The Butterfly Effect - Help students in Kenya
Hi all!
In the spirit of the season, I thought what better way to enjoy than to pay some love forward and help others dreams come true?
I want to introduce you to my special cousin Geraldine who has dedicated her life to improving others lives. I'm so proud of her and the amazing work she is doing, and I want to help her in her efforts.
We have 1 week to crowdfund 3 students who want to be changemakers in the world a scholarship to study at the amazing Amani Institute in Kenya.
I already donated, and encourage you to pass this along - let's help facilitate some change in the new year!
So with out further ado, here she is in her own words...
The Butterfly Effect
The Possibility
What if you could be part of changing someone’s life and, through that change, impact a community, a society, and in the end, our world? Here is a crowdfunding campaign that gives you the opportunity to do just that - and give the gift of giving to someone you love.
What if three people from conflict zones or otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds, who are passionate about creating social change in their communities, can receive an education that gives them the tools and the global network to ramp up their impact? This is what we do - and this is what you can help us to do here: www.startsomegood.com/amani
Why and how
While everybody values higher education, our intuition and personal experience tells us that current university systems are having a hard time adjusting to the realities of the fast-changing modern world. Leaders of organizations, big and small, constantly complain about the difficulty of hiring the right talent to scale their work. Meanwhile, countless graduates are facing the dreadful unpaid internship mill and bleak job prospects alongside huge debts. This is a global problem.
This is the challenge the Amani Institute - based in Kenya - is working to address. How can we adequately prepare people to innovate new solutions to the problems we face? There are people in the private sector who thirst for meaningful work, recent graduates wondering how to launch their careers in social change, and current social change professionals who lack the right tools and global networks to go to the next level. We know this, because we are working with all of them.
What Jewel and I have in common is not just our heritage - a family of changemakers, of pioneers, of seekers for a better life. We also share a belief in following our passion to create meaningful change for ourselves and for the world we live in.
2013 was a challenging year for me. I joined the Amani team to build an educational model that - through the Butterfly Effect - can change the world. The students of our first Post-Grad Certificate in Social Innovation Management proved us right. There is a huge need that we can help to meet. One of these students, Loubna Sadiki from Morocco, received a scholarship to make her experience at Amani Institute possible. She says, “It has been an amazing journey where I learnt SO MUCH that school/university didn't teach me in 5 years. I have also, learnt a lot about myself. I am very grateful for all that."
For 2014, I decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign for the inspiring individuals applying for our program who don’t have the technology, or the right network, to raise their own funds in any way.
We invite you to be part of this. This holiday season, gift yourself or a loved one the opportunity to be part of turning someone’s life around and subsequently our world. Join us in the quest to raise three scholarships for students such as Loubna.
If you are curious to learn more about how we work, you can check out our program here.
We have one week left to achieve our goal. Remember that every amount, no matter how big or small, matters a lot. That is the essence of crowdfunding. Please give whatever you are able to - we will accept it all gratefully. Please join us: www.startsomegood.com/amani!
Ps. If you have kids, there is a really cool Changemaker Puzzle as one of the rewards - check it out!