2019 has been another milestone year in our journey to bring education to girls in underprivileged communities. In 2019 we supported a second cohort of girls in Kenya, enabling them to step up to tertiary education. By the end of 2020, Women for Change will be supporting over 70 girls who are making history and changing their communities. While these are small steps, we strongly believe in the advancement that together as a collective we are able to deliver, and we would like to thank you for your involvement and support along the journey.

We greatly appreciate the part that our donors, sponsors, mentors, event participants and interested observers have played in these achievements and we look forward to continuing to work with them in 2020 as we plan for the development of an endowment fund that will allow Dr Kakenya Ntaiya to support girls into tertiary education in the future. This is a major achievement by all of us, the cost of changing history and educating a girl cannot be overlooked, or underestimated. The UN has a saying: “Educate a girl and you Change a Community”. This accurately underpins our purpose and passion – and I am sure yours too.

Here is a snap-shot of Women for Change’s achievements over the last few years;
• enabled the first cohort of 24 Maasai girls to successfully complete their first years of tertiary studies in Kenya and Sydney this year from 2018
• enabled the second cohort of 20 girls to begin to study at universities and other tertiary schools across Kenya in 2019
• supported three of the top students to travel to Australia and take up prestigious international scholarships which are fully funded
• developed a giving back program that all girls participate in between school and starting their tertiary education in Kenya which benefits their community
• currently creating an endowment fund to support 46 students in 2020 to transition to tertiary education

We are also excited about 2020 and here is why!
• We are very pleased to announce that Dr Kakenya Ntaiya will be returning to Sydney in March 2020 for International Women’s Week. We hope that many of you will have the opportunity to connect with her during her visit and perhaps attend our Monday morning 9th March Breakfast Event  which we are planning with guest speakers and keynote by Dr Kakenya Ntaiya.
• The Standing on Our Shoulders program will be active again in Quarter 1 of 2020. Their activities benefit the growth and development of women in Sydney as well as directly funding the tertiary education of additional Maasai girls in Kenya.
• The provision of an endowment fund to ensure opportunities for tertiary education for Maasai girls is central to all our activities in 2020 and 2021.
There is still much to do to change the education opportunities for women in Kenya and other developing countries. With everyone’s help, we believe we can make a real impact on the lives of the women we support and on their communities.

The Women for Change Committee
Kristin Stubbins, Liz Courtney, Lisa McIntyre and Eleanor Hall