WGEP Ndajee 2023 Program Book

Women's Global Education Project presents:

EE 2023

A celebration for girls' education

Monday,May22nd,2023 | BronzevilleWinery

Thank you to our 2023 event sponsors!

TITLESPONSORS

John Kulczycki

Manaaki Foundation

PhdSPONSORS

Lucy & Peter Ascoli

Catherine & Jeff Cappel

Sarah Miyata & Stephen Weber

MASTER'SSPONSOR

Protiviti

UNIVERSITYSPONSORS

Ferdi Foundation

Amanda & Chris Miller

Marie & Jorge Olmos

HIGHSCHOOLSPONSORS

Tony Augustine

Jennifer Bathgate & John Iatonna

Bhati White Family

April & Paul Donnellan

Leinenweber, Baroni, and Daffada LLC

Teenie Matlock & Paul Maglio

Kaleen Moriarty & Justin Hilson

Aimee & Joe Mills

Heidi Olsen, Donna, and Kenzie Carnow

The Thompson Family

MIDDLESCHOOLSPONSORS

Lauren & Mark Baran

Elizabeth Bennan & Lincoln Ellis

Byline Bank

Donna Cook & Matt Maciejewski

Alanna & David Foster

Dr Chris Ganchoff

MIDDLESCHOOLSPONSORS

Anton Hopkins

Nancy Juda & Jens Brasch

Jennifer Kenoian

Pascale & Tom Kichler

Norma Maglio

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Joan & Bruce Sherman

Adele Simmons

Lisa Snow & Franco Turrinelli

Anne Weirich & Luke Seibert

ELEMENTARYSCHOOL SPONSORS

Cisco Darktrace

The Derks Family

Jennifer & Chris Dunn

Mary Kulczycki Foard

Sana Hakim

Juliana Kerr

Art Hopkins & Glory Kulczycki

FeCorazon & Alberto Mendoza

Julie Mirocha

Scott Morgan

Howard Raik

Tria Raimundo & Michael Seiler

Michelle Silva

Dr Leah Smith

Jen Spears

Sally & Alex Speck

Julie Stagliano

Bill Taylor

Workday

6:00 PM

WELCOMETONDAJEE

Bid on silent auction items while enjoying hors d'oeuvres and drinks with WGEP's global community

7:15 PM

WelcomebyAimeeMills,WGEPBoardPresident

SPOKENWORDPERFORMANCE

AngelicaHeaney

IMPACTAWARDHONORINGJOHNKULCZYCKI

AmyMaglio,WGEPExecutiveDirector

JeromeMcDonnell,LongtimeWGEPAdvocate

CELEBRATEGIRLS'EDUCATIONINRURALAFRICA

VideofeaturingWGEPGoodwillAmbassadorAbiDaré andKenyaprogramalumnaShallon

PADDLERAISE

HarrietSpears,StrategicPartnershipsManager

8:30 PM

SILENTAUCTIONCLOSES

Make your final bids!

9:00 PM

ENDOFPROGRAM

Thank you for joining us! Please make sure to check out with a WGEP volunteer before leaving the venue

Spoken Word by Angelica Heaney

Angelica Heaney is a Chicago native, poet, creative, and performer. She is a recent University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign alumna, receiving her B A in Sociology with a double minor in African American Studies and Creative Writing To Angelica, “Knowing how to write is a privilege that will continuously motivate [her] to become more raw, innovative, and dedicated to [her] craft." Follow Angelica's work on her website, angelicaheaneypoems.com, and on Instagram and Twitter at @anjellycaheaney.

Featuring Jerome McDonnell

Jerome McDonnell was host of the long running public radio program "Worldview" on WBEZ. Believing that broadcasting's highest calling is to bring people together to make a difference, Worldview featured many organizations that make the world a better place including Women's Global A long time supporter of WGEP, he's a former WGEP Impact Awardee.

Goodwill Ambassador Abi Daré & Alumna Shallon

Abi Daré is WGEP's first-ever Goodwill Ambassador and bestselling author of TheGirlwiththeLoudingVoice,which tells the story of Adunni, a teenage girl in rural Nigeria who longs to get an education and to speak up for herself. Abi joined WGEP as an ambassador in 2022, after participating in our inaugural virtual book club in 2021. Abi will introduce Shallon, a WGEP program alumna who graduated from Karatina University in 2020, and is now teaching at a government school, where she also serves as the Director of Curriculum! Shallon is one of thousands of talented young women who have graduated with the support of WGEP and our local partners since our founding in 2004.

