Founders
Mission
Our mission is to provide education and vocational training to people in developing countries in order to ensure lasting employment for a brighter future. To do this, we believe in educating the youngest members of society in academic programs that run from preschool through high school and then either onto vocational (job) training or university. We believe that supporting students on all levels offers their greatest chance for sustainable employment. After our initial donation to begin our projects, we firmly believe that these projects must be self-sustaining.
Founders
Developing Opportunity was formally founded by Ellen Mai in January 2006 after having started projects in 2003. Through friends and family, Ellen spent several years raising money to build schools in Northern Afghanistan. After witnessing the critical importance of these schools and their positive impact on the local community, Ellen decided to make her efforts formal by incorporating in the state of California and obtaining 501(c)3 tax-exempt status with the IRS in 2006. Thus was Developing Opportunity formally born.
Ellen first became interested in Afghanistan during a work-related trip there in 2001, shortly after the tragic terrorist attacks of 9/11. Despite the ever-present hardships, the people were wonderful and greeted her with smiles and open arms. Wherever she went, children said all they wanted was to go to school. As a result, she pledged to make a difference. Today we are proud to say that we have and will continue to do so, with your help.
Ellen is honored to have Mrs. Grace Rogers, Mr. George Simm and Mr. Faizullah Zaki join the Board of this non-profit charitable organization as volunteers. Additionally, we have two other volunteers without whom our work wouldn't be possible: Mr. Steve Salisbury serves as our Director for Latin American Projects and is based in Bogota, Colombia while Dr. Thomas A. Marks serves as our liaison to our projects in Nepal. We would also like to thank Mr. Tom Hunter for his volunteer assistance in editing and proofreading the website content. Together, we hope to bring education and employment to people throughout the developing world.
