MacKenzie Scott, author and philanthropist, and her husband, Dan Jewett, have today – during Refugee Week - pledged a seven-figure gift to Jusoor.
The donation, the largest in our 10 year history, will have a transformative impact on our life-changing work empowering young Syrians around the world through education programs for children who are not in school, international scholarships, entrepreneurship programs and community engagement and mentoring.
Scott is the 18th richest person in the world and a committed philanthropist who has pledged to give away the majority of her wealth. She announced the gift to Jusoor on her blog, saying: “Higher education is a proven pathway to opportunity, so we looked for 2- and 4-year institutions successfully educating students who come from communities that have been chronically underserved.
We chose to make relatively large gifts to the organizations named below, both to enable their work, and as a signal of trust and encouragement, to them and to others. Would they still benefit from more (more advocates, more money, more volunteers)? Yes. Like those we shared in July and December of 2020, these 286 teams were selected through a rigorous process of research and analysis.
Grace Atkinson, Executive Director at Jusoor, said: “We’re honoured and grateful to be part of this impressive list of organisations to receive a donation from such a respected and generous philanthropist. The last year has been incredibly difficult for many Syrians. It is 10 years since the war began and everyone has been struggling with the devastating impact of Covid-19, none more than refugees. Our team has been working tirelessly for a decade to provide opportunities for Syrian children and youth, and this incredible investment could not have come at a more important time. It will secure the future of thousands of young Syrians.”
Jusoor, meaning ‘bridges’ in Arabic, is an international non-governmental organization founded 10 years ago by a group of Syrian expatriates. Its mission is to build bridges between the potential of young Syrians and opportunities for quality education and entrepreneurship. In its first 10 years Jusoor has enabled more than 670 university and high school students to complete their degrees around the world. We have enrolled 8,289 children in our education centers, helping them catch up with the learning they missed and prepare them for local schools. Our entrepreneurship program, now in its sixth year, has trained and inspired over 2,000 Syrian youth.
And now, thanks to the generosity of MacKenzie Scott, there will be many thousands more.
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