Meet Maureen Oduor Graduate Scholar, Class of 2012
“Growing up in abject poverty and a victim of abuse made me think differently and start advocating for family planning. Dealing with myths and misconceptions in rural Kenyan communities is my mission.” – Family Planning Advocate, German Foundation for World Population
Our Scholars Program
WMI supports undergraduate students obtaining degrees in community-oriented fields, and encourages them to be the agents of change in their own communities, nations and the world.
Our Scholar's Journey
Wells Mountain Initiative is inspired by the idea of climbing mountains, never easy, but always rewarding to reach one’s dreams and benefit one’s community.
We believe that to climb a mountain, one should not undertake the journey alone. It takes resources, knowledge, the support of others and immense dedication. Our programs are designed to enhance our scholars’ potential to reach milestones along their journey to the top and bring forth their best attributes, enabling them to achieve their lifelong goals and influence transformational impact in their communities.
EDUCATE • Scholarships
WMI provides education scholarships to highly motivated and ambitious young people with limited financial resources pursuing undergraduate degrees in developing countries. We support students pursuing degrees that will best help their own communities, including medicine & health services, community development, law, education, social sciences and engineering.
ENGAGE • Community Service
We encourage our student scholars to be critical thinkers. A fundamental component of the scholarship program is community service. Every WMI Scholar is required to complete a minimum of 100 hours of volunteering each year. Past volunteer activities have included conducting free health screenings, teaching and mentoring youth, and community clean-ups.
COLLABORATE • Fellowships
Scholars are encouraged to create strong bonds and assist one another throughout the process of succeeding academically and professionally. Fellowship groups are founded by scholars and have led to the building of support systems that provide networking and mentorship opportunities and the creation of group community service projects and activities.
EMPOWER • Academy
WMI is proud to announce the launch of the WMI academy in August 2020 in Nairobi, Kenya! The academy will be open to all recent WMI Graduate Scholars to further enhance their professional development and to network with fellow graduate scholars. Scholars will participate in two weeks of intensive capacity-building courses in CBO/NGO enterprise development and professional skills training.
CONNECT • Dream Big Conference
The Dream Big Conference, held every three years, brings together current student scholars and graduate scholars to learn, network, and create and strengthen in-country fellowship groups. Conference attendees participate in workshops, panels, team-building exercises, and community service activities.
ACT • Community Development Grants Program
The Community Development Grants program is open exclusively to WMI Graduate Scholars and provides seed grants of $100-1000 USD to help start or significantly expand a CBO, NGO, business, community service project or event and growth grants of up to $5000 USD to strategically and sustainably expand their initiatives. Scholars have used their funds to develop education programs, vocational trainings, vaccination clinics, agricultural empowerment projects, and start local businesses.
