THE PRINCIPLE

Skills that fill the pocketbook can also fill the heart

Twenty-five-year-old Tammy Tibbetts became a digital media expert in the course of her work as a journalist for several women’s magazines. She began to wonder whether social media could be used to drive social change, specifically to help girls around the world to become the first in their family to graduate.

She and college student Christen Brandt started ‘She’s the First’ as a media campaign to get groups of friends to sponsor a girl. They provided suggestions for enjoyable ways for the groups to raise funds and linked donors with sponsorship programmes for girls.

The girls are not the only ones to benefit: the programme also intends to foster leadership and self-awareness in young donors. The hope is to shape a rising generation of well-educated global leaders, future philanthropists and cross-cultural communicators.

The website (www.shesthefirst.org) features a map showing where fundraising events are taking place, facts relating to girls’ education in the developing world, a blog and fundraising tips. In sheer numbers, the campaign is still small – it has led to sponsorship of about 80 girls so far – but the impact on those individuals is huge.

Tibbetts and her team are an excellent example of combining your expertise with something for which you have a passion to create a powerful force for good.