

C. Objectives

1. RFP Objectives: Development of Innovative Programs

A 21st century shift from schooling to learning requires the creation of connected learning
networks which utilize digital tools to enable interest-driven learning anytime and anywhere. As
Hive programs shift the focus of youth participation from consumption of information to the
creation of physical and digital products and ideas, we recognize the need to build the capacity
of organizations within the network to:

Grow the number of dynamic programs with the Hive Learning Network.
Provide a Hive program model that connects young people to future learning
opportunities, including college and career readiness.
Build programmatic models that organize network energy and expertise towards content-
focused exploration of shared themes.

The Hive Fashion RFP is an incentive for Hive organizations to:

Develop programs that engage youth in creative production, whether related to fashion
or the multimedia narration of personal and professional learning trajectories in fashion
design.

Increase the capacity of the Hive to create connected learning experiences that have
shared outcomes throughout the network, framed by programmatic themes—in fashion
and beyond.

“Fishbowl” Program Development

Given that an important goal of the RFP is to incubate innovation, first-year Hive Fashion
grantees are expected to participate in a transparent development process with a commitment
to shared learning from which the entire network can grow. That is, successful participation will
involve a “fish bowl” approach so that the entire network can learn from the process.

3


Utilizing Professional Partnerships

Among its many assets is Hive Fashion’s ability to connect young people to professionals
throughout the fashion, media production and technology industries. In partnership with fashion
designer Christopher Bevans, for example, Hive organizations are given access to the
professional capital and experience of accomplished adults. Hive Fashion relies on partnerships
with companies and individual professionals to:

Issue challenges to teams of students working in all stages of creative design and
documentation,
Provide in-person and virtual mentorships and internships,
Critique, celebrate, and publicize youth creations, and
Assist program development by interested youth organizations new to this field of work.

Hive Fashion proposals that rely heavily on industry partnerships are encouraged to build those
relationships immediately. Such proposals must engage partners in joint planning to be
considered.

In summary, through this RFP the first year of Hive Fashion will:
Provide examples of existing Hive programs that connect to the theme of fashion from
multiple content domains.
Fund the creation of more such programs.
Build a foundation of experiences, skills and programs to support students’ creation of a
Hive Fashion apparel line in Year 2.
Extend the capacity of the Hive Networks to learn from the experiences of Hive Fashion
grantees to support future thematic program development within the network.

2. Programmatic Objectives

Hive Fashion has multiple programmatic objectives:

Provide a working example of connected learning principles in practice. Specifically, to:
To sustain learning that is
interest-powered,
peer-supported, and
able to positively impact external outcomes such in academics, civics, and
careers.
To design experiences that
are production-centered,
are openly networked across various sectors, and that
have shared purpose.
To establish the values of
equity,
social connection, and
full participation by all youth and adults.

4


Guided by these principles, successful Hive Fashion programs will:

Challenge youth to experience transformative learning through creative design and
production.
Extend the capacity of the Hive to offer programs connected to a central theme.
Link meaningful learning to youth interests in creative ways that are appealing to high
school-age teens.

D. Potential Projects and Linkages

In support of openly networked programs designed with shared purpose, our themed approach
to program development allows multiple disciplines to connect in unique ways to a unifying
theme.

As illustrated below, creative production through fashion has many potential linkages.

Multimedia Narration: the ability to communicate a creative idea and to construct a
narrative through varied modes is a vital skill within fashion design and beyond.
Mathematical Reasoning: garment construction requires knowledge of measurement
and proportions from the most accessible to the most sophisticated applications.
Graphic Design: teens are regular consumers of wearable art, such as graphic tees, but
Hive Fashion will challenge them to be thoughtful, skilled producers.
STEM: modern materials enable students to use conductive thread and electronic
textiles to sew wearable electronics into garments, as with the programmable Arduino
and Lilypad Arduino.5
Entrepreneurial Skills: developing a brand, a product, or producing a fashion show
requires management and planning skills that are often under-developed in traditional
learning environments.
Civic Engagement and Critical History: a review of past and present fashion trends
provides a unique point of access to social awareness and empowerment.

