Find out more about two of the organizations we support that directly aid girls’ education in the developing world.

Educate Girls Globally
Room to Grow Girls’ Scholarships

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Educate Girls Globally
Overview: Educate Girls Globally promotes the education of girls in developing countries by reforming existing schools and working with government ministries and parents to change local culture. They have developed a model that has the potential to expand educational opportunities for girls even in the most traditional Islamic countries, and at a very low cost.

Countries Supported: India. (Expansion is planned to other countries soon.)

Unique Approach: EGG focuses on mobilizing parents and communities to take over government schools, work collaboratively with teachers, bring back girls who have dropped out, and make existing schools work better for girls. This unique approach enables them to help large numbers of girls at a low cost. Their strategy shifts local cultures to support girls’ education, creating self-sustaining programs that can begin to operate without EGG’s assistance in as little as two years.

History: EGG was founded in 2000 by A. Lawrence Chickering, founder of the International Center for Economic Growth, and co-founder of the Institute for Contemporary Studies. Chickering believes that the most powerful strategy for increasing girls’ schooling in Muslim countries is to reform government schools through parental ownership. He explains: “While most people working on the issue believe that religion and culture present the greatest barriers and that government is the solution, there are good reasons for believing the opposite: that government is the barrier and culture the solution.”

Impact to Date: EGG completed a two-year pilot in the state of Rajasthan, India, with such positive results that the state government has committed to expand the program from 50 schools to 500, serving nearly 150,000 students.

What Your Donation Supports: The cost of implementing the EGG program is only $3.00 per child. This is expected to fall to less than a dollar per child as the program expands. This is a one-time cost, not an annual expense.

Organizational Efficiency: More than 90% of EGG’s revenue is used for its programs, with less than 10% spent on administration and overhead.

For More Information: Visit Educate Girls Globally on the web or read Lawry Chickering’s article, Transforming the Muslim World One Girl at a Time.

How to Donate: You can donate to EGG online through JustGive. Donations of any amount are welcome.

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Room to Grow Girls’ Scholarships
Overview: The Room to Grow Girls’ Scholarship Program is a project of Room to Read. The organization as a whole partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure. With the girls’ scholarship program, they provide long-term scholarships to individual girls.

Countries Supported: Cambodia, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Unique Approach: The program makes a long-term commitment to each girl on scholarship: as long as she attends classes and receives passing grades, they continue to fund her education through the completion of secondary school. In conjunction with partner NGOs, they identify girls who would be good scholarship candidates, and invite their families to apply. Local staff and volunteers select the girls to receive scholarships, and monitor their attendance and performance. Room to Read uses a Challenge Grant model, asking local communities to co-invest in their projects, encouraging a sustainable commitment from the community.

History: John Wood, a senior executive with Microsoft, launched Room to Read in 2000, after a trek through Nepal. Visiting several local schools, he was amazed by the enthusiasm of the students and teachers, but saddened by the shocking lack of resources. Driven to help, John left Microsoft and built a global team to work with rural villages to build sustainable solutions to their educational challenges. With Room to Read, he wove proven corporate business practices into his inspiring vision to provide an education to ten million children in the developing world.

Impact to Date: In 2006, over 3,400 girls from underprivileged families attended school as Room to Grow scholarship recipients.

What Your Donation Supports: Monthly school fees, school uniforms, books, supplies, and backpacks, a female staff member to oversee the program and mentor the girls, additional tutoring as needed, transportation (such as a bicycle or bus fare) for girls living far from school, lunch money if the girls live too far from school to eat at home, medical check-ups and expenses, and field trips and workshops.

Organizational Efficiency: Historically, over 90% of contributions have gone towards programs, with less than 10% percent of donations going to administrative and fundraising costs. The overhead ratio rose to 12% in 2006 due to investments in Room to Read’s infrastructure.

For More Information: Visit Room to Grow Girls’ Scholarships on the web or read John Wood’s book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.

How to Donate: You can donate by credit card or PayPal on Room to Read’s donation page, and specify the Girls’ Scholarship program and/or a specific country you wish to support. Donations of any amount are welcome; to sponsor one girl for a full year, $250 will cover all the expenses described above.