Celebrating John Kulczycki, Impact Award Winner

Women's Global Education Project's Impact Award is awarded annually to a member of our community for their dedication to our organization, and to advancing gender equity worldwide. This year, we are honored to celebrate John Kulczycki. John's connection with Africa began as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Ethiopia There he served as director and instructor of the Haile Selassie University Extension Center in Debre Zeit (Bishoftu), where the main Ethiopian Air Force base is located Many of the students he taught were Air Force officers, including the commander of the base. He also taught history in the high school and English in the elementary school

After re-visiting Ethiopia in 2003, he and a fellow former PCV started a project with an Ethiopian NGO to support vocational training for girls in Addis Ababa, but the project was forced to end after about 4 years In 2014 he went to Ethiopia again specifically to investigate the obstacles to girl's education and visited several NGO projects Following his stint in the Peace Corps, John received a Ph D in history "with distinction" from Columbia University and taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he is professor emeritus John has been a member of the WGEP

Board of Directors since 2021, and has been a passionate supporter of WGEP since 2004, along with his late wife, Regina Bowgierd. John joins previous Impact Award honorees, including Lucy Ascoli, Molly Waite, Aniceta Kiriga, Sue Crothers, Julie Stagliano, Nancy Juda, Brian Hanson, Joan Sherman, and Jerome McDonnell.

Left:JohnKulczyckiandMarySmithatNdajee2022; Right:JohnasaPeaceCorpsVolunteer,1963-1965

Left:Johnvisitingalumniofthehigh schoolwherehetaughtinEthiopia,2014

Women’s Global Education Project (WGEP)'s mission is to empower women and girls in rural regions of Africa through education, to build better lives and foster more equitable communities. Wepartnerwith grassrootsleaderstoserveover10,000womenandchildreninour education,literacy,andleadershipprogrammingannually.Ourholistic programmodelworks:over99%ofthegirlsinourscholarshipprogram stayinschooleachyear.

Ndajee (en-DAH-jee) means "get together" in Wolof, and each year, we look forward to coming together as global advocates to raise funds to continue our impactful programs.

There are three ways to give tonight to help WGEP reach our fundraising goal:

Bid on art, vacations, golf outings, and more in our curated silent auction

Raise your hand during the paddle raise

Pledge a donation at any point throughout the night

Tocheck-outviacreditcard,visit

https://www.pledge.to/wgep-ndajee-2023ortext "NDAJEE"to707070.Volunteers are also waiting at the check-in station to assist you, and to collect checks or pledges from donor-advised funds.

$240,000

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2.

3.

Congratulations, John!

I met John in Bishoftu, Ethiopia in 1964. We were Peace Corps Volunteers I asked John why he joined His response was, "Saveone child,savetheworld " John’s dedication to WGEP reflects his life-long belief in this principle We’re all proud of you, old friend! -

ScottMorgan

Dear Uncle John - we are so proud and inspired by your commitment and dedication to this important work of helping to support girls' education. What an amazing legacy you are creating. -AlexisGoett

Congratulations to John Kulczycki on the receipt of this award honoring his many years of commitment to Women's Global Education Project -AliceBernstein

Congratulations to John J. Kulczycki! Your dedication and support of the Women's Global Education Project is extraordinary!

Muchlove,Mary&WalkerFoard

Wordsofencouragementfromyourfamilyandfriends

Congratulationsto JohnKulczycki fromtheClassof1959, MarquetteUniversity HighSchool!

MichaelMolenda

CongratulationsUncleJohn!We'resogratefultohaveyouin ourlives.Youalwayschallengeandsupportus,andwe're proudtoseeyourecognizedfordoingthatforpeoplearound theworld.Weloveandappreciateyou,todayandalways!

TheGanchoffFamily(Chris&Naomi,Mary&David)

UncleJohn,youarea truechampionof womenandI’mluckyto callyoufamily!

Love,Natasha

Thankyoutoourcorporatesponsorsforinvesting inglobal,girls'educationandgenderequity!

is proud to sponsor the Women's Global Education Project's 2023 Ndajee benefit

Women's Global Education Project partners with grassroots activists and partner organizations in remote, rural regions where girls' enrollment rates in school are exceedingly low:

Fatick, Senegal

Tharaka-nithi county, Kenya

Migori county, Kenya

Thank you! Jërëjëf! Asante Sana!

SILENTAUCTIONDONORS EVENTPARTNERS

Alliance Française of Chicago

Bhati White Family

Boccabella Farms

Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Chicago White Sox Charities

Chopin Theatre

City Cruises

Field Museum

Gaijin

Great Wolf Lodge

Inspirato for Good

Carolyn Kasshoff

Levy Restaurants

Lilly Pulitzer

Lula Café

Maya Del Sol

Joe Mills

Oak Park Theatre Festival

refleKTion salon

Steve Shanabruch

Kristina & Rich St Pierre

Steppenwolf Theatre

Phil Thompson

Trap Door Theatre

TravelPledge

Bronzeville Winery

Angelica Heaney

Eileen Molony Photography

Lindsay Lees, Program Intern

BOARDOFDIRECTORS

Lauren Baran

Shan Bhati

Alanna Farrell-Foster

Zahira Floyd

Bonnie Harp

John Iatonna

John Kulczycki

Damaris Kyuu

Aimee Mills

Tria Raimundo Hannah Bonecutter

ASSOCIATES'BOARD

Lynn Etemisi

Tristan Fry

Regina Fuller

Jacqui Hatch

Aliyah Jervier

Anna Kilgas

Alyssa Mota

Ayeesha Patel

Regina Smedinghoff

Olivia Stokes

Jenni Watson

Emily Wolfteich