5
http://www.arduino.cc/
5


To aid organizations in preparing proposals, we offer the following additional examples of
existing or planned programs that illustrate the generative nature of this topic.

Cross-Hive Program Example

Christopher Bevans mini-documentary - Hive NYC member Reel Works6 is a
Brooklyn-based program for youth filmmaking and mentorship. Teens from Reel Works
filmed, edited, and produced a mini-documentary introducing Christopher and the Hive
Fashion program. Music tracks were provided by teens from Chicago Hive member
YOUmedia,7 a teen collaboration space at the Harold Washington Library.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJOZ6JdzHf4

Hive NYC Program Examples

DreamYard Fashion Intensive - The DreamYard8 Fashion Intensive will run for five
days in August of 2012. Participants will work individually and collaboratively on small
skill-building activities over the first three days. For the last two days, participants would
work in pairs to create “looks” tied to a theme using basic construction and “up-cycling”
techniques that re-use material, objects and garments to create new, expressive outfits.
These looks will be showcased at a fashion show at the DreamYard Center on the final
day.
NYPL Anti-Prom - For years the New York Public Library has been hosting the Anti-
Prom,9 which has grown to be the culmination the annual Design NYPL program.10 In
collaboration with the New York High School of Fashion Industries, NYPL challenges
students to use library collections to research fashions and to design Anti-Prom
costumes for that year’s theme, such as Glam Prom, Superhero Prom, and 2012’s
Monster Prom.
Rocawear Internships - In collaboration with Christopher Bevans, NYC Hive member
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum selected one of their Design Prep11 Scholars
Program12 participants for an internship at Manhattan offices of Jay-Z’s Rocawear
company.

Hive Chicago Program Examples

T-Shirt Design Challenges - Through a special project partnership (see section II.B.
below), Chicago Hive member YOUmedia is partnering separately with RSVP Gallery13
and Chicago Ideas Week on two t-shirt design challenges in which youth create graphic
designs within the constraints articulated in client briefs. Select designs will be featured
within RSVP Gallery’s retail space and distributed at the October 2012 Chicago Ideas
Week, both highly visible platforms for celebrating teens’ creativity.

6
http://www.reelworks.org/rw/
7
http://youmediachicago.org/
8
http://dreamyard.com/
9
https://www.facebook.com/antiprom
10
http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2011/11/29/design-nypl-2012
11
http://www.cooperhewitt.org/education/designprep
12
http://www.cooperhewitt.org/tags/scholars-program
13
http://rsvpgallery.com/
6


Free Spirit Media News on the Road - Hive Chicago member organizations Free Spirit
Media14 and YOUmedia will collaborate on the Hive-funded News on the Road project
linking Free Spirit’s roving youth journalists with YOUmedia’s t-shirt designers to
chronicle the learning that occurs as YOUmedia teens respond to the creative
challenges and constraints of the Chicago Ideas Week t-shirt design challenge.

E. Resources for Hive Fashion Grantees

Participation in this initiative will provide access to a number of valuable resources.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) has applied previous Hive Chicago funding
to the development of DiscoverDesign.org, an online platform that hosts architectural
design challenges for teens nationwide, with built-in tools for professional mentors. CAF
will collaborate with interested Hive Fashion grantees to develop fashion-focussed
challenges with this design-focussed platform.
Hive Fashion Mentors housed at YOUmedia will be provide ground-level support for
Chicago grantees to assist with program development and implementation.
NYC-based Cooper-Hewitt will provide design-oriented professional development for
grantees in New York and Chicago to assist the development of programs rooted in
design thinking and processes.
Badge development will be supported for all grantees through a separate MacArthur
grant to DePaul University for the design, implementation, and evaluation of digital
badges. Additional paid access will be provided to the BadgeStack platform through the
first year of Hive Fashion.

