Projects of EduSeed

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PROJECTS OF EDUSEED

Current Program:

SisterMentors: Promoting Education Among Women and Girls of Color

Founded in September 1997, SisterMentors answers a critical need for mentoring and support of women and girls of color pursuing an education. The women and girls are of different races, ethnicities and backgrounds, including Latina, African American, Asian American and women and girls who are immigrants. SisterMentors helps women of color doctoral candidates to complete their dissertation and get the Ph.D. The women, in turn, mentor and support girls of color in middle and high schools in the Washington, D.C. area.

The aim of this project is to decrease the high dropout rate among women of color pursuing doctorates and girls of color in middle and high schools. SisterMentors has helped 27 women of color to obtain the doctorate and is currently helping many more. Statistics show that fifty percent of all people who begin a doctorate drop out at the dissertation writing stage. Evidence suggests that the numbers are higher for women of color. Statistics for the last 25 years show a very low number of women of color Ph.Ds.

Girls of color, studies show, are dropping out of school at an early age. The scarcity of women of color role models in college and graduate programs is cited as one of the reasons for this high dropout rate. SisterMentors' women act as role models for girls of color, opening their eyes to a world of college educated women who look like them and who have persevered and achieved academic success despite the odds. SisterMentor's message to girls of color is to stay in school, do well, and go to college. Mentoring of girls is done in collaboration with schools, after-school programs and women's organizations committed to the advancement of girls of color. More

Future Program - Among EduSeed's future programs is the following:

EduSeed® Community Education Project

The EduSeed® Community Education Project ("ECEP") will help youth to develop critical-thinking skills, and become better informed and active in their communities by helping them to develop a working knowledge of the political, economic and social institutions that govern and impact our democratic society. Through seminars, workshops, and conferences, the ECEP will make information - such as the workings of the government, economy and the media - more accessible to youth, in a meaningful way that shows the day-to-day relevance and impact on their lives. Participants in ECEP programs will be taught to apply critical thinking skills as a learning tool. For instance, participants will evaluate assumptions and varying positions on issues, as opposed to receiving information passively and without contemplation.

Such education can help combat the alienation, apathy and non-participation in civic life that is present in our society, particularly among those who are disadvantaged. The ECEP will empower youth to apply the skills learned, on a long-term basis, to further their own education about the society in which they live and their role in it. By thus improving themselves and developing as better-informed and active citizens, our communities and democratic society will also benefit.

Participants in ECEP programs will include middle, high school and college students from historically under-served communities, including youth of color. Initially, the ECEP will operate in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, but will later expand nationwide.