Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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photography courtesy of tailored for education archives A Dress Code, Indeed hedge fund traders and best friends megan elly and Jessica roy invest in tailored for education and send 10,000 children to school. by rebecca m. knight A couple of years ago, getting an education seemed an impossible wish for Jane Achieng, a 14-year-old orphan from Siaya, Kenya. Achieng's aunt, with whom she lives, works as a maid and couldn't afford to buy her a uniform, which is mandatory for children attending school there. "We had no money," says Achieng, who has twinkly, deep-set eyes. Yet thanks to Tailored for Education, a nonprofit that improves school attendance in developing countries by providing children with uniforms, Achieng is finishing the seventh grade. "I am very grateful," she says. "Now I have a uniform and a good dress to attend school." Founded in 2011 by Megan Kelly and Jessica Roy, Tailored for Education has donated more than 15,000 school uniforms to kids in 11 countries, including Uganda, Malawi, and Honduras. All of the schools that the organization works with have seen a sharp decrease in student absences and dropout rates, while literacy rates and test scores have improved. "Education is the best way to break the cycle of poverty that exists in these countries today," says Kelly. A school uniform, she adds, is a symbol of both upward mobility and self-worth. "For a lot of the kids, this uniform is the first time they've ever had anything new of their own." School attendance in emerging countries is an intractable problem. Many families can't afford school fees, so instead their children either work to supplement the household income or do chores at home. The issue is particularly acute for girls. According to Unicef, nearly one of every five girls who starts primary school in the developing world does not complete it. top left: Megan Kelly and Jessica Roy. above: Children in South Africa model their new school uniforms, courtesy of Tailored for Education. left: In Kenya, where uniforms are mandatory, this girl will now be able to attend school for the first time. Kelly and Roy have been friends for years. Roy, 32, grew up in northern Massachusetts. Kelly, 30, is from Nashville, Tennessee. They met in their early 20s at Baupost, a Back Bay – based hedge fund. At night they both attended business school at Boston College. "After we graduated we thought, 'Let's do something that's not just for us,'" recalls Roy. "our jobs were so concentrated on making money; we wanted to use different parts of our brain." —jessica roy continued on page 134... 132 bostoncommon-magazine.com PEOPLE Spirit of Generosity