II. Information for Applicants

A. Funding Priorities

Hive Fashion funding will be awarded to new or re-envisioned programs that

1. Build upon applicant’s unique expertise and content domain to offer rich learning
experiences, whether through creative design and production in fashion or through
narrative storytelling of the learning occurring through Hive Fashion programs.
Potential program focuses include but are not limited to
Textiles
Electronic-Textiles and wearable technologies
DIY Fashion - Remixing/Upcycling
Digital Design
Graphic Design
Garment Construction
Multimedia Storytelling
3-D Design and Modeling
Fabrication of Accessories
Fashion photography
Fashion and Style blogging
Style and Style-Maker Histories and Portraits

14
http://www.freespiritmedia.org/
7


2. Employ Mozilla Webmaker tools15 to document student learning and generate
multimedia artifacts.
3. Develop and award digital badges in BadgeStack, iRemix, or equivalent OBI-
compliant badging system,16 to recognize student achievement.

Special consideration will be given to proposals that establish cross-city collaborations between
Hive orgs and professionals in New York and Chicago.

B. Grant Types

As seen in this image, a two-pronged program development strategy will be used.

Special Projects Hive Org Projects

Description: Short-term or one-time fashion pilots Start-up grants to support NY and
that connect high-capacity17 youth to Chicago Hive members in the creation
challenge-oriented programs through or redesign of programs related to
partnership with industry fashion or fashion-related multimedia
professionals, such as the YOUmedia production. Applicants may propose
& RSVP t-shirt design challenge to provide professional development
described above in section I.D. for other Hive organizations who are
new to fashion program development.

Amount: $20,000 available per city. Up to $20,000 per applicant

Number of These partnership funds will be issued Up to 5 applicants per city
Grants: to Cooper-Hewitt National Design
Museum in New York and YOUmedia
in Chicago. However applicants may
propose special project partnerships
with Cooper-Hewitt and/or YOUmedia.

Who Can Current Hive members. Partnerships Current Hive members. Partnerships
Apply: may include non-Hive members with may include non-Hive members with
unique expertise. unique expertise.

Submit Mozilla Foundation via Mozilla Foundation via
Applications ReFashionLearning@gmail.com ReFashionLearning@gmail.com
to:

Funding Where available, funding for special Mozilla Foundation
Disbursed project collaborations will be provided
by: by re-grants from Cooper-Hewitt or
YOUmedia.

Duration: August 2012 - June 2013 August 2012 - June 2013

15
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/webmaker/
16
http://badgestackproject.org/blog/mozilla-open-badge-obi-compliant/
17
By “high-capacity” we mean youth who have a base of knowledge and experience in design and
production through fashion and documentary narration, in contrast to youth whose skills and experience
are at a more introductory level.
8


C. Proposal Requirements

The proposal process is intended to be relatively lightweight with questions focused on the core
features of the proposed program. The entire single-spaced proposal should be no more than 4
pages, including the budget summary. Proposals should address the following questions.

The Basics

Project title and one-sentence description
Applicant organization and one-sentence description
Grant type and requested amount
Target audience and number of students to be served
Project duration

Proposal Questions Evaluation Criteria

Describe the new or redesigned project and Is the proposed project
how it will challenge youth through creative aligned with the objectives
design and production, whether in fashion or and priorities outlined in this
fashion-related multimedia narration. Include: RFP?
- Overall objective (“big idea”) of the the
program.
- Program structure (what participants will do).
- Learning outcomes for youth and the
organization.
- Program calendar.
Will the proposed project
How will digital badges be used to empower offer teens learning
Project your teens to evaluate their own opportunities that can be
achievements? recognized through digital
badging?

How will you evaluate, document, and share Is there a commitment to
your successes and “successful failures?” share learning with the
wider Hive network?

If proposing to redesign or expand existing Will the proposed redesign
programs, describe the ways in which Hive of existing programs clearly
Fashion funding would broaden participation, add value to teens’ learning
deepen learning, or otherwise enhance youth experiences?
experiences beyond current programs.

What institutional resources and expertise will Does the Hive org have the
support the proposed project? capacity and experience to
deliver the proposed
Supports and Whether proposals include partnership with project?
Connections other Hive orgs or not, in what ways will Hive
resources and relationships be used to Does the proposal leverage
enhance, sustain, or extend the reach of this the resources of the Hive?
project?

9


Proposal Questions Evaluation Criteria

Provide a summary budget with a high-level Are the cost estimates
breakdown of the costs for the proposed reasonable and sufficient to
project. support the proposed
Cost
project?

