WISER Together - STEM for 240 Girls In Kenya

Help us raise $20,000 to create engaging STEM opportunities for 240 WISER girls and alumni in 2019.

Who are we?

WISER empowers girls in rural Kenya to overcome the barriers that stand in the way of their health, safety, and education. We offer girls countless opportunities at the WISER Girls Secondary School, an educational institution in Muhuru Bay, Kenya, that takes a "whole-girl" approach to education and has reached unprecedented levels of academic success.

In addition to free high-quality education for adolescent girls, we provide all of the tools and resources girls need to be successful: clean water, nutritious meals, school supplies, textbooks, essential medicines, a safe place to live, and more. We ensure girls are learning and growing inside and outside of the classroom by providing leadership training, psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health education, and a range of experiential learning opportunities. We are particularly dedicated to excellence in STEM education and provide all of our girls with access to a computer lab, robotics and engineering clubs, and two university-quality science labs where our faculty teach using hands-on learning.

Our holistic approach to education is producing unprecedented impact; in an area where only 7% of girls finish school, 100% of WISER girls graduate and 90% go on to college or university. 

Since our founding in  2007, WISER has transformed the lives of thousands of girls and their families and made young women the face of positive change in the region. We are currently building on this impact by expanding our education programs to empower more girls from across Kenya. From 2017 to 2020, we are doubling the size of the WISER Girls Secondary School from 120 to 240 girls and deepening the opportunities we provide to girls and their communities. As our reach grows, our commitment to advancing girls’ education only grows deeper.



What we are doing?

This project will deepen our emphasis on girls’ leadership and hands-on learning by creating innovative STEM experiences for 240 girls at WISER.

Your support will provide:

• A month-long computer skills and problem-solving course for 30 WISER alumni
• A coding and design-thinking bootcamp led by AkiraChix for 30 senior WISER students
• Internet access, power, and a dedicated teacher to provide computer courses for 210 girls in WISER’s computer lab
• Tools, materials, and transportation to academic competitions for WISER’s award-winning science and engineering students
• Mentoring workshops for 210 WISER girls made possible by bringing Kenyan women in STEM to one of the hardest-to-reach areas in Kenya

By developing computer skills, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving, WISER senior students and alumni will be prepared to confidently and successfully transition from high school to higher education or the workforce. By engaging in online curriculum and computer courses, WISER girls will expand their horizons, engage in new forms of research, and connect with mentors and peers around the world to learn and grow together. Through regional competitions against other schools, WISER girls will demonstrate that girls can compete (and win) against boys, challenging gender norms and building their self-esteem in the process. Through the Science and Engineering club, girls will design solutions to community-identified problems and elevate both their personal sense of self and social valuation through sharing these solutions with community members. Girls will then take these projects to regional and national Science Fairs, subverting expectations for girls in STEM. When WISER girls are exposed to role models through women-led workshops, they will be inspired to envision new futures for themselves.

Ultimately, through these experiential learning opportunities, this project will empower girls in rural Kenya to become academic champions and overcome traditional barriers to STEM career pathways. In doing so, the WISER girls will challenge community perceptions regarding the value of girls and the importance of girls’ education, all while serving as role models to thousands of future female scientists and engineers in Muhuru Bay.

How will the money be used?

• A month-long computer skills and data collection course for 30 WISER alumni ($1,500)
• A weeklong coding and design-thinking bootcamp in Nairobi for 30 WISER senior students, including workshop costs, lodging, transport, and meals ($6,000)
• Internet  access ($500), power and lighting ($2,000), and a dedicated computer science teacher ($6,500) to provide daily computer classes for 210 girls in WISER’s computer lab
• Tools and resources for 50 members of the WISER Science and Engineering Club to develop innovate projects + support for transportation, lodging, and meals for girls to present their projects at regional academic competitions and science fairs ($3,000)
• Transportation and meals to bring Kenyan women in STEM to WISER's campus  to lead mentoring workshops for 210 WISER girls ($500). A total of $20,000,  this project will provide numerous experiential learning opportunities for  240 girls in rural Kenya to engage in hands-on STEM education. 

How can you help?

Each donation is capable of making a change in the lives of young women in Kenya. We understand that not everyone may be in a position to help monetarily, so we would truly appreciate if you could share the campaign and help us spread the word about this important cause! 



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This project is supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance. 

Your donation to benefit this campaign/project will be allocated to the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund (“GOA Fund”),  a project of GoFundMe.org (a U.S. public charity). The Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund may grant a refund in limited circumstances at its sole and absolute discretion, however, donations are not refundable after the GoFundMe  payment platform has transferred your donation to the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund. Transfers from GoFundMe  to Girls Opportunity Alliance fund typically occur once monthly.  All donations are subject to the variance power of GoFundMe.org, as stated in the applicable GoFundMe.org policies. Subject to applicable law, donations may be tax-deductible.

The GOA Fund is restricted to supporting girls' education and your donation is made for the support of the above described project. Notwithstanding that the campaign description may name a specific organization that is anticipated to engage in the projects, GoFundMe.org retains variance power, that is, discretion and control over how funds are disbursed within the purposes of the GOA Fund generally, and within the purpose of the project specifically. For example, if the project does not reach its minimum fundraising goal, GoFundMe.org  may re-assign money raised to another campaign within the GOA Fund.

As of April 11, 2019, the Direct Impact Fund operates as GoFundMe.org.