In 1981, businessman Eugene Lang returned to the elementary school he had attended as a boy in East Harlem, New York. He had been invited to give a graduation speech to a class of sixth-grade students. He planned to offer the usual advice about working hard, staying in school and building a successful future. But … Read more
Growing up in the South Bronx, Geoffrey Canada knew what it felt like to be afraid in his own neighborhood. Children could be attacked walking down the street, and fights were so common that learning how to protect yourself became part of growing up. His father had left the family when Geoffrey was just four … Read more
When Maggie Doyne finished high school in New Jersey, she decided to take a year off and travel. She was 18, had about $5,000 saved from babysitting, and wanted to see more of the world before deciding what to do next. During her travels, she reached Nepal, a country recovering from years of civil war. … Read more
At a small college in India, women from some of the world’s most remote villages were learning how to build solar equipment. Many were grandmothers. Some had little formal education, and others couldn’t even speak the same language as their classmates. Yet they were all there to learn something that would change life back home. … Read more
In 1995, an 87-year-old woman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, sat down with a bank officer to decide what she wanted to do with her life savings. Her name was Oseola McCarty, and she had earned nearly every dollar washing and ironing other people’s clothes. She had never finished elementary school, never held a high-paying job, and … Read more
William Kamkwamba was just 14 years old when his family could no longer afford to send him to school. Malawi was suffering through a devastating famine, his family was struggling to find enough food, and paying school fees had become impossible. Instead of attending classes, William spent his days helping his family and looking for … Read more
In 1998, Microsoft executive John Wood was hiking through Nepal when a local headmaster invited him to visit his school. Wood accepted, expecting a brief look around before continuing his trek through the Himalayas. What he found stayed with him long after the trip ended. The school had approximately 450 students, but its library was … Read more
In 1997, Patrick Awuah had a successful career at Microsoft, a comfortable life in Seattle, and a future that looked pretty secure. He had spent eight years working at one of the world’s biggest technology companies, helping develop software during the early days of the internet. But something had been on his mind since the … Read more