2020 #IStandForGirls Campaign Recap
We did it and we are blown away from ALL your love and support! Because of YOU, we succeeded in securing scholarships for all 200 girls in Mozambique to go back to school! This means that we will be able to provide school fees, books, uniforms, backpacks, school supplies, and transportation to the 200 girls in our education program so that they will be able to continue getting an education in Mozambique!
We reached our goal because of the amazing Kurandza community of supporters and this post is meant to give everyone involved a recap of what their participation helped achieve and say a huge THANK YOU to each and every person involved.
But first, a little bit of background about the #IStandForGirls campaign.
In this video, our founders, Elisabetta and Percina, talk about the story behind Kurandza’s #IStandForGirls Campaign. Watch to learn why girls' education matters in Mozambique and how your sponsorship truly makes an impact on these girls’ lives. Your support goes a long way in helping girls lay the groundwork for their future.
In 2017 we launched our first annual #IStandForGirls Campaign with the goal of providing scholarships to 100 underprivileged girls in Mozambique. Because of our incredible community, we reached the goal! In 2018, we doubled our goal and raised scholarships for 200 girls! 200 girls ranging from kindergarten all the way up through high school have been in school for the past year because of you!
Last year in 2019 we added a focus on holistic education. In the beginning, donors and sponsors covered the basic costs of education (transportation, school supplies, uniforms, and school fees), but we soon discovered that most girls need more support and enrichment beyond what we can offer in the classroom. In 2019, we were able to add things like field trips, extra-curricular activities, more parent-teacher communication and family support.
These girls have increased their confidence and self-esteem, are able to get a life-changing education, and they are dreaming for the future!
In 2020, our cost of operations rose significantly due to the Coronavirus, and we foresee the same challenges facing us in 2021. This year, our goal was to keep all 200 girls in school! Our AMAZING community rallied together to fund school sponsorships for all of our 200 girls in Mozambique! This year, we additionally had an option for supporters to not only “get a girl to school” but also “keep a girl in school”, which includes after-school tutoring, extracurricular activities, health education, field trips, and home visits. Through the campaign, over half the girls are fully funded to take part in these activities so that they not only get to school, but stay in school!
Women (and men) from across the world took part in this powerful campaign and flooded social media with the message that education matters!
Take a look below at how this campaign will impact 200 girls in Mozambique who start the next school year in February!
We had multiple types of sponsors and want to take a moment to thank them all personally here. Be sure to check out each of their wonderful businesses, blogs, brands, and more.
Thank you to everyone who Sponsored one of the 200 girls during the campaign and those who made a onetime donation:
Thank you to all of our continuing and repeat donors and sponsors below! We are so grateful for your ongoing support!
Katherine Hartsell
Andrea and Alex Sardi
Allison Juarez
Stephanie Mulhall
Sophie Jane Mortimer
Carly Mask
Nicole Erlach
Christina Conlin
Izabelle Azevedo
Jessi Timmons
Katerina Decker
Skylar Thornton
Anyeli Matos
Brooke Markevicius
Marie McAdams
Katy Schlegel
Katy & Nick Peters
Natalie Holm
Erin Parrigon
