CHANGING LIVES, TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES
Uganda has the youngest population in the world - over 50% under the age of 15. There are critical challenges facing youth: poverty, disease, environmental degradation, and the highest youth unemployment rate - 83%. Yet the current education in Uganda leaves youth unprepared to create and lead solutions.
Educate! develops young leaders and entrepreneurs in Uganda who will solve the greatest challenges facing their communities. Our model is exponential empowerment – investing long-term in youth so they can positively impact many others.
Educate! provides a proven mix of a social entrepreneurship and leadership course, long term mentoring, and an alumni program that helps high school students start enterprises. Today, Educate! is working with 1,400 diverse youth across Uganda and developing a model that can be replicated across Africa.
The government of Uganda recently asked Educate! to incorporate the course into the national education system. It will reach 45,000 youth annually and be the first of hopefully many national social entrepreneurship curricula around the world.
Educate! has been backed by Echoing Green, a leading venture philanthropy fund, won the Ashoka Changemakers Quality Education in Africa award, received first place in the Pan African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education, and was recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 100 Brilliant Companies of 2009.
Thanks to several major investors who will fully cover Educate!’s fundraising and management costs in 2012, 100% of your investment will go to developing our Scholars into leaders and entrepreneurs.
Read our blog for stories of the impact this is creating.
Educate! is empowered by many generous individuals and by:
“[Educate!] inspires students to do something for themselves by creating a job but also for others by helping their communities. It’s a real sense of empowerment,” Said James Katumba, Educate! Mentor.