Buzz

Supporting the girls of Watch Me Go

December 26, 2013

At the intersection of technology and social good sits brand new social enterprise Watch Me Go and we are excited to be a small part of their work. Started by Katie Wood and Ian Stanley, Watch Me Go is an online crowd-sourced funding platform to help fund girls' education in Kenya. A few months ago, Katie won the first ever D-Prize, a challenge for social enterprises fighting poverty, funding the creation of the Watch Me Go platform.Katie was particularly moved by the problem of global poverty, previously working for the World Bank. With this mission in mind, the two deliberated ways to significantly impact poverty, and determined that it all came down to education. In Kibera slum, Nairobi, Kenya, Katie and Ian met an outspoken group of 8th grade girls who inspired the idea for Watch Me Go. They were awestruck by the girls' incredible desire to learn and succeed despite being in an environment that most would find difficult to even visit--one million people living in tiny shacks with limited access to food, water, toilets, electricity, teachers, and school supplies. These girls articulated their dreams for their futures with inspiring determination, and made one thing very clear: the chance to go to high school would change their lives.Enter Watch Me Go: Providing an easy way for people across the world to directly impact the lives of smart, ambitious girls hungry for an education and to change the world. The funds raised provide scholarships to high school. In the spirit of helping these girls Dream Big, Atlanta Tech Village has funded some schooling for Medrine, Cynthia, Laureen, Brenda, and Zubeda. We can't wait to see these girls succeed!

watchmego
December 26, 2013
Karen Houghton