We think education should be about children taking on the big challenges.
We want to prove that we can solve one of the world's most pressing problems.
We will organize a read-a-thon to mobilize 100 million children.
WE SEE
TWO PROBLEMS
MANY SCHOOLCHILDREN ARE NOT SKILLED AT READING
MILLIONS OF CHILDREN CAN'T GO TO SCHOOL
WE HAVE
ONE SOLUTION
WE WILL ORGANIZE THE BIGGEST READ-A-THON IN HISTORY
100 million children read 15 hours during one month in 2020
For every hour read, sponsors donate money to give more children access to education
To use the money efficiently to raise the number of children in school, we work with organizations such as UNICEF and Rotary – 100% of the funds are donated and reports on our progress will be published here. We rely on the concept of a read-a-thon because it has been tested thousands of times – they work. We want to prove that a single coordinated project can make a major step to the achievement of the UN agenda for 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals. It’s just step 1 to achieving all of them.
WHAT IS
OUR TIMELINE
STEP 1
RALLY SUPPORT
Young people from around the world reach out to possible supporters.
We work with Rotary and UNICEF. We are in touch with several Nobel Peace Prize laureates and UN diplomats. We spoke at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and participated in the UN General Assembly
JUNE 2019
TO OCTOBER 2019
STEP 2
RUN A PROTOTYPE
To demonstrate the potential and understand problems that may come up, we are running prototypes with a few schools around the world.
We are working closely with schools in over 10 countries and on five continents to launch the prototype. We expect more schools to join over the next weeks.
NOVEMBER 2019
TO FEBRUARY 2020
STEP 3
GO GLOBAL
To have an impact, we need to mobilize tens of millions of children and unite all important decision makers.
The year 2020 is the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. Imagine how much impact we would have if we could leverage this event. We plan for UN Secretary-General António Guterres to endorse this plan.
LATER IN 2020
HOW CAN I
TAKE PART
Everyone's support is needed to make this project a reality. To see how you can get involved check first which category below fits you best. You can visit our Resources section to find detailed instructions. Simply drop us an e-mail to chat about signing up!
CLICK HERE
TO SIGN UP YOUR SCHOOL
FOR THE PROTOTYPE
OUR TEAM
We are proud to work closely with outstanding individuals, renowned institutions, and global organizations. Our advisors include officials at the United Nations and UNICEF, members of the University of Oxford and Columbia University, and diplomats. A few of our supporters are listed below.
Bill Graham
Vice Char, UN Committee on NGOs for Education, Learning and Literacy
Isiah Chabala
Former Ambassador of Zambia to the United Nations
Our team consists of over 20 high school and college students from countries in America, Africa, Europe and Asia. We value a broad variety of backgrounds and experiences to efficiently tackle intricate problems in diverse commmunities in the world. Our members are listed below. Message us if you want to join this list!
Mario Stepanik
University of Oxford
Marlene Tröstl
Vrije University Amsterdam
Ariana Novo
Columbia University
Paul Klocker
Vienna University of Economics
Maximilian Mayrhofer-Schmid
University of Heidelberg
David Howard-Baker
University of Oxford
Akshath Anna
John P. Stevens High School
Ananya Nagireddy
John P. Stevens High School
Michelle Liu
John P. Stevens High School
Simon Nehrer
University of Turin
Paridhi Singh
University of Cambridge
Vee Kativhu
University of Oxford
Ariel Simulevski
Accenture
OUR BIGGER VISION
Children not being in school is only one aspect of the crisis in education we are facing. A read-a-thon cannot solve all challenges which must be addressed in the next decade to enable the next generation to thrive. Many of the world's most pressing problems need innovative and creative solutions, cooperation, and determination - it is our goal to give young people the skills and , more importantly, the audacious mindset of solving these problems.
We have been thinking about education a lot and wrote down our concerns and beliefs in a Manifesto which you can download here.
We also devised a plan which illustrates a possible path to achieve our final goal - the read-a-thon is just step 1. To read our ideas, you can download our plan here.
We need you in our team. We want an entire generation to become master global problem solvers and your injput can help us achieve this goal. Contact us now to get involved!