Draft:Mai Soli Foundation

The Mai Soli Foundation is a U.S.-based non-profit organization established to address the root causes of gender inequality, focusing initially on child marriage in Bangladesh. The foundation empowers young girls through education and entrepreneurship, providing them with skills to become agents of change.

History
The Mai Soli Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2018 by Aria Mustary, a first-generation Bangladeshi-American student, and Aaron Wendell at Babson College. Motivated by her personal experiences and the challenges faced by girls in Bangladesh, Mustary decided to create an organization to address the high incidence of child marriage in the country. Following extensive research  on the issue of child marriage in Bangladesh broadly and its causes within both Dhaka and Chittagong in particular, the organization partnered with the Asian University for Women to deliver programming to at risk girls, beginning in Chittagong.

While planned to fully launch in 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic temporarily disrupted program operations. Between 2021 and 2022, virtual launches inhibited the ability of the foundation to deliver their programming properly. In 2023, Mustary and Wendell returned to Bangladesh to formally launch full in person programming with light resources.

Approach
The Foundation has targeted Bangladesh to begin its operations, given its high ranking of impact for child marriage, with an estimated 38 million child brides in the country. According to Insider:"“They partner with local schools to identify high-risk girls, tackle the root financial issues, and tap into their potential with mentorship, education, and entrepreneurship to allow them to take ownership of their futures. The families become involved when girls enter the program, so all parties know the guidance their daughters are receiving and how they will use these skills to become autonomous.”"The Foundation aims to work in areas such as this where the problem draws its greatest influence from financial pressure, unlike other regions where the driving force is cultural or traditional. Using their Fellowship Program to create role models and mentors, they deliver their Girls Empowerment Program to develop core skills and competencies in young girls that unlock their economic potential, and as a result alleviate the pressure and incentive for financially-motivated child marriages.

Girls Empowerment Program
Mai Soli Foundation partners with schools to select cohorts of 10 high-potential young girls with aspirations to become leaders in their communities. These girls are then screened by the foundation and their parents onboarded through an orientation process that frames the program as a way of alleviating their families’ current and future financial challenges. This programming is delivered weekly through visits to these schools.

The foundation’s core programming in Bangladesh revolves around a proprietary curriculum focusing on Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, and Leadership and Confidence. They introduce these components to create a holistic transformation for young girls, typically aged 13-15. Entrepreneurship learning is geared towards establishing an economic toolkit that young girls can use to create value in their families and communities. Modeled after the framework of Entrepreneurial Thought and Action, this toolkit also allows young girls to develop problem solving and project skills that translate to other areas of life. This is enabled by Financial Literacy training, which teaches girls how to manage income earned from entrepreneurship. As first generation leaders, the Foundation aims to equip them with Leadership and Confidence skills that empower them to bring their potential to fruition.

This core programming is augmented by field experiences, in which young girls can apply their skills in community-scale settings, and interpersonal experiences with their mentors. With their mentors, they hold regular cohort conversations to create community, along with one-on-one meetings. These equip the foundation with data they use to assess risk while supporting the girls in the programs.

Programming for the girls is sponsored via scholarship by the foundation, including access to all resources, materials, and content.

Fellowship Program
The Girls Empowerment Program is enabled by a network of Mai Soli Foundation Fellows who serve as mentors to the young girls. The Foundation reviews applications from local university students and selects well qualified applicants to go through an orientation program. The Fellowship is a foundation-sponsored program that gives university students access to more advanced programming as well as direct coaching and leadership development.

Fellows are volunteer members of the Foundation that deliver curriculum content and facilitate all sessions, and are assigned a cohort of 10 students each. The fellows regularly travel to local schools via transportation provided by the foundation. This enables them to serve as near-peer role models.

Achievements
Since its founding, the foundation has received different public and private grants and awards for its accomplishments. Most prominently, they were awarded the first prize of $20,000 in the undergraduate track of Babson College’s B.E.T.A. challenge, aimed at recognizing businesses that use entrepreneurship as a tool for change.

Future Plans
Mai Soli Foundation aims to expand both within Bangladesh and to other countries after they secure greater funding.