OUR VISION:
A WORLD WHERE EVERY GIRL CAN GO TO SCHOOL
For the Good partners with communities in rural, disadvantaged regions of Kenya to keep girls in school so they can gain the agency to drive their own lives. Our community-based approach has ranked us as a GlobalGiving Top-Rated Charity NGO and earned us a Guidestar Platinum Seal of Transparency three years running. Together, little by little, through the generosity of our supporters and the commitment of our partner communities, we are making a powerful difference for thousands of girls across the world.
THE CHALLENGE:
GLOBALLY, 129 MILLION GIRLS ARE OUT-OF-SCHOOL
Given a secondary education, girls: earn higher incomes; have fewer, healthier children; and have a much better chance of creating better futures for themselves and their families. The benefits of girls’ education also ripple widely into their communities and strengthen economies at local and national scales. Yet, according to UNESCO estimates, 129 million girls around the world are out of school. The majority of these - 97 million, are of secondary school age.
We believe in better access to education for all children, but the increased barriers girls face in their attempts to gain one are the reason we focus our work on keeping girls, especially, in school. Every day, girls face enormous barriers to their attempts to begin or continue their educations as a result of poverty, gendered cultural norms and practices, conflicts, violence, and lack of infrastructure. Addressing these barriers and inequities to help girls stay in school creates a powerful ripple effect that extends to their families, communities and beyond, creating positive global impacts for us all.
“With an education,
I can help my family
and community.”
- Najma, at age 15
Najma studying at home: ©Ami Vitale
OUR PROGRAMS
We partner with communities to identify the biggest barriers to girls’ education locally and then work to reduce them. Our current programs address the lack of resources and schools in an underserved, remote region of southern Kenya populated primarily by Maasai communities. We also work with leaders there to shift gendered attitudes that have historically led to low school enrollments, early marriage, and high dropout rates for girls. Learn more here.
HOW WE WORK
We work smart, hard and intentionally. We listen deeply
to our community partners and use data to inform how and where we focus our work to keep girls in Kenya in school. This allows us to have the greatest impact by directing our resources to reach the remote communities who most need additional support.
Our staff come from the communities we serve because they have the keenest insights into girls’ and communities’ challenges on a local scale. They are also recognized and trusted and, therefore, more effective. They will remain community leaders long after we, as an organization, have gone, helping create the long term and sustainable change that is a core goal of our organization.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PROCESS
CARBON REDUCTION
Project Drawdown estimates that access to voluntary family planning and universal secondary education for all girls could lead to 1.5 billion fewer people — and potentially 69 gigatons fewer carbon emissions — by 2050. That’s because with each year of quality education, girls have more agency, better healthcare access, and fewer, healthier children.
While girls’ education can play an important role in reducing global carbon emissions, it’s important not to center it as a solution. Unsustainable consumption in high-income countries is the primary driver of climate change, and emissions reduction requires major paradigm shifts away from the destructive, consumptive economies and psychologies we all remain entangled in. Women and girls in low-income countries often suffer the most under the dramatic weather that climate change creates. To create a livable world for girls around the world – and for all of us – we must, as lawyer Colette Pinchon Battle says, “have the courage to admit we have taken too much."
MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
JOIN THE SPARK
The Spark is our passionate and committed group of monthly givers on a mission to keep girls in Kenya learning all year long.
FUNDRAISE!
Start a fundraising page to help more girls in Kenya stay in school, then ask friends and family to donate! It’s easy. Learn how below.
DONATE
Donations are the heart of our work, enabling every single program we work on in Kenya – and every single life we change for the good.