Cherokee Gives Back Education Program


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The Program

The Experience

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Mission
Overview
How It Works
Team Members

Exchange Students
Host Families
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Program Overview

The Cherokee Gives Back Exchange Program was established to identify, support and expose future leaders of Ethiopia to educational and cultural opportunities. The program offers Ethiopian students with strong values and academic records the opportunity to study abroad and receive mentoring, professional guidance and exposure to American culture and education for one year.

Cherokee Gives Back, the philanthropic arm of Cherokee, manages the Exchange Program from the Cherokee headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. Gives Back focuses on alleviating poverty, supporting environmental protection, providing education opportunities and offering economic development assistance. Cherokee is a leading private equity firm investing capital and creativity in the redevelopment of urban neighborhoods. For additional information on Cherokee, please visit www.cherokeefund.com.

Gives Back began activity in Ethiopia several years ago. The opportunity to help alleviate extreme poverty faced by many in the country seemed endless, and it became clear that Ethiopia was a place where Gives Back and Cherokee could make a significant contribution.

In 2005, Gives Back formed the Exchange Program. Woodberry Forest, a private boarding school for boys in grades 9 through 12, sponsored the first student. In 2006, two young women enrolled at St. David’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina, for a postgraduate year of high school. Our program grew dramatically during the 2007–2008 school year. We successfully placed nine students in eight different high schools located throughout the southeastern part of the United States. These students achieved top honors in their academic studies and were wonderful additions to their respective student bodies. We have placed 21 students for the 2008–2009 academic year. We believe the unique academic and cultural experience obtained through our program equips the students to be successful leaders in their home country.

Mission Statement

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The mission of the program is to provide opportunities for qualified Ethiopian students to study at a U.S. school and use that experience to enrich their life and Ethiopia. The program identifies students with strong values and excellent academic skills, who are dedicated to improving their country. The program also identifies schools, host families and sponsors to provide financial support, mentoring, professional guidance, and exposure to American culture and education for these talented Ethiopian students.

How It Works

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The Cherokee Gives Back Exchange Program targets qualified Ethiopian students who will enroll as 11th-graders in accredited U.S. high schools. The initial pool of candidates includes approximately 700 11th-grade students from school-sourced recommendations in Ethiopia. On a case-by-case basis, the program will review qualified candidates in other grades if it is in the best interest of the host school and the student.

Biniyam Assefa, an award-winning educator, manages the program in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. As Ethiopia Program Director, Mr. Assefa identifies students, talks with Ethiopian families about the opportunity, assesses academic and language skills, coordinates student activities throughout the selection process, evaluates candidates, communicates with U.S. coordinators and makes final recommendations for accepting students into the program.

The Gives Back Exchange Program personnel listed below serve as U.S.- and Ethiopia - based coordinators who identify schools, host families and/or donors, serve as points of contact for prospective schools, help to ensure that milestones are met in a timely manner, and ensure that the schools receive the applications. Additional Cherokee volunteers may also assist with these efforts.

Each U.S. school is responsible for reviewing the student’s application and accepting him/her into its academic program. Gives Back Exchange Program is able to provide guidance and support. The ultimate responsibility lies with the host school, host family, church and the community to perform the following services:

Covering the program fees;
Securing housing for the students;
Providing for the financial support of the student for the academic year; and
Covering tuition costs, if any.

Selection Process

Phase I: The initial candidates are recommended by the schools in Ethiopia. The student’s family in Ethiopia are notified of their child’s selection and decide whether or not to pursue the opportunity. After the initial group of students is selected, an exam will be administered to all of the candidates, testing their English and mathematics skills. Based on the exam results, the top 100 students will move on to the next phase of the selection process.

Phase II: The top 100 candidates are interviewed in Ethiopia. The interview assesses the candidates’ verbal English skills. The top students are then selected based upon the number of slots available. These candidates are evaluated on their extracurricular activities. The schools that they attend will provide input into this process. Finally, behavioral and leadership interviews are conducted with the students and the top students are selected based on the number of scholarship opportunities that are available.

Team Members

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Biniyam Assefa: Mr. Assefa serves as the point person for all activities in Ethiopia. He is responsible for identifying candidates and ensures that they submit all the appropriate information to the schools to which they are applying.

Abinet Eyassu: Ms. Eyassu is an Administrative Assistant at Cherokee and assists in supervising relationships between students, host schools and host families during the program year.

Briana Harper: Ms. Harper is a Program Manager for Cherokee Gives Back’s various programs throughout Ethiopia. Her primary responsibilities include cultivating relationships with the U.S. Embassy and assisting Mr. Assefa in assessing potential students through interviews and examinations.

Kelly Meissner: Ms. Meissner is an Associate with Cherokee and is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with visa sponsor agencies and overall program support.

Lyston Peebles: Mr. Peebles is the Managing Director of Cherokee Gives Back. He helped establish this program in 2005 and continues to cultivate relationships with various schools and sponsors.

Kim Shaw: Ms. Shaw is the Program Coordinator for Cherokee Gives Back and manages the day-to-day operations of the program. Some of her responsibilities include providing support to prospective or current schools and host families and facilitating information exchange between activities in Ethiopia and the U.S.

John Vaughn: Mr. Vaughn is a Program Manager for Cherokee Gives Back’s various programs throughout Ethiopia. His primary responsibilities include cultivating relationships with the U.S. Embassy and assisting Mr. Assefa in assessing potential students through interviews and examinations.

“I highly recommend Cherokee Gives Back’s Education Program. After a rigorous screening and interview process, their students win the opportunity to come to the United States for a year of high school, and they are of the highest caliber. Their attitudes are congenial, disarmingly so, and they are very adaptable. They bring a totally new world view and life experience to our school community.”

Helen Keegan
Registrar and Host Mother
St. David’s School
Raleigh, NC

Ethiopia is one of the few African countries never to lose its independence. Ethiopia was never colonized, even though from 1935-1941 it was occupied by Mussolini’s Fascists it has remained untainted by colonial powers.

Ethiopia has a total population estimated at approximately 80 million and is home to more than 80 ethnic groups and a wide diversity of languages.

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia, although English, Italian, French and Arabic are also widely spoken.

Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, which comprises twelve months of thirty days each and a thirteenth month of five days (or six days in a leap year). The calendar is seven years and eight months behind the Western (Gregorian) calendar with Christmas being celebrated on January 7 and New Year on September 11.

Ethiopia is the land of the origin of the first human species. “Lucy” was found in 1974 by an American Paleo Anthropologist. Lucy aged 3.2 million years and its scientific name is Australopithecus Afarensis.

Ethiopia is a predominantly agricultural country with over 80 percent of its population farming on about 15 - 20 percent of the arable land. The agriculture sector accounts for over half of the GDP and 85 percent of export earnings, the most important of which is coffee.