During her time as first lady, Michelle Obama took part in many charitable causes. Her work promoting children’s health is the most well-known, but there were many other issues she was advocating for as well. Domestically, she has supported many charities like Partnership for a Healthier America and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In 2015, the Obama administration began a global initiative named Let Girls Learn, promoting education for girls and women all over the world. After serving as First Lady, Michelle Obama continued this work, founding the Girls Opportunity Alliance.

About the Alliance

The Girls Opportunity Alliance is a program of the Obama Foundation, founded in 2018 after the Obamas left the White House. It is a philanthropic organization that anyone can donate to and promotes others who look to advance female education. It works with GoFundMe to distribute these donations. Those in poor and underserved communities receive the most amount of money.

Organizations

On GoFundMe, the Alliance is listed as a project and hosts a network of many different organizations for donations. One is Chhori, which means “daughter” in Nepali. This nonprofit supports girls who are survivors of gender-based violence in the country and helps them advocate for themselves.

Based in Colombia, Origin Learning helps indigenous and migrant women in the La Guajira region achieve their goals using modern technology. Many of these women have the ambition to achieve higher goals but face poverty-related issues in the region.

There is also the Secondary Education for Women’s Advancement in Tanzania, part of a more extensive female empowerment campaign in that nation. A boarding school began its journey in 2008 for girls who could not afford education and it offers services to the beneficiaries as they get older.

Success Stories

Despite the fact it began in 2018, there are already great testimonials on the Girls Opportunity Alliance website. The first comes from Kiran, a girl from Northern India, who could not attend school after her mother died. Dr. Urvashi Sahni, who was helped by the Alliance, accepted Kiran into the girls‘ school she founded.

In Vietnam, Mang Thị Hay is able to go to school, which is, unfortunately, a rarity for girls in her village. She got help from the Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund, another organization that the Alliance supports.

Thuba Sibanda is a soccer coach for younger girls in Namibia and is looking to attend university. In addition to working with Physically Active Youth Namibia, Thuba was selected to participate in the Obama Foundation’s Leaders Program in 2019.

Looking Ahead

– Josh Sobchak
Photo: Flickr