This year’s #IWant2Be fundraiser was a night to remember. Held on Thursday, April 13 by One Girl Can – a Vancouver-based charity
focused on creating gender equality through education for girls living in extreme poverty in Africa – the event raised a record-breaking $306,000.
Over 400 dynamic influencers and business leaders, including One Girl Can’s Founder, and Co-Founder of AG Hair, Lotte Davis, joined together for the third annual event at The Imperial in Vancouver. Local TV personality Fiona Forbes was the emcee of the evening, made possible by presenting sponsors TD Bank, ivivva by lululemon, and Beedie Development Group. The fun-filled and fast-paced night included a silent auction with contributions from Vancouver’s top brands and a live auction of unique experiences, including a private gorilla and chimpanzee tracking safari in Uganda, impossible to get tickets to the Voice for four, and a classic Rocky Mountain road trip with accommodations at iconic historic hotels. Guests enjoyed beverages and appetizers from award-winning Juno Kim Catering, and each walked away with a gift bag of AG Hair products worth $69 as a thank you for their support.
100% of the funds raised will go towards building two science labs at a girl’s school in Kenya, and will fund 36 new university scholarships for girls coming from one of the five high schools One Girl Can has built.
“80% of our scholarship students are tracking towards careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)-based jobs,” says Lotte Davis. “We start guiding them in high school because we can’t reach gender parity or impact economic growth without women in these fields. Attitudes towards the role of women in Africa will change only when girls become doctors, software programmers and civil engineers. By providing science and technology resources to the schools, we give girls a chance to move a nation forward and begin dismantling poverty.”
Lotte Davis, originally a native of Africa herself, shared her story of how the question ‘What do you want to be?’ inspired her to start One Girl Can. Through scholarships and education, One Girl Can gives young African women a voice and empowers them to make positive changes in society. A portion of the proceeds from every bottle sold by AG Hair has been contributing to building schools in Africa since 2008.
The evening was generously supported by its sponsors TD Canada Trust, ivivva by lululemon, Beedie Development Group, AG Hair, Journeys by Design, Hemlock, KPMG, Odlum Brown Limited, Mirabel Vineyards, Bootlegger and Daily Hive Vancouver.
About One Girl Can
One Girl Can is focused on creating gender equality through education for girls living in extreme poverty in Africa. We Build. We Educate. We Mentor. Onegirlcan.com
