Obama Foundation Partnership

Supporting Girls with the Girls Opportunity Alliance

When girls have access to education and the life skills to make their voices heard and their choices respected, they don’t just transform their own lives; they transform their families, their countries, and our world. Educated women are healthier, earn more income for their families, and are greater contributors to their community and country.

But unfortunately, many women never have these opportunities — today, more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world are not in school. That's why it's so crucial to highlight the countries and organizations championing the lives of adolescent girls.

Download Life Skills

““You inspire me to keep working… for the rest of my life I’m going to keep traveling the world... to highlight girls like you—and to show the world what happens when we give a girl an education.””

Michelle Obama

Room to Read Vietnam & the Girls Opportunity Alliance

In Vietnam, Room to Read and The Obama Foundation's Girls Opportunity Alliance collaborated to showcase the power of life skills and girls’ education. Pulling together a community of supporters and champions for girls' education, Michelle Obama visited one of our partner schools and met with leaders of local girls’ education organizations and beneficiaries of Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program.

Julia Roberts, Lana Condor, Ngô Thanh Vân (Veronica Ngo), YouTube’s Liza Koshy and the TODAY Show’s Jenna Bush Hager, were there with Mrs. Obama to see first-hand the depth of life skills training and follow the stories of current participants, alumni of Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program and met with local nonprofit representatives from education-focused organizations. The learnings from that day and our programmatic efforts in Vietnam, build into our collective mission to empower young women through education.

Michelle Obama Visits Room to Read Vietnam

Cambodia to Vietnam

There are more than 98 million adolescent girls who are out of school today. It's a reality that we are committed to changing and doing so in partnership with the Girls Opportunity Alliance, Michelle Obama, and other dedicated partners. In March 2015, Michelle Obama visited Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and met with 10 girls.

Now in 2019 and beyond, Room to Read is excited to continue to work together and highlight the need and importance of girls' education around the world. With the support of the Girls Opportunity Alliance, we’re expanding our impact to reach even more girls in Vietnam by partnering with two local organizations, Capacity Building and Support Center for Women and Children (CSWC) and Anh Duong.

We'll be sharing updates along the way from this incredible partnership so stay connected to see how we're transforming the world.

Download Confidence: A Lesson in Life Skills

This life skills session, I Am Confident, was shared with the Obama Foundation delegation during their visit and is designed to help the young women in your life build a positive self-image that they can embrace as they navigate key life decisions.

Meet the Girls

Meet some of the participants from Room to Read's Girls' Education Program in Vietnam who will get the chance to tell Michelle Obama their own stories and what education has meant to them.

Tay Thi Nguyen

Get Creative

“I am from a low-income family, but my will is not poor. I will fight for my
future."

-2011 Girls' Education Program Graduate

Yen Truong Thi Hai

Get Creative

"Don’t make her drop out of school. She’s so close to graduating. I’ll drop out instead.”

Yen never imagined she’d hear those words come out of her mouth, but fortunately, Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program came to the local secondary school at precisely the right time

-Girls' Education Program

Ha Phan Le Ngan

Get Creative

“When my mother burned my drawings, I was so upset. I told her, ‘you’ve burned my dreams.’”

But through Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program’s life skill classes, Ha has learned how to communicate effectively with her mother and practiced problem-solving to pursue her artistic dreams.

-Girls' Education Program