D. Proposal Submission

Proposals must be submitted as one PDF attachment to an email sent to
ReFashionLearning@gmail.com by the application deadline: 5pm local time, Friday, September
7. Revisions and resubmissions will not be permitted unless resubmission occurs prior to the
deadline.

E. Proposal review process and timeline

Proposals will be reviewed by Hive staff in New York and Chicago and by the Hive Fashion
project manager according to the above criteria (see contact information in section III below).

Timeline:
July 19: RFP release in Chicago and NYC
By August 17: Express intent to apply via Minigroup
September 7: Proposal submission deadline
September 21: Year 1 funding announcements
October 15: Funding disbursement
By November 1: Begin youth programming, continued to June 2013

F. Grantee Obligations

In addition to meeting the objectives mentioned above in section I.C., grantees will be expected
to
Attend meetings at least quarterly
Participate in online networking and professional development initiatives such as the
Hive Fashion Minigroup18.
As stated above, develop programs that engage youth in creative production, whether
related to fashion or the narration of personal and professional learning trajectories in
fashion design. Specifically, successful programs providers will:
Engage youth in iterative design processes through collaborative teamwork.
Empower teens to use, remix and build technology to solve problems of design
and production.
Co-create learning challenges of gradually increasing sophistication.

18
https://minigroup.com/groups/11070
10


As stated above, increase the capacity of the Hive to create connected learning
experiences that have shared outcomes throughout the network, independent of the
particular programmatic theme—in Hive Fashion and beyond. Specifically, successful
program providers will:
Participate in the creation and utilization of common platforms for other
organizations to plug into programs through multiple access points.
Offer Hive Fashion programs open to in-person or virtual participation by youth
and adult mentors from throughout the local network.

Regarding fishbowl program development, year-one grantees will be expected to:

Share learning through meet-ups, blogs, Minigroup and social media.
Contribute to a Hive Fashion toolkit of program resources.
Assist the design and implementation of badges to make learning paths visible to the
entire network.
Support ongoing connected learning research and program evaluation.

III. Hive Fashion Contacts

Hive Fashion Project Manager
Sam Dyson, Program Director, Learning Labs
Chicago Community Trust
sdyson@cct.org
312-613-1349

Mozilla + Hive NYC
Leah Gilliam, Portfolio Strategist, Hive Learning Network NYC
Mozilla Foundation
leah@mozillafoundation.org
347-879-0859

Hive Chicago
Christian Greer, Program Director, Hive Learning Network Chicago
Chicago Community Trust
cgreer@cct.org
312-852-8742

Special Project Partners

In Chicago:
Mike Hawkins, Manager of Informal Programming, Digital Youth Network
YOUmedia
mhawkins@digitalyouthnetwork.org
312-391-2142

In NYC:
Monica Harriss, Youth Programs Manager
Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
harrissm@si.edu
212-849-8390

11


IV. Additional Online Resources

A. Connected Learning

http://connectedlearning.tv/what-is-connected-learning
http://dmlcentral.net/
http://dmlcentral.net/resources/connected-learning
http://clrn.dmlhub.net/

B. Fashion

http://www.ted.com/talks/tavi_gevinson_a_teen_just_trying_to_figure_it_out.html
http://rookiemag.com/
http://www.refinery29.com/
http://streetetiquette.com/
http://www.leaders1354.com/blog/about-2
http://joekenneth.tumblr.com/
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/

C. Webmaking

http://erinknight.com/post/17966967241/what-is-webmaking
http://dmlcentral.net/blog/doug-belshaw/importance-webmaking
https://p2pu.org/en/schools/school-of-webcraft/sets/webmaking-101/
https://thimble.webmaker.org/en-US/
https://webmaker.org/en-US/tools/x-ray-goggles/
http://maker.mozillapopcorn.org/

12


Hive Fashion RFP

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (6)

Similaire à Hive Fashion RFP

Similaire à Hive Fashion RFP (20)

Plus de hivelearningnyc

Plus de hivelearningnyc (17)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Hive Fashion RFP