157. Mothers’ Day Movement 2024: Supporting the African Education Program

Dominika Turkcan, from Mothers’ Day Movement (MDM) returns to join Yo in this episode. The Mothers' Day Movement is an organization that grew out of a column in The New York Times by Nicholas Kristof, where he made the case for moving the apostrophe in Mother’s Day so it honors not just one mother, but underserved mothers everywhere. It advocates shifting a portion of Mother’s Day gift giving to a carefully selected charity each year in honor of a woman or person they love.   Since 2011, the group has raised almost $1,000,000, in maternal health, education, hunger, clean water, and human trafficking, and has been featured in The New York Times, Ms. Magazine, and NPR.   The episode also includes Julie-Anne Savarit-Cosenza, Co-Founder & Executive Director, African Education Program (AEP), MDM’s 2024 beneficiary. AEP unlocks the potential of African youth and adults by building and growing community-led organizations in Zambia and Rwanda. AEP’s flagship Learning & Leadership Center in Kafue, Zambia is a thriving hub where children,   Here are the 3 Takeaways:   1.   For the price of a bouquet of flowers, we can save a life by donating to MDM. 2.   In 2024, AEP will reach over 4,000 children, youth and women: 750 will attend daily programs at the Learning & Leadership Center, 3,000 youth will be reached through our Peer-to-Peer Education Program in local schools, and 300 rural youth will access HIV awareness programming through their Kids to Care Initiative. In addition, one of the extraordinary things that AEP provides Special Education support. 3.    Our donation to MDM can help achieve AEP’s mission and the 750+ children, youth, and women access highly impactful programs and resources at AEP’s flagship Learning & Leadership Center every week.     We hope you’ll enjoy this episode!   As mentioned in the episode:   Ep. 14 Mothers’ Day Movement 2022   Ep. 68 Mothers' Day Movement 2023: Addressing Global Maternal Mortality   Jonathan Haidt   Mothers' Day 2024 AEP campaign: https://www.africaneducationprogram.org/mothersdaymovement   Donation Link Mothers’ Day Movement    More about Dominika: Dominika is a policy analyst and serves as the Director of Research at DCIIA, an organization dedicated to enhancing the financial security of Americans throughout their lives. She employs interdisciplinary collaboration to focus on advancing economic advancement initiatives for individuals, especially women. She is a Partner at the Mothers’ Day Movement, Board Co-Chair of the Dean’s Alumni Board at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice, and a pro-bono non-profit consultant for PennPAC. More about Julie-Anne:   Julie-Anne is a dynamic and vulnerable leader with a deep commitment to community-led transformation. As the Executive Director of the African Education Program (AEP), she spearheads efforts to unlock the potential of African youth and adults by building and growing community-led organizations focused on quality education, health, and community development.   Her journey with the AEP began in 2004 as a 10th grader.  Julie-Anne and three friends created the organization to provide books and computers to disadvantaged youth in Kafue, Zambia. Two years later, she worked with Kafue community leaders and youth members to open AEP’s flagship Learning & Leadership Center. During this time, she earned a magna cum laude degree in international relations with a focus on African development from American University. Ways you can contact Mothers’ Day Movement:   eMail [email protected]   Website www.mothersdaymovement.org   IG: https://www.instagram.com/mothersdaymovementmdm/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mothersdaymovementMDM   Ways to reach Yo: eMail  [email protected]    Public FB group: Girl, Take the Lead! https://www.facebook.com/groups/272025931481748/?ref=share   Linktr.ee/yocanny IG: https://www.instagram.com/yocannyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yocanny/