Our Beginnings
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SHE-CAN was born out of serendipitous encounters. While the organization is now three years old, the concept began taking shape as early as 2006. Between 2006 and 2010, two U.S. women met young women in Rwanda and Afghanistan while doing volunteer business consulting abroad and decided to help them apply to attend U.S. colleges. Ultimately, the efforts of the U.S. mentors resulted in each student winning scholarships worth over $250,000.
All involved felt their interactions and accomplishments were life-changing. The young women and the mentors were touched in ways neither expected, and enduring relationships emerged. Since then, there have been 19 young women from Rwanda and Afghanistan that have won full scholarships to pursue higher education in the U.S.. The students have an average GPA of 3.5, and all are passionate about using their education to help women in their home country. The combined total raised in education scholarships is over $4,560,000. |
Key SHE-CAN Milestones
2011: Through in-person interviews and with the help of various partners, the first 7 Rwandan SHE-CAN scholars are selected and each was paired with a mentor. Four of the seven candidates won full scholarships at Haverford College, Bennington College, Whitman College, and Lehigh University.
2012: A second class of 8 Rwandan scholars was personally selected through a democratic application process and Kathleen Ruffle traveled to Rwanda to teach a SAT and TOEFL course to the new class. One Afghan scholar was also included in the program. Each was matched with 1-2 mentors. Six won scholarships at Lehigh University, McGill University, Michigan State University, University of California Berkeley, Lafayette College, and Oberlin College.
2013: Through a democratic application process SHE-CAN selected 8 Rwandan candidates including 2 former mentees who were not awarded scholarships in 2012. Four were students at the Gashora Girls Academy. Instead of 1 or 2 mentors we changed the model and each was matched with a team of 5-6 mentors. The 8 scholars became the first SHE-CAN class to apply for early decision admissions and 4 of them got admitted in December to Lafayette College, Bucknell University, Smith College, and Muhlenburg College. Three more won scholarships in Regular Decision at Harvard University, Arizona State University and Whitman College.
2014: SHE-CAN is scaling their program by creating the SHE-CAN: Supporting Her Education Changes a Nation scholarship. Schools, corporations and individuals are coming together to build a steady stream of scholars to the same 5 post-conflict countries.
2015: SHE-CAN expands in Cambodia by identifying 5 Cambodian candidates, as well as 5 new Rwandan candidates to apply for 2016:
2012: A second class of 8 Rwandan scholars was personally selected through a democratic application process and Kathleen Ruffle traveled to Rwanda to teach a SAT and TOEFL course to the new class. One Afghan scholar was also included in the program. Each was matched with 1-2 mentors. Six won scholarships at Lehigh University, McGill University, Michigan State University, University of California Berkeley, Lafayette College, and Oberlin College.
2013: Through a democratic application process SHE-CAN selected 8 Rwandan candidates including 2 former mentees who were not awarded scholarships in 2012. Four were students at the Gashora Girls Academy. Instead of 1 or 2 mentors we changed the model and each was matched with a team of 5-6 mentors. The 8 scholars became the first SHE-CAN class to apply for early decision admissions and 4 of them got admitted in December to Lafayette College, Bucknell University, Smith College, and Muhlenburg College. Three more won scholarships in Regular Decision at Harvard University, Arizona State University and Whitman College.
2014: SHE-CAN is scaling their program by creating the SHE-CAN: Supporting Her Education Changes a Nation scholarship. Schools, corporations and individuals are coming together to build a steady stream of scholars to the same 5 post-conflict countries.
2015: SHE-CAN expands in Cambodia by identifying 5 Cambodian candidates, as well as 5 new Rwandan candidates to apply for 2016:
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