Elisa Reale
Meghan Farnsworth
Mercy Caram Iglesias
The Prajna Initiative
Anna Roth-Helleri
Joan Van Horn
Julia Tobin
Megan Schiller
Michele Arellano
Nettie Prescott
Bente Nilssen
Cynthia Sawtell
Ingrid Nilssen Guerreiro
Jadah Sellner
Isha Quitine
Tiffany Klein
Gabriela Sardi
Nicole Durr
Hannah Koehn
Colleen Henney
Sarah Stitzel
Monica Sardi
Robin De Leon
Alejandra Nann
Catarina Andrade
Rogelio Cortes
Andrea DiBortolo
Hakima Melton
Ana Mendieta
Esther Loke
Vickey DeCeuster
Lauren Smith
Isa-Welly Locoh-Donou
Eurico Dzivane
Liv Hadden
Niki Wells
Candida Andrade
Mei Yung Lee
Janiece Brown Spitzmueller
Carole Manera
Heather Novak
Meredith Doucet
Marcia McEwen
Gayle Moore
Carla Caballero
Ryan Sadler
Cerissa Linegar
Gregory Ewert
Ashley Burnett
Bailey Frumen
Erin Fritts
Jan Koehn
Christina Ghebrial
Jennifer Mollenkopf
Renée Janes-Reid
Thatianna Le
Meghan Duffy
Elyse McDonald
Shara Langford
Jenni Brown
She Rocks At College LLC (Clarissa Rodriguez)
Shannon Murray
Marika Roth
Anne Bluemel
Shelley Rivelli
Emma Sullings
Pauliina Talonen-Selin
Katie Costa
Frannie Coggeshall
Crystalee Beck
Rhiannon Leila
Debora Mendonça
Dani Audette
Andrea Townson
Katie Zupan
Emily Cretella
Robert Meave
Tess Keefe
Melissa Monroy
David Friel
Michelle Vantwoud
Stephen Wakulchik
Denise Duffield-Thomas
Karen Colabianchi
Stefanie Etow
Nicole Melancon
Alyssa Coleman
Julie White
Bailey Frumen
Jen Lagedrost Cavender
Joni Koehn
Praise Santos
Bambi Mengarelli
Diane Kahn
Joanie & Bob Mengarelli
Meghan McAdams
Kate Crocco
Thank you to all of our new #IStandForGirls sponsors! We’re so excited to welcome you to this movement!
Melanie Perez
Silvilaine Miura
Stephania Correa
Elaine Deng
Amy Krebs
Natalie Smith
Kimberly Ann
Victor Gonzalez
Florence Parker
Joshua Metz
Wendy Velez
Dani Cowan
Kimberly Moore
Trisha Mapili
Kelli Prestom
Lori Jimenez
Jamie Johnson
Manushka Hector
Taylor Gendron
Denise Coleman
Jo Gillard
Megan Bauer
Becky Keen
Theresa Ordell
Karin Rometsch
Jordan Wentz
Hollie Duncan
Jalenia Vera
Patrick Van Dyke
Emily Newlin
Kathrine Minjares
Taylor Hollis
Jo Koehn
Giorgio Colabianchi
Jess Poon
Nadika Nowak Perera
Klara Hodulakova
Andrea Crowder
Elisha Hess
Katie Beth Mickelsen
Christy Cegelski
Amelia Lehmann
Roxanne Ruby
Peta Thomas
Mariel Del Rio
Liana Head
Erica Hartwick
Justine Russo
Kim Kiel
Sarah Snider
Yulante Darling
Kim Nguyen
Eduard Hartwich
Amanda Gatlin
Savannah Thaler
Kristi Pollard
Deepshikha Sairam
Melanie Hernquist
Bozena Kloda-Urtbanski
Kasee Bailey
Mike Orr
And a HUGE thank you to those who donated to our girls education fund, which went to filling any of the gaps in programming for the girls and were pooled to help more girls get sponsored in our education program.
Aloura Pearson
Andrea Garcia De Paredes
Nicole Broyles
Lindsay Kinder
Natalia Zigante
Grace Torre
Emmy Fischbeck
Nicole Ellwood
Bozena Kloda-Urtbanski
Lissette Diaz
Katherine Aureli
Mallory Leung
Diana Saenz
Allison Juarez
Xiaoqi Li Photography
Chantia Mac
Jennifer Sims
Shannon Murray
Michelle Rey LaRocca
Cassandra Le
Jo Gillard
Sarah Bond
Kelsee Feist
Ana Kafie
Christina Roberts
Shelley Hanmo Qian
Mallory Leung
Pippa Stone
Felisha Avirez
Maria Courian
Ashley Hayes
Ashley Rocha
Hedayatollah Hosseini
Ümit Tepe
Joanna Waterfall
Debbie O’Neill
Kate Matheson
Allison Janda
Melissa Fosdick
Shaina Kuhn
Meet some of Kurandza’s SHEroes and hear why they Stand For Girls
We asked a few of our sponsors why they stand for girls and we were blown away by their responses! Kurandza is grateful to have the support of incredible individuals, businesses, and organizations from all over the world! Our sponsors are the reason why we can continue impacting the lives of our 200+ students in Mozambique. We couldn’t be more appreciative of them all!
