EDUCATION FIRST CAMBODIA

Education First Cambodia goal is to educate and empower smart, young, impoverished female university students to obtain a quality education, gain English, computer and leadership skills, and go on to become future leaders of their community and their country.

Studies by the World Bank and other major international organizations demonstrate that educating young women and girls is the most effective way to aid developing countries in building their economy. Educating young women has numerous other advantages, including increased gender equality and an enhanced role for women in society, reduced child and maternal mortality, and lower birth rates. Education First Cambodia helps to capitalize on and multiply these advantages by both educating talented young women and freeing up the limited resources of the young women's impoverished families so they can educate the families' other children.

The need to educate and empower girls and young women is particularly strong in Cambodia. When a family is too poor to send all of its children to school, girls normally do not get an education. In addition, girls are taught to be quiet and submissive, and young women are expected to stay close to home.

Education First Cambodia helps its students overcome these barriers, acquire a top-level education, and become future leaders. As Michelle Obama stated: Educating girls doesn't just transform their life prospects -- it transforms the prospects of their families, communities, and nations as well."

Education First Cambodia supports highly talented female university students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to get a degree. The young women, among the brightest in the country and also among the poorest, come from remote rural areas far from the universities in Phnom Penh. Their impoverished families, who struggled so that their daughters could complete high school, are unable to support their daughters' continued education so far from home.

With Education First Cambodia's support these young women attend the most respected university in Cambodia, most focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields in which women are typically underrepresented. Education First Cambodia also provides its Women Scholars with computers, as well as training in English, critical thinking and leadership skills.

Education First Cambodia also also established a dormitory and leadership center where these talented young women can live, study and bond into a network that will support each other throughout their careers. At the leadership center Education First Cambodia will expand the English, computer training and critical thinking it provides, add classes on current events and life skills, assist the students to find career-building internships, invite speakers who can both educate and inspire, and help the brightest of the students secure scholarships to pursue graduate studies overseas.

The students in the Women Scholars Program are chosen through a rigorous selection process that is conducted in conjunction with the Royal University of Phnom Penh and the Royal University of Law & Economics, the top universities in Cambodia. The candidates are evaluated on three primary criteria: academic ability, financial need, and ability to contribute to Cambodian society. Priority is also given to those pursuing STEM fields. Only those having both great potential and great need are accepted into the program. It is difficult to describe the enthusiasm of these young women and their dedication to their education.

Because a large percentage of students at the Royal University of Phnom Penh are unable to handle the university's academic challenges and do not complete the first year, Education First Cambodia selects its students from those who have completed their first year. Many are in dire financial straits – their families, which struggled so that their daughters could complete high school and begin university, are unable to continue supporting an education far from home.

But both the students' and their families' commitment to education has been demonstrated. Also demonstrated is the students' ability to handle the challenges of a top university, despite the many pressures and obstacles. It is these students – talented, committed, poor, and without local family – that Education First Cambodia provides with the skills and financial resources to complete their degree and go on to have a positive impact on Cambodian society.

Education First Cambodia's co-founders lived and worked in Cambodia for over six years, and have been involved in building Cambodia's future for over 15 years. They are supported by a strong Board of Directors and exceptional local mentor-managers.

During most of their time in Cambodia, one of the founders was the Executive Director of a 100-child residential center that gave new lives to children who had been garbage pickers at the local dump. The project was very successful during her tenure, over doubling in size and truly making a difference in children's lives. One student graduated with a degree in law from a special English-language program at one of Cambodia's top universities. Another won a five-year scholarship to Singapore's finest international school. A third was selected to represent Cambodia in a major U.S. documentary, “Girl Rising," about the importance of educating girls. Although other students' achievements may have been less newsworthy, her dedication to the children placed in her charge made an incredible difference to all of them. She also volunteered with a Cambodian nonprofit organization focused on providing education, arts, and athletic opportunities to underprivileged children in Phnom Penh, worked as Project Coordinator for a Ugandan nonprofit focused on providing young adults with entrepreneurial skills, and served as the Director of Volunteering for a Bay Area nonprofit focused on improving health and preventing chronic diseases in underprivileged teens and their families. She also supported a leadership program for young women at a nonprofit in Myanmar.

Prior to coming to Cambodia, much of that founder's professional career was in the business world. She was the Chief Operating Officer of a multi-million dollar export company based in California. She also served as an Assistant Manager in the International Division of a major Danish bank. She is a graduate of the Copenhagen School of Economics and Business Administration.

The co-founder's career is focused on improving the legal systems of developing countries and their human rights records. After having two short-term assignments with human rights organizations in Phnom Penh, he accepted a position as the first U.S. advisor to the Cambodian government. He served in that capacity for several years before transitioning his work back to human rights and law reform organizations in Cambodia, and he continues that work today. He has also worked on U.S. government law reform projects in Myanmar and elsewhere, and served as Deputy Chief of Party for the U.S. government's rule of law and human rights project in the Republic of Georgia.

He also served as an advisor to the children's organization that his co-founder worked with in Cambodia, and taught a class on current events and critical thinking to the top students there. He also taught a year-long class on current events and critical thinking to young adults in Myanmar.

Education First Cambodia is now in its seventh year. It has 40 graduates and 45 current students in their senior, junior and sophomore years of university. All of Education First Cambodia's Women Scholars have top grades and much-improved English and computer skills. They have greatly improved self-confidence, critical thinking and presentation skills. A few have excelled even more.

One received a four-year full scholarship to study Environmental Science in the U.S., another is doing research for her Master's Degree in Japan, and another received a four-year full scholarship to study Environmental Engineering in Thailand. One EFC student was one of only four in Cambodia to be awarded a special science prize by the Honda Motor Company. Others secured internships with a law firm, research institute or non-profit organization. Another is one of the four top Physics majors and has the potential for post-graduate study in Korea. A third was selected by the U.S. Embassy for a prestigious internship with the Center for Disease Control. Numerous students were selected to travel to Japan for programs on biodiversity, biology and physics.

Education First Cambodia's graduates are all thriving, having either successfully started their professional careers or continuing their education at graduate school.