Challenges and Opportunities for Girls’ Education in Malawi
Concepcion Gaxiola, executive director of Advancing Girls' Education in Africa (AGE Africa), will discuss the learning crisis faced in Malawi and globally and how her organization is working to address the educational needs and develop the leadership potentials of young women in Malawi.In the sixth poorest country in the world, Malawian girls face significant challenges in educational attainment and workforce and livelihood development. With more than half of Malawian girls being subject to child marriage and less than 1 percent going on to higher education, a critical mass for change in girls’ education in Malawi is evident.
Established in 2005, AGE Africa provides life-changing opportunities to young women in Malawi through targeted initiatives in education, mentoring and leadership development. Through their targeted interventions, over 90 percent of AGE Africa scholars complete all four years of secondary school, 90 percent of scholars have delayed pregnancy and marriage and more than 50 percent of AGE Africa scholars successfully transition to post-secondary school education or into lucrative entrepreneurial and employment endeavors. AGE Africa’s programming has been recognized as innovative, effective and a model to replicate in addressing the disproportionate educational challenges faced in Malawi and throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
The event is hosted by the School of Social Work.
About the speaker
Concepcion Gaxiola has served AGE Africa as a volunteer, development director and since 2017, as executive director. Working in global development for nearly 10 years, she has served in leadership roles at Women Thrive Alliance and United to End Genocide (formerly Save Darfur). Prior to her work in nonprofits, she spent a decade in private real estate financing in her native state of California and attended Pierce College.