Cameroon: Elizabeth Elango, head of a school for refugee girls in the USA

Humanitarian, passionate about development and education, Elizabeth Elango runs the Global Village Project, a school for refugee girls based in the USA. Open to girls aged 11 to 18, the school welcomes students from 19 countries and speaking over 26 languages.

Based in the United States for years, Elizabeth Elango is committed to the education of refugee girls in the United States, through the Global Village Project. Worldwide, only 1% of refugees have access to post-secondary education. The institution’s objective therefore is to offer the same educational opportunities to refugees, especially girls, to guarantee them a better future.

In 2020, the Cameroonian took over the direction of this school, the only one dedicated to refugees in the United States. As an immigrant, she devotes her time to supporting young refugee girls from different regions of the world who are enrolled in the institution. “As the director of Global Village Project, I see myself in the girls in our school. Like them, I moved to the US as a teenager. Like them, my education was essential in defining my future. If I was able to start my education in a school in Cameroon, go on to university in the US and now lead organisations, then they can do it too,” she told Business Africa Online.

A career in non-profit organizations

Born in Cameroon, she began her studies in Douala, before flying to the United States where she enrolled at Kennesaw State University and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations in 1997. She went on to earn a Master’s degree in African Studies at Yale University in 1999. At the same time, she was awarded a Fullbright scholarship to study Swahili in Tanzania.

From there, she decided to pursue a career in non-profit organizations, a sector in line with her values, notably her love for people, her commitment to education and love for Africa. From 1997 to 2000, she worked with GlobaLearn, an education-focused NGO based in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania as a Research Associate & Explorer.

From 2002 to 2015, she worked for Heifer Project International, first as West Africa Program Officer. She coordinated the NGO’s activities in Cameroon, Ghana and Burkina Faso and contributed to its expansion into Senegal and Sierra Leone in 2007. From 2010, she became Director of the West Africa region of the NGO and provided operational and strategic leadership in Cameroon, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Ghana. From 2011 to 2015, she became Vice President of Africa Programs. This position offered her the opportunity to discover around thirty African countries.

In 2015, she left the NGO in search of new challenges. She joined Junior Achievement Africa, an NGO based in Ghana that focuses on youth. She supported young people in matters of entrepreneurship, financial education, etc.

In 2020, she joined the Global Village Project as CEO and head of school and is fully dedicated to the education of refugee girls.

At the head of Global Village project

As CEO and head of school, she is responsible for defining the strategy, running programs, ensuring smooth operations, recruiting resources, etc. Located near Decatur in the USA, the school welcomes refugee girls with little or no education, who have often lost five or more years of schooling and do not speak English.

The school, founded in 2009, allows refugee girls to catch up on their education through intensive courses in English, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. They also benefit from social and emotional support to enable them to succeed. Within the institution, they are categorised according to their language and academic skills.

The school also looks after the well-being of the students, the vast majority of whom have experienced trauma from an early age.

To date, 10 laureates from the school have graduated from university and 40 laureates are currently studying at university.

Passionate about humanitarianism, Elizabeth Elango has won several awards and distinctions. She is the recipient of the Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Award for outstanding achievement in the humanitarian field. In 2019, she also won the Anzisha Award for Entrepreneurship Awareness. The same year, she was also ranked among the 100 most influential African women by Avance Media.