VOW for Girls

I’m the first CEO of VOW for Girls, an innovative new nonprofit that seeks to end the international child marriage crisis. We have a big vision to start generating tens of millions in revenue annually to support local organizations working to end child marriage, and a strong plan for getting there. What I don’t have are the resources to fully implement that plan. I have a solid base of funding from organizations including the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and #StartSmall, and I’m seeking other entrepreneurial funders to join them in making bold investments. I would invest the Elevate Prize money in the future of VOW, hiring the right people, bringing in the right resources, and building campaigns that help advance our three-year plan and put us on track to raise millions annually in support of girls. I would also value access to the training, platforms, and connections that come with The Elevate Prize. All would help me grow as a leader as I build this new philanthropic force to end child marriage. 

I’m passionate about social justice, equity, and creating opportunities for others. Much of that is informed by my own experience growing up as a closeted kid in a poor community in rural Kentucky -- a small town with no stoplights, no restaurants, and where most kids aren’t afforded many opportunities. That drive to help create opportunity for others led me to VOW for Girls: dedicated to ending child marriage by building a groundswell of support for every girl whose right to own her future is at risk. 

I envision creating a world in which every couple, every wedding guest, every wedding planner, every brand that appears on a wedding registry or company that profits from the wedding industry has the opportunity to act with social impact at heart. I aspire to disrupt traditional ways of funding causes and blaze new trails in the quest to drive systemic change for girls’ rights and equality.

I’ve accomplished a lot in my first 18 months at VOW, but it’s a small piece of my vision for this organization. I have a plan to get us raising more than $10 million in a few short years, and $50 million beyond that to support girls. 

Count to three. 1...2...3... A child just became a bride. Twelve million girls every year under the age of 18 become child brides. Child marriage robs girls of their futures, keeps them from getting an education, and puts them at greater risk of violence and early pregnancy. This is a global problem that cuts across countries, cultures, and religions. Exacerbating this problem, experts forecast that COVID-19 could lead to an additional 10 million child marriages over the coming years. VOW’s goal is to end child marriage. In doing so, we hope to move the world toward the full and equal participation of girls and women at every level of economic, political, and cultural life. 

VOW raises funds and awareness to end the child marriage crisis, investing the funds we raise in community-based organizations working directly with girls. We and our partners find and fund effective yet overlooked organizations that advance girls’ rights by providing education, job training, and vital life skills, so girls can own their futures. Since our founding, 150 community-based organizations in six countries have received grants, and 90% of those grantees are women-led organizations.

VOW has identified the global wedding sector as an untapped opportunity to raise critical funds and awareness to help end child marriage. Weddings are a $100 billion industry in the U.S. alone. Each year, 2.5 million U.S. couples marry, and 300 million people attend those weddings. The industry has not yet selected a charity of choice. We aspire to partner with the global wedding industry to make VOW the gift of choice for weddings globally, creating the resources to help girls own their futures. Wedding professionals and engaged couples can celebrate love and at the same time support girls to choose love on their own terms. 

While child marriage runs rampant around the globe, few consumers are aware of its prevalence and devastating consequences. This is especially true in the U.S. VOW’s work is innovative in that we are bringing this issue to the forefront in new ways: working with brands to create products and experiences that end child marriage; working with engaged couples to fundraise around their weddings; and partnering with celebrities, influencers and the media to raise awareness of child marriage and its solutions.

Progress toward full gender equality is stymied by the practice of child marriage, which undermines outcomes in education, health, economic self-sufficiency, and gender equality. While a small and growing group of funders have engaged on the issue of child marriage over the past decade, the need surrounding this issue far outstrips dedicated funding to the issue. Much of the funding to prevent child marriage is allocated at the global and country levels. 

VOW and its partners have identified a critical funding gap: funding local and contextual solutions that are key to accelerating progress. As experts in local norms, laws, and cultures, community-based organizations are uniquely positioned to design and implement approaches that can succeed in their local contexts. They are also more likely to have the trust of the community, which is critical to the long-term work of transforming mindsets, policies, and social norms. 

VOW’s role in this work is that of fundraiser: engaging brands and individuals in the work to end child marriage, with an aim to eventually raise more than $50M a year to support girls to own their futures.