The Bridges Foundation

The Bridges Foundation provides training, education, employment services, and advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities. They ensure these individuals have a pathway to success by providing connections to quality job placements, supported community employment, on-the-job training, and more.

Partnerships with manufacturers such as Greenheck, Navistar, Pepsi, and more, have helped Bridges establish a strong reputation for providing “value-added assembly” through the manufacturing outsourcing services their client employees provide. They hope to position themselves as a resource to local, national, and international manufacturers, providing them with the opportunity to save time, money, and resources by working with individuals with unique abilities.

Challenge

The Bridges Foundation wants to expand its services to help more clients but lacks the necessary funds and facility to do so.

Audience

Based on data from Simmons OneView, our target audience consists of adults age 40+ who have at least graduated high school. These people are more willing to volunteer their time for a good cause [103] and are more likely to buy products from companies that donate to charities [118].

Insight

Team Name: Jigsaw

Target Audience: Green Country Grantors

Based on our situation analysis and initial interviews, Green Country Grantors know individuals with disabilities are often treated unjustly but are unaware of how it affects them personally. Jigsaw will unveil the unemployment issues these individuals face and showcase Bridges’ clients’ prospects, talent, and authenticity. The truth is, everyone loves an underdog story. Where other people may see shortcomings, Bridges sees potential. People are more than their genetic makeup, and they deserve a prosperous life. Independence matters, going to work matters, and having people join the fight to raise awareness matters. There is injustice in the world that cannot be changed overnight, but The Bridges Foundation dedicates their lives to making right for those they can.

Goal

Raise awareness of the employment struggles faced by individuals with disabilities and the tailored services the Bridges Foundation offers to combat this issue.

Idea

For Bridges to receive more funding and partnerships, they must start at the root: gaining awareness in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jigsaw’s goal is to make Green Country Grantors aware of a social issue that is underfunded and inadequately discussed and to educate them on how the Bridges Foundation is the solution.

Strategy

From: The Bridges Foundation is a small, relatively unknown nonprofit.

To: The Bridges Foundation is a key player in the fight to gain equality for workers with disabilities.

Green Country Grantors likely know that individuals with disabilities experience hardships, but they do not dwell on the severity of how it impacts their lives. Just as people fail to recognize the importance of these services, people often don’t realize the issues individuals with disabilities face as adults. Jigsaw intends to inform the Tulsa community of the employment struggles The Bridges Foundations’ clients face while highlighting that their employment makes a distinct impact, not only on the clients but on the Tulsa community as a whole. Clients’ personal stories about what assembly projects they work on and where the pieces they assemble live today will show Green Country Grantors how their lives wouldn’t be the same without them. The assembly and manufacturing services that Bridges’ clients complete are vital to the Tulsa community. It’s time to provide individuals with disabilities the recognition and support they deserve.

Jigsaw wants to take Bridges from a small name in a sea of nonprofits to a well-known organization that people are fired up to support. Jigsaw wants to prove there is an urgency and need for awareness of this issue and, consequently, funding.

The Big Idea: The Bridges Foundation is Changing The Narrative.