“AI is technology that will help us in solving the world’s problems. In AI, we need the participation of people who care about society’s problems, who care about humanity. Teen girls are the ones who are ready and curious about different things. We need more people like that, and we need more women in the future to build AI. The women tomorrow are the teen girls today!” – Prof. @PascaleFung of @HKUST, Guest Speaker in our 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 Women Changemakers and Leaders fireside chat series held at @DeliaGroupofSchools.
Inspired? Us too! Follow us here or head over to https://www.jycgirlsimpact.org/ to stay tuned for our next fireside chat with a remarkable woman trailblazer!
Meet Katrina, a 2020-2021 JYCGIF Youth Board Member and a senior at Dartmouth College!
Double majoring in Computer Science and Psychology, Katrina sees the potential of technology for social good, especially for education and older populations.
Thanks, Katrina, for being an integral part of the JYCGIF team!
Thanks to Goldman Sachs for hosting our Deputy Vice Chairwoman and Group President Jennifer Yu Cheng in an inspirational #IWD2021 fireside chat! Drawing on Mrs. Cheng’s experiences in education and finance, she discussed entrepreneurship, the gender gap, and the importance of empowering the next generation with future ready skills.
Meet Parmeet, a 2020-2021 JYCGIF Youth Board Member and law student at the University of Hong Kong! Parmeet loves meeting and connecting with new people. She hopes to help younger girls believe in themselves and create a domino effect of empowerment!
Making a positive impact! Thanks to Credit Suisse for hosting our Founder Jennifer Yu Cheng in a fireside chat about women empowerment, future-ready skills and leadership in the workplace.
China’s economy is racing ahead at breakneck speed, buoyed by urbanization, development and innovation. With more and more Chinese seeking lucrative job opportunities in cities – a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities – tens of millions of children have been left behind in rural areas.
The “left behind children,” as they are known, remain under the care of relatives, friends, or alone, and live in poverty. Many left behind children, particularly girls, have neither the means nor opportunity to receive more than nine years of compulsory education – remaining stuck in a perpetual poverty cycle.
At JYCGIF, we are on a mission to empower all teen girls to become future generation leaders – to uplift the status of women in work and society and generate upward social mobility. Providing teen girls in marginalized or underprivileged communities with access to education is key to what we do.
In a new partnership with Love Foundation, a Hong Kong-based philanthropy focused on Mainland China’s left behind children, JYCGIF has provided 100 teen girls from Guizhou province with the financial support necessary to complete their university degrees in Guizhou. The new Love Foundation-JYCGIF partnership will span four years.
“We could not be prouder to partner with Love Foundation on a cause so intertwined with our own,” says JYCGIF Founder Jennifer Yu Cheng. “At JYC Girls Impact Foundation, we know the power of education to break the cycle of poverty by building stronger, healthier families and creating the best circumstances for generational upward mobility.
“More educated women tend to be healthier, employed, active members of society who choose to marry and have children later in life. The personal and family gains in health, employment and civic life afforded by education create a lasting domino effect of prosperity. We hope to create such a positive, lasting impact on the girls, families and communities of Guizhou.”
“There is a saying: ‘Robust youths build a strong country; bright youths shape a wise nation,’” says Love Foundation Founder and Chairman Agnes Chiang. “Whether this enormous group of left behind children will become the burden or the hope of our country rests on our decisions today and the actions each of us takes now. We could not be more grateful to JYCGIF for taking concrete, meaningful action today to uplift teen girls in Guizhou for a better tomorrow.”
Around the world today, 132 million girls are out of school, including 34.3 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67.4 million of upper-secondary school age. [1] UNESCO COVID-19 has had an added negative impact on girls’ education, as many of those forced to stay home will be unlikely to return to school due to the loss or illness of a parent or primary breadwinner[2] The Center for Global Development.
Barriers to girls’ education differ among communities and countries – but poverty is consistently pointed to as the most important factor for determining whether a girl can access and complete her education. Girls who live under the poverty line and who face additional disadvantages — such as living in marginalized locations or who have disabilities — are even further behind in terms of access to education, according to the World Bank.[3] World Bank
Education breaks the cycle of poverty by building stronger, healthier families and creating the best circumstances for generational upward mobility, finds landmark research[4] The Heckman Equation by economist James Heckman. More educated women tend to be healthier, employed, active members of society who choose to marry and have children later in life. The personal and family gains in health, employment and civic life afforded by education create a lasting domino effect of prosperity.
In other words, better educated women tend to be more informed about nutrition and healthcare, engage in family planning, marry at a later age, and earn higher incomes. All these factors combined help lift households, communities, and countries out of poverty.
At JYC Girls Impact Foundation, we know that investing in girls’ education at once alleviates poverty and empowers the next generation of future ready women leaders. With an education, girls grow up to earn dramatically higher incomes, becoming key decision makers, responsible for the health, education and financial security of their families. They become future ready leaders!
By providing girls in disadvantaged communities with access to education, we at JYCGIF hope to improve the quality of life for them and their families – and to equip them to become leaders of their communities. JYCGIF is currently collaborating with schools, NGOs, multilateral organizations, the private sector and other donors to advance different projects to provide teen girls with access to education.
Thanks to Tatler Hong Kong and Tatler for spotlighting our Foundation and Founder – entrepreneur, education leader, and girl empowerment champion, Jennifer Yu Cheng!
