Hi everyone! My name is Emily Marciniak and I am the new Associate Director of Strategic Advancement for the Girls Education Collaborative. I am pumped to be joining this awesome team!
In my new role, I hope to help by being the wheels on the vehicle that the Executive Director and Board of Directors are steering. This is sure to be an incredible and wild ride!
The last two years of my life have been extremely transformative. Major life events, including my son being born, and my mother suffering from a stroke, have completely changed my perspective. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that having a strong support system is vital to survival. I like to think that GEC is a growing support system for girls who need it, so very badly.
The more I learn about what’s happening to these girls in the small village of Kitenga, and all over the world, the more my heart dives head first into this position. Can you imagine being forced into marriage at 13? Or having a child and running a household as a preteen? Can you picture living in a society where female genital mutilation is a passage in life, and having an abusive husband is often the norm? I can’t. And now as a mom, my heart aches in a way much different than it did before when I think of the babies in Kitenga and what their fate could be.
Educating girls and giving them the tools to shape their own future has an incredible multiplier effect on economic growth. -Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
Giving the girls in Kitenga a residential school to attend will change and save lives, and has the potential to change an entire society. Who knows how great the impact of this project could be!
I’m so ready to be a part of this movement!
Feel free to contact me here: emilym.gec@gmail.com
