CIRCLE OF WOMEN

2012 MEDIA KIT

Achievers 09
Lorem Ispum School

Circle of Women has shown me what can be achieved when passion gets turned into action.
Elizabeth Brook, co-director 09

TABLE OF CONTENTS
p.2 Our Story p.3 Our Mission, Action & Philosophy Statements p.6 Our Motivation p.9 Our Projects p.13 Chapters p.15 Press & Awards p.16 Our Sponsors p.19 Join Our Circle

Our Story

ONE IDEA: THE WORLD UNDER-INVESTS IN GIRLS.

Our circle started small. It began in 2006 in a small Harvard University dorm room when Clotilde Dedecker, a sophomore at the time, simply asked her roommates, Britt Caputo and Cristina Ros, if they wanted to help her with her crazy idea to build a school. Turns out they didnt think it wasnt so crazy. They saw that 85% of women in Afghanistan had (and still have) no formal education. The best way to change that was to build a school for girls and they wanted in. Circle of Women went on to raise $180,000 to build a two-story school, which opened its doors to 700 girls in Wardak, Afghanistan in 2009. From there, the circle has only been growing. We currently have a 60-member team at Harvard, weve expanded to 10 chapters nationally and internationally and weve raised upwards of $680,000 for our new projects. But even as we continue to grow, we will never forget our grassroots beginnings. We now know that college kids and small college dorm rooms are perfectly reasonable people and places to plant the seeds for a revolution. We are a new kind of nonprot. We are 100% run by full-time students and young professionals that know that the world under-invests in girls. But we believe this is a very xable problem and were passionate about tackling it. It just takes one idea to make a world of change.

We are Circle of Women.

Circle of Women Media Kit p. 2

Our Mission
We mobilize students to provide access to education for girls without it.
We believe that educating women is a key to promoting social change and prosperity at the grassroots level. We build and support sustainable secondary schools in partnership with local communities, making the classroom more accessible to young women in developing countries.

www.circleofwomen.org

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How We Take Action

We collaborate with communities eager to implement innovative, sustainable, and localized solutions to increase girls access to secondary schools. In doing so, we cultivate a new generation of global citizens by providing students at home with hands-on opportunities in organizational leadership, fundraising, and project management.

Our Philosophy One school will affect one community of women. One community of women will be the agent of positive,global change.

www.circleofwomen.org

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Our Motivation

One out of every three women in the world is illiterate.

About one quarter of girls in developing countries are not in school.
Circle of Women Media Kit p. 6

... but if a girl goes to school...

1) She is more likely to earn an independent income...and to spend a portion of family income on her childrens health.

2) A girl in the developing world who receives seven years of education will marry four years later and have 2.2 fewer children.
p. 7

3) Economists link each year of additional maternal education with a ve to ten percent decline in infant mortality.

4) An additional year of primary school boosts girls eventual wages by 10 to 20%, while an additional year of secondary school increases her wages by 15 to 25%.

5) When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of that income into their families.

www.circleofwomen.org

Education leads to a better life for girls.

What is a Circle Project?

We...
1) Identifylocationswhere girls' access to secondary education is limited 2) Partner with thecommunityto customize and implement a holistic solution

3) Connectexpertsand local leaders to maximize the outcome and to ensuresustainability

4) Engage students at home and around the world to fund-raiseto nance the project

5) Measure ourimpact.

www.circleofwomen.org

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BACKGROUND In 2009, after 18 months of construction and an investment of about $180,000, Circle opened the doors to its rst girls school. The two-story building has twelve classrooms that service the community as a gathering place after school hours. Local leaders registered the school with the Afghan Ministry of Education and designed the curriculum after state standards.

Project Wonkhai
Location: Wardak Province, Afghanistan Area Overview: 85.1% women have no formal education; 12.6% female literacy rate
(CIA World Fact Book)

Particular Need: Over 500 girls were graduating primary school a year with no
option to continue their formal education. Customized Solution: Construct a secondary school so that local leaders could petition the government for teachers and books.

Project Team: Harvard Partners: Kids 4 Afghan Kids, Fahima Vorgetts of Women for Afghan Women, Seraj
Wardak, a key local leader.

Enrollment: 700 Project Status: Building completed & students attending since 2009; research and
impact assessment continuing.
Circle of Women Media Kit p. 10

BACKGROUND In 2005, a major earthquake hit the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan and severely damaged Keiri Rekis secondary school for girls. The lack of bathrooms and drinking water prevented students from attending. In 2010, Circle of Women, in partnership with the Nathiagali Residence Committee, embarked on a large-scale re-building of the girls school involving the construction and installation of four new bathrooms and a septic tank, a computer lab, two drinking water tanks and a library.

