March 25, 2025
Stronger Together: The First AFA Ally Forum
The first-ever Ally Funder Alliance (AFA) Forum marked a significant milestone in GEC’s commitment to locally led, girl-centered impact. Hosted at Mainsprings, this two-day convening brought together leaders from the four current AFA-funded organizations—Empowered Girls, Bright Hostel, Tumaini Open School, and SHEEO—to connect, share, and collaborate in ways that transcend location and individual program goals.
Read MoreOctober 16, 2024
Anne Robinson Wadsworth to Retire from Girls Education Collaborative in Spring 2025
GEC founder and executive director created and expanded Buffalo-based organization to support local efforts in Africa to build educational opportunities for girls Girls Education Collaborative (GEC) founder and executive director Anne Robinson Wadsworth has announced plans to retire from the organization that works to bring global social change through the transformational power of girls education….
Read MoreOctober 5, 2024
The Gimmick of 10/11. The Power of 10/11.
This article by Anne Wadsworth, Executive Director of Girls Education Collaborative was originally published in HuffPost in 2013 in honor the October 11, International Day of the Girl. Eleven years later, the message – the importance of focusing on girls education and the invitation for others to join the effort – still resonates today. …
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June 5, 2024
REFLECTION ON MY JOURNEY IN KITENGA GIRLS SCHOOL 2024
By contributing writer Naomi Elias Tura My name is Naomi Elias Tura. I graduated from Kitenga Girls Secondary School in 2023. I was born in the Mara region in Tanzania in 2005. I live in the Tarime district with both my parents. And for now, I am working as a GEC volunteer. Tanzania is…
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May 14, 2024
A Helping Hand — Not an Iron Fist
A growing philanthropic model builds trust and rewards ideas, rather than dictating how donated capital is spent. Growing up in a rural village in northwestern Tanzania, Josephina Joachim was a young woman who experienced hardship and injustice. Hoping to shift the narrative for girls who came after her, she and her colleagues decided to fight…
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April 10, 2024
Building Relationships and Impact: A Visit to Tanzania with GEC, February 2024
At the heart of GEC’s work is relationship building. Once established, a relationship creates the firmest foundation for collaborations that solve problems and/or seize opportunity. The deeper and more stable the relationship, the more dynamic and sustainable the collaboration. The purpose of such, is to work towards the shared vision of a world where no…
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March 13, 2024
Funding Community-Led Organizations: SHEEO’s Call for Trust and Collaboration
In the vast landscape of philanthropy, where resources often flow through well-established channels, small and remote Community-Led Organizations (CLOs) located outside of typical NGO-hubs find themselves navigating a labyrinth of challenges. Driven by a commitment to their communities and armed with a deep understanding of local challenges, CLOs often encounter formidable barriers when seeking…
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October 11, 2023
Voices of Kitenga: Peres Munanka’s Inspiring Path to Advocacy
After graduating from KGSS in 2020 with the school’s pioneer class, Peres Munanka didn’t take any time off between lower and upper secondary school. Instead, she went onto become GEC’s very first Kitenga volunteer. At that time, she remarked that she was “happy to volunteer to work with GEC because it is a passion…to see…
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April 5, 2023
Our Decade of Action
It’s written in our name. At Girls Education Collaborative, we believe that “collaborative” action to support educating girls is a mighty way to build a just and sustainable world. All the way back to our inception in 2011, we’ve intentionally taken a multi-disciplinary approach in our work, adhering to the mindset behind the United Nations…
Read MoreMarch 31, 2022
Notes from the Executive Director – March 2022
Back Home. It’s probably the 25th time I’ve written those two words. But the first time I’ve penned them after a 24 month hiatus and global pandemic. They are good words to write because, it means, I actually left. GEC’s work is not transactional and formulaic. It is relationship-based. It is learning and listening driven….
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