When you join the #IStandForGirls campaign, you join a like-minded community of incredible people who believe in the power of philanthropy and want to help girls get the education they deserve.
This year, our community played a huge role in the campaign! This amazing community came together to help spread the word via social media, emails, and word of mouth! Some of them even created #IStandForGirls giveaways or donated a portion of revenue from their businesses to support us. We’re so grateful for them!
Thank you to the following amazing women who joined our launch team and helped spread the word!
Sonja Pearson, Carly Anne Trahan, Lauren Muth, Amanda Gatlin, Melanie Allison Perez, Taryn Himmelright, Gabriela Sardi, Theresa Dickerson, Kasee Bailey, Dani Cowan, Melissa Monroy, Lisa Benavidez, Stephanie Rubio, Mandy Terbrueggen, Aris Hatcher, Hayley Kunde, Jess Poon, KC Ciftci, Clarissa Guillen, Allison Juarez, Natalia Zigante, Kelsey Boyer, Shelley Hanmo Qian, Sarah Pugh, Kate Matheson, Maria Courian, Holly Wireman, Cyndi Taylor, Shannon Murray, Dani Audette, Anna Carson, Rhiannon Leila, Asia Faoro, Alyssa Coleman, Cassandra Le, Keneshia Raymond, Nicole Lynn, Esther Loke, Janna Barker, Manushka Hector, Nicole Melancon, Tay Gendron, Nicole Pearson, Katy Schlegel, Samantha Jordan, Taylor Gendron, Rachael Hilderbrand, Florence Anne, Bente Nilssen, Nicki Patel, Julie Grubb, Shelby Bauer, Willow L’amour, Abigail Eernisse, Silvilaine Moura, Estelle Ventura, Elaine Deng, Tamara Woodruff, Monica Sardi, Bella Smith, Jillian Matthews, Jess Perkins, Liana Head, Taylor Keightley, Addie Fisher, Emmy Fischbeck, Jennifer Biswas, Michelle Chavez, Courtney Danielle, Brittany Fusilier, Kam Sanker, Elisabeth Huijskens, Natalie Smith, and Stef Etow.
Click here for more information about joining next year's #IStandForGirls Launch Team!
A big thank you to everyone who wrote about our campaign on their blog:
Jess Poon of Grace and Oak
Nicole Melancon of ThirdEyeMom
Amanda Gatlin of Be Passion & Prosper
Olivia Youngs of Simply Liv and Co.
Past blog posts:
Jenni Brown - Lyrical Host
Andrea & Alex - We Are Andrex
Melissa Monroy - Mint + Merit’s More Love Tees
Theresa Dickerson - Blessed Brilliant Beautiful
Elisabetta Colabianchi - Yellow Co.
Breanna Pair - Thrive
Ashley Ayala - Sister House Collective
Nicole Melancon - World Moms Network
Alix Good - Letters From A Good Friend
Paola Berisso - Sisterhood Shopping
Theresa Ann - Blessed Brilliant Beautiful
Kate Crocco - Thinking Like A Boss
Izabelle Azevedo - It's Miss Izabelle
If you partnered with us by sharing in other ways, like Instagram stories, Facebook posts, and of course, word of mouth, we can't thank you enough!
And finally, a HUGE thank you to the talented ladies who helped create beautiful graphics, photos, video, and copywriting for our campaign:
Alexandra Sardi, Kurandza’s Virtual Assistant & Graphic Designer
Stef Etow of Ink & Pulp
Olivia Youngs of Simply Liv and Co.
Frannie of Elevate Her Marketing
The success of our FOURTH annual #IStandForGirls campaign is proof that our community is powerful and that when so many incredible people unite, real lives of girls who need your help are changed.
Now, who is ready for next year?!
Mark your calendars for September 1st, 2021! Sign-up for the 2021 launch team here!