"Blaine Kebede wasn't a runner before she joined the Girls Gotta Run Foundation as its executive director in 2024. It was when she visited the Bekoji, Ethiopia, where the U.S.-based non-profit - which focuses on girls' and women's education and empowerment in Ethiopia - operates, that she says, "I was so inspired by watching the students that I started to pick up running myself.""
"The program operates in the city of Soddo and the town of Bekoji in Ethiopia, and accepts 200 girls into a three-year athletics scholarship. After three years, it also provides them with access to an alumni program through high school graduation. Alongside run coaching for the girls, the foundation covers school tuition and provides the girls and their mothers with crucial life skills and economic opportunities. The overarching goal is to equip Ethiopian women with the skills to support themselves."
"Kebede explains that girls in Ethiopia enter child marriage because their options for financial support are limited, and marriage is seen as a way to solve this. Kebede asserts, "We want girls to be able to make choices for themselves." Through the Girls Gotta Run program, some girls go on to have a fruitful career in running, while others pursue higher education, seek vocational training, find work, and mentor the next generation of girls."
Blaine Kebede became executive director of the Girls Gotta Run Foundation in 2024 and began running after visiting Bekoji, Ethiopia. The program operates in Soddo and Bekoji, accepting 200 girls into three-year athletics scholarships with alumni support through high school graduation. The foundation provides run coaching, school tuition, life skills training, and economic opportunities for girls and their mothers. The initiative aims to equip Ethiopian women to support themselves and reduce child marriage by expanding financial and educational options. The program prioritizes the neediest families, especially children of single mothers and those with many children. Dr. Patricia E. Ortman founded the foundation in 2006.
Read at iRunFar
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