Women are half the world's population. How can a community or country succeed if only half of its citizens are educated? If we continue to fund education in the developing world in the same way we have been doing for the last 20 years, it will take another 100 years before all girls complete junior high. What is the solution?
An MBA graduate of Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) Montréal and a graduate of McGill University,B. Commerce, Wanda Bedard is founder and owner since 1991 of a manufacturing business in the custom sheet metal sector.
Following a number of years as a volunteer with UNICEF Canada, Wanda Bedard established 60 million girls, a public foundation, in 2006. The organization is completely volunteer run and raises funds for education projects for girls in the developing world. 60 million girls has since invested $2.4 million supporting 20 projects in 14 countries, with administrative costs of less than 1%, directly benefitting over 20,000 children.
Wanda is a member of the International Advisory Board of McGill’s Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID). Wanda is also a member of the Advisory Board of Institut Mallet which supports the study and promotion of philanthropy in Québec and Canada.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx