Weiss Scholarship Foundation
Empowering Children
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The people from Dago, Kenya are among the poorest people on earth making a dollar or two a day per family. They have very limited electricity and no plumbing. They live in tiny mud huts. AIDS has devastated this part of the world. Lack of enough food is a major problem. Most of the adults have little or no education. The government pays most of the costs of primary school but none of high school. Most children quit primary school around 4th grade because they know their parents can never pay for high school, so why bother with education. They try to get a job each day working in the fields and maybe make a dollar for the day. This is an especially tough world for girls and women. Most people do not value education for girls. About half of the boys will make it to 8th grade, but only a few girls get that far. Most people in Dago get little to no medical care and there are very few people over 40 years old. The extreme cycle of poverty has been going on for generations.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
High School Scholarship Program
The average person in Kenya only has four years of school and in the communities we serve it is less than that. A key reason why is the government does not pay for high school at all so, children usually quit about 4th grade because they know their parents can never pay for high school, so they try to go out into the world and maybe make $1 per day. We choose students for high school based on their KCPE Exam results with a key point being that all of our money is equally divided between girls and boys. Our holistic business model means we have qualified staff on the ground who are totally engaged in the lives of our children so we make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure success. After high school we then work with them either through university or vocational school.
Vocational School Scholarship Program
It is very difficult in Kenya to get to a University so we offer scholarships to vocational schools for our high school graduates so they can learn a skill that can help them make a good living
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Kenyan Women in the United States 2018
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of children who have access to education
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Children and youth
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have now awarded 141 scholarships. We take students through high school and then on to either vocational school or university. About 70% of our students have made it to university.
Number of youth who plan to attend post-secondary education
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Children and youth
Related Program
Vocational School Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have now awarded 141 scholarships. We take students through high school and then on to either vocational school or university. About 70% of our students have made it to university.
Number of clients participating in educational programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Children and youth
Related Program
High School Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This reflects the growing numbers we have each year of students we are helping in high school, university and vocational schools.
Number of clients who become literate because of literacy education programs by the nonprofit
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Children and youth
Related Program
High School Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have now awarded 141 scholarships. We take students through high school and then on to either vocational school or university. About 70% of our students have made it to university
Number of youth who increased their weekly hours of homework/reading
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Children and youth
Related Program
High School Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have now awarded 141 scholarships. We take students through high school and then on to either vocational school or university. About 70% of our students have made it to university
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We are working to give children HOPE as we award high school and vocational/technical school scholarships. This is giving children an incentive to stay in school in hope that they will get one of these scholarships. We work hard to try to make the world a better place, one child at a time. All of this will create adults who are much less likely to get AIDS, will have fewer children; their children will get a much better education and will get better medical care. They will be much better able to provide for their family. They will have much better living conditions for their family than the way they grew up.
Our mission is to build an enduring foundation that will help the world become a place where every child gets a great education!
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We get donations and sponsors in a variety of ways using email, social media, web site, fundraisers and speaking to organizations. We look for people who want to help those who are among the poorest on earth, children and have an international interest. We market the book about all of this, "Just Give Them A Hug...And The Rest Will Be Easy" to help people understand what life is like for people in Dago in hopes they will want to help the cause. We are constantly looking for media opportunities to get the word out.
As we grow, we are always looking to grow our donations from individuals and organizations. We increasingly are looking for support from foundations and corporations. This year, 2020, we received our first grant from a foundation. This is the beginning of building an enduring foundation.
We have worked hard to build a successful and efficient business that is able to scale. We know we can take this business model and do the same for a second village, a third and so on. Sadly, there are almost an unlimited number of villages in the world who need our help. Our model is not just based on the quantity of students we support. It is based on the quality of the services we provide for the students and families in our program.
Also, we understand that while growing up in this village is tough for all children, it is especially brutal for girls in many ways. Thus, we have always had a rule that all of our money is equally divided between girls and boys. We cannot end poverty unless girls are educated!
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
As mentioned we have built a successful and efficient business model that is designed to scale. We have gone from just one volunteer person running all of this to have two full time people and three part time people on the ground in Kenya who run the day to day operations of the foundation. Our two full time people are University graduates who have been trained to be teachers. They are our Mentor/Coordinators who visit each student once per term and are very engaged in the lives of our students and their families. Our three part time people support them.
The success we have had here can, with some tweaks, be taken to other villages who need our help. We know how to do this and are ready to scale to help many more students.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
As stated:
70 full four year high school scholarships to students who would never have gone to high school without our support. This is a village where few students had ever gone to high school.
24 have graduated high school so far (the rest are still in high school) and 9 have made it to University. The rest we place in vocational schools.
We have doubled the number of students graduating primary school. Before few girls made it to Class 8 but today there are almost as many girls as boys in Class 8.,
The scores on the exam all the Class 8 students take, have gone up by 40% in Dago. Also the gap in scores between girls and boys has gone down from about 20% to 10%.
When we started, most of the parents in the village believed it was not important for girls to be education. As a result of our success they have seen, that attitude has really changed.
We have gone from one full time volunteer in the United States running this program and added two full time and three part time people on the ground running the day to day operations of our foundation.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Weiss Scholarship Foundation
Board of directorsas of 11/26/2023
Mr Brett Weiss
Weiss Scholarship Foundation
Term: 2018 -
Mr Warren Weiss
Lee M Mandel
Robin Zvonek
John Knobloch
Susan Kigamwa
Warren M Weiss
Brett H Weiss
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/07/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.