Other education

Contributions totaling $11.0 million were made in support of vocational and non-format education, including courses on life skills, health and civic responsibility, and business-development and micro-enterprise training in 2008 – mostly through our Educating Women and Girls Initiative.  Of this amount, $10.6 million benefited communities outside of the United States.

In 2008, we continued our support for the Centre for Development and Population Activities’ (CEDPA) Global Women in Management Program (GWIM), bringing the cumulative totals to 199 ExxonMobil Foundation-funded GWIM graduates from 35 countries and 45 CEDPA alumnae coaches from 24 countries. GWIM helps strengthen program and financial management skills of women managers working in community organizations in developing countries. In 2008, CEDPA conducted GWIM workshops in Nigeria, Mexico City and Washington, D.C., reaching a total of 79 women, as well as a coaching workshop for 22 women.

ExxonMobil awarded a $1.75 million three-year grant to Africare to empower rural women in southern Chad by: developing their entrepreneurial capacity in small business development and income generation projects; obtaining micro-credit; and, assessing markets.  $300,000 was awarded to Give to Colombia for an 18-month project to be implemented in conjunction with Fundacion Mi Sangre to provide professional and life skills training to 100 Colombian women heads of household who have been direct and/or indirect victims of landmines.

As the scope of our projects continues to evolve, we plan to measure and evaluate their impacts and how they contribute to economic and social development. In 2008, we started working with the International Center for Research on Women to refine our strategic focus on women’s economic development and evaluate the success of our investments.