What made you think you could make a difference?

 “I was very fortunate growing up to have been involved in different organizations that focused on creating social change. Whether it was the Special Olympics, the U.S. fund for UNICEF, or the UN World Food Programme; many different things taught me the importance of social change.

From a skill set standpoint I realized that I liked creating and enjoyed the entrepreneurial spirit. I wanted to find a way to have that passion for creating change at the forefront of what I was doing. It was the intersection of my passions and skill-sets. I think there is a lot to be said about finding the meeting ground between your passion and your skill-set, and acting on it. Not just knowing it, but doing something about it.”

Why did you start your own organization?

“My first line of thinking was not to go out and try to start my own thing, but rather to partner with an organization to galvanize young people to join in this work. I fell into this because I found no one that receptive to that call. I don’t know that I would necessarily say that anyone should’ve believed in us, but I do think that it comes back to passion.

People could tell that I wanted to figure out how to make this thing work. Come hell or high water, I was going to do it. And that’s what was fueling me. But if you were to take a step back and look at the beginning of all this and ask, “What does a twenty one year old know about building schools half a world away?” I would say, “absolutely nothing”. That’s a matter of fact. We were able to find a lot of really good people along the way that were willing to invest and see this happen all the way through. That’s how Building Tomorrow began.” 

Were there ever moments when you thought of dropping your dream of Building Tomorrow?

“There was one day when I opened up my bank account and all I had was about $38 in it and I just thought, “I don’t know that this is worth it.” And…you just keep whittling away at it. It’s totally the realities of a startup and trying to go out and make something happen even though all you’ve got is a prayer and good intentions.”

What impact has Building Tomorrow had over the past decade?

“On a very surface level, there is a sense of excitement and pride communities have when a school is placed in their village. There’s a sense of pride that comes with access to education. I think that’s good. Creating a safe learning environment for thousands of kids makes a big difference in their lives. We have seen kids that have gone on to secondary school, which empowers them to lead healthier and more productive lives than they would’ve before.  But, we are not satisfied with that. We continue to hit the drawing board and are trying to enhance our impact…It is an ongoing process of reiteration…

That’s where our fellowship program came from. We wanted to provide leadership opportunities for students that have just finished their college studies in Uganda. Through the program we wanted to influence the way in which head teachers view themselves as leaders of schools. Without strong teachers, you won’t have a strong school. We’ve always wanted to increase our impact and make it even stronger. And I think that’s where we are at now.”

Tell me more about your fellowship program.

“Our fellowship program takes Ugandan students who have recently completed their studies and puts them in a twenty-eight month long program of working with us in the schools. They train with us, and are immersed in the communities in which we are serving. They teach for a month and then they serve for two years as a liaison to the community to help the school improve and invest in human capital.

We’ve realized in our theory of change that if you don’t have a strong head teacher, you wont have strong results in the school. And so we are committed that not just the schools we construct but also the schools that are funded and looked after by the government are exposed to this fellowship program so that quality of teaching is increased across the board. We have a current class of ten fellows that work with 40 schools and are in the process of selecting our second class of ten who will take on another 40 schools, and then in the three years we will hire a total of 130 fellows who will be working with about 520 schools total throughout the country.”

What does being a good community member or citizen mean to you?

“It’s being a good steward of what you’ve been afforded. Finding a way to share that as widely as you can. So, in my case, I grew up here, I had amazing friends, amazing school, amazing family, and that’s not the case everywhere. So, what’s the little thing that I can do, what’s the small movement that I can try to build to ensure that someone somewhere has access to remotely the same things?

I think some of the most interesting criticism I’ve gotten is why do you do this work when there are people in your backyard that don’t have things as nice as they’d like? And its not to say that isn’t true, but I think a good community member recognizes that it isn’t an either or, especially today when we live in a world that is so small.

I was in a meeting yesterday and was asked what can we do about all of these Syrian refugees? And the truth is there have been refugees from Syria and other parts of the world for a long, long time. But now, it startles us because some of these people are going to be coming to the United States, and parts of Europe. Now that people realize that some one so far away is going to be in their own backyard, its too late to realize that a little bit of investment in some parts of the world, not all, but some, to help make sure that kids are educated can actually make a huge world of difference down the line. And I think that’s a big thing. Making sure to be aware of your impact and what you have to offer.”