After graduating from the University, Commerce School alumnus Kunal Doshi dreamed of working to end poverty by improving education. In 2012, he had the idea for Brighter Children — a non-profit organization which sponsors the education of students in developing countries.
Now, the volunteer-based organization is managed by a team of five Commerce graduates, including Becca Wolin, Suzy Peng, William Reynolds and Ben Travis, along with Taylor March, a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
“Kunal had the original idea and created Brighter Children with Becca and Suzy in 2013,” said Reynolds, the group’s head of technology. “We believe that education is the best way to eliminate poverty and we wanted to start an organization that would make it easy to sponsor a child’s education.”
The organization aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to become independent.
“Education provides individuals the opportunity to exit the cycle of poverty,” Doshi said. “60 million children today do not attend primary school globally. Our goal is to provide these children an opportunity to go to primary school.”
In 2014, Brighter Children supported the education of over 60 students in India, Colombia and Kenya.
“By partnering with schools, we hope to alleviate their focus on fundraising so they can focus on improving the quality of education,” said Wolin, head of donor relations for the organization.
The schools supported by Brighter Children have reported that students attend school with a 97 percent frequency, demonstrating a strong interest to learn, and students are two times more likely to progress to secondary education, according to the organization’s website. In addition, 95 percent of teachers have reported an increase in student confidence levels, which indicates a greater probability of becoming self-dependent.
Brighter Children recently visited the students they sponsor in Santa Marta, Colombia and saw the impact of their work first-hand.
“We were amazed at the poverty in that area and also how happy the children are in the schools,” Reynolds said. “The school is giving these children an opportunity to get out of poverty.”
Brighter Children not only works directly with local partners on the ground, but also operates with 100 percent transparency.
“Every dollar invested is used to sponsor the education of a child,” Doshi said. “We believe in complete transparency. We want our donors to know the difference they are making. Depending on the school, the costs vary, but as a donor, you can know the dollar amount that is used to fund a child’s school uniform, text books and school supplies, fees, transportation, daily hot meal and basic healthcare.”
The University provided initial support for Brighter Children through several outlets. Commerce Prof. Amanda Cowen serves on the Advisory Board, and many of the investors who helped kickstart the organization are University graduates.
“We started by asking our coworkers, friends and family to support Brighter Children — many of them are U.Va. alumni,” Reynolds said.
However, Brighter Children is witnessing a change in investment through millennials and online giving.
“For the past two years, 90 percent of our donors have been individuals below the age of 30,” Doshi said. “In the past year, we’ve received corporate support from the organizations some of the team members work at. As we evolve, we’d like to continue to engage millennials and individuals below the age of 30.”
Brighter Children’s current goal is to increase its impact by sponsoring more children. On November 19th, the organization held its first Annual Benefit and raised $15,000, which can provide education for 40 students. By 2016, the team hopes to sponsor 150 students. As a result of the benefit’s success, the group is well on its way to meeting this goal.
“Mr. Jefferson believed that learning is a lifelong journey,” Doshi said. “If you want to create the best company, you need to invest in its people. Similarly, if you want to change the world for the better, you need to invest in the people — the children today who will be our future tomorrow.”
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