February 2024 newsletter

Dear Friends of U-Go:

We were delighted to have had nearly 200 of our supporters from around the world join us for last week’s 2nd Anniversary Celebration. Partners, donors and board members tuned in from 19 countries. We now have 2,500 ambitious and promising young women on long-term U-Go scholarships – a milestone that we hope will bring you pride and joy. On the calls, we celebrated the launch of our 8th and 9th U-Go countries – Nepal and Tanzania – and shared our bold plans to increase the U-Go scholar family to 4,200 by the end of 2024.

One particular highlight was to have our model publicly endorsed by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics – the one and only Dr. Richard Thaler, Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He spoke of the incredibly high ROI that U-Go provides on the philanthropic dollar, and described it as an “unacceptable waste” to have young women who have qualified for university not be able to attend for the want of $800 per year. His endorsement was not just with words, but with a financial commitment from he and his wife France Leclerc – their $100,000 gift will support 25 U-Go scholars over the next five years. The support of Dr. Thaler is both humbling and motivating, and a testament to the organization that we are all collectively building.

While we continue to focus on growth so we can reach as many deserving young women as possible, we know that behind every one of those numbers is the story of an individual. Each U-Go scholar is as unique as each of us. Therefore, a highlight of the anniversary event was the introduction of our U-Go storytelling series. Dr. Thaler and our Bangladesh partner Jaago introduced a young woman, Roujatun Nur Borna, who dreams of becoming a professor of economics so that she can help other young women from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The final highlight was what we call our Tears of Joy video. Watch what happens when 150 young women across Indonesia receive a video message that will forever change their lives. We can promise you’ll be inspired and will likely smile through your own tears.

As we celebrate our 2nd anniversary and get ready for year 3, we hope you will think about the thousands of future doctors, entrepreneurs, teachers, scientists, and perhaps even Nobel Prize winners who will have their chance at a better life because of the work we are collectively doing to make their university dreams come true.

Thank you for being on this journey with us. Onward and upward!

With gratitude,

John Wood

Founder & CEO