About Us
We’re not a charity. We’re a movement.
Our mission is to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education. We mobilize U.S. students to transform their communities through service learning and change the world by building schools in developing countries.
What We Do
Education and service are at the heart of everything we do. Through Service Learning Programs in America’s under-served high schools and by building schools in some of the world’s economically poorest countries, we’re committed to breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations around the world.
buildOn US
Our Service Learning Programs mobilize students in under-resourced urban areas to uplift their communities through intensive local service. We run programs at 37 high schools in six U.S. regions, including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, the Bay Area, and Bridgeport, Connecticut.
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buildOn Global
We empower villages in some of the world’s economically poorest countries to take the lead in bringing education to their communities. Every two days, we’re constructing a new school in eight countries, including Burkina Faso, Haiti, Mali, Malawi, Nepal, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Senegal. We have built more than 2,600 schools to date.
Learn MoreMeet the People Who Make Our Work Possible
buildOn is powered by passionate people committed to ending poverty through service and education.
Our Staff Our Board Diversity StatementJim Ziolkowski
Our Partners
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Walk in Their Shoes
A powerful look inside the buildOn movement and the inspiring story that made it all possible.