Project Keiri Reki

Location: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Area Overview: 36% female literacy rate (CIA World Fact Book) Particular Need: A 2005 earthquake severely damaged the girls school in Keiri Reki
village.

Customized Solution: Refurbish the bathrooms, provide a computer lab and library Project Team: Harvard Partners: Nathiagali Residence Committee Enrollment: 475 Project Status: Construction completed and supplies installed in 2010; girls
enrolled.
www.circleofwomen.org p. 11

BACKGROUND Cumbum is the only city in its area large enough to support secondary schools, so students historically stay in weekday hostels to access schooling. However, in the past ve years reports of sexual assault in these hostels have skyrocketed, and because of this, Tamil Nadu and other states have mandated that hostels allowing women must provide appropriate protection. As a result, upwards of 80% of the hostels that previously housed both male and female students have now closed their doors to females, forcing thousands of girls to forfeit their secondary education. Circles boarding house provides a safe housing option.

Project Rhema
Location: Cumbum, India Area Overview: 47.8% female literacy rate (CIA World Fact Book) Particular Need: Secondary school located too far for daily commuting Customized Solution: Build a boarding house adjacent the school Project Team: Georgetown Partners: Rhema Partnership Enrollment: 60 boarders Project Status: Construction underway

Circle of Women Media Kit

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Chapters
Our network of chapters is ever expanding. We now have over 10 Radius (middle school), Diameter (high school) and Circumference (college) chapters everywhere from Seattle to Spain!

As our world shrinks into a single global village, I nd the opportunity to extend a hand to women across the globe to be simply extraordinary.- Samantha Peretore, Awareness Ofcer 09

My involvement with Circle dened my high school experience. It allowed me to personally impact other students and become an active advocate for the empowerment of girls through education. But what is most meaningful to me is that I was able to create a network of lifelong friends across the country- and that circle keeps on growing! Lauren T. Hoffman, Yale 14 (Nardin Academy 10)

To me, being a part of Circle means being a part of something bigger in the world. Circle gives me the chance to make something happen, and it also reminds me to appreciate my own education Sadie Cole, Wayneete School Diameter (Maine)

www.circleofwomen.org

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It is inspiring to hear about this vital work to expand womens education in a place where it has been so difcult, and dangerous for what we rightly consider to be one of our most elementary rights.
President Drew Faust of Harvard University

Press & Awards

From newspaper coverage to being named one of the Top 100 Student Companies in the US, to winning a national award for social entrepreneurship, heres a look at the BUZZ were creating:
New Society: The Harvard College Student Middle Eastern Journal featured Circle of Women and its origins. September 7, 2007 The Education show of WBBR, the radio station afliate of the nancial media agency Bloomberg L.P., featured Elizabeth Brook (2009-2010 CoDirector and also a founding member) to show how top college graduates can put their education to work for others. February, 2011 University of Buffalo featured a story on Circle of Women in their student publication, Generation. November 4, 2008 The National Coalition of Girls Schools (NCGS) invited Circle of Women to attend its Annual Conference in New Orleans, LAk, themed A Call To Service. June 16th-18th, 2010 The Harvard Crimson published the article Circle of Women Makes World of Difference. April 30, 2008 Kairos nominated Circle of Women as the one of the best 100 student companies in the US. And it didnt stop there. Elizabeth Brook, who represented Circle of Women at the Kairos Summit, was nominated and won Inteliuss Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award. April 4, 2009 Tonic named Circle of Women founders Clotilde Dedecker, Cristina Ros, and Britt Caputoas #13 in their list of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. May 7, 2009

Yourcause.com featured Circle of Women as cause of the week. August 8, 2008

Alicia Menendez promoted the 30 under 30 campaign in her blog. April 23, 2008

www.circleofwomen.org

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Your program is remarkable in terms of seeing a vision, articulating it, making it real and sustainable
Susan Koehler, Chief Marketing Ofcer at Intelius, Inc,

Join Our Circle Today!

Donate and Learn More www.circleofwomen.org Connect on Facebook www.facebook.com/CircleofWomen Join our conversation on Twitter www.twitter.com/CoWReachnTeach Got Questions? Send us an email at info@circleofwomen.org or snail-mail at Circle of Women P.O. Box 381365 Cambridge, MA 02238-1265

www.circleofwomen.org

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Design by: Michelle Wang Director of Public Relations

CIRCLE OF WOMEN
www.circleofwomen.org